Most agents didn’t see the forest for the trees. And by trees that meant the immediate dollar signs. Antonio, too, would have picked Jackie for those very reasons. “Wow, I’m sure impressing his mom was tough.”
Jackie grunted, then wrote,I’ve dealt with my fair share of Marilyn types. My own mother included. Well, until the money ran out.
“Did you dad lose his job or something?”
Jackie nibbled on her bottom lip before she wrote,Something like that. She put the pen down and reached down inside her carry-on, producing a wallet. She pulled out a laminated card and placed it on Antonio’s tray table. Antonio picked it up. He stared at the laminated Oriels baseball card as his eyes widened with recognition.
“Hold up. Your dad is Marcus Miles?”
Jackie nodded.
Antonio was in complete shock. Marcus Miles was a hell of a short stop back in the late eighties and nineties. He could steal bases as well as—if not better than—than Ricky Henderson. He was on cereal boxes and in commercials. Then he sort of faded into obscurity because…
“He got injured,” Antonio recalled. “He never did recover from that botched Achilles surgery. Dang, I remember how good he was, Jackie. Your dad is a legend, girl.”
He was amazing. But when the injury happened, he was sent back down to the minors. Never made it back up to the majors. When I was small, we had it all. Money. Cars. I even had a pony!She underlined “pony” twice.When the money and prestige faded away, so did my mother.
Now Antonio understood what she meant by knowing the Marilyn type. He’d been nothing but a financial benefactor when he first found out about PJ. When the child support stopped as PJ turned of age, she’d cut off all communication.
Jackie was still writing. Antonio leaned over to read.My dad was heartbroken. He loved my mother. So he left baseball, went back to his hometown in NC, became a high school teacher and coach. Even without the money, I had a good life. He made sure of it. He died six years ago. Almost seven.
“Your dad sounds like he was amazing.” Antonio put a hand on Jackie’s knee. Surprisingly, she didn’t swat it away. “I’m sorry about your mom, Jackie. That’s fucked up. She really missed out on seeing how amazing you are.”
Jackie was still for a few beats before picking up the pen again.That’s life. Nothing to cry over. But knowing Marilyn made me want to work hard for PJ. Even though she stays in his pockets.
Antonio was well aware of how Marilyn used their son like a piggy bank. He warned PJ about giving into her whims, but he’d just remind Antonio that his mom was a single parent, that he wasn’t there. It was like pouring salt on a wound that was never going to heal. But…he deserved it.
Jackie suddenly clutched her stomach, looking ashen. Antonio took the portfolio and pen off of her tray table, returning them to his duffle bag. “I think that’s enough talking. You look like you’re about to—”
Jackie grabbed the barf bag. Upon hearing her unfortunate noises, the flight attendant came right over, bringing ice, water, and paper towels. Jackie cleaned herself up, took a few sips of water, pulled a mint from her purse, and sighed.
“I guess long gone are the days of you holding your liquor at seven in the morning,” Antonio said.
Jackie gave him the middle finger. Antonio shook his head.
“F-me or not, you know I’m right.” Antonio let Jackie’s chair back a little by pressing the button. “Why don’t you sleep it off, kid? We got another hour or so to go before we land in Mexico.”
Jackie protested slightly but then leaned back into the chair. Within five minutes, she was fast asleep.
Antonio went back to his audiobook. A few minutes into the next chapter, he felt something heavy on his arm. He looked over to see Jackie nestled right against him, softly snoring. He shifted her upward for long enough to lift the armrest between them, then she flopped right back onto him. He gently repositioned her, wrapping his arm around her with her head laying right on his chest. She was so soft, so warm. Just like he remembered.
For a few minutes, Antonio looked at her sleeping, reacquainting himself with all the intricacies of her face. He hadn’t been this close to her in a decade, and he was going to cherish it. He savored the smell of her hair products, all fruity. Ironic that the woman whose hair smelled like candy was anything but sweet. But if Antonio had learned one thing as an agent, it was that human beings were complicated. Jackie was beyond complicated. She was like a thousand-piece puzzle. A puzzle on steroids. Yet on this flight, despite her initial resistance, she’d opened up to him. He’d missed that Jackie. The one he’d spent a weekend with in Vegas ages ago. He was glad to have even a tiny piece of that Jackie back.
When he was sure she was sound asleep, Antonio kissed the top of Jackie’s head. It wasn’t long before he too drifted off to sleep withtheJacqueline Miles cradled securely in his arms.
CHAPTER 16
