He just shrugs. “It is what it is.”
“Someday, you’ll get your shot.” Rhett slaps his hand on Monty’s shoulder, the other man grimacing slightly.
“Moving on.” Monty looks up at me. “You got family moving with you? Wife? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”
“My daughter and my mom, who helps when I have to work. No partner.” I shrug. “Never found anyone who could handle the demands of my job and my kid.”
Until I met a beautiful brunette that made me wonder if having it all could someday be possible. But I don’t share that part with the guys. Instead, I glance down at my watch and frown when I realize what time it is back on the East Coast. “Shit, actually, I need to get going. They’re waiting for me to call before Peyton goes to bed.”
“That’s cool, Sin. Hey, we’ll be here again tomorrow for some batting practice if you want to join.”
“Thanks, that’d be great.” We exchange numbers, and I let Harvey lead me out of the gym to wrap up our tour. But the truth is, my mind is somewhere else, across the country, in fact. On a four-year-old girl waiting for my call.
When I finally get back to my hotel room over an hour later, I have just enough time for a quick shower while I wait for room service to bring up some dinner before I need to call my mom and Peyton.
With my hair still wet, I pull on some shorts and a T-shirt before sitting down in the armchair next to the window that overlooks the water of Coal Harbour. Pulling up my mom’s phone number, I hit the video icon and wait to see my girl.
“Daddy!” her excited shriek has me grinning. “Lemme see your hotel room.”
Right on cue. Every time I travel, the first thing Pey wants to see is wherever I’m staying.
Standing up, I start to pan the room. “Okay, baby girl, here it is. There’s my bed, and the bathroom, and here’s the view.”
Peyton starts babbling on about the water and the boats she can see, and my mind travels back in time to standing by a window overlooking crystal clear blue water with a beautiful woman by my side.
Damn it, no. I can’t go there.
“Can I have a purple bedroom when we get a house, Daddy?” The question startles me out of my spiral. I look down at my phone where Peyton’s waiting for my answer. Shit, I haven’t even started to look at houses. And they’ll be here in a week.
“Sure, Pey,” I answer, feeling the overwhelm start to build inside of me. The last time I was traded, when I landed in Toronto, I didn’t have a kid. It was easy to just live out of a hotel room until I found an apartment close enough to the stadium.
This time, I need a house big enough for me, my daughter, and my mother. I need to think about school districts. Community safety. Amenities. A backyard. And a purple bedroom.
“Thanks! Oh, Gran wants to talk to you. Love you, bye!” Peyton fumbles the phone over to my mom and I hear her tell Mom about a purple bedroom before my mom’s face appears on the screen.
“Hi honey, how did today go?”
I exhale slowly, sitting back down on the chair. “Good. Nothing special, but it was fine. Met a couple of the guys on the team, checked out the facility. It’s nice.”
Here’s the thing about living with your mother as an adult. She learns to read you like a fucking book.
“What are you not telling me, Ronan Sinclair?” she asks, her tone making it clear — answer, or else.
I’ll answer, but I’m not telling her everything. “Nothing, I promise. I’m just tired. There’s a lot to do before you guys fly out. Is everything set with the movers?”
Mom nods. “Yes, you confirmed it all before you left. Everything will arrive within a week of leaving Ontario. Did Gage get you connected with a realtor out there?”
I shake my head because I forgot to ask him. “No. I’ll get going on that tomorrow.”
“We can’t live out of a hotel forever, Ronan.” Mom sounds concerned, and it’s not the first time she’s expressed her worry over the condensed timeline in which I’m trying to do everything. She might be really fucking great and respect my decisions and autonomy with my daughter, but Pamela Sinclair is also the ultimate mama bear. And if she thinks someone or something isn’t in the best interest of her family, she doesn’t hesitate to tell them so.
Which is why she tried hard to convince me it was fine if she and Peyton didn’t move until after spring training, but I argued. That then, the season will start, I’ll be traveling, and it’ll be crazy. I want them moved and settled into a house before I head south to Arizona with the team.
Besides, I miss my little girl. Being away from her is the one downside to my career, and I try to minimize the time we’re apart as much as possible. Hawaii was the first time we were apart for something other than baseball. And look how that ended. With me on a plane at five in the morning because my daughter fell on the playground at preschool and hurt her wrist.
But their imminent arrival doesn’t leave me with a lot of time to find a house and organize the move.
“I know, Mom. Don’t worry, I’ll find a place soon.”
