“Julia?” said the doctor, pulling me back. “Can you tell me what, exactly, it is that started all of this?”
“I don’t know,” I said in a weak voice. “I made her upset a few months ago—something I said absentmindedly about my daughter. That night I got sick. I couldn’t keep anything down for the next two days except her damn tea. Something about it just seemed fishy.”
“You think that your mother poisoned you?” he asked in shock.
“I think that she is capable of more than either of us has given her credit for. She started coming here right after my father died, right? How was she back then? That was five years ago.”
“She didn’t mourn the loss of your father, which was strange. As long as they had been together, I thought that she came to me because of the depression, but it was something else. You know the insurance company forced the first appointment, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, something about my father’s insurance. She had to come or she wouldn’t get anything. She resented him for that.”
“Well, your mother didn’t show any signs of remorse. She was so elated that you were coming back. Even when I tried to force her to talk about your father, she waved him off. Do you think that she could be capable of what you’re accusing?”
Guilt and fear never seemed to leave my side, but something else kept me pressing on, a strength that I didn’t know was there. “I do. I think she needs to be kept here under observation, at least.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” he said with a sigh of relief. “She has an appointment with me in a few hours. I will keep her here at that time.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” I whispered as he stood. I took his hand and shook it before he opened the door and led me back to the main office. “Please keep me updated on her progress.”
He tapped the court order in his hand. “I will be happy to. So, what are you going to do now?”
“I have no idea,” I said earnestly. “I think it’s time I went back home.”
“So, that’s it?” I asked the doctor over the phone. I still whispered even though Margarete wasn’t there.
“That’s it. We’ll keep her under observation for the next month or so. Then it’s up to the courts, but given my history with her and how she acted at the time of intake, I don’t think they will recommend her release now, or even ever, possibly. Munchausen syndrome by proxy isn’t often something people can recover from.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said softly. “Do you mind if I call you back tomorrow?”
“No, Julia, that will be fine. This is a lot to process. I understand that.”
I told him goodbye then ended the call. All day, I’d been wondering if she would call me from the appointment. In my gut, I feared that she would somehow talk the doctor out of keeping her and I would be back in the house with her at my side. Everything had gone as planned, though, and now I was faced with the phone call I hadn’t known if I would ever get the chance to make. I had to call Aaron, as I did every few weeks, but this was different. This time, I was going home.
“Hello?” he answered on the first ring.
I swallowed hard. “Aaron, its me.”
“Oh,” he said. “Amy has softball practice tonight. Do you want to call back later?”
His tone was off, not as bitter as I’d come to expect. “No. No, I called to talk with you, actually. I knew she had practice.”
“Really?” He sounded hopeful.
I smiled at the familiar tone. It had been too long since he’d been so open. “Aaron, I want to come home.” I waited but was greeted with nothing but silence. “I know that it’s a lot to ask. Things are different here now. My mother . . . well, she had health problems, issues that made it so I couldn’t come home and so I couldn’t see Amy. It’s hard to explain. She isn’t here anymore, though. This whole time was . . .” I trailed off. “Well, I’m just ready to come back home.”
I fell silent. There was nothing more that I could tell him, not until I knew if he was even listening.
He cleared his throat. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story, but she is being helped now. I know that things between us are broken, but I want to be a part of Amy’s life.”
“Now? After all these years, what makes you think that I’m going to let you do that? When you left, it devastated her. What happens if your mother calls you up again? Then we do this whole thing again?”
“No. She is never going to get out, and I would never come back here. There is nothing for me here but painful memories.”
“Of the hospital?” He sounded unsure. “Julia,” he whispered, “I don’t know about this.”
“I don’t want to stay with you guys or anything. I know that you have your own life. Please, just give me a chance to know my daughter. I will do anything that you want.”
“Anything?” he asked.
I swallowed hard, my mind at once picturing him beneath me, his sweat-covered body intertwined with my own as the smell of burning candles and sex filled my every sense. There was a lot of bad blood between my ex and me, but one thing we always agreed on was that the sex was amazing.
“Yes,” I said hoarsely. “Anything.”
“Well, it just so happens that I need a favor. I didn’t think it would ever happen before, but since you’re coming back anyway, I could use your help.”
“My help? With what?” My heart started to race. “Is everything okay with Amy?”
“Oh, yeah! Amy is fine. She’s really looking forward to our vacation. We leave tomorrow night.”
My heart sank. “I didn’t even think about that. I just assumed that you and she would be there. That’s fine, though. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
“Actually, I was hoping that you would come with us.”
My mouth fell open in shock. “What?”
“Yeah. I want you to come on the cruise with us. As a matter of fact, I want you to be there and pretend like we’re still married. You wanted a way to get back into my good graces, and this is it.”
“I don’t understand,” I said cautiously. “Why would you want me to pretend to be your wife again? You’ve spent the last few years hating me. I didn’t even think you would let me see Amy for a while, but now you want me to pretend like the last five years haven’t happened? What’s going on?”
“Well, I haven’t exactly been honest with everyone in my life. You have to understand that when you left, I was devastated that you picked your mother over us.”
“That never happened,” I hissed. “I wanted you to come with me but you never gave me the chance to tell you that. All you cared about was covering your own ass with that damn woman of yours.” Even as I spoke the words, I knew that it was a lie.
“It doesn’t matter now, okay?” he shot back. “I never told Amy the real reason you were gone, but she wasn’t the only one I lied to, okay? Can you come back and help me out with this or not?”
“Who?” I demanded. “Who else are you lying to?”
Aaron
“Julia,” I said carefully. “Please don’t make this into a big thing, okay? Amy was just a little girl when you left. It was easier for me to tell her you were gone.”
“I know that,” she shot back. “If she isn’t the only one you’re lying to, though, who is the other person?”
I winced. “My mother. She’s going on the cruise with us. I’m sorry, but after all these years, she still thinks you’re a wonderful person. I don’t know how much longer she’s going to be with us, and right after you left . . .” I tried to find the words, it was still hard to talk about. “Well, she got sick. So I never told her. Now, she’s planning on your being on this trip.”
“And just when did you plan on telling me all of this?” she asked.
“I didn’t, to be honest. I was going to find some way of getting you out of it, maybe even finally tell them about the divorce.” I took a deep breath. “Now, you’re coming back here, though, and I can give my mother her wish.”
“This is insane! How can you lie to the people around you?” she yelled.
I was caught off guard. Julia was never the type of woman to yell. She was always very careful with her words. The passionate fire inside her was something new, something that I couldn’t ignore and didn’t want to admit lit a different kind of fire inside me.
“Hey,” I said stubbornly. “You were the one who was looking for forgiveness. If that’s what you want, then this is my price. Take it or leave it.”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to end the lies and rebuild a better life. Starting it this way, with so much deception, just doesn’t seem right.”
“Please, Julia. I’ve only seen my mother a handful of times since you left, and even then, it was only when I couldn’t handle any more on my own here. She’s had a rough few years too, okay? Can’t you just do me this one favor? We leave port on Friday from Florida.”
“Fine, but if I’m going to do this, I’ll need to go shopping. I can’t fly there then meet you in Florida, so I’ll just have to meet you at the gate.”
“Really? I mean, you’re really going to help me out?”
“I am,” she said defiantly. “But the only reason I’m doing this is to help level the field. Promise me that if I do this for you, you will let me be a part of Amy’s life.”
Amy. The word stung when she said it. For the last five years, it had only been Amy and me. We’d formed a bond that no one could ever break. The life of a single father wasn’t easy, and there was no way I would ever let Julia get close to her if I thought for one second that she wasn’t going to commit to her. It was hell after she left, a state of pure rage and heartbreak that I would never let myself or my daughter suffer through again.
“If you come and play along, I’ll consider it.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you in two days. You’ll send the flight information?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“I can’t believe Mom is coming home,” said Amy.
I smiled down at her. “Neither can I. Are you excited about the cruise?”
“Sure,” she muttered, doing her best to see around the people milling in and out of the front gates.
They were all waiting to board the same boat as us, but we were still waiting on one more passenger. “Listen, why don’t we go get checked into our rooms? Then we can come back out here and wait for her.”
Amy shook her head, waves of black hair dancing in the warm air. “No, Dad, I want to wait for her here.”
I looked at my mother and she smiled at me. Her hand slipped between mine and Amy’s. Amy looked up at her with adoration as my mother spoke. “Honey, why don’t you help me get checked in? Then we can have everything perfect for when your mother gets here.”
Amy sighed but nodded. “Okay, if you think she would like that.”
“I bet she would,” I said as I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
She squirmed away from me and looked around. I couldn’t believe how fast my little girl was growing up. In two weeks, she would be turning nine, and her whole world was about to change. For the first few years of her mother’s absence, I would make up stories. I’d tell Amy that Julia had come in the night, leaving behind gifts before jetting off on another secret mission, but over the years, the stories became fewer and fewer as Amy stopped asking about the estranged woman she no longer knew.
I hadn’t even noticed that her attention was no longer on me as her eyes grew wide and she started to tug on my shirt. It wasn’t until she let go and jetted away from me that my concentration was broken. Amy never took off without me. We had a very strict set of rules since it was just the two of us. I was just about to yell her name when I saw what grabbed her attention, or who, actually.
Seeing her for the first time was a punch in the gut as I sucked in a sharp breath. She hadn’t aged a day. Her black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. Her curvy frame was perfectly outlined in the bright pink sundress that she wore. As Amy ran to her, Julia dropped everything she was carrying and opened her arms as she sank to the floor. I had to fight back tears as I watched the two of them embrace.
“Awe, now isn’t that sweet? She really does love her mother, doesn’t she?” said my mother.
I nodded. “She really does.” I quickly cleared my throat and looked away. “Well, since we’re all here now, maybe we should get this show on the road?”
“Hey,” she said as she and Amy approached. Before I could speak, Julia looked away from me to my mother. “Theresa, it’s so good to see you again.”
My mother pulled Julia into a warm embrace. “Oh, Julia! It’s so good to see you too! I was starting to wonder if Aaron had made you up as much as you’re gone. Oh, well, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that later. What do you say we get moving? Amy and I were just going to check in. Why don’t you two take the bags to the loading area, and we’ll meet you in the suite?”
“Suite?” Julia asked. “I thought that we were getting different rooms?”
“Oh, don’t worry, dear,” said my mother. “I promise the walls are thick. I know it’s been a few weeks since you two lovebirds have seen each other. I really just wanted to splurge on this trip. It’s so rare that we can get together as a family. Plus, I know the financial problems you’ve had lately. I just wanted a treat.” Theresa turned away from us and back down to Amy. “Ready?”
Amy nodded but looked back at Julia. “You’re going to be here when I come back, right, Mom?”
Julia nodded. “Of course I am, sweetie! I’m going on the cruise with you guys. I just need to talk to your dad for a second.”
Amy glared at me. It wasn’t a sight that I saw often. “Don’t scare her away, Daddy.”
My mouth fell open, and I was just about to reprimand her for her tone when my mother tugged her away. We were left standing in an awkward silence as we watched them go. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and never let her slip away again. She smiled at me and took a step back, putting a little space between the two of us and making it clear that there would be no happy reunion just yet. It was a miracle that she was even there. I needed to remind myself of that.
“Listen,” I said cautiously. “I really appreciate your coming down here like this. I know it’s not ideal.”
“No,” she whispered. “It’s far from ideal, but it’s good to see you and Amy. Your mother seems to be doing well.”
“She had a scare with cancer a few years ago, but it seems to be in remission now.”
“Aaron,” she said, her hand touching my shoulder. “You never told me that. I would have come and visited her.”
I shook my head. “She asked me not to say anything. Plus, I wasn’t really in a good place to see you again either.”
“We do need to talk at some point, Aaron. You know that you’ll have to tell them the truth. It might be easier if you just did it now.”
“Please, Julia,” I begged.
I shot a glance at my mother, who was kneeling as Amy chattered away. Our eyes locked, and I saw the suspicion, though she did a good job of hiding it. My heart started to race. I couldn’t ruin this trip for her or Amy. I needed to hold onto the secret just a while longer, but the two of us standing here like strangers wasn’t going to win anyone over. I looked away from my mother and smiled at Julia, effectively disarming her argument as I took her hand and pulled her closer to me. I just needed a little bit of time for Julia and me.
“Please, just give me this week, then you’re free to do whatever you want. You can tell them both the truth and I won’t stand in your way.”
She nodded her head, her clear eyes afraid but willing as I pulled her even closer and kissed her softly on the cheek. It was a struggle for me to stop myself there, but I didn’t want to push my luck. When she took a step away from me and I saw the faint smile on her lips, I let out a breath of relief.
“All right, Aaron. We can do this your way, but it doesn’t mean
we can’t talk. A lot has changed in five years. We can’t run from it forever.”
“I promise that we’ll have time alone this week,” I said as I slipped the last of our luggage onto the belt headed for the boat. “Just play along.”
She nodded and reached out her hand. I took it into mine as we headed back in the direction of the boat. It felt so right to be holding her hand, like a piece of me that was missing had suddenly returned. The sensation was accurate. After all, she was the mother of my child. But she had left us both behind. The nagging memory wouldn’t let me forget about our past. I broke away from her just as Amy ran up to us. She had no problem taking my place holding her mother’s hand.
“Are we all ready?” asked my mother.
I nodded. “Everything is good to go.”
“What do you think?” my mother asked Amy with a glint in her eye. “Do we have everything we need for an amazing vacation, honey?”
Amy looked away from her and up at Julia. “Everything is perfect now.”
Julia smiled down at her. “I couldn’t agree more.”
I cleared my throat and started walking in the direction of the boat. It was going to be a very long week.
Julia
Good God, he looked amazing. He was always tall and lean, but his once shaggy hair was shaved closer to his head now. He’d kept himself in amazing shape, making me think of my own body, but he didn’t seem to notice the few extra pounds I’d gained. Aaron was the type of man who loved a little bit of extra meat on the woman in his life, and as his eyes traveled down the length of my body, a surge of desire coursed through me.
“Here we go,” I said as I handed Theresa a daiquiri. “I got you a soda, Amy. I thought with it being a special holiday, you could have one.”
I glanced at Aaron and he nodded. “Why not? So, we’re all settled into the room. Who wants to go for a swim?”
Second Chance Draft: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 6) Page 27