Out of My League, Part 3

by Sharon Cummin

  Parker wrapped his arms around my mom and hugged her.

  “I won't let you down,” he said.

  My dad was right. My grandma had made enough food for a baseball team, and it was delicious. By the time we were done, I was exhausted. It had been a very long day, and I couldn't wait to get to sleep so I could get back home to the kids, but I also wanted just a little more time with my parents and grandma.

  We'd just sat down to watch a movie when I heard my phone ring. Worried that it was Sammie calling about the kids, I hurried to answer it.

  “Hello,” I said, without even looking at the name of the caller.

  “Cassie,” a man said. “This is your realtor.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Is there a problem?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “Are you still in town?”

  “I'm three hours away,” I answered. “Why?”

  “You're not going to believe this, but we have a bid on the house, and they're offering exactly what you asked. I literally put the sign in the yard only two hours ago. They have the money already too. If you don't mind driving back up here tomorrow, you can sign right away and be done. If not, we can wait for an even higher offer. It's totally up to you. I just wanted to catch you before you got all the way home.”

  “I'll take it,” I said, without even thinking about it. “If they've offered what I asked, then I'm fine with it.”

  “Great!” he said. “When the banks and things open in the morning, I'll get right on it. You might have to sign later in the day. Is that okay with you? The buyer doesn't have a problem with it.”

  “That's fine,” I said. “It will take me three hours to get there, so make sure you give me enough notice.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I'll talk to you tomorrow then.”

  As soon as I hung up the phone, I looked over at Parker.

  “It already sold,” I said. “Can you believe that?”

  “It is a really nice place,” he said. “That does seem ridiculously quick though.”

  “That's what I thought,” I said. “I'm happy though. He said we can sign tomorrow. Do you mind going back up there? I'd love to get this over with.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Great!” I said. “I'm going to go get ready for bed.”

  Parker stood up, planted a huge kiss on my lips, and hugged me. When we were done saying goodnight, I hugged my grandma and my parents, and I felt better than I had in a long time, as I walked out of the room.

  “You're going to be right there with her?” I heard my grandma ask Parker, as I headed up the stairs.

  “Yeah, why?” he asked her.

  “Just make sure you are,” she said.

  I walked into my room and closed my door. Why was she so concerned, I wondered? It couldn't be that hard to sign some papers. She was worried over nothing.

  I got ready for bed and fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. It really had been a long day, and the next wouldn't be any shorter. At least it would be over. I'd be done.

  I got up the next morning to go downstairs and help my grandma with breakfast. We all ate, played cards together, watched a show, and I was just getting ready to help with lunch when my phone rang. It was the realtor letting me know everything was good and that they'd be ready to sign around four o'clock.

  I made some sandwiches for Parker and me for the road, we told my parents and grandma goodbye, and we headed back up to the vacation house. Parker seemed off, but I couldn't figure out why. He ate his food and barely said a word.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Fine,” he answered, with tension in his words.

  “You didn't have to come,” I said. “You could have stayed there, or I could have rented you a car to get you home.”

  “It's fine, Cassie,” he said, a little too rough for me.

  “What is your problem?” I asked. “Did one of my parents say something to upset you?”

  “No,” he answered.

  “What is it then?” I asked.

  “It's nothing,” he said sternly. “I said I'm fine.”

  “I knew you coming with me was a bad idea,” I mumbled under my breath.

  He'd been fine when I went to bed, I thought. What the fuck had happened between then and us getting in the car? I was aggravated that he wasn't willing to talk about it, so I turned the radio up and didn't speak either.

  When we pulled into the parking lot of the realtor's office, I was too pissed to wait for him. Instead, I swung my door open, got out, slammed it shut, and took off for the front door of the place. I reached for the handle, pulled the door open, and took one step in.

  “Cassie,” I heard a voice I knew all too well, and I froze, causing Parker, who was on my heels, to run right into me.

  “Jeff,” I hissed.

  Jeff looked from me to Parker.

  “You,” Jeff snapped.

  “Yeah, me,” Parker snapped back.

  “Jeff's already signed the papers,” my realtor said, looking up as if everything was fine and the man who signed didn't have the same last name as me.

  “A little heads up would have been nice,” Parker barked out at the realtor.

  “I'm sorry,” the man replied, not as an apology but from confusion.

  “You couldn't have told me that my ex husband was buying my house?” I asked.

  “My house,” Jeff snapped.

  I stormed over to the desk that Jeff was standing on the other side of, and I looked him in the eye.

  “Where do I sign?” I asked.

  Jeff didn't look at me. Instead, his eyes were glued to Parker, who'd stayed right behind me.

  I signed on each line the realtor showed me, and before I knew it, we were done. He handed me everything I needed, verified that the money had been transferred into my account, and told me we were done. Without another word, I turned, grabbed Parker's arm, and only made it one step before Jeff opened his big mouth.

  “I wouldn't have bought it if I really thought you were fucking him,” he growled out.

  Parker stopped and turned faster than I thought possible.

  “Watch your fucking mouth,” he growled back.

  “What are you going to do, hit me again?” Jeff snapped out, before turning his attention to me. “Can you believe he hit me? Do you really want someone like that?”

  “Really?” I asked him, in a tone more stern than I'd ever taken with him before. “This coming from the guy who hit me. How about you tell me what you did to make him hit you.”

  “How long did you wait to fuck him?” Jeff hissed out at me. “Did you even wait a week, or were you looking for your next gravy train right away?”

  Before I knew what happened, Parker had Jeff pinned to the wall with his feet dangling beneath him.

  “Parker,” I yelled. “Do not risk anything for him. I'm begging you. He is not worth it.”

  Parker got right in Jeff's face.

  “Just so you know, I don't need her whole family behind me,” Parker snapped out at him. “I could take you out with the money I have alone.”

  Parker let go of Jeff, who hit the ground in a thud.

  “If you ever come anywhere near her, you will regret it,” Parker said, as he stepped away from Jeff and grabbed my hand.

  I squeezed his hand so tight. Seeing him, standing there, defending me, only made me love him more. I was safe with him. I knew he would never hurt me. I also knew he'd do whatever it took to protect me, and that was the best feeling ever, one I never wanted to be without again.

  We started for the door, but I stopped and turned back toward Jeff.

  “Just so you know,” I said, “I'm not spending one dime of your money on the kids or me.”

  “What?” he asked, from where he was still sitting on the ground.

  “I'm paying my lawyers. Then I'm giving it all away,” I said.

  “How could you do that?” he snapped. “Do you know how much money that is?”

>   “I do,” I answered. “Do you know how many people I can help with it? I'm done with you, Jeff. You cheated on me. Then you put your hands on me. I don't want you in any part of my new life, and that includes your money. I don't need you.”

  “Because you have him,” he replied.

  “It has nothing to do with him,” I said confidently. “Your crazy if you think I'd ever be stupid enough to let myself depend on someone else to live again.”

  “She hasn't let me help her once,” Parker added.

  “I have made a home for the kids and me, and I work every day to pay for that and everything else we need,” I said. “That feels damn good, better than I ever thought it could. Goodbye, Jeff.”

  With that, I turned and walked out with Parker by my side.

  The moment we were on the road, I looked over at him.

  “You knew,” I said. “That was why you had an attitude. How?”

  “Your grandma,” he said. “She told me she thought we'd see a familiar face, and she was right.”

  “How does she do it?” I said, more to myself than to him.

  “I don't know, but that woman gets it every single time,” he said.

  When I finally pulled up outside of his apartment, I was so damn ready to go home.

  “Thank you so much for going with me,” I said. “I honestly don't know what I would have done today without you there.”

  “You would have been fine,” he said. “You're stronger than you think, Cassie.”

  He leaned over and gave me a long, passionate kiss. If Sammie and James hadn't been expecting me, I think I would have gone in to spend some time with him, but they were, so I needed to go. It was already going to be bad enough hearing my brother go on and on about Parker and me being together. Add to that the fact that Jeff was there, and I was in for one long discussion.

  “I love you,” he said, as he pulled away from the kiss.

  “I love you too, Parker,” I said. “I don't know what I've done to deserve you.”

  “I am pretty great,” he said, as he got out and leaned in to grab his bag, “but so are you. I think we're pretty good together.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  He took a step back but didn't shut the door.

  “One other thing,” he said. “I will take care of you and the kids, and you will let me.”

  Then he shut the door and walked away.

  Chapter 30

  Parker

  Cassie text me as soon as she got home from picking the kids up. When I asked her about James, she said it had gone better than expected. He hadn't even mentioned me, and I was glad. It wasn't something he needed to be putting on her shoulders in the first place. She'd been through enough and deserved some rest.

  In the weeks that went by, I went to Sammie's place as much as I could, and it was great, but the days Cassie went too were even better. Watching her play with her kids always melted my heart. I was damn proud of my woman. I noticed her taking pictures of the kids, of the kids and her, of me, of my kids, of my kids and me, and of all of us together. I'd even taken a few of my own. She didn't know it, but I'd changed my social media picture to one of us all together. I was proud to have her as mine, and I didn't care who knew it.

  I'd text my ex so many times to ask if I could take the twins to Sammie's, and each time, she'd turned me down, so when she actually said yes, I was sure I'd read it wrong, but I wasn't. I called Cassie, and she let me pick the kids up from daycare so they could go too. She met us there after work, and we had a blast. When I saw her post a picture of all of us on her social media page, I was so damn happy. It was something small, but it mattered a lot to me.

  I was even more shocked when my ex agreed to let the kids go to a game. Of course, it cost me, but I didn't care. I'd have given her an extra million just for them to be able to see me play.

  They were so damn happy when we picked them up. Cassie and the kids came with me. The twins were going to stay with her when I needed to be with the team. When the coach found out they were there, he let me bring them all down. The kids were all so excited, and the guys were great with them. I kept Cassie tucked in next to me the entire time, and I could tell she was just as happy as I was.

  During the game, I looked up to see the four kids standing there watching with Cassie and Jake right there with them. I waved up at them multiple times, and each time, they'd jump, yell, and cheer. They were my team, my crew, my family. That was when it hit me. Cassie was the one, she truly was it for me. I was going to make her mine for good, I just had to figure out when I was going to make my move and hope she wasn't going to pull some I can do this on my own shit. She was my woman, but I was going to make her my wife, it didn't matter what I had to do. I wanted to look up every time I played at home to see my family standing there, rooting for me, just like I would always do for each and every one of them.

  Chapter 31

  Cassie

  Things were going great for Parker and me. We were having so much fun together in and out of the bed. He was gone a lot, but soon he'd be home more, and I was looking forward to it. Both of our families were meshing very well together. Even though he'd been gone so much, we made it work. I'd been so worried that something would happen and he'd change his mind about being with me or that he'd just go and be with someone else, but he hadn't. I'd been to his apartment often, and some of those times he hadn't even been home. When he'd come in from being on the road, he'd come to my place. He really did love me just as much as I loved him. I was starting to believe it down deep.

  We'd been around James and Lance, and neither of them had given us shit. I couldn't believe it, but I also wasn't about to bring it up myself to ruin it. Most of the time, I only saw James at work and Lance at Sammie's place.

  Things were getting back to normal slowly with my family, but there was still a small wedge between Lauren and me. I wasn't nearly as upset as I had been, and I was beginning to realize it wasn't completely her fault.

  I was sitting at work, looking out the window, and the money from the divorce popped into my head for the millionth time. It was still there, in a separate account, not touching any of my hard earned money. I'd moved into James and Sammie's house a year before. It had been a long, sad year, but it had been amazing as well. I didn't want the money, and I didn't plan to ever spend one dime of it on the kids or myself, but it was still there. Why? Was I afraid I would need it? Even if I did, I would never want Jeff to be the one to help me. What if the kids needed it, I wondered? They wouldn't. They had me, and they had Parker. Their dad hadn't asked about them once since we'd left. That was pretty sad. The even sadder part was that they never asked about him either.

  I reached into my desk, grabbed my purse, and pulled out the list I'd been keeping of the money I owed James. I still had the receipts for each time I bought things, even the big bill for the clothes I bought the day Jeff almost got me busted. Just looking at the receipt had me laughing. The amount I spent was ridiculous. I'd never spend that much at once, not anymore, I thought. I could still see the look on James' face from when he paid the clerk, and it made total sense why that look was there. At the time it hadn't made sense at all, but a year later, I got it. Then there were receipts for each time he gave me twenty here or twenty there. It didn't seem like a lot when it was happening, but it added up to be so much more than I would have guessed. There was also the furniture and apartment expenses he'd taken care of so I could move into my own place. I even added in the money it would have cost for the things to fix the dent my phone made. On a separate part of the page, I added together the money for both of the lawyers. There was no way my brother was paying for any part of my divorce. That was all on Jeff. By the time I was done, what I owed my brother was actually not small at all. It was huge. I looked down at the total amount and then back toward his office door.

  “He's an amazing brother,” I whispered to myself.

  Even though he kept something huge from me, I knew he loved me. I'd been gone fo
r so long, but when I showed up needing him, he dropped everything to help me. I was so upset to find out that he had another sister, but it really hadn't impacted my relationship with him. He really did have enough love to go around. James was a great man, and he was married to an equally great woman. She put up with way more than anyone should have when it came to me, and even though she'd said some words, she was still there.

  I reached back into my purse and took out the checkbook I'd gotten for the account that held the divorce and house money, and I wrote the first check. It was paying my brother back for every penny he spent on my divorce. Then I pulled out my other checkbook, the one that held the money I actually worked for, and I wrote the first check of many with my brother's name on it. Then I walked into this office and handed them to him. When he looked down at them, his eyes grew huge.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “That is the money I owe you for my divorce,” I said. “Including the second lawyer. You were right, it was a good idea, and it wasn't your job to pay for it. The other is my first payment toward what you've given me since I got here.”

  “Cassie,” he said in warning.

  “Cash them, James,” I said. “I need you to cash the big one soon. If you don't, it will sit in that account forever, and I don't want that. I'm going to close it the second all the money is gone. I need to know that my life has changed and that I'm a better person than I was a year ago. You cashing that check is going to help with that.”

  “I'm so damn proud of you,” he said, as he got up, came around his desk, and hugged me tight, “even if you're with that damn Parker guy. You're a different person, Cassie. You should be proud.”

  I nodded, as I hugged him back.

  “I don't know what I would have done without you and Sammie,” I said. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You would have been fine without me, Cassie,” he said. “You're stronger than you think you are.”

  “That's what Parker said,” I said, before I could stop the words from coming out.