“Honey, you just had surgery two days ago—”
“I’ll make sure the doctor signs off on it before I get on a plane. I need to find a rehab facility that I can find a place to stay close by. I’ll do those things, and then I’m going to go find out what happens when I can spend a little more time with Kendall. If she won’t let me in the front door of her house, I plan on groveling.”
He heard the “chirp” of an incoming text.
I miss you, too.
Chapter Eighteen
* * *
DREW SPENT THE next several days learning to do the smallest things for himself, such as dressing, using the men’s room (thankfully, he figured that one out rather quickly), and eating anything that required the use of a fork and a knife. Showering was still a challenge. Someone else needed to secure his hair in the low ponytail he typically wore it in each morning. He couldn’t drive. He got picked up in the morning for conditioning and physical therapy, and he was still on painkillers for the aftereffects of a few hours of adventures with the Sharks’ training staff.
Luckily, nobody seemed to care that his wardrobe consisted of anything clean he could pull on at the moment, otherwise known as warm-ups and oversized T-shirts. He’d repacked his suitcase for this reality. After a week of dealing with the aftereffects of shoulder surgery, though, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was dim, but it was there. He was going to spend months rehabbing his shoulder, but he would recover.
Drew walked out of his house, locked the door, and stood looking at it for a minute or two. Chuck was behind the wheel of the SUV idling in his driveway. It wasn’t nice to make Chuck wait, but it was a ritual of sorts: He’d shut the door on the life he thought he would have. It was time to see what else might be in store.
Two hours later, Drew strolled into the Sharks’ head trainer’s office after his latest workout.
“Hey, Stan. Do you have a minute?” he said.
Stan had been with the team for fifteen years. He was known around the league for the excellence of his training and conditioning programs. The Sharks had benefited from his expertise. It would be smarter for his career to stay in Seattle for the next several months, but Kendall wasn’t in Seattle.
“Sure, Drew.” Stan nodded toward the chair beside his desk. “Have a seat. What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve talked with my agent and the coaching staff this morning already. I’d like to rehab in California at least four days a week for the next few months, if that will work for you.”
“Are you unhappy with what’s going on here?”
“No. Not at all.” Drew leaned forward a little and braced one arm on the desk. “There’s someone special in California—”
“Say no more,” Stan said. “Do you need a recommendation or suggestions on who to work with? I know some guys.”
“They know you too,” Drew assured him. “They would like to be able to coordinate with you and the staff here, if that will work.”
“It’ll work.” Stan stuck out his hand, and Drew shook it. “Someone special, huh? Maybe you could bring her by sometime and introduce me.”
“I’d like that. I’ll also keep you up to date with the workouts and what’s happening.”
“You do that,” Stan said. He grinned at Drew. “Guys are dropping like flies, aren’t they?” Drew knew his comment had nothing to do with injuries, and everything to do with the fact more than a few Seattle Sharks were now sporting a wedding ring. “I’ll see you in June for OTAs.”
“Yes, you will,” Drew said.
DREW HAD ONE more visit before he got on the plane for San Francisco. He hit the walk-up window at Dick’s Drive-In, and Chuck helped him get enough food and drinks for one ten-year-old and a gaggle of nurses into the back of the SUV.
“Thanks for all your help, Chuck,” Drew said as he eased himself back into the passenger seat.
“It’s my pleasure,” Chuck said. “Maybe I need to get on the Tuesday afternoon Children’s detail too.”
“I think the kids would enjoy that.” Chuck and his colleague were in the Secret Service before they decided to open their own security firm. Drew was sure Nolan would love asking Chuck questions about his job.
He felt another pang. As his shoulder healed, he could get a cheap flight to Seattle on Tuesdays. There were so many things he’d miss about his adopted hometown, but Nolan (and Dick’s Doubles) was the biggest.
After dropping off most of the food, Drew walked into Nolan’s room with a couple of bags and a huge grin. “Hey, big guy,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
Nolan was sitting up in a chair. There were a few less IVs in his arm. Drew turned to tap the sign as he always did, and he noted the indentations of fists and fingerprints in the drywall from the sheer number of visitors that had already done so.
Nolan reached out eagerly for the bags. “I’m hungry,” he said.
“That’s good, because I brought you some food.” Drew lowered himself into a chair. “Do you need me to set you up?”
“Nope.” Nolan reached into the bag, handed Drew a cheeseburger, and grabbed one out for himself. “Want some fries?”
“Sure,” Drew said.
He watched Nolan spread the napkin over the rolling table, shake a few fries out from their paper sleeve, and grab out a small container of ketchup from the bag. He uncapped it and put it where Drew could reach it.
The dark circles under Nolan’s eyes had faded. He had fresh color in his cheeks. He was energetic. He was also eating. The fries disappeared rapidly. Nolan reached into the bag to grab out another order of them.
“You seem like you’re feeling better.”
“I am. The doctor said I’m improving and I don’t have to have as much medicine.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“Yeah. My mom’s really happy.” Nolan had smeared ketchup on his cheek. Drew handed him a napkin. “You had surgery on your shoulder.”
“I did. It’ll get better. It’ll just be a while.” Drew propped his feet up on the footboard of Nolan’s bed. “No big deal.”
“Want more fries?” Nolan asked.
“I’m good. You eat ’em, buddy.” He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Maybe the best thing was to just blurt it out. “So, Nolan, I may not see you for a while. I’m going to work with some trainers and a doctor in California.” He saw Nolan frown. “Derrick and Seth already said they’re coming to visit you like always every Tuesday. Plus, there’s a guy named Chuck that works with us that might stop by too. I think you’ll like him.”
“I’ll see you again, right?” He’d wondered if Nolan’s dad had abandoned their family or what the story was. Nolan never talked about it. He had to think of a way to reassure Nolan he wasn’t falling off the face of the earth.
“You’ll see me when I’m better. I promise.” Drew let out a breath. “I’ll give you my cell number in case you want to talk.”
“I can call you?”
“Yeah, you can call me. If I’m busy, I might have to call you back.”
Nolan gave him a nod and passed him one of the chocolate shakes out of the other bag. “We’ll see each other soon,” he said.
“Yes. And you’re going to run out onto the field with me for the first game.”
Nolan grinned at him. “That means we’ll both have to get better.”
“You bet, buddy.” Drew took a sip of his shake. “We will.”
A FEW HOURS later, the flight Drew was on descended into San Francisco. The weather was perfect. San Francisco Bay reflected the blue skies above. The Golden Gate Bridge glowed a soft orange in the late-afternoon sun. The pilot set the jet down on the runway as if it were made of cotton.
Drew managed to grab his backpack out of the overhead bin and make his way into the airport. He had a driver waiting, who grabbed his suitcase.
“Where to, Mr. McCoy?” the driver asked as they strapped themselves into yet another black SUV.
Drew read Kendall’s addres
s off of his contacts list. He had a place a mile or so from her house. Maybe he should call first.
Maybe not.
The ride from the airport offered some time to make some calls, and to think. It was pretty ballsy to show up at her house without letting her know he was coming. He saw a flower stand as they exited off the freeway in Santa Clara.
“Would you please stop for a minute?” he asked the driver. “I’d like to get some flowers.”
“Sure,” the guy said.
Drew reached into his pocket for a little cash and bought a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses.
“Go big or go home,” he muttered to himself.
“Excuse me?” the woman selling the flowers said.
“Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He gave her a grin and got back into the SUV.
He wasn’t sure if Kendall was home from work yet, but there was only one way to find out. They pulled into the driveway of her house.
“Would you mind waiting a few minutes? I’d like to drop these off,” he said to the driver.
“Not at all,” the guy said. He shut off the engine and unsnapped his seatbelt.
Drew slid out of the SUV and mounted the few stairs to Kendall’s front door. His stomach was in knots. His heart was pounding. He forced himself to breathe. He hoped he’d know what to say.
Who was he kidding? He’d been rehearsing what to say for the past week. He reached out to ring the doorbell. He waited. He rang it again. A minute or so later, he heard light footsteps and a woman’s voice.
“Just a minute,” Kendall called out.
The front door flew open. She stared up at him. “Drew,” she whispered.
He cleared his throat. “I’m new in town. I was wondering if you could show me around or something. I’m planning on being here for a while, and I want to—”
She threw her arms around his neck before he could get the rest out. He wrapped his good arm around her and breathed in the scent of green apples.
“You’re staying?” she said.
“For as long as you want me to.”
Her fingers were already in his hair. He saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. “How about always?”
“Works for me,” he said.
Epilogue
* * *
One year later
DREW PULLED INTO a parking space at the Sharks’ training facility. He glanced into the rearview mirror. His passenger had no comment about visiting his workplace, at least so far. He got out of the car, opened the door behind the driver’s seat, and looped a black leather baby sling over his head. He pulled his ponytail free of the strap, reaching into a car seat to scoop up his infant daughter, Tessa.
Three months after he’d opened the damn thing at Kendall’s baby shower, he was a pro at slipping his baby into it and making sure she was comfortably (and safely) situated against his chest. He grabbed something called a “bouncy chair” out of the car as well.
Tessa gave him a gummy smile and cooed a little. His heart melted. He took her tiny hand in his. “Let’s go, gorgeous. We’ll find Mommy.”
Tessa looked pleased and glanced around as he walked through the front doors of the training facility.
He never knew it was possible to love someone else more than his own life, but now he had two of them: Kendall and Tessa. They loved him too. If he started dwelling on it, he’d be a big-ass tearful mess again. Kendall’s pregnancy had been a complete surprise to both of them, but he couldn’t remember what his life was like before he saw his daughter’s face for the first time. She had Kendall’s dark hair and his light blue eyes, a button nose, and a dimple in one cheek. He could look at her for hours. Holding Tessa while she slept on his chest was even better.
Drew paused at the reception desk so Molly could say hello to the baby. Joanna, the former receptionist, spent twenty-five years with the Sharks before being tempted away by Zach Anderson’s wife, Cameron. Joanna was now Cameron’s assistant. Molly had big shoes to fill, but she was already a team favorite. Maybe that had something to do with the huge platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies she brought in every Friday for the guys.
“She looks just like her mama.”
“She does,” Drew agreed. “I’m a lucky man.” He tenderly kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “Have you seen Kendall at all?”
“She should be finishing up with her meeting. Let me find out.” The receptionist punched a few buttons on her phone and said, “Sydney, are they out? Okay. I’ll let Drew know.” She clicked off the headpiece and said, “Kendall will meet you in the training room.”
“Great. Thank you so much.”
His wife had been hired by the new owner of the Sharks as their director of football operations five minutes after the other league franchise owners approved him. She’d managed to turn things around in San Francisco, but she wanted a change, and she wanted a lower-profile job as well. Drew, Kendall, and Tessa were now living in the big family house in Clyde Hill Drew bought before he had any idea his wife and daughter were only a year away.
Drew walked through the lobby, glancing over at the two Lombardi Trophies on display and a huge trophy case full of team memorabilia. He’d spent the past year recovering from a torn shoulder labrum and rotator cuff, and the resulting surgery to fix it. It was the greatest year of his life, but in some respects, it was the hardest. He was a happily married first-time father, but he wasn’t sure what the future held for him professionally. He was having a physical today. Shortly afterward, there would be a meeting to discuss whether or not he could play in the league again.
His teammates had practice. He had physical therapy. He missed the camaraderie of the locker room, the laughter, and the pranks. The Sharks had gone thirteen and three, but missed another trip to the championship game by a last-minute field goal. The Miners went instead. The only comfort for Sharks fans everywhere was the fact that Pittsburgh beat the Miners like a rented mule.
As Drew continued rehabbing and running, he had something else to think of besides getting back on the field: his wife and his daughter. The silver lining in his cloud was the three months he’d spent at home with Tessa. He never dreamed he’d actually find fulfillment in things like cooking dinner for his wife for the first time, or being the guy that took Tessa to doctor’s appointments and baby gym and play dates with other people’s babies. He now knew how to get baby spit-up out of anything, among other useful skills.
He still wasn’t sure about the “play date” thing. Three month olds mostly lay on a blanket and smiled at each other, but if his wife, both grandmothers, and the pediatrician assured him it was a good thing, he’d make sure it happened for Tessa.
He elbowed his way into the trainers’ room and came to a halt. The room was full of his teammates, the team doctor, and his wife, who advanced on him with arms outstretched. His teammates were applauding. He glanced around at guys who had no problem trying to remove some other guy’s lungs on a football field beaming at his little girl.
“Our little angel,” Derrick said.
“Let me hold her,” Zach called out.
“We got her a present,” one of the guys from the Sharks’ secondary said. They held up a tiny pink bedazzled T-shirt with the Sharks’ logo, pink fleece warm-up pants, and some baby-sized tricked-out football shoes. “We also got her an early admission letter to USC.”
“You do realize I graduated from UCLA,” Drew said.
“Is that so? USC? The University of Washington might have something to say about that,” one of the rookies called out. This started a loud discussion among Drew’s teammates as to where Drew and Kendall’s daughter would matriculate.
Tessa wasn’t ready to commit. She let out a big yawn and squeezed her daddy’s thumb.
“This is going to go fine,” Kendall said. “We’ll be waiting for you when it’s over.” She reached into the baby sling for Tessa. “I’ll take that,” she said as she pulled the sling over his head. She kissed him and whispered, “I love you.”
Drew walked out of the room to more clapping and Kendall’s voice: “I was hoping she’d want to go to Stanford for undergrad like I did.”
Drew could hear the laughing and trash-talking all the way down the hall.
The team doctor was thorough. Drew was poked and prodded and had an MRI. When it was all over, he was asked to wait in the doctor’s office. Kendall was already there with the baby.
“How’d it go, champ?” she said.
“I had a blood draw. I wasn’t offered a cookie,” he said.
She let out a laugh. “I’ll bet we could find one on the way home.”
“I’ll bet we can too.” He reached out for his daughter. Kendall handed her over. “How’s my daddy’s girl?” he cooed to Tessa as he settled her in the crook of his arm.
Kendall moved her chair closer to his. He slung his other arm around the back. A year ago, a family wasn’t in his frame of reference, and now he had one. He pulled his wife a bit closer.
A minute or so later, the team doctor walked in and sat down in his chair behind the desk.
“Well, Drew, would you like the good news or the bad news?”
Kendall reached out for his hand. Tessa had already fallen asleep on her daddy’s chest.
Drew took a deep breath and braced himself. He hoped the news was good, but he wasn’t sure. Mostly, he knew Kendall would face whatever it was with him.
“I’ll take the bad news, Doc.”
The doctor tossed his file and the CD of information from Drew’s MRI on the desk. “Your days as a house husband are numbered, Drew.” He grinned at Drew, Kendall, and Tessa. “Everything looks great. The repair looks solid and has healed much faster than we anticipated. We’ll ask you to wear a lightweight brace for the first practices with the team, but I feel confident that you are ready to return. I’m not putting any other restrictions on your training regimen or your ability to play.”
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