Touchdown Baby

by Rose Harris

  “Is that his little girl who you brought with you this morning?” Melanie asked.

  At the same time Krista questioned, “How do you feel about him dating Carmen? I read they might be getting engaged in the magazine at the grocery checkout.” The image of Jace marrying the famous actress, especially after he’d explained how they originally were linked together, was laughable.

  Smiling, Ava couldn’t help but to respond to Krista and ignore Melanie. “I can’t imagine him marrying Carmen since they are only friends. You know what they say, you can’t believe everything you read.”

  Krista apparently took offense to the laughter in Ava’s voice. “They had a picture with the article, and she had a huge diamond on her finger.”

  “I saw the picture too,” Ava admitted. “They conveniently cut out the people who were standing around them. The diamond is real. People magazine said it was a loan from Harry Winston, and it was worth over one million dollars.”

  “One million dollars? Can you image wearing something that, if it were sold, could feed a small country for a year? I would have my hand clenched the entire time to make sure it didn’t slip off. What about you, Mel, can you image it?”

  Luckily, they loved celebrities, so the women continued to discuss jewelry the rich and famous wore and then discarded without a thought. Which in turn brought up a few of the parents who sent their children to the private school that employed them.

  Ava was under the assumption, since the school was private, all the students were well-off, but she was mistaken. Apparently, the school gave scholarships to children with limited financial circumstances. Donations came in from some of the families whose children attended the school, but numerous members of the Renegades heavily sponsored tuition.

  On her walk back to her classroom after saying good-bye to her new friends, Ava looked around at the students. Sure enough, with a more watchful eye, the economic class difference was evident. Not in the clothes, because they all wore uniforms, but in their shoes and backpacks. Black was the required shoe color, but there was no requirement on brand; somehow, in this small part of the world, it didn’t matter. The children all seemed to get along, and no one cared about the others’ parents and what they did for a living.

  The afternoon flew by when Ava was given the responsibility of teaching the reading assignment. When the No Child Left Behind Act went into effect, it changed the first grade curriculum, and as luck would have it, she had just written a paper about the effectiveness of phonics and common core.

  Being with children when they discovered they could sound out compound words was even better than she’d ever imagined. Their amazement and understanding when they finally put the sounds together and came out with the correct word brought joy to her heart.

  By the end of the day, Ava was exhausted but in a positive way. She’d enjoyed every moment of her day and was looking forward to finishing out her classroom studies.

  Just as she was grabbing her purse out of the cabinet in the teacher nook, Ms. Hawkins, the teacher she would be assisting for the next two weeks, asked to speak to her. Dread that she could possibly have screwed up her first day was her first emotion. The second was they were going to say she was a bad role model for the students with her picture in the paper.

  Ava sat in one of the small chairs the students used for arts and crafts and waited. Her nerves always made her twist her hands, and right now, she was fidgety.

  “You did a great job today.” The smile that came across Ms. Hawkins’s face was like a ray of sunshine. “I didn’t know what to expect from you after reading about you in the paper, but you impressed me, and that’s hard to do. You have a real connection with the children. They’re good judges of character, and for you to come into this classroom and win over even the most stubborn of them, you should be proud of yourself.”

  The praise was welcome after the horrible scenarios that had just passed through her mind. One had her sulking back to Jace’s house and jumping into the deep end of the pool just to escape the humiliation of failing. With Ms. Hawkins’s kind words, she gained confidence.

  “Thank you, Ms. Hawkins. I never considered being a teacher until the day I had my daughter. I looked into her tiny face and saw so many promises for the future, and I wanted to be able to guide her through life with a solid education and strong morals.”

  Why, oh why, did I just have diarrhea of the mouth? She is going to think I’m a total nut.

  “We all have our calling for different reasons, and you have a unique story. I’m sure you’ll succeed at being a wonderful teacher and mother. I would like you to work with a special group tomorrow during reading.”

  Ms. Hawkins explained about the lack of classroom time to give certain children the time and one-on-one attention needed to grasp basic reading skills. After discussing specific children and their needs, Ava was excited to come back the next day. Mrs. Hawkins agreed to have a summary of each student so Ava would have a better understanding of his or her individual struggles.

  Ms. Hawkins offered to leave the teaching to Ava in the hope she would find the best way to help the children grasp the necessary skills they struggled with, leaving Ava excited for the next two weeks of having Ms. Hawkins as her boss and mentor.

  ****

  The drive home took longer than Ava ever could have imagined. The traffic around the city was brutal in the early evening and made her regret passing the last McDonald’s on their way home. Ashlyn was definitely a creature of habit. She ate at the same time every day; she slept for the same amount of time during her naps. She was predictable, so when they were trapped behind a bus that carried a load of students that stopped at every driveway, Ash began to get cranky because she should have eaten thirty minutes ago.

  Jace had texted her during her lunch hour, and she was shocked to learn he and Ashlyn had only slept in her room for a couple of hours. Ashlyn had kept Jace up most of the night; only when he laid her on the bed between them did she finally settle down. Figuring she was out for the night, Jace had tried to sneak out of the room. She began to fuss again, and once he reclined back, he fell straight to sleep.

  Ashlyn’s current fussing brought Ava quickly out of her daydream, and she finally managed to bypass the bus and head toward home. She wouldn’t get dinner at her usual time, but hopefully Jace had some cookies. One would tide Ashlyn over for a little while.

  The smell of fried chicken came from the kitchen in waves as Ava opened the front door. Sniffing the air as only a bloodhound would, she followed the smell of potatoes, gravy and corn on the cob. Entering the heaven Jace called a kitchen, she stopped at the sight that appeared before her. The table was set for three with the booster seat conveniently situated between the two chairs at the end of the table. Jace stood with his back to them and placed pieces of Kentucky Fried Chicken on a platter. The sides were already waiting for them in dishes, not the Styrofoam containers she usually served out of.

  “I hope you’re not planning on taking credit for the food?” she joked as she crossed the threshold of what felt like a fantasy: the mom, dad and child sharing dinner at a table so they could discuss their day.

  “Of course I was, but since you’ve caught me, I’ll have to give the credit to the Colonel. Damn good man.” Jace looked so relaxed Ava assumed his day had gone smoothly.

  Dinner conversation flowed as Ava described her first day. When she told Jace about the little boy who ate his glue stick during art and the teacher who didn’t freak out because he apparently ate at least one a week, Jace laughed so hard sweet tea started coming out of his nose. The casual way he handed Ashlyn chunks of chicken just the right size and even fed her bites of potatoes from his fork warmed Ava’s heart. Maybe this is what we needed, time to be together without outside interference?

  Pride and admiration for her showed in his artic blue eyes as she recounted the conversation with Mrs. Hawkins. When he reached across the table to stroke her face, he was gentle. “You’re going to get this job.
When is your graduation day?”

  “May twenty-third. I told my mom and Lexi about the potential job offer after this internship when they were here. I think, when the shock of the situation wears off, she’ll realize what a wonderful opportunity this all is. Honestly, I think she’ll miss Ash more than me if I get a job in Nashville.”

  “Don’t doubt yourself. I’m sure they’ll miss you almost as much as her.” The laughter in his voice was infectious, and Ava smiled at his attempt to be funny.

  “After what I’ve put my parents through the last few years, I’m sure they’ll be happy to get rid of me.” When she continued, the laughter in the room died. “They both have been wonderful, and I owe them for giving me the opportunity to finish school. So many girls who get pregnant quit, and unfortunately most don’t ever go back to finish. It never even crossed my mind to give up my education. Honestly, it would have been easy to terminate my pregnancy or even to give her up for adoption, but from the moment I found out I was expecting, I loved her. I wanted to give her someone to be proud of, and being a college dropout with no career aspirations wasn’t someone I thought would impress her.”

  “You’re her mother, she would have thought you were perfect no matter what your profession.”

  “I know, but what kind of example would I have set? I decided to become a teacher because of the overwhelming responsibility I felt for her, and now I am most thankful for the inspiration, whether she’ll ever realize it or not.” Looking down at the table with the empty bowls, she focused on the present instead of the past. “When did this conversation get so serious? We should really clean up.”

  “What about Ashlyn’s father? Does he see her? Does he even know about her?”

  Those eyes, identical to her daughter’s, were mesmerizing, and the pressure to tell him the truth consumed her soul. Then the sound of plastic and liquid hitting the floor made her jump. Ashlyn had dropped her cup, and it splattered across the formerly pristine tile.

  “Apparently she’s done. I guess I should get her up stairs so she can get her bath. Thanks for dinner.”

  “Before you go, I asked a question. Does her father know about her?”

  The patience and acceptance in his voice unnerved her. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Roxi spilled her secret, but Roxi would never do that.

  With a hug for Ashlyn, Ava held her a little closer to her body and inhaled the smell of toddler and fried chicken, and she spoke softly. “No, and I regret not telling a little more every day.” With those parting words, Ava escaped to the sanctuary that was her temporary bedroom.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Muscles burned with every movement, and the strain felt good. The tightness of the ligaments and tendons across his chest, a direct result from the strenuous workout, were much easier to deal with than the pressures weighing on him.

  Sweat ran freely down his unshaven face, burning his eyes and soaking his shirt. With every pump of the weights, another hurtful comment that was made about him, or even worse Ava, slipped from his mind. The newspapers, both local and national, were making more out of an innocent embrace than he could ever have imagined.

  I’m a football player, not a movie star.

  If he was one of the Hemsworth brothers or Nick Jonas, he could fathom the interest in his personal life, but somehow, with one possible transgression, he’d managed to become someone to gossip about. The media coverage over the paternity issue was skyrocketing.

  “Eighteen, nineteen, twenty.” Finishing the last set and sitting up to wipe his forehead with the back of his arm, Jace envisioned his body exhausted enough to allow him eight hours of mindless sleep. Pulling out his ear buds, his way of having music without disturbing Ashlyn while she slept, he could hear his own heavy breaths.

  With thoughts of the imminent paternity test scheduled for the next day and the repercussions of what one tiny swab on the inside of his cheek would do, he stood up from the weight bench, walked to the bar bolted to the wall and forced his tired body to pump out chin-ups.

  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, his biological father kept calling and insisting they meet. He’d hoped to talk to his mom about the situation and get her feedback, but with his and Ava’s picture being in the paper, things had been chaotic. The two things that were getting him through this situation were upstairs. What am I going to do when they have to go home?

  You can’t start anything until you have answers.

  The answers would come after the testing, but he had to forget about it right now.

  With the cold metal clasped in his hands and a single goal in his mind, he said, “Forget about tomorrow.” Jace began the first of forty chin-ups before his body needed a different release.

  ****

  The large room smelled like man, sweat and work. Stepping farther into Jace’s sanctuary seemed more intimate than kissing him. This was his space. His mom and sister had designed and decorated the rest of the house, but this was all Jace. Every well-used, gleaming machine, each more massive than the next, beckoned.

  Most men had a garage they claimed as their own and spent their spare time in, whether to escape the world or just to fix a car, but Jace had his gym. The knowledge most athletes would have their own equipment seemed logical, but she’d never thought much of it.

  Ava never worked out at home, needing the motivation of people around her when she exercised. Sneaking into this private gym to squeeze in a thirty-minute workout was tempting though.

  Jace was in the corner of the room. She stood watching him as he lifted his enormous body with ease. With the play of emotions across his face, she understood the workout was more to fight demons only he could see than to keep his physical strength up during the off-season. The power in his body was exhilarating to witness, but the pain etched into his face was deep and upsetting. Ava fought the urge to walk up and hold him close until his troubles went away.

  Earlier that evening, she’d walked into his office to fax some papers to the college for her upcoming graduation, and when she had to take papers off the fax machine, she hadn’t meant to look, but they’d just been sitting there.

  What was I supposed to do, just leave them on the fax and hope they didn’t get sent with my stuff?

  The need to rationalize her nosy behavior wouldn’t get her anywhere, but she had to know what the papers meant. If she had read them correctly, he had purchased the old elementary school building. But why?

  Not wanting to interrupt his steady rhythm, Ava silently slipped onto a weight bench and visually stroked the gleaming body that was well sculpted and straining. When Jace finished his last rep and eased his body to the floor, Ava noticed the exhaustion that warred with the tension on his face.

  “You should get some sleep.”

  When he jerked and turned quickly to face her, flashing his signature smile. “I didn’t hear you come in.

  “I just got here.”

  Five minutes ago, but you don’t need to know that.

  “This is a great gym. I can tell you use it a lot.” The not-so-subtle glance down at his chest and rippling abdomen was meant to break the serious conversation they were about to have, but the flare of sexual tension that sizzled in the air was unmistakable.

  Jace grabbed for the towel that lay across an elliptical and wiped his face and chest. The sweat wiped away, his golden skin still shone with perspiration. Who knew sweat was sexy?

  Casually draping the towel around his neck, Jace stared at her. “I work out at least twice every day or at least try to. You can use it whenever you want, while you’re here.”

  Why did it feel like he was talking more about using him, than the gym? “Thanks, I may have to take you up on it.” The air surrounding them crackled with the pent-up passion, and neither moved for fear of breaking the spell, or maybe because of it. As minutes passed, it became evident it was time for the secrets to come out so they’d be able to both come together freely.

  Ava opened her mouth, in an attem
pt to tell him about Ashlyn, but as usual, she chickened out.

  I still have to be here for almost two weeks. I can’t ruin our new friendship.

  The need to fill the silence with an intelligent comment almost caused her to miss his question. “What did you say?”

  “I just asked if I woke you up. I thought with the main floor separating us, the clanging of the weights wouldn’t disturb you. I didn’t turn on the music. I know you can hear that throughout the house.”

  Rambling was something she did, not Jace.

  Nerves, was Jace nervous? Standing in nothing but gym shorts, tennis shoes and a towel around his neck, which he was twisting in his hands as if trying to wring it out, he looked uncomfortable. When he attempted to turn from her, she laughed.

  “You can’t escape me in a room full of mirrors. And you didn’t wake me. I haven’t been to sleep yet.”

  Gazes locked again, Jace took a tentative step toward her. “I wasn’t trying to escape you. I was looking for my water. Why haven’t you been to sleep yet?”

  Ava stood in an attempt to hold her ground while he continued advancing with sin in his eyes. She swallowed hard, almost choking herself.

  Who is nervous now?

  When he stopped only a foot in front of her, she wanted him to kiss her more than she wanted her next breath.

  “My water is right behind you. Do you mind moving so I can get it?”

  So softly spoken was the request, she almost missed the humor in the words. Embarrassment caused her to do something she hadn’t done in years; she punched him in the arm. The surprise on his face was priceless; she just wished she’d had a camera to capture the moment. And maybe some ice, the man’s bicep was like a steel beam.

  Once the shock wore off, Jace’s laughter filled the air that felt steamed up with his closeness. “I would never have thought you would be the type to resort to violence.”