The Catcher and the Lie

by Rita Oberlies

  “Well,” she said, forcing confidence into her voice, “that’s not your call.”

  He shot upright like a rocket, hands slicing through the air. “This is crazy. When did I become the enemy?”

  Wincing, she tried to find words that would salvage the conversation. “That’s just it, Nick. We may not be enemies but we’re not exactly friends either.”

  “What’s changed since September?”

  “Me,” she answered, running her hands across her midriff. “I thought maybe there was a chance for something to develop between us, but…”

  “A baby is a pretty big development, Abby.”

  “But that’s all there is. You don’t love me. I’m not sure you even like me that much, Nick.” Feeling dwarfed and smothered by his towering presence, she stood. “We had a brief…thing. It ended months ago. We’ve moved on.”

  His arm reached out, temporarily halting her movement. “I need you to tell me how I fit into this picture.”

  “That’s just it. Your life doesn’t need to get tossed upside down.” Abby ignored the desperation creeping into her voice. “Let’s face it. You don’t need another PR mess screwing up your career.”

  He pulled back, releasing her arm. “I think you should leave.”

  “But we haven’t figured out…”

  Nick walked out, leaving her alone. His anger surprised her, even scared her a bit. This was supposed to be the easy solution. The one that would let them both walk away with a clear conscience. For Abby it would wipe away the ugly reality of forcing Nick into a lifetime bond that he never signed up for. He was too honorable and too decent to simply ignore his responsibilities. But being any man’s responsibility would just about kill her.

  Her stomach churned at the mere thought of resenting the life blooming inside her. But it could happen. Watching a bond of pure love form between a father and child, particularly Nick, would be a daily reminder of what she was missing.

  Her hands instinctively moved below her navel. Somewhere there is a man out there who is going to love both of us. For your sake and mine I’m going to find him.

  The sound of a door slamming quickly chased away her daydream. Passing through the hallway, she was surprised to see Nick waiting by the front door with a set of keys in his hand.

  “Take my truck.”

  He must have sensed what her response was going to be because he tossed the key ring in her direction. “The snow is picking up outside. Either take my wheels or I’m driving you home. Your choice.”

  Hugging her coat to her chest, she considered making a run for it. Not that she could squeeze by the solid figure currently blocking her path.

  “My car is…”

  Three steps later she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Your car is crap. You may not care about your own safety, but you will damn well make it a priority when it comes to our baby.”

  His verbal slap took the fight right out of her. Abby bit down hard on her cheek, hoping to stem the flow of tears that were dangerously close to surfacing. Something in his expression changed, softened, as his arms wrapped around her in a tentative embrace. “We’re going to make this work. I promise you, Abby.”

  They were the right words at the right time. Her hands settled around his waist, praying that the truce would last and his promise would survive the challenges ahead.

  The news wasn’t exactly welcome. After two weeks of polite phone calls and achingly careful visits, Abby had her heart set on enjoying a peaceful holiday.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, pulling apart her third frozen waffle. “Tell me exactly what he said to Kevin.”

  Bridget pivoted, using her hip to close the door of the refrigerator. “All I know is he changed his mind about flying home tonight. Apparently he’s afraid that he might slip up with his parents. He doesn’t want to risk it.”

  Tearing her food into tiny little squares, Abby’s mood shifted from irritation to guilt. “Skipping out on Christmas isn’t going to fly. His mother is liable to pack up his dad and the car, and just drive the ten hours to Boston.”

  “Hold on a second.” Bridget leaned around the corner, into the living room. “Gracie, lunch is ready. Hurry if you don’t want Aunt Abby stealing bites of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

  Abby ignored the jibe, mainly because it was true. Nerves had her shoveling down food as fast as she could swallow. Those same nerves had her doing two miles a day on the treadmill. As long as her scale stayed hidden she refused to worry over it.

  The tinkling of bells heralded the arrival of the world’s smallest reindeer.

  Bridget eyed her little ball of fur. “Kevin thinks it’s cute. She’s had that costume on for three straight days. Wore it to Stop and Shop.”

  “How red was your face at the checkout line?”

  “Think Santa Claus with blush,” Bridget said, helping her daughter adjust her tail between an opening in the chair back.

  “Daddy’s gonna give me a dollar every time I wear it out with Mommy.”

  Reaching down, Bridget gently tugged her daughter’s antler. “I’ll give you ten if you wear it to the ball park.”

  A small hand snaked out, clearly pleased with the bargain that would add to her piggy bank. “Okay.”

  Abby watched as matching smiles emerged on their scheming faces. They were truly a pair. She wondered, not for the first time, about the baby she now carried. Next month a slated ultrasound would reveal whether she was having a boy or a girl. Up until yesterday Abby was convinced she could hold her curiosity at bay, wait until she actually gave birth to discover her baby’s gender.

  Last night her thoughts shifted. Nick had called. Again. They had agreed not to share news of his pending fatherhood with anyone, other than Bridget and Kevin, until after the holiday season. The poor man was practically bursting at the seams. As his enthusiasm grew, Abby felt her own resolve falter. How on earth was she going to convince him that he would be better off stepping aside? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he started in on a list of possible names.

  “He’s on his way,” Bridget said, clearing crumbs off her daughter’s now empty chair. “I’m going to hop in the shower. I’ll be down in thirty minutes.”

  Today marked the fifth year of Kevin’s annual holiday party benefiting a local youth shelter. Dozens of local celebrities donated their time and talent to an afternoon of food and fun. It was the only time Abby dragged out her old figure skates. This year she was opting out. Nick’s participation and her pregnancy made staying home with Gracie an easy decision.

  After countless phone calls, two batches of peanut-butter brownies and several whiny emails, Mark finally agreed to take her teaching assistant Marie Bellamy to the party. His heart and his wallet were still recovering from Tropical Depression Sue Ellen Norris. Everyone, with the exception of Mark, was happy to see her stilettos hit the street in search of fresh meat last month.

  The sound of not one, but two, distinctive voices floated down the hall. Curiosity and dread had her following the trail. A warm smile greeted her at the front door. Kevin wasted no time fleeing. “I need to light a fire under Bridget. We’re going to see what it feels like to arrive on time for a change.”

  Abby watched him tackle the stairs two at a time, wishing she could follow in his tracks. Instead she forced her eyes back to the man standing in the corner. He wore casual better than most men wore tuxedos. A whole lot of women would be checking out the backside of those jeans this afternoon. It was a damn good thing she wouldn’t be stuck watching that drama unfold.

  “If I didn’t know better, I might mistake that look for hunger,” Nick said, removing his coat.

  She pushed herself to laugh, knowing it beat the alternative. “Do I look like a food-deprived woman?”

  His smile faded, leaving a tight line around his jaw. “Trust me. You don’t want to know what I think.”

  Abby fought the urge to pull the clingy fabric of her jersey away from the small bump in her
belly. Maybe the new maternity wear wasn’t such a hot idea. Listening to the advice of a salesperson, who weighed slightly more than a toothpick, had to be a cardinal sin. She racked her head trying to think of a flippant response but her brain refused to cooperate.

  “It’s only going to get worse,” Abby muttered, turning back toward the kitchen.

  “Thanks for the warning. I’m already struggling to keep my hands off you.”

  His unexpected words stopped her in her tracks. There is no way he meant what she thought he meant by that statement. She turned, curious to see what his face revealed.

  “Surprised?” he asked, snaking an arm around her rapidly disappearing hip bones. “You shouldn’t be. I can’t think of a single woman, not one, who is half as sexy as you are right now.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. That might be the dumbest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  His hand moved up to cup her chin. “You’re my ‘it’ girl, Abby. When I close my eyes and dream about a woman, it’s you. It’s been that way for almost nine months and I’m pretty sure it’s not about to change.”

  “Nine months? We didn’t even know each other last April.”

  “Not true,” he countered, lowering his hand to the soft bump on her stomach. “I met you opening day. Kevin brought me over. You were wearing a Martina McBride T-shirt with a big yellow stain. Thread-bare blue jeans. And some scary green nail polish.”

  Nick remembered. Why, she had no idea. But that didn’t stop her heart from skipping a beat. Instead of stepping out of his embrace, she lingered. “You confuse the heck out of me. I don’t know what to say to you half the time.”

  He closed the small gap between them, pulling her hips flush against his zipper. “Well, let me be perfectly clear, Abs. You may be over me but I’m nowhere close to being over you.”

  “Nick, this is about the baby. If I weren’t…”

  “Wrong. This is about me finally figuring out what I need. What I want.”

  His voice faltered, and his gaze lifted to an object beyond her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to push myself on you. I’ve made that mistake in the past. Hurt a lot of people in the process.”

  “You’re not the one who cheated, Nick. Maybe it’s time you let Alyssa shoulder the blame for your marriage falling apart.”

  He shook his head. “Yeah well, I pushed her into committing to me when she was still pining away for that asshole.”

  Abby couldn’t fathom Nick in the role of rebound lover. What woman wouldn’t fall head over heels for him? A foolish woman she decided. Then again she had been pretty foolish to fall for him.

  “You didn’t force her to wear your ring.”

  “Maybe not.” He shrugged, slipping his hands under the hem of her shirt. “But I convinced her that Paul’s sudden marriage put him firmly beyond her reach.”

  “He sounds like a selfish jerk.”

  His fingers tensed on the soft skin below her ribcage. “His wife came from a boatload of Palm Beach money. Paul liked her lineage more than he loved Alyssa. About three years into his marriage he decided he missed his old flame. You pretty much know how that turned out.”

  She looked him squarely in the eyes, willing him to understand her next words. “That’s why rebound relationships fail. Right now you’re still coming to terms with your past. The last thing you need is to jump into something new.”

  “Too late, sunshine. I meant what I said. I’m not going to push you. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to walk away either.”

  It took a moment for Abby to realize that they were no longer alone in the hallway. Stepping out of Nick’s embrace, she ignored the smirk on Bridget’s face.

  “Don’t let us interrupt,” Kevin said, tugging his wife toward the front door. “And take your time, Nick. The first hour is always slow.”

  As soon as the door closed, Abby’s pulse picked up again. “You don’t have to do this. We can figure out what’s best for our child without forcing something between us.”

  His chin dropped, and his hands burrowed into the front pockets of his jeans. “Please, Abby. Don’t just write me off. This isn’t about my past. I’m thirty years old and I damn well know what I’m looking for in a woman.”

  “But that’s just it. You don’t know me. Not really well, anyway.”

  The instant his face broke into a grin, she knew he had set a trap. “Fair enough. We’ll work on it. Starting tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He pressed a light kiss on her cheek, pivoted around, and grabbed his coat. “Don’t panic. We’ll start slow. Dinner at your place. I’ll bring the food.”

  Talk about panic. Nick wasn’t sure what unnerved him more—his mother’s message about arriving on the 24th for a short holiday stay or Kevin’s last-minute invitation to grab a beer.

  At least the bar was empty. Holiday parties and last-minute shopping probably scaled back the normal Tuesday night crowd at Smokey Joe’s. He thought about ordering a beer, but figured he had better wait until Kevin arrived. No use addling his brain.

  Forty minutes later he was clutching an empty glass trying to figure out where the conversation was headed.

  “So,” Kevin asked. “What’s your next step?”

  “Well, my mother is going to keep pushing until I tell her something about Abby. I guess I’ll just sidestep it as much as possible.”

  “Smart. But I was talking about Abby. How are you planning on bringing her around?”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be the pissed off relation. Why aren’t you nailing my ass to the wall?”

  “Hell,” he muttered. “You’re dumber than I thought. My fist would have connected with your chin immediately if I thought you were trying to blow her off.”

  Nick heard the intensity of his words and was relieved the situation hadn’t gone in that direction. “Fair enough. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not exactly what you had hoped Abby would be stuck with.”

  He wasn’t prepared for the outburst of laughter. “Cripes you are stupid sometimes. I never thought you weren’t good enough for her. Hell, you’re my friend. I just wanted you to have some distance from the past first.”

  Nick’s head dropped, guilt weighing his shoulders down. “I blew that big time. It never occurred to me that anyone, especially Abby, would believe the damn papers.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better, Bridget and I figured it was bogus. We’re used to seeing crazy stories about athletes hit the front page.”

  Their waitress returned, grabbed their empties, and retreated back behind the scarred wood bar. Instead of another beer they both switched over to soda.

  Kevin brought the topic back to Abby. “It took a while but Bridget thinks she finally understands why Abby is hell bent on pushing you away.”

  Hearing those words was a quick hit to his heart. “Care to enlighten me?”

  “It’s why I’m here, buddy.” Kevin took his time, swallowing back half of the glass in front of him before continuing. “Abby’s pretty good at keeping up her guard. She’s never had great luck with guys. They end up walking, which tells you what dumb asses they were in the first place. Unfortunately, by then the damage to her ego has already been done.”

  He hated what he was hearing. Some women might deserve to be brushed off. She wasn’t one of them. After his extended trip south, it was no wonder she shut down. He was following the pattern set by others in her life. Except in his case, that wasn’t his intention.

  “Here’s the thing I don’t understand. I’m back and I’ve made it clear that what happened was more of a miscommunication than anything else.” He brushed his hand across the top of the table. “She still insists there isn’t a relationship to resuscitate.”

  Kevin nodded, clearly not surprised by his revelation. “According to my wife, Abby is convinced this is about the baby.”

  “And that makes me the bad guy?”

  “No,” Kevin said, lowering his voice as a sm
all group of patrons claimed the table behind them. “It just makes her necessary baggage.”

  Anger shot through him. “No freaking way can she believe I’m sticking around only because of the baby.”

  “Think about it, Nick. Every guy has walked away. Now all of a sudden she’s pregnant and you’re sticking.”

  “Hell, I would never walk away from my responsibilities. But I also wouldn’t willingly tie myself to the wrong woman. Alyssa cured me of that.”

  For the first time, Kevin’s smile reached his eyes. “So, you are thinking long term with Abby?”

  He hesitated, knowing his answer was a complicated one. “I know what I want. But I also know I can’t push Abby down a road she’s not ready to travel. She needs to decide if I’m worth the risk.”

  Kevin took another swallow of his soda. “Okay. But how are you going to show her that your interest goes beyond your unborn child?”

  “That shouldn’t be too difficult. Every time I’m within ten feet of her I feel like I’m going to combust.” He saw the frown on Kevin’s face and immediately understood his reaction. “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean that it’s just a sexual thing. For the first time in my life it’s the whole complicated package.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Want a roommate?”

  Surprise and confusion registered immediately on her face. Nick liked catching her off guard. Maybe he should tell her he would fork over a fortune just to sleep on her floor. He loved her little house, now covered with tiny white lights and pine-scented wreaths. He loved the glow in her eyes when he showed up with platters of Italian food from Chateau. He loved that she didn’t flinch when he wrapped his arms around her, and kept them there until his body betrayed him.

  “Ah, let me think about that,” Abby said, pausing halfway to the refrigerator. “That would be a ‘no’. You’re too much of a pretty boy and I only have one bathroom. Not a good mix, I’m afraid.”

  “Pretty boy? Come here and say that to my face.” It was a challenge he was hoping she couldn’t pass up. Sitting across from her for over an hour had been pure torture.