by Rhonda Marks
“There’s no need—” Suddenly the door crashed open and Warren, the security guard stepped inside.
“Do we have a problem in here?” he asked, pointedly looking at Dirk, his hand hovering over his walkie-talkie.
Dirk simply smirked at the man and then looked at her. “Tell him everything’s fine.”
Everything within her wanted the security guard to escort Dirk out of her office and out of town, but that wouldn’t solve her problem. “It’s alright, Warren. You can leave us now.”
Warren scowled at Dirk before turning around and exiting the room. Dirk immediately rose and locked the door behind him.
“I don’t want any more interruptions.”
She so wanted to get up and unlock the door, but in order to get this over with as soon as possible, she remained seated. “Fine.” She took a deep breath and picked up where she left off.
“For weeks after you left, you were the talk of the town. Tensions were running kind of high, especially when people at the university started blaming us for making you transfer.”
“The town had nothing to do with my decision to leave Pittsburgh. It was my choice.”
She lowered her eyes and slowly nodded her head. “I know that. But nevertheless, Devinne took a lot of grief from the press and some people around here put the blame on you.”
“And how did your father get them to keep quiet about my son?” His tone of voice was so icy, Caroline almost reached for her sweater draped on the back of her chair. And the intense look in his eyes probably scared the hell out of opposing players.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat and boldly met his gaze. “He never said.” She crossed her fingers beneath the desk after telling that little lie. Knowing her father, she had a feeling he put a lot of pressure on folks around here to not disclose the identity of JJ’s father.
He snorted and shot out of his chair, making her jump. “You expect me to believe that?”
“You can believe whatever you want,” she responded, as she stood also.
The pair continued to glare at the one another, their chests heaving with anger. Suddenly, Dirk smiled at her and promptly sat back down.
Caroline’s heart flipped because she recognized that smile. It was the one he gave her before lowering the boom. The one before delivering his final statement in any of their arguments.
“Alright, what is it?” she warily asked.
“I’ve got a proposition for you.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
“And I don’t care.” He continued to sit there, smiling, making her squirm in her seat. He hadn’t forgotten how to get to her.
“We’re going to make a deal. You will get the town to honor me. Welcome party, parade, the whole bang.”
“And how am I going to do that?”
“Don’t care how you do it. Not. My. Problem.”
“You’re asking a lot.”
“I’m not done. In exchange for the town’s cooperation, I’ll agree not to take my son.”
Caroline gasped and felt as if the floor had given way. He just threatened to take her son! “Now see here—”
“No, you see here. You and this damn town kept my son from me for ten years. Ten years! I missed out on the beginning of his life.” He let his head roll back while he seemed to be counting under his breath.
Once he gained control, he continued. “You have until Tuesday morning to contact me with a schedule and details of my ‘Welcome Back to Devinne’ celebration. I’ll have my people provide whatever money you need to carry it out.”
“And if I can’t pull it off?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
He stood and started for the door. “Then my lawyers will be in touch regarding custody.”
Caroline sprang from her seat and reached him just before he opened the door. She covered his hand with hers and their gazes collided. “Please, Dirk. Don’t do that,” she begged, tears in her voice. “JJ is my world.”
He stopped and turned to face her. “You didn’t give me a chance, Caroline. Didn’t give us a chance.” He took a deep breath. “How would you feel if you were in my shoes, huh?”
“Pretty upset. Angry.”
“And that’s where I am.”
“I’m sorry,” she said in a tiny voice. “Please, let’s sit down and work this out.” When he wavered, she grabbed hold of his hand and tugged him away from the door.
He slid back into his seat and this time she took the one next to him. “Dirk, I’m going to do my best to convince the town to go along with your plan, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Then we’ll talk about supervised visitation.”
“Um, no.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“Not supervised visitation. Shared custody.”
“I don’t think that’s wise. He doesn’t know you.”
“And whose fault is that?” he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. “The child is ten years old, and by his greeting when he saw me, I’m going to assume he’s known about me for a while.”
“I’ve never hidden your identity from him, Dirk. As soon as he was old enough, I told him who his father was.”
“And you told him not to tell anyone else, right? A Jackson family secret?”
“Well, not really.”
“Because everyone else knew and passed that information down to their kids.” When she slowly nodded her head, she could feel the waves of anger rolling off of his body.
“I gotta go,” he announced, once again heading for the door. This time she did not stand. She was tired and frightened. However she envisioned meeting Dirk again, this certainly was not the way she thought it’d happen.
“Tuesday morning, Caroline. No later.” With that he was out the door. The tears she’d been holding back finally began. How was she going to protect her son?
Chapter Three
“Can everyone take their seats so we can get started?” Caroline ushered in the rest of the group then headed for the front of the room. She took several deep breaths, willing her heartbeat to throttle back to a normal rate. Her speech was written out on a couple note cards held in her trembling hands. Please God give me the strength to get through this For JJ’s sake.
The main room of the municipal building was packed with people, most of them milling about and talking excitedly. It had taken Caroline most of Monday to get the word out concerning the meeting. Luckily, she had a full house.
“I know you’re all wondering why I’ve asked you here tonight.”
“I bet it has something to do with the appearance of a certain quarterback yesterday,” Mrs. Brown crowed. “Heard he was mad as all get out when he left town.”
To say he was angry was an understatement, Caroline mused. She thought his jaw was going to break the way he worked it back and forth. And there was no mistaking his disappointment in her keeping his son’s existence from him. But it couldn’t be helped. She had to do what was in JJ’s best interest. And hers.
“Yes, he was a bit upset. But that brings me back to the reason for this meeting.” She made sure she had everyone’s attention before continuing. “Well, his team will be playing in Pittsburgh this Sunday, and the network wants to do a story about his life here in Devinne.”
Someone in the back of the room gave out a loud snort and soon others began to grumble. “With all the trouble his going out to the west coast caused us, why should we cooperate?” That statement drew a lot of ‘yeahs’ and ‘that’s right’.
Caroline held up her hand to silence the crowd. “Let me finish, please?” The crowd settled down and she continued with her speech.
“He tried to talk them out of coming to town and filming, but as the winning quarterback of the latest championship team, the country wants to know all about him. So, that’s why he’s back.”
Emanuel Hines, the school principal stood and cleared his throat. “I may not be a native of Devinne, but I’d like to think you’ve accepted me as
one of your own.” Many heads bounced up and down in agreement. Caroline suppressed a groan. The man had been after her since his arrival three years ago. Despite her numerous refusals to date him, he hadn’t received the message. Right now he was eying her like she was an oversized piece of birthday cake, making her skin crawl.
“In my opinion, I don’t think this town owes him anything. From what I’ve heard, the town went out of its way to help him once his parents passed and what did he do once he got a little taste of fame? He turned his back on you all and skipped town.” More shouts of agreement filled the room.
Caroline glared at him and held her hands up to silence the crowd once more. “Before I was interrupted, I was about to tell you that despite my best efforts, Dirk saw JJ yesterday. He knows.” Groans went up from the crowd and the previous nods turned into shakes of the head.
“I assume he didn’t take it very well, huh?” the mayor stated.
She gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. “He didn’t, especially when he realized JJ knew of his existence”. She could still see the pain on his face when she confirmed JJ was his son and hear the anguish in his voice when he repeated his son’s name. Just thinking about yesterday’s events made her shudder.
The mayor stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her quaking shoulders. “I’m sorry about all of this, Caroline. What else did he say?”
Collecting herself, she stepped out of his embrace and began talking again. “He kind of hinted that if the town cooperated with the film crew, then he wouldn’t take JJ from me.”
A collective gasp went up. “How dare he?” Mrs. Brown shouted. “We won’t let him take JJ.”
Caroline gave them a wobbly smile. “It won’t be up to me or any of you if he decides to take me to court for custody. He’s JJ’s father and despite what any of us thinks, he has a right to see his son.”
“Tell us what we should do to help, Caroline?”
She let out her breath and finally let a smile cross her face. “I’m thinking we can do everything in three days, starting with a welcome home gathering Wednesday evening. Thursday he can address the kids in a joint assembly, and we’ll finish things off with a parade leading to the football game on Friday.”
“Sounds like a lot of trouble,” Emanuel groused. “Especially since the man doesn’t deserve it.” A few in the crowd mumbled their assent, and Caroline glowered in Emanuel’s direction.
“Anyone who doesn’t want to help can leave now.” She held her breath and waited for people to exit. But no one did to her relief. “Since we have that out of the way, let’s break up the work and get moving. I’ll need an estimate of costs: Dirk said he’ll cover them. Wednesday will be here before we know it. We have to make the film crew believe we’re proud of Dirk, or I’m screwed.”
“I’ll have the signs ready,” Frank Collins, the owner of the town’s printing company offered. “Just let me know what you want on them, okay?”
“Thanks, Frank.”
“And I’ll get started on a menu for the party.” Mrs. Brown pulled a pen out of her towering hairstyle and snagged a piece of paper from a nearby table.
Soon the room was humming with the sounds of people tossing ideas back and forth. Caroline visibly relaxed and flitted between groups, throwing out her suggestions. Although there was still some lingering discontent amongst the group regarding Dirk, they acknowledged that maybe they could have some fun in the process.
“You know this is all a waste of time.” Caroline turned to face her father who had a sour look on his face. “That idiot is still going to try to take JJ. Mark my words.”
Caroline tried to tamp down the anger attempting to rise up, and forced herself to smile at her father. “Dad, he gave me his word.”
“Yeah, and I bet he gave you his word in the past, too. How’d that turn out?” He smirked and strode away before Caroline could answer. Please God, let my father be wrong about Dirk.
Dirk’s thumb hovered over the number for his attorney in his phone’s contact list, but just like the last ten times, he couldn’t do it. Caroline said she was going to meet with the good residents of Devinne last night and let him know their decision regarding cooperating with the network. She didn’t call last night and now it was past ten in the morning. Why hadn’t she contacted him?
He wiped away the sweat rolling down his face and arms and tossed the towel aside into a growing pile beside him. The gym in the hotel was deserted except for a couple employees who’d been instructed to leave him the hell alone. His nerves had been stretched thin by Sunday’s events. It wouldn’t take much for him to snap.
Trying to sleep the last couple of nights had been a waste of time. Thoughts of Caroline, his sweet Caroline filled his mind every time he closed his eyes. They used to joke about the song, claiming the songwriter had been transported into the future and was singing about her. He even considered going to the university that sang “Sweet Caroline” during their game. But after everything that happened to them, he was glad he hadn’t. His memories were bad enough to handle.
How had things fallen apart between them? One day their future looked so bright, the next it all went to pot. They weren’t attending the same college, but they were in the same city at least. He was well on his way to becoming one of college football’s stars and she was a top scholar in her class. Then all hell broke loose. He ended up on the other side of the country and Caroline threw his love back into his face.
“There you are.” Monique’s stiletto heels clicked on the gym’s hardwood floor as she approached him. As always, she was impeccably dressed, today wearing a slate grey pantsuit with a purple blouse underneath. “You’ve been down here forever.”
“It’s not like I have any place to be,” he growled. “The rest of the team’s not getting in until Thursday.”
“By your sparkling demeanor, I’m guessing Caroline hasn’t contacted you yet.”
“And you’d be correct.” He walked over to the free weights and hoisted a couple twenty pounders. Standing in front of the mirrored wall, he alternated lifting them, concentrating on his form. He envisioned that each time he lowered a barbell, it was pounding into the head of that bastard Ty Jackson. That brought a smile to his lips and lightened his mood a bit.
“Can I ask you something?” Monique asked as she propped her butt on the edge of a nearby weight bench.
“Have I ever been able to keep you from asking me anything?”
“No, but you’ve failed to answer me on numerous occasions,” she replied with the hint of a smile.
He did on more rep, set the weights aside and grabbed a new towel. “What do you want to know?” he asked while wiping down his body once more.
“What happened to you and Caroline? Is she the reason you’ve never had a serious relationship? And how come this was the first time you’ve been home since college?”
Dirk tilted his head to the side and stared off into space. Monique sure knew how to get to the heart of the matter. But how was he going to answer her when he didn’t know the answers himself? A quick look at her and the determined gleam in her eyes let him know she wasn’t going to accept silence today. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you.” He wiped down the equipment he’d been using and within minutes they were headed back to his suite.
By the time he took a shower and ordered an early lunch for both of them, he could tell Monique was beyond ready to hear his side of the story. “Come on, Dirk! Talk already.”
He had no intention of giving her all the gory details. Even he had a hard time thinking about them. “Well, I haven’t had a serious relationship because I haven’t met the right woman.” He slid a glance at her and by the expression on her face, he could tell she wasn’t buying his explanation. It sounded hollow to his ears too, but he wasn’t going there today. He needed more time to come to grips with seeing Caroline. More time to mull over this new complication in his life.
“Alright,” she drawled. “You know that’s a lame excuse,
don’t you?’
“I’m not going to discuss my love life with you, Monique.”
She huffed and twisted her lips. “Okay, I’ll let you slide on that one. But why not return to Devinne? I mean, it’s been over ten years since you’ve been home.”
“No need to go home,” he said with as little emotion in his voice as possible. “Nothing there for me. You know my folks are dead and there aren’t any other relatives there.”
“What about friends, classmates? Your old football coach?”
“Didn’t have many friends. Most of them moved on when I did. Some are in jail or dead.”
“Was your breakup with Caroline so bad you couldn’t keep in contact with her? The way you were looking at her the other day makes me believe she was someone special to you back in the day.”
Dirk turned his head and took in a deep breath. He didn’t want to let Monique know just how close she’d hit the mark. Caroline had been the first woman he fell in love with, and truthfully the only one. Despite his playboy ways, always in the company of a beautiful woman, he never let anyone get too close. He’d experienced the kind of heartache that brought him to his knees. No way did he want to do that again.
Before she could press him further, his cell phone rang and he let out a relieved sigh. Caroline, finally. He stood and started for the bedroom. “Excuse me, I gotta take this.” Monique’s eyes narrowed as he retreated.
Once he closed the door, he pressed the answer bar. “Hello, Caroline.”
“Hi, Dirk,” she replied in a breathy voice. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No,” he lied. “I was just about to grab a bite to eat.”
“Well, I’m not going to keep you then. Just wanted to let you know everything is in place for the next three days. We’ll have a welcome back party Wednesday, school assembly on Thursday and a parade before the football game on Friday.”
“Sounds great. Did you have a hard time convincing the folks to go along?”
“A bit,” she replied. “But it’s all good.”
“I bet your father’s not happy about this.”