Cherished by You: A Found by You Finale Novella

by Victoria H. Smith

  She put her putter on her shoulder, turning to our other two players. “Griffin is definitely a family man.”

  “That he is.”

  The words came from who’d grown to be a good friend to me over the years through me playing for him.

  Greg Offerman was one of the more hands on team owners of Miami. We always saw him swing by our practices and he was one of the first benefactors to Roxie and my charity organization. He was quite active in it as well as he would speak at events when he could. I was grateful for everything he’d done for me and my brothers on the team, and like I said, he’d come to be a good friend, so I never liked to turn him down when he invited me out for a game. That day, he’d brought in some exec from Los Angeles, a good friend of his he’d said, and I didn’t mind.

  He squeezed the guy’s shoulder, Roddy, I believe his name was, though he called him Rod sometimes.

  Greg stared up at me. “That’s why Griff is one of my best. He has his priorities straight. Family first and business second, and it’s that balance that brings out the magic.”

  Rod swapped out a club for another from the caddy. “You’re right, Greg. A very good quality.” The choice seemed to please him because he passed a rather large bill into the boy’s hand in response.

  Upon setting the club to the green, he smiled at me. “The court, in general, could use more of that,” he said, then nudged Greg. “Have I found your secret to a winning team?”

  That sent us all laughing, Greg’s hand coming down on my shoulder. “Now, if I could only get his brother to sign with us for next season.”

  I got the look in his eye before he gave it to Deanna.

  She lifted her hands, her graying black hair swaying under her visor. She was acting representation until my brother acquired someone on his own. Colton had just graduated college recently, and well, he had a reputation already back at Texas State—a good one and having a brother in the game already didn’t hurt him either.

  Deanna chuckled. “I’ve given him your proposal.”

  “Mmm, yes,” Greg grunted, then pointed at me. “So now it’s time to bring him around to the right side. He has no use for LA.”

  Not one to get in my brother’s business, I waved my hands. “You know, I can’t go there. My brother does what he wants to do.”

  He was more stubborn than all of us in that way, and I also knew him to have his heart set on LA. He wanted beaches, and yeah, woman as he was only twenty-two. Miami had both those things, but they also had me, and I knew well that I wouldn’t want my older brother cock-blocking me. I also had quite a rep here myself, and he probably wanted to make something of his own. I could only respect that.

  “Maybe one day,” Greg concluded. He got his own club from the caddy, then led us on to the next hole, and that’s when the phone made its appearance again.

  I apologized the moment the buzzing made everyone laugh. I wondered if all guys got like that when their wife was pregnant. First timer, here.

  “This or that?” the text said, and next it followed up with a picture of Roxie holding bibs. One had a little red car on it and another a basketball.

  Shaking my head, I asked her if she was serious with that question.

  Then, she sent me another message: :P

  I laughed.

  “Basketball it is then ;)” she texted.

  A throat cleared and all eyes on me had me waving them off. Dang, couldn’t a guy text his pregnant wife these days without getting a hard time?

  I played the situation off, shrugging casually. “Nothing dire. She’s just shopping.”

  Deanna’s hand came down on my arm. “Oh, buddy. Make sure she never hears that.”

  Again, this guy over here was only getting a hard time.

  The rest of the morning went a lot like the beginning, friendly conversation as we went from hole to hole, and I found I didn’t have to analyze my phone as much. Roxie’s texts had pretty much dwindled down to nothing, and I assumed she had gotten her shopping done for the time being. With them more sporadic, I settled into the game a bit more and enjoying time out got a little easier with every hole. I realized then I had been a little on edge recently. These were all just new experiences Roxie and I were having at home, so I guess I was still adjusting to them.

  Once I really got into the game, my competitive nature came back, and I wasn’t distracted anymore as I sunk hole after hole in a few strokes.

  “Winner buys lunch,” Greg said, nudging me. He placed his putter to the green. Tapping, he missed the hole by several good inches, cursing, before bringing the iron to his shoulder. “Like I said. Winner buys, and I find myself pretty hungry today, Griff.”

  So, this was how these people played, huh? I chuckled. “Sure thing, Greg. But if that’s how we’re playing I expect back lunches for previous games.” He usually blasted Deanna and me out of the water. Today had been the exception to the rule.

  His belly jutted when he laughed. “Touché.”

  After handing off his club to the caddy, he went over to Rod who’d been watching our exchange with a smile. Greg squeezed his shoulder. “The boy sure is something, isn’t he? Smart as a whip and not afraid to tell it to this old goat.”

  He nudged his friend, chortling, and Rod nodded under his visor. The two stepped off heading towards the location of Rod’s ball on the green and Deanna and I followed. After a few steps, I noticed hers were a bit slower than the party we were with.

  “You know what this is, right?” she asked during our walk, and I shook my head. Her chin tipped toward the others only paces away. “He’s chatting you up, Griffin. You know Roddy is scouting for his next picture?”

  That had me stopping a little, setting my club to the green. This seemed casual enough as the two ahead had stopped as well. Roddy set his club down, aiming it, and I faced Deanna.

  “Picture?” I asked speaking from the side of my mouth. Greg had mentioned Roddy came from LA but failed to mention the specifics of what he did for a living.

  Deanna nodded. “He’s got ins at Paramount. Word on the street is he’s looking for an athlete for a cameo in his studio’s next production.” She paused a sec to watch him putt, squinting into the sun. “Sounds like your name is being put in.”

  Talk about all new territory. Film was something I’d never done before. My experience with acting had been mostly commercial with a few television appearances over the years. And those had been reality shows; things I’d accidentally been a part of as my friends were stars of some of their own. I’d gotten a few offers for some myself. Especially after all that happened in my first year.

  Roxie and I had a rough one when we originally moved here. Her history of web videos she’d done in college had quickly been dug up. Things from her past were exposed to the world by greedy people I’d brought into our lives. Naturally, after the scandal hit the media, people wanted to see more of us. They wanted us to tell our own story. But in the end, we decided to decline. We knew our story, so what did it matter what anyone else thought?

  This thing with Roddy would be different, though. And who knew, it could offer opportunities to a new world in my career.

  Deanna patted my back, most likely thinking the same. The fellas seemed to be ready to move on. They geared up, heading toward their golf cart. Deanna and I went to ours, then we both waited for the two to take off as they were ahead of us.

  Buzz.

  I couldn’t help but smile, pulling my phone out of my pocket. The texts from Roxie began again, and I answered letting her know what I was up to when she asked how I was.

  “The day is nice,” I told her. “Just trying to relax a little.”

  “You deserve it,” she responded, and I loved her for that. “I won’t bug you anymore. I just wanted to let you know I’ll have my phone off for the next hour or so.”

  That confused me a little. She never turned off her phone.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Nothing. Just seeing Dr. Dow.”


  I sat up, the world stopping.

  Everything stopped.

  Roxie saw her counselor still but not so much for care these days. They had occasional lunch outings, but as far as I knew, they hadn’t had a counseling session in quite a well.

  “Everything, um,” I paused during the text, unsure of it. I never asked Roxie about her counseling sessions unless she wanted to share. Her relationship with her counselor was a personal one, and I never violated that, but seeing as how she hadn’t sought care in so long… and with her being pregnant…

  “Everything, okay?” shot from my fingertips, and I hit send before I thought better of it.

  “Yeah, fine. Going for a quick talk. I’ll text you after I’m done. Love you. Have fun today.”

  Have fun today. Have fun…

  “Hey, Griff?”

  Greg had his hand at the top of his golf cart, grinning. “Looks like we’re both off the hook. Roddy has offered to buy us all lunch,” he said, nudging his friend. He brought an arm around him, shaking. “We’ll pick a place downtown and make an afternoon of it. Sound good?”

  Deanna glanced my way, and I didn’t miss the slight nudging she herself gave me with her arm.

  My phone burned in my hands, the screen long blank.

  Going for a quick talk, she’d said, but in the back of my mind, I wondered…

  But why?

  Roxie

  Dr. Dow placed her hands over her jeans, always so casual in her demeanor. I missed that. She tilted her head, a set of square black frames on the tip of the older black woman’s nose.

  “How have you been, Roxie?” she asked, no notebook today. It was just us today. “It’s been a little while for us, hasn’t it?”

  “It has,” I said literally feeling that time. Adjusting, I had to find the right position on the couch. I definitely hadn’t been pregnant the last time I had a session. It had been that long.

  I placed my hands over my purse in my lap. “I’m sorry about that.”

  She lifted her hand from her knee, waving me off. “That wasn’t a reprimand.”

  That I knew, but still, I did feel bad. I used to meet with her all the time, and now, we only met casually. Luncheons and what have you in a less formal setting, but sitting here in the present it seemed as if we hadn’t missed a beat, her downtown office always welcoming.

  “How’s Griffin?” she asked. “The baby?”

  Those were two topics that I could never grow bored discussing, my thoughts only happy to linger on them both.

  I smiled. “Good. Griffin’s great, and the baby,” I said, placing my hand on him. I felt him immediately, that flutter. He must have had a spot he liked right on my left side. I liked to think of it as his little cubby hole.

  I laughed a little. “He’s getting big. Healthy.”

  “Mmm. He?”

  Knowing I slipped, I sat back. “Yeah, we just found out the sex not too long ago. We’re having a little boy. Jackson.”

  “That’s a wonderful name, and I’m so happy for you both.”

  Everything with the baby still felt so surreal. I was happy, too. In fact, so much so that I felt I needed to see her that day, talk about things.

  “So if we’re good, did we just come to talk then?” she asked.

  She got right to the point, Dr. Dow. She always knew how to do that.

  Lacing my fingers over my stomach, I had no idea how to broach the subject. I didn’t know what brought me here today. I just felt compelled to and almost anxious in the urgency.

  I dampened my mouth. “Honestly, I don’t know why I’m here. I just felt like I had to.”

  I’d been tossing and turning these last few weeks. Like I said, anxious for some reason. I had so many racing thoughts and just really needed to get them out I think.

  Dr. Dow looked at me during my thoughts, smiling ever so gently.

  She lifted her hand. “You know, you never need a specific reason to come and see me, Roxie. If you feel like you should be here, then you should. No need to look for reasons.”

  That had always been her policy. She was someone for me to talk to about any and everything whether it was nothing or something. Before, that had made sense when I had so many things overwhelming me. They’d been the things to bring me in here initially, and though I felt I still had a lot to work through, and probably always would, for the first time in my life, I felt I had a sense of peace. And things had been peaceful, so much so.

  “Roxie?”

  My lashes flickered up. Dr. Dow had her head tilted, her hands on her knee.

  She crossed an ankle behind the other. “What’s on your mind, dear?”

  God, so many things, but I had no way to voice them. There were that many and organizing them seemed like such a task.

  “I guess I’m overwhelmed really.”

  “Overwhelmed?”

  Chewing my lip, I nodded, sitting back into the couch. Jackson fluttered within his little cubby hole, and I laughed a little, pressing into my side.

  That made the doctor laugh, too.

  I sat up. “Things have been just so overwhelming. The baby,” I said, smiling as I held him. “And everything with Griffin.”

  “You said he’s been well?”

  “He has and so well, Doctor. He’s found that balance. With me, his job, and the baby. He’s getting so many opportunities in his career, as well and he’s so happy. And as far as Jackson, he’s so excited.”

  The moment I announced my pregnancy, it had been like a light had created in both of us, and Griffin? It shined so much within him. He wanted to be a father so badly and basically, breathed the role already. I was giving him something he truly wanted, and I had been so honored to do so.

  “And then there’s the house,” I went on. “We’ve made renovations since Griffin had it built and they all went through so well.”

  “Your dream home,” Dr. Dow said, smiling.

  That brightness spread out on my face as well. I know it did. A strand of my hair fell over my eyes when I acknowledged what she said with a nod.

  “It is a dream,” I told her. “My life is a dream, my business.”

  “I heard about your award,” she said, sitting back. “Things are working out for you all around.”

  I never thought the world would embrace my little idea like they did, but Rox Inc. soared with its success.

  So many athletes had been matched with industry professionals through my agency, and one of the first things I’d decided to do with the blessing of that success was start the Chandler Foundation, Griffin’s support and partnership in tow. We’d had so much help from our friends with it, rooting for it as much as they had us.

  Thinking back on the success of the foundation and my own success, too, I never would have dreamed such wonder would have been possible.

  Not long after Griffin and I were married, I decided to go to law school, specializing in business law. I hoped by doing so I’d come out on the other end and be able to help people in some way. Never in my life did I think my education would allow me to do what I had. Griffin had given me startup money to go for my dreams. Rox Inc. had very much been born because of him. He always believed in me, believed in my visions. That’s probably why the success had come in the way it had, and so quickly, I think; I had so much support.

  “They are,” I said, answering Dr. Dow’s former question. Things had been working well for me and I breathed just thinking about it.

  “The award show had been quite a day.”

  “I can imagine. And everyone has been supportive? Your friends and family, of your foundation and your business endeavors?”

  “Yes, so much.” I got emotional anytime I thought about it. Griffin’s whole family had come down to see the place, my office when it first opened. And then there had been someone else.

  “My, um…” I said swallowing hard. “My dad. He’s been the biggest cheerleader. He came down when Rox Inc. opened.”

  That news pushed a dimple in the corner of t
he doctor’s cheek. “Did he?”

  “Yeah, he, uh…” It must be the hormones. I pushed a finger under my eye, catching some dampness. “He had my whole office decorated with flowers, and when he found out about the baby, he did this thing. He…”

  Emotional, I took a moment. I needed one.

  I smiled, through blurry eyes. “He air mailed a stroller down. He said my mom used it. He said he and my mom used it with me.”

  The room filled with something, something that made my throat feel tight—something that squeezed everything inside me so tight. I tried to breathe it out, but I couldn’t, a ripping sound hitting the air. A white tissue was then placed in front of my eyes, and I accepted the Kleenex the doctor had presented to me.

  “I’m so sorry,” I told her, pushing the tears out of my eyes.

  Her graying locks swayed over her cheeks as she shook her head. “Don’t apologize, Roxie. These are good tears. Only good.”

  Sniffing, I gazed up at her, feeling so silly. I smiled a little, crumpling the tissue. “I guess I’m just so… I’m just so…”

  “Happy,” she said, finishing for me. Reaching over, she grabbed my hand, squeezing, and I did the same back.

  I laughed a little. “Yeah, happy.”

  Her hand still in mine, she leaned forward. “You’re happy. You’re happy, and everything is good.”

  She was right, essentially. Everything was good. So why was I here then? Why had I come?

  “And everything will continue to be,” she said, picking up the tissue box. She presented it to me, the widest smile on her lips. “So don’t be scared of it. Just let yourself have it.”

  Let myself have it…

  What an interesting thought.

  I found myself outside about a half hour later, the tears dried and my thoughts moving in a different direction, a better direction. They didn’t feel so scattered now, all over the place. In fact…