Summer on Main Street

by Crista McHugh

  Jack’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his fingers numbed as his rented Audi sped through town, toward Rapids stadium. “I hope you’re not thinking of doing something stupid with that girl.”

  “Zoey? You’re seriously this pissed off because I asked her out? You’re not my dad. You’re acting old enough to be, but…”

  “I’m not pissed off about that. I’m just warning you, as your teammate and someone who’s been there, done that, to be careful.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Don’t be a smart-ass.”

  “Okay, Dad.”

  Jack’s foul mood didn’t improve by the time they reached the stadium, and Ryan was quick to disengage from him. His mood worsened as he and his team had a horrible showing, losing 14-2. Even though he only played four innings, he personally struck out two times and had one error. He never had errors.

  After the game, not ready to head back to his hotel, he jumped onto the back roads and opened up the V-8. He slammed the wheel with the palm of his hand. “Shit!”

  Dammit, dammit, dammit. How could Beth have done this to him? To their child? His child. Bile burned the back of his throat. His child. Just the thought of him having a kid turned his stomach inside out. Sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip. He knew nothing about being a father, had no role models to go from. His own dad certainly didn’t fit the bill.

  Jack was a ball player. He didn’t know how to be anything else. Certainly not “daddy”. He didn’t want to be anything else.

  This couldn’t have come at a worse time. He needed to focus on the game, he needed—

  I don’t have time for this. He swore under his breath, remembering his parting words to Beth. Could he have been more of a selfish ass? Dammit. Exactly why he’d never married or had kids. He was a selfish ass. Just like his dad.

  Flashing red and blue lights lit up the interior of the Audi. Jack swore again as he slowed the car and pulled off onto the shoulder. He glanced through the rearview mirror as the officer climbed out of the police cruiser and approached Jack’s window, the beam of his flashlight preceding him.

  “In a hurry to get somewhere?” the officer asked, shining the flashlight right into Jack’s face, blinding him. “Do you know how fast—?” He did the classic double take and cocked his head.

  Jack handed over his California license without waiting to be asked.

  The officer shone the light on the laminated card, then back at Jack. “Well, I’ll be damned if it isn’t Jack-Mack.”

  Jack’s jaw tightened at the nickname. It just didn’t seem right coming from a burly cop.

  “It’s nice to have you back in town, son.” The officer returned the license. “How’s the knee feeling?”

  Jack understood why that was always the first question people asked of him, but it was getting really, really old. “Good as new.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. The old children’s saying popped into his head. Was that something Lindsey would say?

  Lindsey.

  Could she really be his daughter? No. By blood, maybe, but she was Beth’s daughter. Not his.

  “—mean a lot to my grandson. He’s a huge fan.”

  Jack blinked against the flashlight beam and stared at the piece of paper the officer held out to him. It took him a moment to realize the officer was asking him to autograph the ticket he’d apparently bypassed.

  “Hold on a sec,” Jack said, reaching into the backseat. “I’ve got something better.” He pulled a baseball out of his gym bag. He borrowed the officer’s pen and signed the ball.

  He wondered how long it would be before people stopped wanting his autograph. If his knee kept him from returning to the big show, that day could come sooner than he’d ever imagined.

  For the third time today, he tasted bile.

  ***

  “Come again?”

  Jack repeated the words to his agent, Kyle Blaylock.

  Silence echoed in his ear. Jack planted himself in front of the window and peered out over the Snohomish Valley. Rain slanted sideways, making the view outside his condo look like a bad watercolor painting. The ugly morning matched his mood.

  “How do you know the kid’s yours?” Kyle asked.

  “She looks just like my sister did at that age.”

  “That proves nothing. You gotta get a DNA test.”

  Jack grabbed the end of the towel looped around his neck and scrubbed his damp hair. “There’s no need. She’s mine.” Just saying the words shot bolts of panic straight through his gut. “And it’s not like Beth came looking for me, wanting something out of me.”

  Kyle swore into the phone. “Don’t be an idiot, McCauley. That’s exactly what she wants you to think. Do you think she really ‘just happened’ to come to the game and her kid ‘just happened’ to catch a ball on the very night you returned to that shithole town?”

  Jack couldn’t believe Beth had sent her daughter—their daughter—over to him to sign her ball. Had she gotten some sort of perverse pleasure seeing that?

  Kyle swore again. “Remember what happened to Shidecky? He’d already cut the woman two support checks before he found out those brats weren’t his. And how about Martinez? Jesus, Jack. Think about it. As your agent and business manager, I’m recommending you get a DNA test. Before this goes any farther. You can’t afford to lose your focus. Not now.”

  Could Kyle be right? Could Beth really have set him up? Her expression of fear and utter panic flashed into his mind. No. She definitely hadn’t wanted him to find out about Lindsey. The thought twisted inside him.

  And totally pissed him off.

  ***

  “I thought you ‘didn’t have time for this’?” Beth clenched the cell phone so hard the plastic casing cracked.

  “I shouldn’t have said that. You caught me off guard.”

  Her body trembled. “I’m not doing the DNA test, Jack. Lindsey is your daughter, whether you like it or not. I was a virgin with you. Remember that? But frankly, I don’t care if you believe me or not. I don’t want anything from you. We don’t want you in our lives any more than you want to be in ours. You have nothing to worry about, okay?” She glanced out the kitchen window and watched Lindsey and a neighbor girl play on the swing set. Each girl was bundled up in layers against the brisk April air.

  She breathed in and out to calm herself. She and Lindsey were just fine. They didn’t need Jack McCauley in their lives messing up the status quo. Especially when he’d made it crystal clear he had no interest in being a father.

  “Do you really expect me to learn I have a daughter and not try to verify it? That it’s no big deal? This is a big deal, Beth. A very big deal.” His voice seethed with quiet anger.

  Beth’s stomach lurched as if she were swinging high like the little girls on the swing set. “You think I don’t know that?” Her temples throbbed, and she snapped, “Fine. We’ll do the test. You’ll see that I’m not lying. Then you can have your attorney write up something relinquishing your rights to your daughter, and you can go back to your exciting, successful life. Because I know you don’t have time for this.”

  ***

  “Can you believe he asked for a DNA test?” Beth shoved the papers across the desk toward Susie and rested her hip against the desk in Do-Over’s office. “Lindsey and I had to go all the way into Seattle for the blood work. I had to make up some excuse about needing to do it for my job, I had to take an afternoon off from the call center. I just don’t get it. Jack doesn’t want anything to do with her, so why does he even care?”

  Susie didn’t look at her as she started going through the papers and numbers Beth had given her. Susie was the math whiz of the sisters. “If you were in his shoes, wouldn’t you ask for a DNA test?”

  Sometimes she really hated her little sister’s voice of reason. “Not if I wasn’t interested in being her father.”

  “How does he know you aren’t setting him up, that you didn’t show up at the game on purpose, that you’re not planning on suing him for
back child support?”

  “Oh, please. Like I would ever do that.”

  “He doesn’t know that. You always hear those stories in the news about women coming out of the woodwork, claiming this famous athlete or that one is their baby’s father.”

  Her sister had a point. Dammit. “Whatever. I’ll just sign something saying I don’t want anything from him. He can just go on his merry way.”

  “Did he actually say he wanted nothing to do with her?”

  “Well, not in so many words, but he said, ‘I don’t have time for this’, and he was very clear seven years ago that he didn’t want children. The game always comes first.”

  “Maybe he’s changed.”

  Beth shook her head. “I doubt that.”

  “It’s easy to say you don’t want kids when you don’t have them, but now that he knows about Lindsey... I don’t know. Maybe he’s changed his mind.”

  “Oh, God. Don’t even say that.” Beth’s stomach clenched at the thought. “That would turn Lindsey’s life upside down.” Not to mention her own. “She’s been through so much these past couple of years. First with David leaving. Then with him dying.” She shook her head.

  “Look on the bright side,” Susie said, typing onto her laptop. “Lindsey loves Jack McCauley.”

  “She loves Jack-Mack the baseball player. The icon she’s seen on TV. The guy whose jersey is worn by all her little friends. She doesn’t know the real man. I don’t know the real man.” She rested her face in her hands. “Oh, God. My head’s going to explode.”

  Susie reached over the table and patted the top of her hand, as if she were Beth’s mother, not a younger sister. She went back to the keyboard.

  “How do you explain this situation to a six-year-old? David’s the only dad she knows, Sooz.”

  Suzie huffed under her breath at that and Beth was pretty sure she rolled her eyes. “Maybe Jack’s not your typical gorgeous, rich, professional athlete. He seemed pretty nice in person.”

  “Jack the Ripper probably seemed nice in person,” Beth grumbled.

  Susie giggled. “You’re not seriously comparing Jack McCauley to an infamous serial killer, are you?”

  Beth had to giggle, too. “They’re both named Jack.” She covered her face with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Who knows, maybe he’ll do the right thing.” Susie stared at the computer screen.

  “The only right thing for him to do is to walk away.” Hope bubbled inside Beth. Maybe he’d be quite happy to do just that. Then hope turned to a stomach ache. “But what if he wants to be part of her life? That would be horrible.”

  “Horrible for whom? You? He is her father.”

  “The last thing I need right now is for you to judge me, Sooz.”

  “I’m not judging, I’m just…” She cleared her throat. “He’s loaded, Beth.”

  Beth’s head jerked upright. “You think I want his money?”

  “You may not want it, but you need it.” Susie turned the computer screen around so Beth could see it. “You want to buy your own home and get out from under Renata’s thumb. Look at these numbers. That’s your credit score.” She pointed to the center of the screen. “And here’s what you’d need for a down payment. If you decide just to rent a place, you’d need first and last month’s payment plus deposits. I know what you make at the call center, and your small draw from Do-Overs…” Each of the sisters had a second job while their store was growing—Susie’s was real estate, so she knew what she was talking about. She shook her head. “David’s gambling took all your—”

  “Enough,” Beth cut in, holding up her hand, and turning her face away from the depressing information on the screen. She focused on Lindsey’s sweet photo on the corkboard next to the desk. “There’s not enough money in the world to justify turning my little girl’s life inside out, changing everything she knows is true and good about her family.”

  “Any good attorney will be able to get you back child support. You can use that money to—”

  “No!” She stood up and stalked across their small office. For a few moments she stared out at the empty shop. They’d closed early tonight because business had been slow. She couldn’t think clearly anymore. Her brain spun a million miles an hour.

  Just a few days ago, juggling two jobs, trying to figure out how she could afford to move, and fitting in the time to make ten dozen cookies for the baseball teams’ bake sale were her biggest problems. But now... those issues were so inconsequential in comparison.

  “How would you tell her about Jack?” Susie asked, her voice soft.

  Beth wrapped her arms around herself. “I won’t have to if he relinquishes his parental rights.” God, she hoped he did. The last thing Lindsey needed in her little life was another unreliable father.

  ***

  Jack arrived on Beth’s front porch at the exact time he told her he’d be there. He might be an ass, but at least he was a punctual ass. He held up his hand to knock, dropped his hand to his side a moment and forced a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. Stay rational, and not say what he was really thinking: this situation was completely fucked.

  He lifted his hand and knocked. Beth answered the door almost immediately, as if she’d been watching for him, which she probably had. And by the look on her face, she wasn’t any more excited about this meeting than he was.

  “I got the test results.” He made his voice carefully flat and he made no move to go inside. Not that he could have with her holding the door between them.

  “I figured that’s why you wanted to see me.” Her expression was just as flat as his felt, except for her eyes. Those green eyes had always been so expressive. She couldn’t hide the anxiety swirling in the depths. He would make this easy for both of them, short and sweet.

  “We obviously need to discuss the situation with Lindsey. Hopefully, we can come to a satisfactory agreement, one that benefits everyone concerned.”

  Beth just stared at him, the worry in her eyes turning to anger. His words had been impersonal and professional, as if they were discussing a business deal and not the life of her precious daughter. But he didn’t know how else to handle it.

  “What do you intend to do with this information?”

  He reached inside his coat, and pulled out a piece of paper. He held it out to her.

  She took it from him—careful not to touch him, he noted—and unfolded it. Her eyes grew wide with indignation. “What’s this?”

  He met her gaze directly. “It’s compensation for raising Lindsey without my help.” He waved at the check in her hands. “That should be more than sufficient for now.”

  Beth’s breathing rasped and she blinked rapidly several times. She ripped the check in half and threw the two pieces at his chest. “You son of a bitch. I don’t want your money. I want nothing from you.” She slammed the door in his face.

  Chapter Four

  Jack stared at the closed door and then at the ground. He swore under his breath, and knocked on Beth’s door again. Several seconds passed before she answered, barely opening the door. She didn’t say anything, just glared at him.

  “I’m a jerk.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “I once open-mouth kissed a horse.” He fought to keep a straight face.

  Her eyes widened, then a shocked laugh burst from her lips. She slammed a hand over her mouth. “Austin Powers.”

  “That’s something you don’t know,” they said in unison. He chuckled and a shocked laugh burst from behind her fingers.

  “I can’t believe you’re still watching those movies?” she asked, not smiling anymore, but also no longer scowling at him.

  “Of course I am.” He cleared his throat. “May I come in?”

  “Are you going to try to pay me off again, or otherwise behave like an ass?”

  “No, to the first part of the question. As for the second, I can’t promise anything. It could be a personality defect.”

  She pressed
her lips together, as if trying to hold back a smile, and held the door wide for him to step inside.

  Her little house didn’t have an entry hall, so they stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. Beth wrapped her arms tightly around her waist, not really looking at him. The long arms of her blue sweater covered her hands. Her chin-length hair was pushed back behind her ears, showing off simple silver stud earrings. God, she looked good. So fresh-faced and guileless. So unlike most of the women he spent time with.

  He pushed aside those thoughts that had nothing to do with the situation at hand and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He shot a quick glance around the small room. Simple furniture. Lots of photos on the mantel. Houseplants on every horizontal surface. Magazines and books spread across the coffee table. Boots and shoes in basket behind front door. All in all, it was very... homey. Comfortable. Lived in.

  So unlike his condo in San Diego.

  He turned back to Beth and cleared his throat. “The way I offered you money… I could have handled that better.”

  “It wouldn’t matter how you’d handled it. I don’t want your money, Jack. And I don’t… need it.” Her chin lifted almost imperceptibly, in a subtle show of bravado.

  He sighed. “I want to help you out. I’m obviously in better financial straits—”

  “Why? Because Lindsey’s not growing up in a mansion like you did?”

  The paper-thin words cut into him. There was probably more living done in this little house than the fancy place he’d grown up in. “Do you really think it matters to me what size house you live in?”

  “I’m just saying I don’t need your money, nor do I want it.”

  “Okay, let the record show you’re very self-sufficient and don’t want my help.” He could only see her profile, but saw the slight upward twitch at the corner of her mouth.

  She had a great mouth. He could specifically remember just how great a mouth she had.