by Abby Tyler
When he walked into the tea shop, however, his heart sank to see Sandy’s cake decorating table cleared and empty.
Betty sat on her stool behind the counter. “I’m guessing those lovely flowers are not for me.”
“Sandy not working today?”
“I would leave Sandy to tell it, but it’s already all over town,” Betty said. “I’m surprised Sadie didn’t march down to your room to tell you what happened.”
Every muscle in Andrew’s body tensed. This sounded bad. “Is she okay?”
“That depends on what you call okay,” Betty said. “That baby daddy decided to step out from that rock he’s been hiding under and exert some paternal influence over the boy.”
“Jerry Lavinski?”
Betty shifted uncomfortably on her stool. “It would appear so,” she said with a frown. “Funny that when he was asked to take responsibility for what he did eighteen years ago, he insisted he had nothing to do with child. But now that the boy’s showing promise in college football, he wants to be involved.”
“Caden is an adult. What can his father do?”
“That I don’t know. But it must be something. Sandy ran out of here like her skirt was on fire.”
“Thank you, Betty.” Andrew turned to leave the tea shop. “Did she say when she’d be back?”
“Not a word.”
As Andrew walked back to his car, the flowers still in his hand, he wondered if he should call Sandy. Or text her. They’d exchanged numbers after the first centennial meeting. But until now, they had always met face-to-face to make decisions. It seemed presumptuous of him to write her about this. But at the same time, he wanted to help her if she needed it.
He sat in his car a good ten minutes, phone in hand, trying to decide what to do. It was high school all over again. Only now, the stakes were higher. Sandy had a son. And apparently the boy’s father was still around. No one had known that. Sandy hadn’t mentioned it.
Now that he thought of it, how had Sandy supported herself all these years, living out of town with no job and the sick mother who had eventually passed away?
Even if the mother had provided some sort of income, it ended years ago. Sandy had skirted the issue when River brought it up. This whole situation made one thing clear to Andrew. As much as he liked her, he didn’t really know her at all.
In the end, he set his phone down, instead scrawling a simple note on a piece of paper. He left the note and the flowers on Sandy’s door.
If she wanted to let him in on her secrets, he would be waiting.
Chapter 14
Sandy tried her hardest to coax her mother’s ancient Ford Focus to climb over sixty miles an hour as she buzzed down the highway between Applebottom and the community college where her son played football.
She couldn’t believe that jerk Jerry Lavinksi had reentered Caden’s life at this point.
But she should have known.
Caden was exactly the sort of son that made fathers proud. Charming, good-looking, athletic.
Maybe it was petty, but Sandy didn’t want Jerry to have a piece of her son. He hadn’t been there for the nights of no sleep, the diaper changes, the banged-up knees, the broken arm in fourth grade, or his failing to pass algebra, requiring summer school. All the heartaches, large and small, and especially those moments where a father would have given him a guiding hand, had been hers to bear.
She had done it all, even while living in near poverty and under the thumb of a mean-spirited mother. She kept going even when her mother died, and Sandy had to go it completely alone, isolated from everyone to keep the secret that Jerry was now telling the world.
If only she hadn’t taken the hush money, eighteen years worth of quarterly payments to raise the kid and say nothing.
But who was she kidding? Her own father had left them. Her mother had worked cleaning houses until she was too sick to do it anymore. There was no way she could have raised Caden without Jerry’s family’s money.
And she’d done right by him. He was in college! Neither Sandy nor either of her parents had managed to finish high school. Maybe it wasn’t any big fancy school, but with Jerry’s money cut off right as he graduated, they didn’t have a ton of options. The full scholarship to play football on this little team had been a Godsend. Academics weren’t Caden’s strong suit, and this junior college would enable him to learn a trade with football paying the way.
Surely Jerry didn’t think Caden had a future in pro ball. Caden was talented, but his experience was very limited, coming from a tiny school like Applebottom.
She knew exactly what had prompted Jerry to call, though. He’d seen that fumble and video of Caden from the first game. It was the sort of clip that got passed around and Caden’s full name had been on it, as well as the school where he played.
So Jerry had come. He wanted a little bit of his shunned child’s fame.
Oh, that made her so angry.
Surely by now he had his own family, a wife, and other children that he wasn’t shocked or embarrassed by.
But Jerry was no doubt the same snake-charming liar that he had been as a teenager. No doubt Caden would be starstruck. Jerry was his father, after all.
Sandy didn’t know what to do. Caden deserved to know his father, good, bad or ugly. The whole thing just filled her with fear. And if she admitted it in her heart of hearts, the big worry was that she would lose him, that Jerry would convince him to move so far away, that Sandy couldn’t jump in the car and see her son. Jerry had family with money and connections that could turn a young man’s head. And all the years that Sandy had spent would be erased.
The college was only a half hour east of Branson, and she felt as though she had barely collected her thoughts when she arrived at the tiny campus.
It was nothing like the University of Missouri, but it did have a collection of sturdy buildings, a student center, and a dormitory where Caden lived.
She pulled into a visitor spot and hurried toward the dorm, texting Caden that she was there.
He wrote back to say that he was downstairs in the lounge, and to brace herself, because Jerry was still there.
For the first time since she realized Jerry had found their son, Sandy stopped to consider her appearance. She didn’t want to walk in looking like a harried spinster who had failed at life.
Thankfully, because of Andrew’s regular visits in the shop, lately she always cleaned up a little, putting on lip gloss and making sure her outfits were pressed and looked the best they could. Her brown skirt was simple, and the white sweater a little thin, but she was respectable.
She smoothed her hair and hurried up the walkway to the dorm. Facing Jerry after eighteen years was not something she had ever expected she would have to do.
Time to confront her past.
Jerry and Caden sat together on the sofa in the lobby of Caden’s dorm.
The eighteen years had changed Jerry, but she would’ve known him anywhere. His sandy brown hair was still the same color as his son’s. While Caden was growing up, Sandy hadn’t thought that he looked like his father. But seeing them side-by-side, she had to admit the resemblance was quite striking. They had the same angular nose and square jaw. When they both looked up, Sandy’s breath caught at the similarity in their somewhat grim expressions.
Of course, with the time that had passed, Jerry was clearly no longer an athlete. His Georgia Tech sweatshirt stretched over a belly paunch. He sat leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together.
“Hey, Mom,” Caden said, his head hanging low, and instantly Sandy’s maternal senses went on alert.
Jerry’s eyes narrowed, as if he were prepping for a battle.
“Hello, Caden,” she said to her son, then shifted to his father. “Jerry.”
In the moments while he stared at her, unspeaking, Sandy sorted through every conversation she’d had with Caden about his father, assuming they’d all been discussed while the two of them waited for her.
; Naturally, Caden had asked who his father was and where he might be. Sandy kept her answers simple. He was someone she had only known for a little while, and he had moved away. It hadn’t made sense to explain the hush money, the payments, her inability to name the father or counteract the lies spread by him. That was too much for a child.
If Caden had heard other things in his years in Applebottom, he had not shared them with her.
But even now, sitting beside his flesh-and-blood father, she did not sense that Caden was angry with her for failing to disclose this information. Now that she had arrived, his face had relaxed, his hands loosely clasped, a position that mirrored his father.
Sandy sat down on a chair adjacent to the sofa, trying to stuff down the feeling that she might throw up. When Jerry still didn’t say anything, as if all his words were huge secrets not to be trusted to her, she decided to just keep going. “So Caden, how are your classes going?”
“Fine,” he said. “I’m doing all right.”
“Practices going well?”
“Yeah. Coach says I’ll probably play more this weekend.”
Now Jerry sprang to life. “Exactly! The boy is bigger than this pathetic school. I’ve already called the coaches at three of the schools I attended,” he said. “He’s a legacy. He ought to be playing with the big dogs.”
Sandy stuffed down her first reaction, which was to throttle him, and coolly asked, “You attended three schools? Did they kick you out of the first two?”
She had struck home. Jerry’s face colored purple. “You’ve holed this boy up in smallville. He was destined to be great. He’s my son, after all.”
Caden’s eyes shifted to the floor. He surely didn’t know what to make of this man who had come out of nowhere with his blustery proclamations.
“These are Caden’s decisions to make,” Sandy said carefully. But she did not take the edge out of her voice. She wanted Jerry to know that she was not the shy, fumbling girl she had been at fifteen.
Or even a couple months ago. Decorating in Betty’s shop, seeing her work in a newspaper, and now, after a glimpse of what normal dating life with a nice man looked like, she felt strong. Jerry could do nothing to her. Not anymore.
“The boy’s still wet behind the ears, and he’s obviously been coddled by his mother,” Jerry spit out.
“Caden is a smart, capable young man,” Sandy countered. “You don’t get to waltz in here after eighteen years and derail all the progress we’ve made over his life. You didn’t earn that.”
“But I paid for it,” he said. “You got money for this boy. It’s about time I got to see a return on my investment.”
Sandy shot up from her chair. “He’s your son, not a piece of real estate. And I find it very interesting you are willing to claim him now that he’s a football player.”
“Mom!” Caden said. “Enough!” He turned to Jerry. “I appreciate you coming down here to meet me. I’ve always wondered who you were. But you don’t get to tell me what to do. And I’m an adult now. Legally, you have no say in my future.”
Sandy’s heart swelled with pride. Caden was strong. He had found his way. She had done right by her son.
The color in Jerry’s face moved all the way into the roots of his thinning hair. “As your parent, I can go to the Dean of the School and unenroll you.”
Sandy took a step closer to Jerry. “Actually, the terms of the contract were that I could not list you on the birth certificate. So until you get a lawyer and have it legally changed, you are no one to me, to Caden, and certainly not to the officials at this school.”
Jerry’s mouth opened, then closed. “I’m his father. You and I both know it.”
“You certainly didn’t think so at the time. You said maybe it was the whole basketball team.”
Caden’s faced colored pink. “Mom…”
“That’s what he told everyone.” She would not let Jerry upset the well-thought-out plan she and Caden had put together.
Jerry’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take the contract to them. It’ll show that I’m the father.”
“Go right ahead,” Sandy said, her voice low. “But you only get to see him if he wants that. And if he doesn’t, I’ll be glad to help him get a restraining order taken out on you.”
Jerry stood up. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Sandy took one step back and gestured to the visitor’s desk, where a wide-eyed woman sat with her hand on the phone.
“Literally one wave from me, and she calls the police, I’m pretty sure once they hear the situation, they’re not going to be on your side.”
Jerry stalked toward the door. When he had made it about halfway across the room, he turned back to them. “This isn’t over. That is my son, and I am going to guide him to be the person I think he should be. And that’s not some half-baked second stringer on a pointless junior college football team. I have every intention of showing up at the next football game with a recruiter and new options for my son.”
Sandy wasn’t going to let him take off with the last word. “Maybe if you had been around, he could’ve gone to one of the schools that kicked you out. But at this point, Caden gets to decide how much involvement you have in his life. He’ll call you. Don’t call him.”
When Jerry had safely exited the door, Sandy turned to her son. “You okay? I had no idea he would do that. None. I haven’t heard from him one time since his family forced me to leave Applebottom.”
“He made you leave?”
“Yes.” Sandy sank back into her chair. She waved at the woman by the telephone to show they were all right.
It was time to come clean with her son.
“Your father didn’t want anything to do with me once I got pregnant. He told everyone in Applebottom that the baby wasn’t his. One day, his father—your grandfather—came to our house with a lawyer. His family does have a fair amount of money. They offered to pay me to raise you, if I would never tell anyone, even you, the identity of your father.”
Caden’s gaze had dropped to the floor again. This was a lot to take in. “And you agreed to that?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. I was fifteen years old. We were poor. Nonna worked as a housecleaner. We barely got by. His money enabled me to raise you without having to get a job. And when Nonna got sick and couldn’t work, it literally saved us.”
“I hope you don’t think I should be grateful to them,” Caden said.
“I don’t. It was a dastardly thing to do, to refuse to claim you, and then to say such terrible things about me. But it’s in the past now. I’m back in town, and I work in the square. The town has let bygones be bygones. So have I. So can you.”
“He can’t really tell the Dean to take me out, can he?”
“I don’t think so,” Sandy said. “He has no proof he’s your father, and even if he did, I’m not certain he could do anything with you being over eighteen. But to make sure, I will go there myself to let them know that there’s a bit of a situation.”
Caden set up, tugging at the bottom of his T-shirt. He looked young and vulnerable, despite being the size of a full-grown man. Sandy’s eyes pricked with tears as she looked at him, all the hurt that he had to carry.
“At least now you know that he’s out there,” she said. “If at some point you feel like you’ve outgrown this small college, or if some bigger college does come knocking, he’s certainly a resource. Just know exactly how much you can trust him. And always question what his motivations might be for helping you.”
Caden rubbed his hand across his head. It was late afternoon, but he seemed tired.
“Early morning practice?” Sandy asked.
“Every day.”
“When’s your next class?”
“Twenty minutes,” Caden said.
“You should go grab your things then,” she said. “I’ll stop by the Dean’s office. Don’t worry.”
She stood up. Caden embraced her in a long hug.
“Thank you for coming, Mom,” he said.
“I’m sorry I dragged you all the way over here.”
“No, you did the right thing. It’s just an hour drive. I can leave the tea shop. Betty is perfectly capable of watching over it herself.”
“As she’s done for a hundred years,” Caden said.
Sandy smiled. “Exactly.”
She sent him back upstairs and headed over to the woman at the desk to assure her that things were fine and ask directions to the Dean’s office.
Jerry Lavinski. She never thought she would see him again. But he was back.
Chapter 15
On the drive back to Applebottom, Sandy’s shock wore off and a slow burn of anger began to build. She repeatedly smacked the steering wheel and railed at Jerry Lavinski. How dare he show up in their lives right now? How dare he threaten Caden’s future? How dare he try to force his involvement in Caden’s life at this late date?
And of course, now there was the subject of Saturday. Caden had an away game she’d planned to skip in favor of the first one at the home field. But Jerry’s threat to show up and disrupt Caden’s place on the team meant Sandy really needed to go and intervene.
She would have to cancel her date with Andrew.
What was she doing dating Andrew anyway? She couldn’t even confess about what had actually happened eighteen years ago. Hush money and contracts and how she’d basically sold her silence. She was keeping this huge secret from him, from the entire town.
What she really needed to do was make an entirely fresh start. Wasn’t that what Andrew had told her? Dream big. Maybe that was exactly what needed to happen. Get out of this town. Get away from the old ghosts.
If she put her mind to it, she could take the little extra money she had right now and invest it into her sad little house. She’d use her artistic skill to make it something cute and interesting. Or trendy. Or something. If she got enough money out of it, she could move to St. Louis, or, gosh, California. Or, New York. Why not? Somewhere completely different.