by Ryan, Kaylee
“Mom says hi.”
“Tell her I said hello. What are the two of you getting into today?”
“We’re going to go to the beach. Grab some dinner. Just hang out.”
“You’re staying at my place, right?”
“Yeah, we’re here now.”
“Good. I need to get down to a team meeting. I’ll call before bed. Love you, Em.” I almost choke on the words.
“Love you.” Her voice is cheery as the line goes dead.
I need this ended. I hate this feeling of not knowing what’s going to happen. I hate that I’m so far away from her. Most of all, I really fucking hate Bridgett Stamper. I just can’t figure out why she hates Emma. One meeting that was mere minutes and they simply said hello…. What’s her end game with this? I just can’t seem to figure it out.
* * *
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Joseph’s flight was delayed. He chartered a plane and apparently there was something going on with the engine, so he didn’t get here until today. Saturday. Saturday, as in the deadline that Bridgett gave me to publicly announce that it’s over between Em and me. Something I refuse to do. Consequences be damned.
The entire team is in the private dining area eating dinner. Today has been a lazy day as Coach calls it. We ran through tapes this morning, but other than that, it’s a chill day at the hotel, to get rested up for tomorrow’s game. I scarfed down some grilled chicken and vegetables, but I didn’t taste them.
My time is running out. She said midnight, and it’s already pushing eight. I don’t know if she was bluffing or telling the truth. Something tells me it was a bluff, but it’s risky to not take her seriously. I just hope Mr. Stamper can handle this quietly.
“Landon.” Coach Neil appears beside me. “Got a minute?” he asks.
“Sure, Coach.” I catch Case’s eye from across the table and he gives me a subtle nod. Trent does the same. I broke down and told him last night. It was driving me insane and since we’re rooming together, he knew something was up. I know they have my back, but at the end of the day, it’s Joseph Stamper I need in my corner. I just hope Coach Neil is right, and he’s going to be.
Silently, Coach Neil and I get in the elevator. Neither one of us speaks as it takes us to the top floor of the hotel. I follow behind him and wait as he knocks on the door. “Come on in,” Joseph says. “Have a seat.” I want to tell him that I’ll stand, but I don’t need to piss him off too. I want him on my side. “What’s going on, Neil?” he asks.
“I’ll let Landon tell you.”
So I tell the story again. I make sure to keep my anger in check, knowing I’m speaking about his wife. I look him in the eye as I recount her visit with me. By the time I’m finished, my hands are fisted at my sides, and he’s looking… guilty?
“I don’t care what she threatens to do, I’m not ending my relationship with Emma. If I have to give up my career, then so be it.”
“Wait, hold up.” He holds his hand in the air and stands from where he was sitting on the couch. We’re now standing eye-to-eye. “You’re not giving up your career and you’re not letting go of Emma.” Her name is spoken with reverence. “I know why she’s targeting you and I’m afraid it’s my fault.”
“Explain,” I say through gritted teeth. If he made a pass at her, I’ll kill him. Why didn’t she tell me? There are a million scenarios racing through my mind.
“Have a seat.”
“I’m good.” I cross my arms over my chest and square my feet. I’m not backing down to him. I don’t give a fuck who he is. “Explain,” I say again.
“After I saw you climb the wall, and the pictures of you and Emma were everywhere, I realized that she looked familiar to me.”
“You said that,” I say, remembering our conversation.
He nods. “You see, there was this woman. Beautiful dark hair, big green eyes, looked a lot like Emma back then. We met for a week when we were on spring break. We were inseparable that week, and I was going to ask her to try long-distance until we could work it out. She was amazing, vibrant, and full of life. In just six short days I fell hard. I knew she was the love of my life. I wanted to fight to make it work. Our last night together, it was… one I relive every single day of my life. The morning after, she was gone. Nothing but a note thanking me for the amazing week and that she would never forget me. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I didn’t know her last name. I never gave her mine either. My father was the owner of the Hermosa Beach Trojans, and I was sick and tired of women coming onto me for what they thought they could get. I just wanted to be Joseph. That’s who I was with her. Just me.”
“What does this have to do with Emma? Other than the resemblance? Does Bridgett think you want to be with my girlfriend?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Seeing Emma, that brought back all those feelings even more so. I mean it when I say not a single day has gone by that I didn’t think of her and our time together. I was crushed. When I got home, Dad informed me he was ill and it was time for me to take over running the team. He wanted me to be settled, a family man, and all I wanted was my beach girl. Bridgett was a family friend. We grew up together. Her parents and mine were best friends. One night while getting piss-ass drunk, thinking about my life, Bridgett showed up. We made a pact. A marriage of convenience. She’d be my wife, and in turn, would get to live a life of luxury that being married to a Stamper brings. As for me, I didn’t have to worry about falling in love again, something I knew that would never happen. I knew there wouldn’t be anyone else for me.”
“So your marriage is one of convenience?”
“Yes. I care about Bridgett, but I don’t love her, not like a man should love his wife. Not like you love Emma.”
“I still don’t understand,” Coach Neil speaks up. “How does this involve Landon and Emma?”
“When I saw Emma, everything came flooding back. I decided I wanted to try and find her. The love of my life. I hired a private investigator. I didn’t have much to go on, but I did have Emma’s picture and one from a photo booth from all those years ago.” He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a small strip that contains two images. “She has the other two,” he says, handing them to me.
My mouth drops open. “Oh my God. She looks just like her.” I study the image that’s worn from, my guess, years of carrying it in his wallet.
“I found her, Landon.” I look up to see him watching me closely. “I found my Caroline.”
It takes me a minute to register what he’s saying and then it clicks. “Holy shit, Emma’s mom?”
He nods. “Yes. Caroline Deaton.” He says her name with so much reverence even I can feel what she means to him. “I can only assume Bridgett has found my file and put two and two together. I didn’t try to hide it. Our marriage is one of friendship. Why do you think we’ve never had any kids?”
“You’ve been married for what? Twenty years?”
“Twenty-five.”
“And you’ve been… celibate all that time?”
“No, but I had a vasectomy which pissed her off.”
“Holy shit. So she wants Emma gone thinking that if she’s around, her mom will be too and that you’ll divorce her?”
“Yes. She signed a prenup, so she’ll be well taken care of. But I’m afraid there’s more.”
“What’s that?”
“Landon, I have reason to believe that Emma… that she’s my daughter.”
I sit on the couch, my legs not able to hold me up any longer.
“The timeline fits.”
“Fuck. I get it. It all makes sense to me now.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Is it safe to say I’m not getting traded?”
“No. You’re not.”
Relief washes over me, but there is still one issue that I need to take care of. “She gave me until midnight tonight.”
He nods. I watch as he pulls out his phone and tries to call her. “Voice mail,” he mumbles before sending her a text.
>
“I have to warn Emma.”
“Wait.” There’s panic in his voice. “I don’t want them finding out like this. I don’t know if I’m her father, but I want to be, and this isn’t how I want that to go down.”
“Fine. But I’m still warning her.” Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I call Emma.
“Hey, Lucky, I was just thinking about you.”
“Yeah?” I ask, my heart slowing just from the sound of her voice.
“Yes. I bought some pillows for your living room today to liven this place up a little.” She laughs. “I hope you don’t mind. If you don’t like them, I can take them to my place.”
“No, baby. I don’t mind. Do whatever you want. As long as you’re there, that’s all that I care about.”
“Aw.” I hear Caroline in the background.
“I should have told you that I have you on speaker.”
“I don’t care who knows how much I love you, Em. Your mom included. I’m glad the two of you are enjoying your time together. Listen, there’s something going on. I don’t want you to worry, but a crazy fan is starting rumors of a trade and who knows what else. It’s not true.”
“O-kay,” she says slowly.
“I’ll explain everything when I get home. I just wanted to give you a heads-up in case the media gets a hold of this. Also, would it be possible for you and your mom to just stay at my place for the rest of the weekend? I don’t know where this chick is and I’d feel better knowing that you’re safe.”
“Yeah, I mean we were supposed to go to Aubrey’s to watch the game with her and CJ.”
“Have them come to my place. In fact, you can all just stay there. The building has excellent security.”
“Landon, are we in danger?” I can hear the worry in her voice.
“No, you’re not in danger, but I would feel better knowing you’re at my place, safe away from the crazy fans.”
“Okay. You sure there’s nothing for us to worry about?”
“I’m positive. You think I’d let you be there on your own if there was? I just wanted to give you warning. Oh, and ask your mom if she can stay a few extra days. I have some things I would like to talk to both of you about.” I catch Joseph’s eye as I say this and he looks like he’s holding his breath, afraid to breathe.
“I can do that,” Caroline chimes in. “I’ll call the office and let them know I’m taking a few days of vacation.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you girls late tomorrow night.”
“Love you, Landon.”
“Love you too, Em.”
“She’s there? Caroline is in Hermosa Beach?” Joseph sounds half excited and half panicked.
“Yeah, I flew her in to spend the weekend with Em. I hate leaving her for away games.”
“The team flies out Monday morning,” Coach Neil speaks up.
“Don’t care. I’m flying home to my girl. Fine me, bench me, I don’t care.”
“You have a family emergency,” he says with authority.
“However you want to spin it, you can. I’m on the first flight back to Hermosa Beach as soon as the game’s over.”
“Tom, hi, Joseph Stamper,” Joseph says, his phone to his ear. “I need you to contact my wife. Remind her of the terms of her prenup and let her know that I’ll be filing for divorce. Oh, and while you’re at it, let her know that anything she says in regard to any of my players and their families will be prosecuted in court. Thanks, Tom.” He hangs up and exhales loudly. “If I know Bridgett, that will stop her and if not—” He shrugs. “—I’ll take care of it.”
“You flying back with me?” I ask him.
“You’re damn right I am.” He makes another call to charter a plane for the two of us.
I thought I would come into his suite and he was going to tell me that he made a pass at Emma, or that his wife was a lunatic and thought he wanted something, anything other than what he actually told me. He could be Emma’s dad? How crazy is that? It’s such a small world. In a way, I want him to be. I want Emma to have her father, and I want her mom to stay in Hermosa Beach. I know that would make my girl happy. Besides, she’s not going to miss what comes next.
Chapter 25
Emma
It’s 1:00 a.m., and Landon should be here any minute. He called just before midnight telling me that his plane landed and he was on his way here. Mom and I are both up waiting for him. He asked us to be, which is odd, and I’m trying hard not to worry. As far as I know, the media hasn’t picked up on any trade rumors involving him. I’ve been scouring the internet searching, and nothing. That’s a good thing, but I can’t help but feel as though there’s something he’s not telling me. There’s something I’m missing in all of this.
The front door opens and I stand from the couch. I hear his bag fall to the floor and his heavy footfalls as he enters the living room. His eyes are locked on mine as he stalks toward me. When he reaches me, he crushes me in his embrace, and buries his face in my neck.
“Oh my God.” My mom breathes the words and her reaction has me pulling away.
Standing in Landon’s living room is the team owner, Joseph Stamper. He’s staring at my mom like she’s a cool drink of water after being stranded in the desert. “Caroline,” he says wistfully.
“I can’t believe it’s you. After all these years.” A tear rolls down her cheek as she stands and takes a hesitant step toward him. “At the dinner, I thought maybe I was hallucinating. You acted as if you’d never met me. I assumed you had forgotten. That our week was a long-lost memory for you.”
Landon moves to stand behind me, his arms keeping me held close to his chest. “Just watch,” he whispers.
“You’re more beautiful today than all those years ago,” Joseph tells her. “I was shocked to see you, and I didn’t want to cause a scene. But I remember you, my Caroline. I remember everything about you.”
She blushes. My mom blushes! “You found me,” she says, looking over her shoulder at us, as if remembering we’re here in the room with them. There is something in her eyes. Is she worried? She’s turned back to face him before I can get a good read on her.
“I did. I should have fought to find you years ago.”
“Wow,” she murmurs.
I watch as her shoulders grow stiff and she peers over at me. “Mom?”
“I’m fine.” She shakes it off.
“I think the two of you should talk,” Landon says.
Joseph’s eyes flash to where we’re standing, then back to my mom. “Mine?” he asks her.
A sob breaks free from her chest, but she nods. I try to break out of Landon’s hold, but he’s not having it. “Just keep watching, baby,” he whispers soothingly.
“You left,” Joseph says, his voice somber.
“I didn’t want to say goodbye.”
“I never planned to,” he says, taking a step toward her.
“No?”
“Never. I wanted you, for as long as you would have had me.” He takes another step and then another until they’re standing toe-to-toe. His hand shakes as he reaches up and cradles her face. “I loved you, Caroline. I still do.”
Mom is bawling, not even trying to hide her tears. He pulls her into his chest, and holds her while she cries. I can do nothing but stand here and watch as it all happens. It’s as if we’re watching a well-rehearsed play.
“Mom?” I ask when her sobs weaken.
She lifts her head and smiles, then looks back at Joseph, who nods. “Emma, you might want to sit down for this.”
Landon takes her warning and, with my hand in his, takes a seat on the couch, pulling me into his lap. Across from us on the loveseat, Mom and Joseph sit as well, their hands tightly entwined.
“Spring break, my last year of college,” Mom starts. She tells me how she and Joseph met, how they spent a magical week together, and how she slipped out of his room at dawn with nothing but a note left behind. “I didn’t know his last name and he didn’t know mine. We had no way to reach one ano
ther.”
“That’s why I wasn’t there,” Joseph chimes in.
“I don’t understand. Why you weren’t where?”
Mom takes a deep breath. “Emma, Joseph is your father.”
My breath stalls in my chest. “W-What?” I couldn’t have possibly heard her correctly.
“I didn’t know about you, Emma. I didn’t know how to reach your mom. When I met you, you looked just like her, and I decided it was time to find her. I assumed she would be married, and I told myself if she was happy, I’d step back, but she’s here and she’s not married, and now there’s you. I never could have imagined that I’d find her and my daughter too.”
She lied to me. “You told me he left us. You lied.”
“I did and I’m sorry. Honey, I didn’t know how to explain it to you when you were younger so that you would understand. I didn’t know how to tell you I met a man and fell in love in a week, and in that love, we made you. You were so young, and I needed you to understand.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when I got older?”
“I never thought we’d be here. I never thought I’d see him again. By the time you were old enough to understand, I didn’t think it mattered. He wasn’t in our lives and I couldn’t think of a scenario where he ever would be again.”
“You’re married,” I say to Joseph, and he nods.
“That’s where I come in,” Landon explains. He goes on to tell me about the threats and how Bridgett found the file on my mother and as a result, about me.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe this is happening.” Everything I thought I knew about my life is wrong. How could she have lied to me all of these years? “You should have told me, both of you.” I pull out of Landon’s embrace and stand. “You both should have had enough respect for me to tell me the truth.”
“I wanted to. I just wanted to find out what was going on first. You had such a bad day at work with Buckwheat and I didn’t want to make it worse when I had no idea what her end game was. I called you to warn you after talking to Joseph in case she went through with her threats. Thankfully, his team of attorneys was able to stop her.”