“Yep.”
We’re on the way to my house in his Jeep when I let out an excited whoop after checking my email on my phone.
“I got the baseball!”
“What baseball?” Kingston asks.
“One signed by Roger Maris when he was a Yankee. I’ve been trying to get my hands on one in good condition for years. A sports memorabilia auction place outside the city had one, and I offered them the asking price so it wouldn’t go to auction.”
“Nice.”
“It’s gonna look amazing in my display case.”
“You going out tonight?”
“I don’t think so. I want to chill and watch ESPN.”
“Want to watch it at my place?” Kingston asks. “We could order some pizza and wings.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” I say as he pulls up in front of my house. “Text me later.”
“Get some sleep, dude. You look like you need it.”
I grin at him as I get out of the car. “Worth it.”
I don’t really remember much from last night. I passed out right after getting off the fourth woman from the bachelorette party. Not that I’m admitting that to Kingston.
I’m living the dream. Right smack in the middle of the glory days. Someday, when I’m much older and settled down with a wife and kids, I want to look back on this time in my life and know I did it all.
Even if it’s fucking exhausting.
Chapter Three
Indie
* * *
“I found him.”
My sister Rue gives me a triumphant look and passes me a glass of wine as soon as I walk through the door after work.
“Hmm? How’s Nolan?” I ask as I kick my shoes off.
And damn, does it feel good. I had no idea how tiring it would be to spend all day on my feet and then try to pack in a few hours of quality time with Nolan when I got home.
“He’s good. We watched Finding Nemo twice and he’s been asleep for almost three hours.”
I set the wineglass down on the coffee table and flop down onto the couch. “He’s going to be up so late tonight.”
Rue puts her palms up. “Hey, you said if he wants to sleep, let him sleep.”
“I know. I’m not saying you did anything wrong, just that I’m dead on my feet and he’s going to be asking to play and read stories until like midnight.”
“I made him mac and cheese for dinner but he only ate one bite, so there are lots of leftovers. Or there’s some quinoa salad in the fridge, too.”
My sister is three years older than me, but she’s light-years ahead in terms of having her shit together. Not only is she a legal assistant with a fifteen-year mortgage on a three-bedroom bungalow, she looks put together even when she just rolled out of bed. She swears it’s Brazilian blowouts and a pricey skincare regimen, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t look like her if I did those things.
“I’m going for the mac and cheese,” I say, reaching for my glass of wine and taking a sip. “And thank you for working from home today so you could stay with Nolan.”
“No problem. I got caught up on a lot of stuff I can’t get to at the office because people are always talking to me.” She sits down across from me in a modern, camel-colored leather chair.
“So, I have great news. I found Dean.”
I lower my brows. “You mean…?”
“Yes, your husband.”
“Ugh, please don’t call him that, Rue.”
“Well, it’s the truth. But if you’d listened to me four years ago, you could have dodged that bullet.”
“Can you not?” I beg, picking up the wineglass and turning to the side so I can put my feet on the couch. “I promise you, I don’t need any help feeling like a massive idiot for marrying him. It hits me about four seconds after I wake up every morning and is the last thing I think about before I fall asleep.”
“Why?” Rue gives me her bitchiest cringe. “He’s a worthless piece-of-shit deadbeat. Don’t waste even one more tear on him.”
“I wish it were that easy.” I take a big swallow from my glass. “But let’s not get off track. You said you found him? You didn’t even tell me you were looking.”
She shrugs. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed if it didn’t work out. We have a great private investigator at the firm and I put him on it right after Dean split. He found him today when his driver’s license was run through the statewide system in Ohio.”
“Ohio?”
Rue waves a hand. “It doesn’t matter where he is, Indie. All that matters is now we can serve him with divorce papers.”
I dream daily of divorcing Dean. His betrayal hurt like a physical wound at first, but then I got angry. Not only did he screw me over, he did the same to our son. What kind of person would do that when they have a child that needs to be fed and cared for?
I thought divorcing Dean would take time, though, since I have no money and no idea how to find him. Or so I thought.
“How much is that going to cost, though?” I ask my sister.
“I’ll pay the cost of service, and one of the attorneys at the firm said he’ll represent you pro bono.”
My eyes fill with tears. No one judges me as hard as Rue, but no one loves me as hard, either.
“Which one?” I ask, my voice breaking with emotion.
“Tom.”
“Is he the one you slept with?”
Rue gives me a pointed look. “No, Indie. And really, it doesn’t matter which one he is. If Big Bird passed the bar and offered to represent you pro bono, that would be sufficient. All we need is to get you legally unencumbered from him as quickly as possible.”
Dread swirls in my chest. “What if he fights me for custody of Nolan?”
“He can try, but given that Tom can prove child abandonment, he’s unlikely to succeed.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, tears sliding from the corners of my eyes. “I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”
“I’m always here for you. But seriously, listen to me from now on, at least on the big stuff. No dating for at least a year. You need to focus on yourself for a while.”
“And Nolan.”
“Focusing on Nolan is part of who you are,” Rue says. “You’ve been doing it every day since he was born. Even when you’re exhausted, you come home and give him every bit of energy you have and then some. I’m here to help you care for him so you can also focus on you. Go back to school, start your own business…you can do anything you put your mind to.”
I laugh and finish off the glass of wine. “You’re overhyping me. I’m not sure I can even heat up that mac and cheese, let alone have the energy to hang with Nolan when he wakes up.”
“Dean made you believe you can’t do things on your own. It’s one of the main reasons I hate him.”
I hear the pitter-patter of Nolan’s little feet approaching, and I point at Rue—a silent reminder not to bad-mouth Dean when Nolan can hear. I’m not going to be one of those parents.
“Mama,” Nolan says, climbing into my lap.