Strike Out (12 page)

The doctor crossed and uncrossed his legs. “There is no right or wrong answer, Rennie. There’s no way of predicting how Tyler might respond. I think the best thing to do is tell him, and we’ll assess how to proceed from there.”

“So, let the chips fall where they may? That’s what you’re suggesting?” She couldn’t suppress the hysteria bubbling up inside of her. “I can’t take that kind of risk.”

“I don’t see that you have a choice. Your son needs to know, and Zach intends to tell him. You can either be a part of the process or step aside and let Zach do what he thinks is best.”

Rennie resented the doctor’s suggestion. She was Tyler’s mother; it was her job to decide what was best for her son. But Zach was his father, and whether she liked it or not, that gave him equal rights. “Fine, I’ll talk to Zach when he returns tomorrow. We’ll decide on when and how.” Rennie got to her feet, offering the doctor a stiff smile. He didn’t tell her what she’d hoped to hear, but she was paying for his opinion, so she had to respect it. “Thank you for fitting me in on such short notice.”

“Your time isn’t up,” he said, consulting the clock. “Perhaps you’d like to talk about your feelings for Tyler’s father?”

“My feelings for Zach?” Rennie could almost feel the color draining from her face. “I don’t have any feelings for him. He’s Tyler’s father, nothing more.”

Dr. Kline regarded her carefully. “Are you sure about that?”

He always made her uncomfortable when he looked at her like that. He reminded her of one of those psychics at the county fair who looked at her as if they knew something about her that she didn’t. “I’m sure.”

He sighed as though he didn’t agree with her claim but wasn’t going to challenge her… yet. “Very well. If you’d like to set up an appointment for the three of you, feel free.”

The three of them? Like a
family
session? Oh God, her stomach churned again. She had to get out before she lost her lunch all over Dr. Kline’s plush carpet. “Thank you, I’ll think about that.”

***

Rennie was sitting in the pick-up line at her son’s elementary school less than an hour later when one of the other moms approached her car.

“Hey, great party on Saturday, Rennie,” Lily said, grinning. “Josh had a blast. Thanks so much for including him.”

Rennie smiled at the heavily made up woman. She had bleached blond hair and always wore so much perfume it made Rennie’s eyes water. On the first day of school, Lily had promptly shared her whole life story, including her husband leaving her for someone he worked with and how she’d gotten even by sleeping with her hot, young personal trainer. “My pleasure, Lily. I’m glad he had a good time.” She turned down the radio while wishing she could turn the dial the other way and block out the woman’s nasally voice. The sound grated on her nerves on a good day, and it definitely couldn’t be classified as a good day.

“He wasn’t the only one,” she said, propping her hip against Rennie’s freshly washed car.

“Really?” Rennie kept an eye on the small school’s main doors, hoping her son would be out any minute to rescue her.

“Yeah, you didn’t tell me Zach Foster would be there. I would have worn my pink bikini.” She laughed, making Rennie frown. “Let’s just say it shows off my assets a little better.” She glanced at her fake breasts.

As if anyone could miss those,
Rennie thought, rolling her eyes behind her dark shades.

“So how do you know Zach?” Lily asked.

Rennie was tempted to tell her they used to be engaged—just so she could see the look of envy on her face—but settled for a watered-down version of the truth instead. “We’re working on a project together.”

“Awww, that’s nice.” She whipped a compact out of her purse so she could apply another layer of pink lipstick. “One of your little kids wanted to meet him, huh?”

“Hmm mmm,” Rennie said, watching Lily. She wondered whether Lily needed a butter knife to scrape that layer of makeup off at the end of the day.

“Well, I gave him my number,” she said, licking her porcelain teeth to remove the shiny residue her lipstick left behind.

“Is that so?” Rennie curled her hand around the steering wheel. She had no right to be so furious. Surely Zach wasn’t stupid enough to date the mother of one of his son’s classmates. He may be new to the whole parenting thing, but didn’t he know that was an unwritten rule?

“Yeah.” She giggled like a school girl. “You think he’ll call?”

Over my dead body,
Rennie thought. “I don’t know. Maybe.” She breathed a sigh of relief when Tyler ran out of the main doors with Josh by his side. “It was nice talking to you, Lily, but we gotta go. We have baseball practice soon.”

“No problem.” She wiggled her acrylic fingernails. “I’ll let you know if he calls.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Rennie muttered. She plastered on a smile when Tyler hopped in the backseat after tossing his backpack in the trunk.

“We don’t have to bring Casey home today,” Tyler said, putting on his seatbelt. “His mom picked him up early ‘cause he had to go for allergy testing or something.”

“I know, Karina told me.” Rennie watched him in her rearview mirror. It struck her that he really was growing up. She didn’t have to remind him anymore to do little things like put his seatbelt on or pick up his dirty clothes or brush his teeth before bed. Maybe she wasn’t doing such a bad job parenting after all. Their frequent, and often heated, arguments made Rennie question herself on a daily basis. One thing was certain: she wouldn’t trade her life with Tyler for any other.

“I’m so excited about the sleepover tomorrow night,” he said, grinning.

He had a couple of missing teeth and another loose one on its way out. The apple he usually had as a bedtime snack should do the trick, Rennie thought. She didn’t want Karina to have to worry about him losing the tooth at her place. Rennie suspected her son questioned the Santa and tooth fairy thing, but as long as he got cool stuff, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and be grateful.

“I bet Casey’s excited too, huh?” Rennie checked her mirrors as she backed out of her parking spot.

“He sure is. We’re gonna go through his tackle box. How come I can’t go fishing, Mom?”

Rennie knew Casey’s granddad took him to the lake almost every weekend, and Tyler was dying to try his hand at something new. Nathan had always talked about taking him, but with Tyler’s commitment to baseball and Nathan’s work, they never found the time. “I don’t know, honey. I guess because we don’t know anyone who enjoys fishing.” That wasn’t entirely true. Zach was an avid fisherman when baseball wasn’t monopolizing his time… or at least he had been. Rennie had to remind herself that she couldn’t assume he was the same person he’d been when they were together. She’d changed; she had to believe he had too.

“Is it true Zach likes to fish?” Tyler asked, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Where’d you hear that?” Rennie asked.

“I was watching some YouTube videos with him last night. One of the interviewers asked him about his hobbies. He said he liked to fish.” Tyler quickly directed his attention out the window when his mother narrowed her eyes at him.

“You were watching videos instead of doing your homework?” Rennie felt a twinge of guilt. She should have been looking over his shoulder. Instead, she’d been finalizing the details for the fundraiser tomorrow night. That was just one of the many times she missed having a partner.

“Just for a little while.” He sighed. “My science project is gonna be lame anyhow. I hate science.”

Rennie took a deep breath as she stopped at a traffic light. Their house was only a few blocks from the school, but she had to stop at the grocery store. She tried to do that before she picked up Tyler. He liked to wander down the candy aisle even though he knew his diabetes prevented him from indulging in sugary treats. “Why do you think that?” Rennie turned into the grocery store parking lot. She eyed the little café on the corner, wondering if she had time for a quick pick-me-up.

“I don’t know anything about the rainforest. They expect us to do a dio… diar…” He scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know what it’s called.”

Rennie slid her tongue into her cheek. “Diorama?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” he said, snapping his fingers. “They expect me to put all this junk in a shoe box and paste pictures inside.”

“What kind of junk?” Rennie asked, pulling into a parking spot.

“I don’t know. Kiki already has hers done. She brought it in. She put rocks and little plastic animals and fake grass and stuff like that in there.”

“Hmmm, we should be able to get that at the craft supply store,” Rennie said, cutting the engine. “When is the project due?”

“Monday.”

“Of course it is,” she mumbled, reaching for the door handle. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about.

“Can we get pizza for dinner?” Tyler asked, jumping out of the car.

“No.” Rennie met him around the front of the car. Looking for traffic, she stepped forward. He wouldn’t be caught dead holding her hand in public anymore.

“Why not?” he asked, flipping his sandy-blond hair out of his eyes. She’d wanted to take him to the salon last week, but he wanted to wait. Apparently longer bangs were “in.” She was more concerned about him being able to see than making a fashion statement, but Rennie was smart enough to pick her battles.

“Because you’ll probably have pizza tomorrow night at Casey’s house.” Overindulging in take-out food could impact his blood sugar levels. The diabetic specialist they saw four times a year had found the right dosage of insulin to control his condition, but they had to do their part by monitoring his diet carefully. “Besides, I’m making grilled chicken with spinach and mixed berry salad. You liked that, right?” She experimented with a lot of healthy recipes because she’d find half a dozen her son could live with, and before long, he’d tire of them and complain because he couldn’t eat “junk food” like his friends.

“It was okay, I guess,” he said, shrugging.

“You know, if you want to be an athlete, you have to eat healthy. Just ask Zach. I bet he eats plenty of fruits and veggies, lean protein, nuts, seeds,” she listed the items she tried to ensure were staples in Tyler’s diet. Zach had always preached the merits of eating clean. Except for an occasional beer at a party, he rarely consumed anything that wasn’t good for him. He claimed it made him feel sluggish and hurt his performance in the gym and on the mound.

“You really think so?” Tyler asked, giving her a sidelong glance as he held the door open for her.

“I sure do.” Rennie knew it wouldn’t be long before Tyler could actually ask Zach. If Zach made good on his threat, it wouldn’t be long before he demanded face time with his son.

Kevin rolled his eyes as he opened the door for his brother. “Man, I can’t believe it. A torn rotator cuff. How long are you gonna be out?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see what the doctors say when the tests come back, and then there’s physical therapy. You know the drill.”

Zach had sustained his injury during last night’s game. In the bottom of the eighth inning, they were up by three runs. The last thing he’d wanted was to leave the game, but the coach insisted. Of course, he was right to demand it, since Zach was in excruciating pain, but Zach was an athlete. He wanted to win as a team or lose as a team, and seeing the relief pitcher jogging up to take his place was never a good thing, no matter the reason.

“It sucks to ride the bench now though,” Kevin said, leading Zach into his family room. “You guys are finally having a decent season.”

Zach knew he should be upset about it too, but he kept thinking about getting more time to get to know his son. Instead of traveling with the team, he would only be obligated to attend home games. He couldn’t practice, so he would have more free time than he knew what to do with… except he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Summer vacation was right around the corner, and Tyler’s mom worked full time.

“Yeah, but what are you gonna do, right?” Zach sank into the plush sectional and put his feet up on the upholstered ottoman. He’d come to his brother’s for one reason, and it wasn’t baseball. He needed advice from his brother, the lawyer.

“You looking at surgery?”

“They’re trying to avoid it. The recovery time will be even longer if I have to go under the knife. It’s only a partial tear, so I should be back in eight weeks or less if their treatment plan works.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. Where’s Trena and the kid?” he asked, referring to his nephew and sister-in-law.

“They went to the grocery store and to run a few other errands.” He checked his watch and grinned. “That means I should have the house to myself for a whole hour. You wanna a beer?”

“No, I’m good, thanks.” Zach was certain his parents hadn’t shared his news with Kevin. He wanted to do the honors. “Have you heard that Rennie’s back in town?”

Kevin glanced at the large screen TV in the corner. The volume was turned down, but sports scores ran across the bottom of the screen. “Uh, yeah, I think Mom or Dad may have mentioned it.”

His brother was being evasive, which meant he felt guilty. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Zach asked, eyeing him as he feigned interest in the sports highlights.

“I don’t know.” He reached for his beer bottle on the end table. “I heard she’d…”

“Married. Yeah, I know. But you must have also heard her husband died.”

Kevin sighed as he faced his brother. “Man, I knew it would be a touchy subject. We all knew you’d never really gotten over Rennie. I thought you might go off the deep end when you heard she married someone else.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Unfortunately, his brother’s fears were well-founded. He hadn’t felt very stable when he spotted Rennie’s wedding photo and the image of a son he’d believed she’d conceived with another man. “Did you know she had a kid?”

Kevin muttered a curse as he swiped a hand down his face. “No, I hadn’t heard that. I’m sorry, Zach.”

“Don’t be sorry. The kid’s mine.”

Kevin’s mouth fell open, and his beer bottle tipped. He caught it just before it spilled on the expensive taupe fabric. “What the hell are you talking about?” He set the bottle on the end table and leaned forward. “You can’t be serious!”