Covering the Carolinas (10 page)

“
No, I just… you just… you had such big
dreams, and I didn’t want to hold you back,” she says as her eyes
gloss over.
What is she hiding?

“
How were you going to hold me back? We were
both going to come to Coastal and be together? Your dream was to
study Marine Biology? What changed?” Just as I think I’m finally
going to get my answers, all the color drains from her as if she
sees a ghost. All the sudden, a short little kid attacks her and
yells, mommy.
What the hell? Did he say
mommy? She’s got a kid?
I look at the little boy and
it all becomes clear as I see a miniature version of myself sitting
on her hip.
Oh. My. God. That’s my little
boy.
I look between her and the little boy and I have
no words to describe the rage I feel when I realize Marleigh has
kept this from me for three years.

Chapter 21

MARLEIGH

Oh my god. Please tell me this
isn’t happening. Not now.
Looking at the door, I see
my parents and it’s obvious they thought I was alone. Scanning the
other side of the coffee shop, Summer comes into view with a smirk
on her face and glances toward GC, who’s expression I can’t, for
the life of me, read.

“
Hey, y’all. What are you doing here?” I ask
my parents as chipper as possible.

Mama chimes in and answers. “With Gunner’s birthday
being on Wednesday, we thought we’d come spend the week with you
since you had classes. We just saw your note and thought you were
studying or something. He wanted to surprise you.” Then she mouths,
“I’m so sorry.”

Gunner is still attached to me and GC looks as if
he’s trying to put the pieces together. “Um, sweet boy, will you
give me just a sec?” I say as I kiss the top of his head. “Mama and
Daddy, can you give me just a minute?” They take Gunner to the
counter and I take a deep breath before telling GC the truth.

“
GC, um, how do I say this?”

“
You’ve got a kid? Is that why you called it
quits?” he says as he stands and it’s obvious he is unsure of what
is playing out in front of him.

“
I was planning on explaining all of this to
you today. Can we go outside and talk?” I say pleading as attention
builds toward us. Glancing at Gunner, I know I can’t do this in
front of him. I take GC by the hand and pull him outside as he
follows reluctantly. Once we are outside, he yanks his hand from
mine.

“
Gunnison Cyrus, I think it’s time you knew
that that little one in there is yours,” I say, pointing through
the window at Gunner. “That little boy in there is named Gunner
after his father, and his birthday is January 21, 2011, which is
nine months after Spring Break. He’s yours. That’s
our
little boy in there,” I say as
tears pour from my eyes.

“
It’s obvious that is my little boy in there.
Just look at him, he looks just like me! More importantly, why
would you keep him from me? You knew how much I loved you. Why on
earth would you keep him from me? When we broke up, you left me to
assume you had simply stopped loving me!” As angry as he is, I see
hurt in his eyes, and I know that I made the worst mistake of my
life. “Marleigh, I can’t believe you’d lie to me! For three years!”
he says as his frustrations build and tears fill his eyes. He looks
around as if he’s looking for something to hit.

Taking a step toward him, I say his name softly. He
tries to step backwards but runs into a trash can. “I did this
because I love you. I knew what you wanted in life and if I would
have told you… you wouldn’t have pursued your dream. I couldn’t
hold you back. One of us needed to live life to the fullest.”

“
Don’t give me that as an excuse. You kept my
child from me. Three years, Mar! There’s no excuse you can give me
to make me forgive you.” He just stands there looking at me and
then through the window at Gunner. I can’t talk to you right now.”
he says as he places his hands on my shoulders and moves me out of
the way, then he walks away and never looks back.

A stream of tears fall down my face as I watch the
only man I’ve truly loved walk away. Hearing footsteps approaching,
I see my sisters through tear stained eyes. “Mar, we’re so sorry.
We didn’t know they were coming today.” They engulf me in their
arms and then we hear a laugh. Looking up, my eyes see the blonde
bimbo, Summer, who’s enjoyed every bit of this show.

“
I sure didn’t plan on getting free
entertainment when I walked in today. Looks like all your dreams
just vanished in front of your eyes. The only thing better than
that show would have been if I had found the dirt and told him
myself. I guess I’ll go comfort him? What do you think, Mar?” Rage
builds within me and I want to beat the shit out of her.

Tinleigh pulls me away from her, reading me like
only sisters can. “She’s not worth it.”

“
No, hunny, I’m totally worth it, and now that
you’ve broken Del Valle into a million pieces, I’m going to help
put him back together one little piece at a time.”

“
He doesn’t love you. He never
will.”

“
Maybe, but at least I’m not a liar,” she says
as she struts toward her car.
Liar, yes
that’s exactly what I am, and my daddy was right. I should have
told him.

“
God, I hate her,” I say and my sisters agree.
“What am I gonna do?” I plead.

“
You’re going to dry your pretty eyes, hold
your head high, and go in there and act as if nothing is wrong.
Gunner won’t understand. He might know you’re upset, but you don’t
have to tell him more than that. Focus on him and not what just
happened. We will help you get through it, with or without GC,”
Carleigh says from the heart. I do as she says, and put on my best
mommy face.

Walking back into the coffee shop, all eyes are on
me. My mama hugs me and whispers that it will be okay. I bend down
to Gunner. “What you got there?” I ask with a smile.

“
A cake pop!” he says and I can’t help but
smile at my little boy. “You want a bite?” he questions. “I’m good.
Come on.” Taking his hand, we exit the coffee shop and Gunner rides
with me back to the beach house. He helps me forget what just
happened, but each time I glance at him in my rearview mirror, I
see his daddy, and that’s when I decide that I’ve got to make this
right somehow for the sake of my son.

Gunner tells me about everything that he’s been
doing with my parents, and as a commercial for the upcoming home
game comes on the radio, he gets quiet. “Mommy, there’s ball
here?”

“
Yes, at my school.”

“
I go, Mommy! My birfthday! Pease?” Hearing
his sweet little voice, there’s no way I can deny him a birthday
wish.

“
Let me see if there’s a home game once we get
to the house.” Even though I already know the answer.

Arriving at the house, Gunner and I make our way
inside. When everyone else arrives, Daddy takes Gunner for a walk
and leaves us with Mama.

“
Mar, we didn’t know. I’m so sorry! If we
would have, we never would have showed up,” Mama
assures.

“
I know. I’m just so confused and now I know
that I was wrong. I shouldn’t have kept him from GC, but what am I
going to do now?” I look to them for an answer.

“
You are going to make this right. Just give
him some time,” she says.

“
Oh and guess what Gunner wants to do for his
birthday?” They look at me with questioning eyes. “To go to a
basketball game.”

“
Are you serious?” Tinleigh asks.

“
As a heart attack.” Looking at my phone, I
pull up the schedule confirming what I already know. The only home
game is Saturday, when I planned to have his party back home. “I
guess I’m in the clear though, ‘cause the only home game is
Saturday and we’ll be in Gaffney then.”

“
Um, we had planned on staying until Sunday
and having a party here,” Mama says softly.

“
Well, I guess there’s no time like the
present to make things right. We’ll go to the game, and hopefully
I’ll talk to GC before then. Why was I so damn stupid?” I ask
them.

“
Mar, you weren’t stupid. Stubborn, yes, and
you did what you thought was best. Now, it’s time to make it right
for the three of you. You know as well as I do that he’s not going
to let Gunner out of his life now that he knows. He just needs time
to process everything.”

GUNNISON

As soon as I’m in my car, I fall apart. I have a
kid—a perfect little boy. I’ve got to get away for a little while,
but when I look at the clock I know I’ve got to be at the gym in an
hour, so instead I decide to go to the gym and shoot around.

I’m not sure exactly how long I’ve been by myself,
but then I hear another ball bouncing in the background and it’s
Wade.

“
Dude, you okay? I’ve been here for like ten
minutes and you didn’t notice. I take it things didn’t go well
with
the
girl?”

After taking another shot, I place my hands on my
hips and take a deep breath. “Nothing like I planned. Not at
all.”

“
Well, that sucks but at least now you can
finally move on,” he says like it’s no big deal as he passes the
ball back to me.

“
It’s a little more complicated than that,” I
say as I take a shot.

“
What, she got a kid or something?” he jokes
while laughing as he passes the ball to me, but instead of catching
it, I freeze and it hits me right in the chest. His laughter stops
and he gets serious. “No way, dude, she’s got a kid? For real? Aw,
that’s okay, it’s just a kid, people have kids all the
time.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “He’s mine,” I say
aloud and suddenly it becomes real.

“
Did you just say you have a kid?” Wade
questions as he walks closer.

“
Yeah and I’m fuckin’ scared as
hell.”

“
Just curious, and you can hit me for this if
you want, but why are you just now finding out? I mean if
she’s
the
girl, wouldn’t she
have told you?”

“
I would have thought so, and Wade, that’s why
I’m so messed up. She just kept saying she did it so I could live
my life. How could I have been in love with someone who could keep
this from me?”

“
I don’t know, what are you going to
do?

Not having an answer to his question, I decide I’m
done with the conversation. I grab the ball and go back to shooting
hoops in silence.

After practice, Wade hangs around. I’m sure he’s
just trying to be a good friend, but I just want to be alone. Where
the hell am I going to go?

“
Want to go grab something to eat?” he
asks.

“
Nah. I think I just need to figure this out
on my own. Thanks though.”

“
No problem. Oh, and as stupid as this might
sound, I’m sure at the time she thought she was doing the right
thing. Think about it, she was scared and you were like, how many
states away?”

“
Maybe, but I would have been there for her.
Why didn’t she trust me?”

“
Maybe you need to ask her that and hear her
out, when you’re not so pissed.”

Once I’m in my car, I decide I might as well go
home. It’s Sunday night and I have a feeling it’s going to be a
long week with everything swimming around in my brain, not to
mention an away game and classes. When I park my car, I notice a
familiar car parked several spaces over. Seriously, I told her I
wasn’t running back to her. Getting out, I walk toward Summer
sitting in her vehicle. She looks like she’s been crying. Please
tell me she hasn’t been crying for hours.

“
What’s wrong, Summer?” I ask.

“
Nothing, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come,
but I just had to check on you. I mean, to find out you had a kid
like that, it must have been awful for you. ”

“
Summer, I have a lot to think about right
now, I just need to be alone.”

“
I understand. I just wanted to make sure you
were as okay as you could be.”

“
Thanks,” I say and seeing the concern in her
eyes, I feel unsure about being alone now that she is here checking
on me. “You want to come up for a while? I was just going to chill
and maybe order a pizza.”

“
That’s not why I’m here, Del Valle,” she
whispers and it’s obvious she’s trying to take my mind off
things.

“
Tonight, it’s just food, it’s been an
emotional day for both of us.”

“
Okay,” she says and we make our way
upstairs.

Summer doesn’t push things with us, and we actually
have a good time. It’s the first time I’ve laughed all day and even
though I hate to admit it, Summer really is a great girl. Maybe
Marleigh broke the spell and I’m finally able to see what was right
in front of me all this time.

When the movie is over, I walk Summer to her car.
Once she’s inside, she rolls down her window and I bend down and
kiss her briefly on her cheek. “Thank you for tonight.”

“
Anytime, Del Valle.” She winks and then she’s
gone.

Chapter 22

MARLEIGH

Tucking Gunner into bed, I watch him sleep
peacefully and my heart swells with love. I give him a goodnight
kiss and make my way to the porch. As I take a seat, I scroll
through the contacts on my phone and stop at GC’s name.
I wonder if this is still his number? Should I?
No. Give him time.
I put it back in my pocket as Mama
walks outside. She wraps her arms around me and I cry like a baby.
“Mama, what am I going to do?”