The Truth About Air & Water (Truth in Lies #2) (29 page)

Kimberley looks away and out the big picture window we’re stationed in front of at this diner, suddenly taking an interest in the sidewalk life happening in this little beach town. She looks back and studies me. “What you didn’t know at the time—what
we
didn’t know at the time—is that Tally was pregnant. She had a baby girl at the end of January that following year.” She pauses.

I struggle for breath but hold it together enough to nod and meet Kimberley’s steady gaze head-on and realize she’s serious. “She had a kid? And you think that kid is
mine
?”

“She
is
yours. She’s three. She’ll be four at the end of this month. Suck it up, buttercup; she’s yours. We verified all of this about a year ago. I’ll pull the file for you. I can’t believe your dad kept all of this from you. I shouldn’t be the one telling you all of this.”

“I think your dad was just trying to protect you,” Brad says. “That’s what families do. Sometimes, they don’t receive any guidance in the early stages of a patient with a head trauma. The medical team doesn’t always pick up on all the family dynamics going on, especially when there are memory issues involved. There are a lot of moving parts for the patients as well as the families. I’m sure Davis was trying to protect you from all of this, Linc, and maybe Tally too. It happens. We can’t change it.” He gives Kimberley this stern look. “Just tell him, don’t editorialize it so much, babe.”

“I have a daughter. With Tally.” Just saying those few words ignites fresh panic.

I have a kid, who is almost four years old. A daughter.

I don’t even know what to do with a kid, let alone a girl.

I guess you buy them dolls and stuffed animals and dresses.

I have child with Tally.

Miss Cloves and Vanilla had a baby with me.

Kimberley grabs my hand, forcing me back to the present. “
Breathe
, Romeo. You’re a father. It happens to the best of you boys,” she says softly. “
Yes.
Tally had a child,
yours
, but she gave Cara up for adoption.”

“Wait.
What
?”

“Yes, she gave the baby up to her dance teacher, Allaire Tremblay. It was basically a deal made with the devil, and I think Tally felt she really had no choice at that point. She was eighteen, confronted with life’s hard choices, she made a difficult one.” She nods slowly. “I’ve worked with a few ballerinas in my time. It’s a hard life. It doesn’t come with multi-million dollar contracts like yours, but those dancers work their asses off night and day to make it and then stay on top. She’s an athlete just like you, and basically sacrificed everything for it, just like you’ve had to do. And, so she did too.”

“
Cara
? After my mom?”

“Yeah, she named her Cara. I’m not sure that it was intentional—to name her after your mom—but she did.”

“She must have been desperate,” I say slowly, looking over at Brad who nods in agreement. “Pregnant at just eighteen and feeling like there was just no way out. And I dumped her for baseball.”

“I think she was. She’s been through a lot and has had to sacrifice pretty much everything. And she did most of it for you, even if it didn’t always appear that way.” Kimberley looks away from me again. Same routine. She stares out the window at the passersby. “We haven’t even talked about Moscow yet.” She turns to me, looking sadder, and then looks over at Brad. He’s shaking his head side-to-side. “And I can’t tell you about that. Not today.”

“
Moscow?
What about Moscow?”

“
Not
today,” they both say together.

I change tactics and make a note to myself to circle back to the topic of Moscow. “Allaire Tremblay the ballerina? Famous years ago, right?”

“Ten years ago. Yes. I knew Tremblay—not well, of course—no one did.” Kimberley frowns. “I did a few events for the New York City Ballet with Sasha Belmont and Allaire spent some time there too. But Tremblay died in a car accident a year ago this coming March. Cara was with her in the car at the time. She was okay when they found her and eventually custody reverted back to Tally as Cara’s birth mother once they located her. So, Tally left the NYC Ballet and took a position with the San Francisco Ballet and basically moved back to San Francisco with Cara to be near her family, and because of you.” She takes in air and then sighs. “It hasn’t been easy for the two of you. I’m leaving a ton of stuff out, but I think that’s enough. For
today
.”

Kimberley finishes her beer and then eyes mine. I slide it over to her and try to smile. My head begins to hurt. Brad had my doctors adjust my medication but the headaches are still too frequent for everyone’s liking. I’m not sure I want to hear anymore but I say, “finish the story. There has to be more.”

“It’s not a story,” Kimberley chides, “it’s your
life
. It
was
your life
.
On some levels, I can see why your dad wanted to protect you from all of it.”

She shakes her head slowly back and forth. “Because it
has always been pretty complicated.” She half-smiles and twists her wedding ring around. Brad grabs her hand and puts it to his lips.

Kimberley sighs and looks over at me. “From the outside, you guys appeared to be two star-crossed lovers—things never seemed to work out for long. But you called me last summer to let me know that you and Tally were getting married.”

“I was getting
married
to Tally? When?”

“It was supposed to be after the playoffs and the World Series. That was the plan. But actually, you guys had plans to elope that following morning.
That Friday
. But then you got hit with the line drive in Thursday night’s playoff game.”

“I was getting married. We were eloping? Why didn’t anybody tell me all of this?” I groan.

Now it all makes sense why Tally was so angry that night. Miss Cloves and Vanilla had every right to be mad at me and my dad. Shit.

“Lot of agendas going on. It was touch and go for a while, big guy. We were focused on you making it through surgery, and no one could predict how much damage that line drive had done. Truly? I think your dad was so scared of losing you that he took it out on Tally. Everyone was trying to cope. I’m sorry I didn’t think through the situation more clearly at the time. I was scared of losing you, too. But I should have seen it for what it was…everyone was just so scared for you. I’m sorry. And yes, you loved her, Linc. You came to play for the Giants and turned down a bigger offer with the Angels to come home to San Francisco, mainly for Tally. And now? Now, everything is just gone. You don’t remember any of it, and she’s royally pissed off. Yes, she wants the six months of no-contact, but what we haven’t told you yet is that she threatened to start legal proceedings against you because of that temper of yours,” Kimberley says softly so she won’t be overheard.

“Wait. What? A legal battle? She contacted a lawyer?”

“Well, your dad basically accused her of taking the six million and thought it was best to keep Tally and Cara away from you, so I think Tally thought the whole world was against her at that point, except for Marla and Charlie. Even I didn’t act fast enough. But then this most-recent episode unfolded on the front of the sport pages with Trinna Danner and that really pissed her off. Believe me, I experienced her wrath first-hand. She’s obviously intent on protecting Cara, and even though I told her not to, she contacted her lawyer about all of this. I’m sorry. I should have flown up there and talked to her, but by then it was already too late. We’ve agreed to a no-contact clause for the next six months. There’s a little less than five months to go. We received a copy of the official document a few weeks ago. Brad wanted to give you some time before telling you about the rest of it.” Kimberley holds up a FEDEX envelope and pulls out a single sheaf of paper.

“Why would she do this?” I ask after reading it. It’s all legalese but the gist of it is all communication needs to go through Kimberley to Tally’s lawyer.

“She’s protecting Cara.”

“Why does Cara need protecting, especially from me?”

“Cara was there for hours by herself in that car accident. We don’t know what all she saw, but it can be surmised she most likely saw Tremblay die right in front of her, and she hasn’t really been talking since then. The two of you have been taking Cara to a psychologist, trying to work through her issues. Fear of abandonment, lack of trust. That pretty much sums up Tally too, you know. And you, some of the time.” She hesitates. “The threat of a restraining order if you don’t comply with Tally’s requests will essentially take you down if that happens. This is all related to your unpredictable temper and Tally’s concern with all of that as it relates to Cara. We
do not
want a restraining order against you, Linc.”

I’m speechless, done in by the veiled legal threats Kimberley’s called out in the lawyer’s letter and the bad mix of beer and too many painkillers that I quietly took before we started out on this little venture.
I cannot think straight.
I am fucked in so many ways right now. I
feel sorry for me.

Brad lasers in on me. “How many pills did you take, Linc? I thought we agreed you were going to cut back?”

“I have a headache worse than yesterday’s. I thought we’d cut back tomorrow.” I reward him with a I’ve-got-this-not-today look.

“You okay?” Kimberley asks gently.

“She hates me.” Just saying the words practically cuts off my air supply. “What have I done to this girl that she hates me this much? Oh, I know. I don’t remember her at all. I accused her of stealing; well, my father did. And then there’s the whole screw-up in LA”

“There’s a fine line between love and hate, Romeo.”

“Is there? Have we
found
that line?”

Kimberley laughs. “It’s not a stretch to say you the two of you have been here before. There’s a lot more to your story—to the two of you. It’s never been easy. Plenty of mistakes and false promises made on both sides.” Kimberley frowns again and says, “I’m sorry seems inadequate.”

“It
is
.”

Her face twists up. “Just try to see it from her point of view for a moment. Imagine what it feels like to not only lose the guy you love because he doesn’t remember you, but to be falsely accused by the guy’s dad of embezzlement and then have your fiance’s supposed hook-up with some girl in LA plastered all over the sports pages of America with every reporter camped out on her doorstep asking how she feels about it. Obviously, none of these scenarios are sitting too well with Tally right now. And she has a child to think of.”

“Obviously.” I sigh deep. “My kid too, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” Kimberley reaches for my hand on the table and pats it gently. “It’s complicated. It’ll take some time to work things out with her, but it’ll happen.”

“Yeah, but is she worth it?”

“Sometimes you can be such an asshole,” Kimberley says softly and then looks over at Brad again before going on. “You were going to marry her. You two had plans to elope just hours before you got hit by the line drive. You have a history. You two are pretty epic. Believe me. I’ve seen it. And you
gave
her your mom’s diamond engagement ring; I think you thought she was
worth it
at some point.”

“She has my mom’s ring?” I groan feeling remorse for the LA thing for the millionth time. “I must have loved Tally if I gave her that ring.”

“You did.”

“But I definitely screwed it all up with her now because of LA and now a lawyer’s involved. Great. Just great.”

“I’m not convinced she’s giving up. Yes, she’s royally pissed off at you right now, but that will fade. She left the door open for six months from now.”

“I’ll be in the middle of baseball season, pitching for the Giants if I can get my arm back or the Fresno Grizzlies if I’m lucky. Six months from now may as well be a lifetime away. I’ve lost her already. I’ve lost my kid. Even if I don’t remember either one of them.”

“I could try to talk to her.” Kimberley looks uncertain.

“No. Not right now. It would probably just set her off even more. Let’s give her some time to cool off like Brad said. You responded for me with her lawyer a few weeks ago, right?” Kimberley nods. “So, I’ll comply with not contacting her, while I try to figure out my next move.”

“Your next move—
your only mov
e,
right now
—is to pitch a baseball faster than ninety miles an hour, so you don’t end up as the ball boy fetching the bats for everyone else.”

“Funny,” I say airily.

“Sorry. Kidding. Sorry. That was harsh. You can do this. Brad’s going to help you get your memory back, and I’m going to help you rehabilitate your good-guy image. It’ll come together. Trust me. You’re a great guy. Everyone who knows you knows that.”

“Kimmy,” Brad says looking at both of us. “His next move is to get well. Baseball will come to him when he’s ready.”

She frowns and grabs Brad’s left hand. “You have to keep working with him. You have to. It’s the only way he has any hope of winning back his life in baseball.”