Trent (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #4) (16 page)

My feet pound the treadmill
as my mind spins with thoughts of Trent. Macy is right about him
not wanting to make a scene in front of his daughter. I should have
been stronger and left the moment I saw them. I can’t say I didn’t
enjoy Trent and Kaelyn’s company though. It had been fun.

But it can’t happen again.
This is something that will never work.

I kick myself mentally for
going up to him the first time and ever talking to him. I wouldn’t
be in this situation if I’d just kept my trap shut.

The running isn’t helping me
today as it usually does; I give up after a few miles and head over
to the juice bar to grab a water. After I pay the cashier, I turn,
only to see Trent, sitting alone and looking sad.

Do not go over there.

I know he hasn’t seen me, but
I can’t bear to see him hurting. I’m the one who has caused him all
the pain recently.

Damn it
, I yell at
myself as I grab my water from the counter and walk over to him.
“Hi, Trent.” I try to keep my voice calm.

“Hey, Scarlett.”

“Are you okay? You look a bit
distracted. RBIs low this week?” I try to joke and talk about
baseball.

He cracks a small smile.
“It’s nothing with baseball. Just a rough day. How are you?”

“I’m well, thanks. Um…” I
pause and try to gather some perspective on what to do next. “Is
there anything I can help with? Need an adult to talk to or is
Cinderella is driving you a bit batty?”

He lightly chuckles.
“Cinderella is taking turns with George now, so thank you for
that.” He finally makes full eye contact with me and sighs. “Have
you ever heard of the Memphis Paper Blog?”

“Oh, I have. Just recently
though. Some nerdy looking blogger, well, he said reporter,” I roll
my eyes. “He tried to ask me a bunch of questions about Dom—um, my
brother. I said no comment and shooed him away. Is he talking to
you?”

“He’s trying. He’s
‘accidentally’ run into me twice after I told him to leave me
alone. The last time I saw him was right before I came in here.” He
stops and takes a deep breath. “When I was walking away from him,
he asked if I knew you and if so, how.”

“Me? What? What else did he
say?” I finally sit down across from him.

“Well, once he said your
name, he obviously had my attention. He caught me off guard.” He
shakes his head. “He just kept asking questions. How do I know you,
did I know you’re on the visitor's list to see
him
, if I
knew what relationship you have with
him
. I just turned and
kept walking while he was waited for me to reply.”

“Oh, this can’t be good.” I
hang my head. “I’ve kept my name away from
his
this whole
time, but it’s not like it’s a secret. I don’t know where this is
going, though.”

“Me either and I couldn’t
tell if he was trying to focus on me or you. It’s bothering me,
either way. I don’t usually mind reporters, as long as they aren’t
too intrusive. This guy seems to be the definition of
intrusive.”

“I’ll see if Macy can find
anything out. I don’t talk to reporters, and she’s never reported
anything on me, so I can trust her. I’m sure it’ll blow over. It’s
almost over.” I try not to bring up the sentencing, even though we
both know it’s coming up.

“Yeah, it is. Will you let me
know what Macy finds out?”

“Of course. I still have your
number. I mean I haven’t deleted it. Not that I was keeping it for
a reason, I was...just...never mind.” I am nervously rambling
again. “I’ll let you know. Oh, and thanks for the ice cream the
other day. It was nice and I’m glad
Curious George
is
working out for you, too.” I try to end our conversation on a high
note.

“Thanks. I’m sorry if you
felt like you had to stay. I do tell her no. Sometimes.”

“I had a great time. I really
did. And I’m sure you do say no. She’s amazing, though. You’ve
raised a stunning little girl.”

Trent fully smiles. “Thanks.
I can’t really take the credit though. Between Deborah and my
grandmother, she was bound to turn into a great kid.”

“I have to go, but I’ll keep
you updated. Thanks again, Trent.” I rush away before any more is
said.

***

KAELYN AND GRANNY all
but shove me out the door because they’re having a girls’ night. I
don’t know if it’s legit or if this is Granny’s way of forcing me
out into the real world to mingle. Either way, I’m not supposed to
come home until after Kaelyn is in bed for the night. Who knows
when that will be because I was told she should be able to stay up
late just once. I can’t tell them both no; so her bedtime was
pushed off for a few hours.

I texted some of the guys and
Colby, Jordan, and Spencer are out at a bar, watching a playoff
hockey game. So, that’s where I’m headed. I’m one of those guys who
likes to watch other sports, but I don’t actively follow them.
Keeping up with my own game is enough for me.

When I arrive, the place is
crowded. They suddenly cheer, shouting and slapping high-fives.
I’ll take a wild guess and say someone scored. I spot the guys and
head over. They look mildly surprised to see me.

“What?” I ask, taking a
seat.

“We’re surprised you actually
came,” Colby answers.

“I hang out with you guys a
lot. You shouldn’t be shocked.”

“You hang out with the team
away from baseball as much as I talk to my wife,” Jordan points
out. Considering he’s separated from his wife, I’m guessing he
doesn’t talk to her much.

“Leave the poor guy alone. He
does have a kid to take care of,” Spencer comes to my defense.

A round of “Oh!” distracts us
for a moment when we look up to see a fight breaking out on the
ice. A waitress comes over to take my order, and by the time she
walks away, the crowd has calmed down for the moment.

“Since I don’t hang out with
y’all, what’s new?”

“We’ve been trying to set
Colby up with someone,” Jordan says.

“Anyone really,” Spencer
adds.

“Why?”

Colby grumbles under his
breath. “I made the mistake of sharing how I signed up for this
dating website.” I can’t help it. I laugh and Colby glares at me.
“It’s y’alls fault. All that talk about how I’m old made me realize
I’m also so single. I figured it would be worth a shot.”

“We told him he has better
luck with us as his wingmen. We think he may have a shot with the
waitress,” Jordan explains.

“If he would just flirt with
her,” Spencer says with a pointed look to Colby.

“Don’t rush me,” Colby snaps
and I laugh again.

“Worse comes to worst, Colby,
being single isn’t so bad. You could be like me: married but
separated and not have to worry about dealing with an emotional
woman all the damn time. We’ll be the three single musketeers.”

“Except you’re not really
single,” Spencer adds.

Jordan shrugs. “Might as well
be.” He takes a sip of water. “I’ve said enough. You talk,
Trent.”

I stare at him for a moment.
“My life is insane. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“With the craziest part,”
Jordan tells me.

Scarlett comes to mind first.
Should I tell them about her? Get some insight from someone who
isn’t related to me? I clear my throat. “Well, I met a girl.” Their
eyes widen just a bit. “She’s nice, seems like a great person, is
good with kids, and she’s a good person to talk to.”

“So, what’s the catch?” Colby
asks.

I sigh and lower my voice,
but not too low that they can’t hear me. “Her brother is Dominic
Davis.” Saying his name makes me want to vomit. Collectively, their
jaws drop. “I didn’t know it at first,” I begin explaining. “They
have different last names and are half-siblings. She told me after
we went to a wine tasting together.”

“Wow,” Spencer breathes.

“Damn,” Jordan adds.

Colby can’t seem to form
words yet.

“And then, Kaelyn and I ran
into her at the ice cream shop and Kaelyn started talking to her.
We ended up eating ice cream together. I don’t even know what’s
going on, what I’m doing, or what I’m even thinking,” I
confess.

The table is silent as it
sinks in. I’m surprised when Colby speaks first.

“Obviously, you trust her.
You let her around your daughter.”

“But should I? The
circumstances around her are terrible, but we keep running into
each other and we still run into each other. I mean, we work out at
the same gym, so obviously it’s possible, but away from there, I
keep seeing her.”

“Could she be a stalker?”
Spencer asks.

“Wait a second,” Colby holds
up a finger. “Is this the girl who came with those boys,” he stops
as if he’s remembering something, “Joey and David?” he
finishes.

“Yeah. And I don’t think
she’s a stalker. How could she beat me to places that were last
minute decisions?”

“Do you like her?” Jordan
asks. When I take too long to answer, he asks another question.
“Did you like her after your date? Before you found out?”

That one is a little easier
to answer. “Yeah, I think I was starting to.”

“Is she loyal to her
brother?” Spencer asks.

“I think she’s given up on
him. She said she’s tried to help him as much as possible before,
but it never did any good. And then it happened, and she said she
thinks he deserves whatever is handed to him.”

The crowd cheers, someone has
scored a goal, tying the game. When the rowdiness settles, Colby
says, “Do you want to hear my opinion?”

“It can’t hurt.”

“
If
you like her and
if
you can deal with who she’s related to, then maybe start
taking things slow with her. She shouldn’t have to suffer the
backlash if you wanted to explore that option,
if
she’s as
good a person as you say she is. You and Kaelyn are the only ones
who matter. If it feels right, if it’s what you want, then no other
person should stand in the way. And my god, it’s not like you’re
committing your life to her. Keep on and you’ll be like me, too
nervous to flirt with a pretty waitress and signing up on dating
websites.”

The waitress comes to our
table to check on us, no doubt hearing what Colby said. She smiles
and flirts with him for a couple of minutes. We laugh when she
walks away, everyone but Spencer.

“Her brother killed your
wife, Trent,” he says, shaking his head. “Maybe she thinks he
deserves to be in jail, but she still cares about him. No matter
what he does, he’s still her brother. He’s still her family. You
can’t overlook that. How would you explain to Kaelyn that her dad’s
new friend is related to the man who took her mom from her? It’s a
disaster waiting to happen. Even if she’s a good person, the bad
outweighs the good in this case. She’s not the only woman on earth
who could be your friend.”

I glance at Jordan to see if
he’ll say anything. If this were a game, this would be a tie and we
need a tiebreaker.

“Don’t look at me. My life is
as much as a disaster as yours. I’m not weighing in on this.”

How am I supposed to make any
kind of decision when they both made valid points and Jordan
doesn’t care to share his opinion? Maybe I need to keep thinking
about it and talk to Granny again. Or forget about all of it and
move on. The thing is, I keep thinking about two things.

Colby said Scarlett shouldn’t
have to suffer over what her brother did, something she had no part
in.

I’m pretty sure Scarlett said
she’s lost friends over the actions of her family members. I’m also
fairly certain that I thought that wasn’t right and said as much to
her.

But that was before I knew
her brother killed my wife.

***

THE WEEKENDS ARE my
favorite days of the week now. Mainly because my thighs are being
scalded by the metal bench as the sun heats it up. Joey and David
are playing again and I’m here cheering them on. I even had a
t-shirt made that reads 'number one fan.' I cheer the loudest every
time they step up to the plate or make a play.