Page 7 of Remember Me

“And I'll make sure we've got everything packed. The overnight bag is in the car already,” she said, heading toward our bedroom.

I made my way downstairs, each step lighter than the one before. Our home wasn't extravagant. A far cry from Devin’s farm, but it was moderately sized, practical and warm. I loved it, because it had everything we needed and nothing we didn’t.

Autumn was sitting at the kitchen table with her tongue poking out in concentration as she applied glitter to a purple crown. At just four, she was the perfect blend of Hayden and me. My stubborn focus and Hayden’s thoughtfulness.

“How’s it coming along, Little One?” I asked, leaning over to inspect her work. The countertop was covered in glue and glitter, but she was smiling with so much enthusiasm that I didn’t care.

She grappled with one of the crowns, doing her best to pull it off the counter, which was proving difficult. Even though it was soggy and broken in places, she hardly noticed. “I made it for Laney and Georgia,” she explained without looking up. “Since their daddy is playing in the Super Bowl, they should have crowns. I made ones for the boys too, but they’re blue.”

My chest tightened as I watched my beautiful blonde girl with the heart of gold, and of course she would be thinking of Devin’s kids. Her best friends until we moved a few months ago. I knew she missed them and part of me wanted to take her today, but I didn’t want the crowd to scare her.

I brushed a strand of hair from her face, marveling at the thoughtful and compassionate person she was becoming.

When the doorbell rang, Autumn jumped out of her seat and bounded toward the door, crying, “Uncle Darren’s here!”

“Let me get it,” I said, but she’d already beaten me to the door.

When I opened it, Hayden’s brother side-stepped me, crouching to see my daughter first. “There’s my favorite niece!” he exclaimed as Autumn fell into his arms, giggling as he picked her up and spun her around. When he set her down, he looked up at me with his trademark smirk firmly in place.

“Are you going to a football game or making up for the fact you made my sister go to prom with that douchebag Jarod?”

I grumbled softly. To this day her brother still wouldn’t let me live that down, and I was glad about it. It served as a reminder that if I wasn’t such an insecure idiot in high school, a lot of things would be different. Maybe Hayden wouldn’t have gone to Southern Collegiate. Maybe I wouldn’t have a shoulder injury. Maybe we’d be living in a huge mansion, but living in maybes meant I didn’t enjoy what I had, which wasn’t the case.

“Nice to see you too, Dare,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Thanks for watching Autumn.”

“Please, like it’s a hardship spending time with the coolest kid in Georgia.” He ruffled Autumn’s hair. I guessed that was one good thing about moving states, we were now closer to Hayden’s brother, although I wasn’t sure how much he’d like it when I started my job at his college. Technically, I wouldn’t be bossing him around, but I’d be close, watching the teams develop and ensuring our facilities were just right.

Darren leaned in as Autumn skipped past us into the kitchen. “Any chance you could try to slip Bailey Hill my number?”

“Bailey Hill?” Hayden laughed as she came down the stairs with her purse over her shoulder. Unlike me, she looked like a true Crossbills fan with her jeans and jersey on, only serving to make me look like a mid-level accountant. “Like you have a chance with her.”

He raised his hands, looking between us with mock disgust. The issue with Darren was, he was hard to take seriously because he was such a goofball. With the slight dusting of freckles across his nose and spiked blond hair, he gave off more of a mischievous kid vibe instead of a serious college student who had the chance to be drafted as a second baseman. “Hey, I hear she likes athletes. Would love to show her how to play with my baseballs.”

My eyes immediately flicked to Hayden who cringed. “I can’t believe you just said that in front of my child.”

Thankfully, Autumn was blissfully unaware of our conversation. She was too busy adding more glitter to one of her crowns.

“Sorry, sis, but I need something to do. My boy Jett is getting a little too cozy with that pitcher phenom of his, leaving me to watch more Bailey Hill tour videos than is probably considered healthy. You know it’s bad when you wake up in the morning just to see what color body suit she decided to wear last night. Red, by the way. She wore red last night.”

“Wait, are you talking about the girl who throws 95 mph fastballs?” I asked, remembering the student everyone had mentioned during my interviews with the college. “The one who’s taking college baseball by storm?”

“The very one. Mark my words, Rhode Grissom is going to be the first female pitcher in the MLB. I have to keep telling Jett all the time, you’re supposed to catch your balls, not let your pitcher own them.”

“Maybe he should kiss her,” Autumn said matter-of-factly, still looking at her artwork.

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Darren said with a laugh. “That’s exactly what I told him. But you know how it is in sports—business first, heart eyes second.”

I exchanged a glance with Hayden, who raised an eyebrow in silent communication. It was time for us to go before Darren's gossip session got fully underway. The guy was like the brother I never had, but my goodness, he could talk.

“Alright, well, I guess we should hit the road,” I said, checking my watch. “Traffic's going to be a nightmare around central Atlanta. Could take an hour once we’re there.”

“Autumn, we're leaving now,” Hayden said, kneeling to hug our daughter. “Be good for Uncle Darren, okay? We'll call before bedtime.”

“Are you still bringing Laney and Georgia home with you?” Autumn asked, looking up from her art project with hopeful eyes.

“Yes. Aunt Reign and Uncle Devin are going to stay over for the night before heading back to Charlotte.”

“Can I speak to them now? I need to show them the crowns.” I hesitated for all of two seconds.

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