Page 93 of Lucky Baller
“Spring break, my last year of college,” Mom starts. She tells me how she and Joseph met, how they spent a magical week together, and how she slipped out of his room at dawn with nothing but a note left behind. “I didn’t know his last name, and he didn’t know mine. We had no way to reach one another.”
“That’s why I wasn’t there,” Joseph chimes in.
“I don’t understand. Why you weren’t where?”
Mom takes a deep breath. “Tessa, Joseph is your father.”
My breath stalls in my chest. “W-What?” I couldn’t have possibly heard her correctly.
“I didn’t know about you, Tessa. I didn’t know how to reach your mom. When I met you, you looked just like her, and I decided it was time to find her. I assumed she would be married, and I told myself if she was happy, I’d step back, but she’s here, and she’s not married, and now there’s you. I never could have imagined that I’d find her and my daughter, too.”
She lied to me. “You told me he left us. You lied.”
“I did, and I’m sorry. Honey, I didn’t know how to explain it to you when you were younger so that you would understand. I didn’t know how to tell you I met a man and fell in love in a week, and in that love, we made you. You were so young, and I needed you to understand.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when I got older?”
“I never thought we’d be here. I never thought I’d see him again. By the time you were old enough to understand, I didn’t think it mattered. He wasn’t in our lives, and I couldn’t think of a scenario where he ever would be again.”
“You’re married,” I say to Joseph, and he nods.
“That’s where I come in,” Landon explains. He goes on to tell me about the threats and how Bridgett found the file on my mother and, as a result, about me.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe this is happening.” Everything I thought I knew about my life is wrong. How could she have lied to me all these years? “You should have told me, both of you.” I pull out of Landon’s embrace and stand. “You both should have had enough respect for me to tell me the truth.”
“I wanted to. I just wanted to find out what was going on first. You had such a bad day at work with Buckwheat, and I didn’t want to make it worse when I had no idea what her endgame was. I called you to warn you after talking to Joseph in case she went through with her threats. Thankfully, his team of attorneys was able to stop her.”
“And serve her with divorce papers,” Joseph adds.
“There’s a lot that we need to talk about. It’s late. Why don’t you get some sleep, and we can get back to all of this in the morning?”
“I— I can’t be here.”
“Tessa,” Landon says, reaching for me. “Please, let’s just get some rest.”
“Fine.” I march off down the hall without a second glance at any of them. I climb under the covers and settle myself on the edge of my side of the bed. I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to block it all out. It doesn’t work because I hear Landon come into the room, shutting the door behind him, and climb into bed. I don’t fight him when he snuggles up next to me, wrapping me in his arms.
“I’m sorry, Tessa. I never meant to hurt you. It was the opposite of my intention. I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t know what was going on or why she would want you out of my life. I had to know so I could give you the facts. You’re my life, Tessa. If you believe nothing else, believe that.”
I don’t reply as tears silently roll down my cheeks. I love him, and I feel his love for me, but we promised to always be open and honest. Then again, he did call me and let me know something was going on. I guess I can understand him not wanting to tell me any of this over the phone, but if he had told me before he left, that would have been a non-issue. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“We are a team. I was going to give it up, Tessa. I was going to walk away from my career if the trade was real. No way was I leaving you.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I know how much you love your job at the shelter, and I would never ask you to give that up.”
“Do you hear yourself? You’re a professional football player with a multi-million-dollar contract. You can’t just walk away from that.”
“Yes, I can. What I can’t walk away from is you. I’ll never walk away from you, Tessa.”
I think about what he’s saying and let the meaning sink in. He was willing to give up his career for me. I might be upset with him for not including me from the beginning, but I have nodoubt his heart was in the right place. Slowly, I roll over to face him. He immediately hugs me tight and places a tender kiss on my forehead.
“I would have come with you,” I whisper into the darkness. “I’d follow you anywhere, Landon Barker.”
“Tess,” he says, his voice cracking. “I’d never ask you to do that.”
“You wouldn’t have to. Relationships are give and take. Yes, I love my job at the shelter, and I would miss Autumn, Jeremy, and JJ, but I’d miss my heart even more.”
