Page 23 of Dare to Embrace
But when I regarded Tara, my stomach churned. I’d known her for over two years, and I knew she had bad news for me. When she smoothed a hand over her short brown bob, she confirmed my suspicions. That small act was her tell that she was about to deliver news I wouldn’t like.
She set her wide brown eyes on me as she cleared her throat. “The Iowa Cubs have decided on another pitcher for their roster next year.” Tara interlaced her fingers as she set her hands on the table. She was the type of person who didn’t beat around the bush.
I liked that about her, and even though my excitement about playing Triple-A ball had waned a tad, the news still stung like an angry hornet.
“You could’ve told her that on the phone,” Kade said.
“Not my style,” Tara replied. “I don’t like to deliver bad news on the phone. Lacey, you don’t seem disappointed.” She sipped her water. “Why?”
I swallowed thickly and regarded Kade briefly. “I’ve had a lot of time to think since the All-Star break.” I placed my hand on Kade’s thigh, still keeping my eyes on Tara. “My marriage comes first.”
“Lace,” Kade said. “We talked about this. I want you to play ball.”
I batted my eyelashes at my husband. “I know you do. But I also want kids. And the more I think about the talk we had, the more I realize that we’ll be in a never-ending cycle with my career. If it’s not the Iowa Cubs, it could be some other team. Honestly, I really don’t want to have kids at forty or later when I finally decide to retire.”
Kade leaned in and kissed me on the temple. “Don’t make an important decision like this because of me.”
“I’m not. I’m making it for us.” In that moment, looking into the gleam and love in his copper eyes, I didn’t want anything else other than to please him. He’d endured so much with me, and I hadn’t done much other than love him with all my heart. Sure, he might think that my love for him was all that mattered, but in my mind, it wasn’t. A marriage was more than love. It was building a life together that included the wants and needs of both of us. We needed to meet each other halfway. I hadn’t done that.
Tara cleared her throat. “Well, the other reason I drove through hell to get here…”
Kade and I swung our gazes to her.
“I’ve spoken to the Sea Dogs. I wanted to test the waters on whether they’re interested in re-signing you when your contract is up next year.” That time, her smile did reach her eyes. “I’m happy to say they don’t want to lose you. So I broached the subject of what if you got pregnant, and they have no issues with that. However, they would only sign you on a yearly basis.”
My jaw hit the table despite her last sentence. I would prefer a two- or three-year deal, but I understood that the organization wouldn’t want to tie up their assets. After all, a pregnancy would put me on the disabled list for at least two months or more unless I timed it so I would deliver in the off-season.
Kade just stared at her. “That’s the best news I’ve heard.”
Hearing the excitement in his voice gave me goose bumps, and for the moment, everything was right in my world.
Chapter 10
Kade
Daylight wormed its way through a slit in the room-darkening curtains that covered one wall of the hotel room. For the last three weeks, we’d been on the road all over New England for Lacey’s away games, and I was tired of packing and unpacking and eating at restaurants or ordering room service. Although staying in at night with Lacey wrapped around me after we ate dinner had been nothing short of amazing, even when she passed out from exhaustion. The fact that we were together was enough to make my heart sore, and I realized that I should’ve been traveling with her more, taking care of her more, pampering her more.
Our life was about us, and “us” included baseball. I realized in the time I’d been on the road with her that she was tougher than I even knew. She kept up a grueling schedule during the season, and I admired her even more than I had when I’d first met her.
I rubbed my eyes as a dull headache loomed. My test results had come back negative with no tumors on the scan. The doc had said I was a normal person who would get headaches on occasion and even migraines. He’d prescribed some migraine medication just in case.
I chalked up my headaches to stress, and the doc agreed.
“Stress can spur one on,” he’d said. “Just make sure you schedule your physicals on an annual basis.” Like I’d had time to do anything in the last year while caring for four teenagers and building a house at the same time. As much as I might complain about my cousins, I’d rather enjoyed having them at the house.
Speaking of my cousins, Kody had informed me that Marcus had been helping him at the club during the day—washing floors and stocking shelves. Apparently, Marcus was still brooding, but Kody hadn’t seen him drunk since the day we’d found him passed out on the stage. Kross had spent some time with Marcus as well. And according to Kross, Marcus was a natural in the ring.
Yawning, I turned onto my side to find Lacey wasn’t in bed. So I climbed out, running my hand through my hair. As I was about to take a step, I heard her moaning, but it wasn’t a good sound.
I bolted toward the bathroom. When I threw open the door, I sucked in a sharp breath.
Lacey was on her knees, hugging the toilet.
I squatted next to her, moving her hair off her shoulder, and felt her forehead, which was sweaty. But she showed no signs of a fever.
She glanced up at me with tired green eyes. She’d been quite depressed since receiving the news that the Iowa Cubs had decided to sign a newbie coming out of college.
“I’m old,” Lacey had said. “My baseball days are numbered.”
