Page 64 of Dibs
“Sorry, bud. We didn’t hear you come downstairs.” I moved away from Chase.
“Clearly,” he grumbled.
“I should probably get going anyway.” Chase rose from the couch. “Those lineup cards won’t write themselves.”
The Mavericks didn’t have any out-of-town tournaments scheduled for the next couple of weeks, but they were playing games at home against some local teams.
I walked Chase to the door and planted my lips on his briefly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Although the kids accepted our relationship, we weren’t doing the sleepover thing while they were home.
“Okay, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow night more.” He winked.
* * *
“Maybe she’s not goingto show up,” Dylan suggested, staring at the TV with his duffle bag by his feet. His game had ended two hours earlier, and we’d been home for over an hour waiting for Lisa. She hadn’t called or responded to my texts asking for an ETA.
“Maybe she got stuck in traffic.” Even after so many years of disappointment, I still found myself making excuses for her in an effort to lessen the rejection my sons felt. Afterall, she hadn’t attended the game even though it was her day to get the boys.
“Or maybe she just doesn’t give a damn,” Tyler interjected.
I glanced at my oldest, who sat at the kitchen counter and texted on his phone. I wouldn’t chastise him for what he said because I knew the harshness in his tone stemmed from pain.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. I waited a moment to see if either of the boys would get up to answer, then I stood and made my way to the front door when neither of them made a move. When I pulled the door open, Lisa stood on the other side with a massive smile on her face.
“You’re late,” I stated, even though I suspected she didn’t care. “Tyler, Dylan, your mom is here.”
“Do you think you and I can talk for a minute before we take off?”
“Sure,” I replied, wondering if her request had anything to do with Miguel’s reported trade.
“See you later, Dad.” Tyler walked over and gave me a hug, followed by Dylan. “We’re ready.” He told his mom, his voice void of any excitement.
“Go wait for me in the car. I need to talk to your father.” She handed her keys to Tyler.
“So, what’s up?” I asked after the boys climbed into her car.
“Look, I know I’m late, but I just flew back into town after visiting Miguel at spring training in Arizona.”
“You could have called or texted.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. My mind’s been all over the place because while I was there, Miguel proposed.” She beamed, flashing the sizable ring on her left finger.
“Um … congratulations, I guess.” I crossed my arms over my chest, not caring about her announcement one bit.
“Don’t be an ass, Gage.”
“I’m not being an ass. It’s just the last time I saw your fiancé, he tried to start a fight with Chase in front of our kids. Sorry for not being excited that he will be a permanent fixture in our lives.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be happy for me,” she huffed. “You’re just jealous because I’ll be living the life you couldn’t give me.”
“Wow. You’re a piece of work, you know that? Nothing about your life makes me jealous.” There was a time when her statement would have cut me deep, but these days I loved the life I was living with my boys and, more recently, with Chase.
She rolled her eyes. “If you say so. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you because Miguel is going to be playing for Houston.”
“Yeah, I heard about the trade. What’s your point?”
“I’m moving to Texas in two weeks.”
