16. Cat

16

CAT

By the time I was pulling into the driveway of my brother's house, the sun had completely set over New Winford.

As I parked my car, out of the way of Dan's and Meredith's, I watched silhouetted figures move inside. The warm glow of the living room lights illuminated a cozy home, full of games and joy.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I watched them. Of course, I knew I could have had this life if I'd wanted it. But it wasn't in the plan. I was destined to be on the field, kicking up sand with my cleats and winning championships.

I shook the feeling as I hopped out of the car and walked inside. "I'm back," I called through the house as I shut the front door.

"Dinner's just about ready!" Dan hollered back from the kitchen.

When I appeared at the threshold, the kids looked up from their homework and waved. "Hi, Aunt Cat."

"Hey, kiddos." I smiled at them as they went back to their workbooks. Looking around the counters, I turned my attention to Daniel who was wiping sweat from his brow. "Need any help?"

He scoffed as he looked up from the pan full of steaming risotto on the stove. "Very typical of you to walk in as I'm finishing and ask to help."

Frowning at him, I took a seat at the table next to my niece and nephew. "How was your day?"

"Hectic. The mayor doesn't want to approve any more housing but we need it pretty badly." Dan groaned as he pulled five plates from the cupboard.

Laughing I picked at the skin near my fingernails. "Yikes. I guess you can thank Zoey and Jamie for that one."

Before I knew it, Dan was delivering plates of steaming food to the table and setting them in front of us. Just as everyone took their seat, the front door swung open and Meredith's voice called from the entryway. "Sorry, I'm late!"

Dan stood from his chair and grabbed her plate from the microwave. In a hurry, Meredith tossed off the light jacket she had on for the chilly evening. She walked around the table and gave Lily and Jacob each a kiss on the head.

Placing a ceramic plate in the empty table setting, Dan kissed his wife on the cheek. "Hi, honey."

"Hi, thank you." Meredith sighed as she leaned back into the chair.

It was easy to see how exhausted she was. But as Dan poured her a glass of red wine, she sat up and tried to be in the moment with her family.

Dan held the bottle up. "Want any, Cat?"

My throat tightened. It had been a week since I'd had a drink and a part of me wondered what harm one glass would do. But I shook the thought, knowing Cat would be expecting me first thing in the morning.

"No, thanks." I reached for my glass of water as everyone dug into their food. Looking over at Meredith, I smiled. "How was your day?"

She sighed, both relieved someone asked and dreading answering. "Not bad. I'm still adjusting to being back in an office. And the commute."

Nodding, I blew a raspberry with my lips. "No kidding, the drive down to the city is no joke."

Daniel had mentioned that Meredith went back to work at her law firm when I first got back to New Winford. Money had been a little tight and she missed having something outside of the kids to focus on.

I took a bite of food as the table's conversation moved on to the kids's days. The risotto melted on my tongue, the warm rice exploding with flavor. I couldn't stop myself from shaking my head at the delicious food.

"How was yours?" Daniel eventually turned his attention back to me.

With a mouth full of food, I hesitated. After I'd swallowed my bite, I answered, "Weird. I went on a hike with Cleo today."

"Fontaine?" Dan nearly choked.

Wrinkling my forehead, I laughed. "Yeah, how many Cleos do you know?"

Daniel shook his head. "Just the one."

In an attempt to not be too invasive, Meredith looked up from her food. "How did that come about?"

"Honestly?" I asked, waiting for their nods before I continued, "The last time I felt like my career was on track, was when I was playing with them."

Dan pursed his lips as he considered it. I could tell that he was playing through my highlight reel in his mind. Of course, I knew it was true. I'd been replaying that film in my head every day for at least the last five years.

Sighing, Dan took a sip of his wine. "What did they think about that?"

"They agreed to help me train." With a shrug, I went back to my plate. "But I have a feeling they only said yes to get me out of New Winford as quickly as possible."

Meredith nodded. "But that's what you want anyway, right?"

The words pierced my chest. I knew she hadn't meant it to feel so cold, but it was hard to hear that my motives would be so transparent. The worst part was, she wasn't even wrong. That was why I asked for Cleo's help.

But now, I wasn't sure what I wanted. Being away from the paparazzi and the pressure was a relief, I felt like I was actually breathing for the first time in a decade.

Shaking my head, I filled my fork with food. "Yeah, I want to get back on the field."

Dinner finished pretty quickly, Lily and Jacob had excused themselves to get ready for bed while I cleaned up the kitchen. After the days Meredith and Dan had, I wasn't about to let them wash dishes.

By the time I was closing the door to the guest room for bed, I was exhausted. Between the emotional exhaustion of seeing my ex and the physical exertion of a hike, my body was begging to fall into the plus duvet draped across the queen bed.

I pulled off my flannel, the sleeves damp from the sink, and let my sweats drop to the floor.

It was already 11 pm and I had to be at the field just seven hours later.

Deciding it was easier to get ready now than in the pitch black of a weekday morning, I went over to my suitcase and opened it. Inside, a pile of dirty clothes spilled over the edges.

I dug my hand through the fabrics, hunting for my sports bra, an old t-shirt, and some of the pristine, white polyester pants. Once I had grabbed all three items, I tossed them on the small, wicker bench at the foot of my bed.

There was one last thing I needed as I leaned down and pulled the stuffed duffel bag off the floor.

I shoved my hand inside, a part of me nervous to even look at it as my hand met the familiar leather. Tugging the new glove out, a part of me wanted to throw it down like a hot pan. But I had to get used to handling it again.

So instead, I sat down on the mattress and took in a deep breath. I cracked the glove open with both hands, trying to stretch out the leather. It was still stiff. It was sent to me a year after my injury, hoping to come back to the field with some new, flashy gear to distract from my slowing pitch.

But the team didn't take me back.

It collected dust in my closet while I pretended not to see it.

After a moment of breaking it in, I tossed it down to the pile of clothes on the bench. Hopefully, it would serve me well in this new phase of my life.

Leaning back into the pile of pillows, I tried to steady my heart rate. I couldn't tell if I was more nervous to try and play softball again or to be alone with Cleo again.

I stared up at the ceiling for a minute, turning out the light as I thought about their face. They had aged but somehow looked exactly as I expected them to. And underneath the slight wrinkles and the few grays starting to bleed into their dark brown hair was the same Cleo I'd fallen in love with.

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes as I tried to erase their face from my mind.

That wasn't what I was here for. I was here to play the field and get back to my life. A life Cleo couldn't be a part of anymore.

I had never wanted to be blinded by the morning sun more than when I woke up to the blaring alarm near my face and a pitch-black sky.

Rolling over, I slammed my finger down on the "stop" button and peeled myself off the pillow. My eyelids dared me to fall back asleep, like they had thirty-pound weights attached to each eyelash.

Get the fuck up.

But my brain wasn't listening.

Cleo is waiting.

It was a desperate attempt… that worked. My eyes jolted open as I sat up in one swift motion. I forced my feet onto the cold hardwood outside the bed as I stood from the mattress.

Blinking away the sleep, I threw on my sports bra and old shirt. If the bra hadn't been so tight and rigid, I would've been too comforted by the warmth of the too-small t-shirt to stay awake.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand after I pulled up my white softball pants.

Coffee. Need coffee.

Shoving the hunk of metal into my pockets, I grabbed my equipment bag from the closet and tossed the new glove inside.

As the guest room door swung open, Dan zipped down the hall toward the kitchen. "Morning, killer." Looking down at my shining-white pants, he laughed. "Haven't seen you in those in a while."

Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly followed him down the hallway. He led the way to the massive carafe of coffee that was freshly brewed on the machine.

When I rounded the corner to the kitchen, the pot of brown elixir felt like finding the holy grail. I poured myself a cup into a to-go mug and pulled out my phone. There were a few unanswered texts. Most of them were from unsaved numbers who I didn't care to respond to. But one was from my agent:

Call me when you're free. Want an update.

I tapped my finger against the cup of coffee, unsure if Tommy would appreciate the wake-up call. But I'd known her a long time and I think she'd earned a little bit of punking. So I clicked her contact name and clicked "call."

After a few rings, Tommy's groggy, panicked voice sounded. "What's happening, doctor?"

"What?" My forehead wrinkled at the question. Was she still asleep?

"Shit, sorry." There was shuffling on Tommy's end of the phone and I couldn't quite tell if the apology was directed toward me or whoever was keeping her company. "I just figured if I got a call from you before six in the morning, it was probably an ER doctor looking for someone to inform."

I rubbed my forehead. "Ouch."

"Yeah, sorry. What's up?"

Clearing my throat, I shrugged. "I just wanted to give you that update. I'm back in New Winford and I'm heading out to practice right now."

Tommy's voice grew concerned. "With who? Your brother?"

"No," I hesitated to be honest. "My ex?"

"Oh, dear god." Tommy buried her head in her hands. "Why do you insist on causing me so much trouble?"

As I headed for the door, I waved goodbye to Daniel before leaving the house. I did my best to shut the door quietly but it was already nearing six which meant I was going to be late no matter what. But I knew Cleo would find a way to hold every minute against me.

Walking to my car, I shrugged. "It's not trouble. Cleo Fontaine had what it took to go pro. They just didn't want to."

"I remember the name from your college days." Tommy groaned. From the sounds of it, she was pouring her coffee as I ducked into my Benz.

"I was at my best when we played together. They know my game better than anyone." I started my car and set the mug of coffee in the cupholder as I tried again to convince myself this was a good idea.

Through the phone, Tommy sighed. "Look, I have no choice but to trust you right now. But if this doesn't work…"

"I know, I'm done." Before I hung up the phone, I pointed out, "But hey, one week with no bad press is an improvement."

With a light chuckle, Tommy said goodbye. "Don't call me before 8 am unless you're on a stretcher, got it?"

"Heard." I hung up the phone and drove my car out of the driveway.

One thing was clear, it was going to be up to me to prove that this plan would work; that investing my entire future back in the one person from my past who had every reason to sabotage me was a good idea.

High risk, high reward… right?