20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

Scottie

“This is where you wanted to take me on our date?” I stare up at the house that I haven’t been to since the summer after high school, wondering what the hell is going through this man’s mind.

Grady took me to a steakhouse a few towns over for dinner, and then he drove us back to Carrington Cove, but wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me. And now that we’re sitting outside of Grady’s high school buddy Derek’s house, I’m beginning to question this man’s sanity.

Grady laughs as he gets out of the truck and rounds the front to my side to help me out. “Just trust me.”

“When I’m worried about a trespassing charge, that’s hard to do. I mean, if I get the cops called on me, my son will never let me live it down. You do remember our recent run-in with the law, don’t you, Grady?”

He takes my hand and guides me across the street to the front lawn. “We’re not going to get arrested. I’ve already cleared it with Derek’s parents. They know we’re here, but they’re in Florida visiting friends.” He taps his temple. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a planner, Scottie.”

I can only shake my head as Grady lifts the latch on the house’s side gate, leading me into the backyard. And suddenly, a wave of memories from the night I was last here comes rushing back to me.

Grady points to the side of the yard with a smirk on his lips. “You might not recall, but that’s where you did a keg stand.”

“Are you trying to remind me of how crazy I was back in the day? Because I’m aware.”

He chuckles. “No, but that was the moment I realized you were unlike any other girl I’d ever met, and I knew I was really going to fucking miss you when you left.”

My heart begins to pound. “Oh.”

“Come on.”

He leads me back out front and over to the tree where we sat that night, and as soon as my eyes see the tire swing still hanging from the thick branch, I turn to face him. “Are we here to remind me of when I puked all over the grass right here because of that keg stand?”

He throws his head back and laughs. “No, but I’ll never forget that because you were always so concerned about me getting sick and you puked pretty violently that night.”

“Karma has a way of catching up to you, Grady. Don’t forget that.”

He leads me over to the swing. “Wanna hop on?”

I stare down at my belly that feels like it’s getting larger by the minute. “Not sure I can fit.”

“Yeah, you can. I’ll help you.”

With Grady steadying me, I thread my legs through the tire, and he begins to push me gently, rocking me back and forth.

I wait a few moments before I ask, “Why are we here, Grady? ”

“Nostalgia. Memories. Feelings,” he says cryptically. “That night could have changed our lives if I had just acted on what I wanted back then, Scottie.”

Silence stretches between us as I think back to the night we were here last. “Do you remember what we talked about that night?” I finally ask.

“Every word of it.”

“What’s the part that stands out the most?” I whisper as Grady pulls the tire to a stop and comes around to face me.

“You asked me if I was ready for what comes next,” he says, his eyes locked on mine.

And suddenly it feels hard to breathe. “Okay…”

“Come here.” He helps me out of the tire swing and then pulls me into his chest, or as close as we can get since my belly is making that harder to accomplish. Cupping my jaw, he says, “I think it’s time that I tell you what I want—what I see coming next for us.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Oh…”

“Scottie,” he starts, but my phone rings in my pocket, interrupting the moment.

Glancing down at it, I’m worried when I see my mom’s name on the screen. “Uh…”

Grady nods. “It’s okay. Answer it.”

“I’m sorry. She knows I’m out with you, so it’s weird that she’s calling,” I explain as I swipe across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Scottie,” my mother says, urgency in her tone.

“What’s wrong, Mom? Is Chase all right?”

“You need to come home.”

“Mom, you’re scaring me. ”

“It’s Andrew, sweetie,” she says as I feel my stomach drop. “He’s here.”

***

By the time Grady pulls into my driveway, the tension between us is so palpable that you could cut it with a knife. Part of me is eager to hear what he had to say and upset that we were interrupted, but the other part of me is terrified, dreading what brought Andrew all the way to Carrington Cove. Deep down, though, I think I know exactly why he’s here.

Just when things started to feel like they were moving in the right direction, the past had to come back and remind me of my poor choices. Seems like this is a battle I’ll never win.

When Grady helps me down from the truck and Andrew sees my stomach, he starts laughing. “Jesus Christ, Scottie. You moved this far just to be unmarried and pregnant again? Seems like some things don’t ever fucking change, huh?”

“You’d better watch how you speak to her,” Grady interjects, standing in front of me, shielding me from one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“The man you’ll have to answer to if you don’t show Scottie some respect.”

“Respect?” Andrew laughs. “Funny. You know, I could have shown up with the cops since Scottie chose to move out of state without fucking telling me, but I didn’t. How’s that for respect?”

I stand next to Grady now, finding my resolve to face the consequences of my actions and the man who doesn’t deserve my fear or sympathy. “What I find funny is you deciding to show up now, after all this time.”

“My job is demanding, Scottie. You fucking know that.”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, it always was more important than anything else, Andrew, including your family.”

“Which I think is reason enough for you to leave,” Grady chimes in.

“I have every legal right to be here. My wife and kid live here, and...”

“Ex-wife,” Grady corrects him sharply, “and a son you haven’t seen in over a year.”

Andrew takes a step closer to Grady, even though Grady towers over him by several inches.

God, I don’t know what I ever saw in Andrew.

And as my blood boils in my veins, I wish for a way to get him to leave our lives for good. Sadly, when you have a child with someone, you’re connected to them forever.

Andrew puffs out his chest. “I don’t know who you think you are, but—”

Cutting him off, Grady lowers his voice, but it doesn’t make him sound any less threatening. “I’m the man who’s having a baby with your ex-wife, the man who gets to love and protect her now, and the man who gets to show your son what it means to actually be a man of his word.”

Oh my God . “Grady…”

Andrew fires back. “Well, she broke the law by taking my son out of state without informing me.”

Grady starts to laugh. “You know, that’s rich coming from you, Andrew Warner.” Andrew’s eyes narrow but Grady doesn’t miss a beat. “You see, I knew this time was coming. When Scottie told me why she decided to move back here, I knew you’d come back around at some point, trying to exercise your perceived power. Men like you always do.” Grady moves to his truck, swings open the door, and retrieves a manila envelope. Slamming the door shut, he strides back over to us and thrusts the envelope to my ex. “I wanted to make sure you knew the stakes before you started making threats.”

I watch anxiously, my pulse hammering in my ears, as Andrew takes the envelope. I can’t deny that I am also a little curious about what’s inside.

What the hell has Grady been up to?

“You think you can threaten me?” Andrew snarls as he pops the metal clasp and pulls a thick stack of papers from the envelope. His eyes dart back and forth over the words, and as he flips through the pages, his skin goes white.

“You sure you want to get the cops involved, or a judge, for that matter?” Grady asks, folding his arms over his chest, watching as my ex seemingly accepts his fate.

“Where did you get this?” Andrew is seething.

“I have friends, important ones, who know how to track down the right information when necessary,” Grady replies coolly, nodding toward the stack of papers. “Now, if you’ll take out that last packet, you’ll find a petition for voluntary termination of parental rights.”

My stomach drops and the ground seems to sway beneath me. I steady myself on Grady’s arm before my knees buckle underneath me.

Grady had legal paperwork prepared so Andrew can’t fight me.

If I was on the fence about how I feel about this man before, this settles it.

“I don’t have to sign shit,” Andrew snaps.

Grady takes a step toward him. “You don’t have to, but if you want to push this, I’ll take immense pride in airing your dirty laundry in court. I also have friends in the press, which would do wonders for your legal career, wouldn’t it, Warner? ”

Andrew’s face contorts with anger. “You mother fucker!” He lunges forward, but Grady’s quicker, stepping between Andrew and me. He extends his arm, closing his hand around Andrew’s throat before he can get any closer.

“Don’t think I won’t snap just because Scottie is here. Technically, you’re trespassing on her property, so we’re within our rights to defend ourselves. But I don’t think that’s what either of us wants, is it?” I clasp my hands over my mouth as Andrew struggles to breathe. “Do you need a pen?”

Andrew bobs his head up and down as Grady releases him and pulls a pen from his pocket, shoving it into his chest. “Here.”

Wheezing, my ex-husband scribbles his name across the pages that fell to the ground, and for the first time in months, I feel like I can breathe.

“Smart choice.” Grady takes the papers from Andrew and puts them back in the envelope. “Now, I suggest you get the fuck out of town. Forget you ever knew this woman and her son, and remember that someone is always watching, Andrew. Always.”

Andrew dips his eyes up and down my body before he grates out, “You know what? Keep her. Her and that kid are the greatest mistake I’ve ever made.”

My heart cracks in my chest as I watch him walk down the sidewalk, back out to his car, and drive off. And then I start to sink down to the ground.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Grady says, kneeling and catching me before I hit the ground as a sob escapes my lips. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. He’s gone.”

My body is shaking uncontrollably. All the fear, all the regret—it’s leaving my soul through my tears as Grady lifts me in his arms and starts to carry me to the front door .

“Grady! Grady!” My mother’s voice breaks through my crying, but I keep my face buried in Grady’s chest. “Is she okay?”

“I’ve got her, Lisa.” He assures her, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Andrew’s gone and he won’t be coming back, I can promise you that.”

“I was watching in case he got out of line, but I wanted to keep my distance too.” Her voice is shaky. “What did he say?” my mother asks as she starts stroking my back. “Scottie, baby. Are you all right?”

Grady hoists me tighter in his arms. “She’s going to be. I need to get her inside. That was a lot of stress on her and the baby and I need to make sure they’re okay. I’ll text you.”

My mother presses a kiss to my cheek. “He’s gone, baby. You’re safe now.”

Little does she know just how true that is, especially here in Grady’s arms.

Grady opens the front door and takes me straight to the couch. Depositing me carefully on the cushions, he props my feet up on a pillow as I fight to take in breaths.

Is this what a panic attack feels like?

“Breathe, Scottie. Breathe.” He pushes my hair back from my face, kissing my forehead. “I’m going to get you some water. Just keep taking deep breaths.”

By the time he returns, I feel like my heart rate is getting back to normal, and when I finally open my eyes, he’s on his knees by my side, holding my hand, and staring at me like he’s afraid I might disappear.

“Grady…”

“I’m sure you have questions, but I need you to calm down a little bit more before we talk. Your pulse is through the roof, and that’s not good for the baby, Scottie. ”

I nod, closing my eyes and resting my head back against the pillow as our daughter moves around in my stomach. On instinct, both Grady and I place our hands there, silently comforting one another and absorbing the fact that she’s okay and the drama from earlier is over—hopefully for the rest of my life.

“What was in the envelope?” I ask when I finally feel more at ease.

Grady pushes a hand through his hair and then takes a seat on the couch, placing my legs back across his lap so they’re still propped up. “After our road trip, when you told me about your situation with your ex, I knew it was only a matter of time before he came back. So, I called up Timothy McDonald, the lawyer in town, and had him draft up the form.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He twists his head to face me, flashing that panty-melting smirk of his. “Because the game wasn’t over yet, and until it is, you keep some plays close to the vest.”

I crack a smile, remembering what he told me after his pep talk with my son during his last baseball game. “Smooth.”

He chuckles. “I knew getting him to sign it wouldn’t be easy, so I needed leverage. A buddy of mine I played with in San Francisco worked with a private investigator when he was going through his divorce because he was fairly certain his wife was cheating on him. I got his number and had Andrew followed for a few weeks. We discovered all kinds of extracurricular activities your ex likes to partake in, including fucking the wife of one of the judges in his district. So, I made sure to include those pictures in case he wanted to fight back.”

“Is that what made him look like he was going to throw up?” I ask, thinking back to how white Andrew looked as he flipped through the stack of papers .

“Probably. Or it was the picture of him snorting cocaine off a stripper’s bare chest.”

I close my eyes and shake my head. “Jesus. I can’t believe I ever married him.” But then I remember his words from earlier and my eyes well again. “He was my greatest mistake, Grady.” I look across the room so he can’t see what hearing that actually did to me, how betrayed and hurt it made me feel—not because I still have feelings for the man, but because without him, I wouldn’t have Chase, and I don’t see how any parent can regret their own child.

Grady tugs gently on my hand, pulling my attention back to him. “Scottie, don’t you dare fucking believe a word that piece of shit said, okay? He may consider you two his greatest mistake, but for me? Realizing that you and Chase belong in my life was my defining moment.” Instantly, it gets hard to breathe again. “The second you reentered my world, I knew what had been missing. His loss is my gain. You’ve completed my life, Scottie. You, your son, and this baby girl.” He places his hand back on my belly. “And I’ll keep reminding you of that until the end of time if you’ll let me.”

So many emotions are moving through me right now, but the one I’m choosing to focus on is love .

I tried to fight it, tried to deny what’s really between us, and I can sit here and make up more excuses about why letting him in scares the shit out of me.

But at the end of the day, this man could never hurt me. Hell, he went out of his way to help me, care for me, and protect me and my son from the man who never deserved us to begin with.

I love him .

“I want that, Grady.” Nodding, I swing my legs off of his lap and move to straddle him, holding his face in my hands. “What you did for me tonight? That’s love. What you do for me every day? That’s love. How you listen, how you show up, how you make me feel like I don’t have to live in fear anymore? That’s the kind of love I didn’t know existed.”

Grady cups the side of my face and speaks the words my heart already knew. “I’m so fucking in love with you, Scottie.” The gravel in his voice travels right down the center of my chest, coating my entire body in warmth. “You’re my best friend, and the woman I’m meant to be with. No one else ever stood a chance. Do you realize that?”

“I do now. And I—I love you too. So much that I’m terrified and overwhelmingly happy at the same time.”

He takes a deep breath. “Then stop fighting this, and let me love you forever.”

“Kiss me,” I breathe against his lips. And he does until we’re both out of control with need for each other, but he stops before it gets too far.

He lets out a sigh of relief, planting his lips on mine again. “Fuck, Scottie. You have no idea the brick you just lifted from my chest.”

“I might have a little idea…I feel like I’ve been carrying a similar brick myself.”

He lowers his hand to our baby, rubbing my stomach softly. “I want this life with you, for us to be a family. I want that so fucking much…”

“Me too. There’s still a lot to figure out, but I’m done fighting this. I love you and that’s all that matters.”

“You are the love of my life, Scottie Daniels.”

“I’m not Daniels anymore.”

He tilts my head to the side, stroking my cheek. “No. And soon you’ll be Scottie Reynolds, so we won’t have to argue about this anymore.”

“You love arguing with me, Grady.”

The corner of his mouth tips up. “I do, but I love loving you more. And I plan on doing that for the rest of our lives.”

***

“That’s it, Scottie. Open up for me.”

Closing my eyes, I focus on the feeling of Grady sliding in and out of me, lying behind me while he keeps my legs open with his arm under my knee.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispers in my ear. “Your heart, your mind, your body.”

“Grady…”

“I love you. I’m so fucking in love with you, woman. You own me. You’re the reason I can fucking breathe again.” His lips find my neck, kissing and licking the skin.

“I love you too.” He flicks his hips a bit and hits a spot inside of me that’s making my orgasm build quickly. “Oh yes, right there…”

“Come with me, Scottie.”

“Keep going…”

We don’t say anything else as Grady continues to work my body over, thrusting in the perfect tempo that helps me reach my release. And as the first screams leave my lips, I hear him groan behind me until we’re both shivering with aftershocks.

Sex has never been like this for me.

It’s because I wasn’t having sex with Grady Reynolds .

After cleaning up, I leave the bathroom to find Grady leaning against the headboard. I try not to stare, but it’s useless.

The man is fucking perfect.

“Ready for round two already?” he asks, a smirk on his lips .

My body says yes, but my mind remembers something I’ve been waiting to show him when the time is right. And after tonight, that time is definitely now.

“I have something for you,” I say, walking to my closet. I slide the door open and reach up to the top shelf, taking down the shoe box that is barely holding together after all these years.

Grady sits up taller. “What is that?”

I settle beside him on the bed and pop the lid off the box as the scent of old newspapers fills the air. “I told you I’d be rooting for you, Grady,” I say, pushing the box toward him.

With a pinch in his brow, he begins to pull out article after article from his career, spanning almost ten years of accolades and his World Series win.

He’s silent for so long, I start to grow nervous as he keeps taking out paper after paper, magazine articles, and even an old jersey I bought when he was drafted to the San Francisco Giants.

But when he peers up at me with tears in his eyes, I know that the love we’ve had for each other has run deep for far longer than we both realized. “I can’t believe you kept all this.”

“I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t.”

“Come here,” he says, motioning for me to come closer, his voice thick with emotion. As I nestle into his side, he cups my chin and guides my gaze to meet his. “If I didn’t love you before, this would have sealed the deal for me.”

“That’s how I felt when you pulled those papers from your truck tonight.” The corner of his mouth lifts, but I continue. “I was always watching, Grady—every game, every milestone, I was invested. We may have lost touch through no one’s fault but my own, but you were still very much a part of my life. ”

He leans his forehead on mine. “I don’t want to question what if, but…”

I press a finger to his lips. “Don’t. We’re right where we’re supposed to be. You and me, and our baby.” He moves his hand to my stomach. “But I was always proud of you, and now even more so because you are the man I’ve always known you were supposed to be. And I love you so fucking much.”

Grady slides us down to the bed, and I rest my head on his chest. He strokes my back, drawing circles with his fingers. “So, are you ready to agree to move in with me now?”

I chuckle. “I guess I don’t have a valid argument against that anymore, do I?”

“Not at all.”

I twist my face so I can look at him. “Yes, we can live together.”

“I already have a room ready for the baby.”

Rolling my eyes, I say, “Doesn’t surprise me.”

“Did you think I wasn’t going to at least have something in the works?” he says, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “You might have been on the fence about that, but I was serious.”

“Did you paint the walls pink?”

“All I have is furniture. I was hoping we could finish the rest together when you pulled your head out of your ass.”

“Hey!” I reach up to twist his nipple, but he grasps my hand before I can, twisting his body so he’s hovering over me now.

“You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met, Scottie. Knowing my luck, our daughter is going to get that from you too.”

“You’re going to be outnumbered, Grady.”

“I have Chase on my side still, at least for the next few years.”

“Then what happens after he’s gone off to school or moves out? ”

He cups the side of my face. “Then it will just be me and my girls, and Chase—the way it should be—the way it always was supposed to be, babe. And I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

***

“So what does this mean?”

I’m sitting across from my son in our living room. It’s Sunday morning after the night that made me realize all my sacrifices to get to this moment were worth it. Before Chase came home from his friend’s house, Grady left to grab donuts—and apple fritters, of course—to give me a chance to talk to Chase alone. I wanted him to be able to voice any concerns freely without Grady around.

“This means that Grady and I are going to be together, and before your sister comes, we’re moving in with him.” As Grady and I lay down to sleep last night, I realized my life was about to change quicker than I had anticipated. But it feels right. I just hope my son supports this development.

Chase scoffs, but I can hear the teasing tone in his reply. “Seems kind of backwards seeing as how you’re already pregnant.”

“Watch it,” I chastise him, but can’t deny that he’s right. “I know it seems out of order, but the truth is, Grady and I have a past and our feelings from back when we were younger only seem to have grown. Yes, we’re having a child and that wasn’t planned, but what we do have the ability to choose is the chance at being a family, and we both really want that.”

Chase studies me for a moment. “What about Dad?”

“Grady knows your father isn’t involved in our lives anymore. He knows that we left and have no intention of going back. But there’s something important you should know as well.” I take a deep breath and prepare to tell my son the truth about his dad. “Your father relinquished his parental rights, Chase.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means that legally, you no longer have to see him.”

I see my son’s jaw clench as he processes this information. “Mom…I really hate him.”

His words slash right through my heart. I stand from my chair and move to my son where he sits on the couch. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I lean into him. “Don’t hate him, Chase. He doesn’t deserve that energy from you, and hating someone takes a lot of energy, believe me.”

“He’s the worst dad. Honestly, I feel relieved that he’s not in our lives anymore.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Me too. But the best thing you can do is learn from him, Chase—learn what kind of man not to be. I hope that one day when you find the person you want to be with, you devote time and energy to your relationship, and you cherish that person and show them how much they mean to you every day. Because if your father taught us anything, it’s exactly what not to do. And when you have kids of your own, be there for them. Stick to your word. Be like…”

“Grady,” he finishes for me, glancing over at me now. A tear falls as I nod, so grateful that my son has that man as an example to look up to now—and that he chose us.

Chase nods, silent for a few moments. When he speaks again, though, his words tell me that I’m taking the right step forward. “I like Grady, Mom. He’s a good man.”

Speaking around the lump in my throat, I say, “He is.”

“He’s taught me a lot.”

“Me too, Chase.”

“This kid is lucky to have him as a dad,” he continues, reaching down to touch my stomach.

“Yeah, she is.” I look my son in the eyes. “But she’s just as lucky to have you as her big brother, Chase.”

***

Two Weeks Later

“Hold that right there.” Grady bends over the fender of the Nova while Chase holds something in place. With a wrench in his hand, Grady reaches down into the engine compartment, flicks his wrist a few times, and then stands tall again. “Perfect.”

“It’s gonna run, right?” Chase asks, wiping sweat from his brow. I watch the two of them from the doorway separating the reception area of Grady’s Garage from the garage itself.

It’s Saturday evening and Chase has been here since eight. When my son practically launched himself out of bed this morning, I thought something had to be wrong. Turns out, this was the day they planned to put the motor back in the car, and he was desperate to see if his newfound knowledge was worthwhile.

My stomach growls as my body reminds me that dinnertime is upon us, but I just don’t have the heart to interrupt the two of them yet.

This is how our life is supposed to be .

Taking a deep breath so I don’t overwhelm myself with that train of thought, I lean against the doorjamb and continue to watch my son learn from the man that has taught him more in the past few months than his father did in his entire life .

Grady pats Chase on the shoulder before wiping his hands on the rag he pulled from the back pocket of his jeans. “It better. Otherwise, we have to take the whole engine apart again.”

“Really?” Chase asks in disbelief.

Grady laughs. “Maybe. Let’s just hope we put it back together correctly the first time around.”

“I wonder what it’s like to drive a car like this.” My son steps around the front end, running his hand down the lines of the body, tracing the door handle and back fender. Grady hired someone to give the car a new coat of paint while they rebuilt the engine, so the body is now sparkling in a beautiful midnight blue, a tad lighter than it was the night I laid my body on this car.

“Wanna find out?”

Chase’s eyes pop up and lock with Grady’s. “Really?”

“Yeah. Once she’s street legal, I can teach you how to drive it. Keep in mind, this classic doesn’t have all the bells and whistles new cars have.”

Chase shakes his head. “I don’t care. I’m in.” He takes a few steps closer to Grady as they both stare down at the engine compartment. “I can’t believe we took that whole thing apart and put it back together.”

Grady places his hand on my son’s shoulder. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Chase. Thanks for your help.”

My son simply nods, and before I start bawling for the second time today—the first was when I dropped my apple fritter in the grocery store parking lot—I clear my throat, gaining their attention. “How’s it going?”

They both spin to face me simultaneously. Chase flashes me a proud grin, but Grady’s grin speaks of dirty promises as his eyes dip up and down my body, the kind of promises that I know he’s good at fulfilling .

“We got the engine in,” Chase says. “Now, we just hope it starts.”

“Can you check now?”

Chase looks back to Grady as he pulls the keys from the pocket of his jeans. “No better time than the present.” Dangling the keys in front of my son’s face, he says, “You wanna do the honors?”

“Shit. Really?”

“Chase!” I exclaim.

“Sorry.” He swipes the keys from Grady’s hands and practically jumps into the driver’s seat as Grady walks over to me, pulling me into his chest.

“Hey there.” He leans down and presses a kiss to my lips.

“Hey, yourself.”

“How was your day?” He reaches down and places his hand on my bump. “Both of you.”

“We’re doing okay. Getting hungry though.”

“Me too. As soon as we know if all our work was for nothing, we’ll go grab some food, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Leaning down to line his mouth up to my ear, he whispers, “And then I’ll eat you for dessert.”

“I missed you,” I whisper back to him.

“Missed you too, Scottie.” He presses a kiss on my neck. “I love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

A shiver races down my spine, but part of that may be from the roar of the engine as the car comes to life, echoing throughout the garage and pulling our attention back to my son.

“It works!” Chase yells over the noise, pushing his hand up into the air through the driver’s side window .

“Fuck yeah!” Grady beams with pride, pulling me into his side as Chase revs the gas and the engine continues to growl.

“Sounds good!” I shout loud enough so Chase can hear me.

“It does.” Grady turns to me and says, “He did good, Scottie.”

“He needed this,” I tell him.

He tucks one of my curls behind my ear. “Yeah, I needed it too.”

The baseball season is about to end, and as of today, my son has officially worked off his punishment for breaking into Grady’s Garage all those months ago. Seems like “punishment” is too strong of a word to use now since that incident ended up being a blessing in disguise. And God, I’m so thankful for that—for this man and his patience, his heart, and the way he’s shown up for me and my son in ways I never thought we’d have.

Chase kills the engine and steps out of the car. “God, it sounded good!”

Grady releases me and moves toward my son. “See? That sound right there was worth all the grease under your fingernails.”

Chase laughs. “I don’t know what feels better—striking out a batter at the plate, or hearing the engine I built come to life.”

“I used to feel that way too.” Grady shuts the driver’s side door. “We still have a few things to finish up on the inside, but your mom is starving, so we’d better feed her.”

“Yeah, this baby girl needs to eat,” I say, rubbing my belly.

“I’m starving too.” Chase moves to the sink to wash the grease off his hands.

“Better start upping your protein. We have three of our biggest games coming up,” Grady says, eyeing me over his shoulder as he scrubs his hands beside my son.

“I don’t see how we could lose. We’ve been on a winning streak pretty much all season. ”

Grady shakes his head. “Never go into a game cocky, Chase. Just because you won the last one doesn’t mean shit. Each game is a new battle, and you should always play as if it’s your last.”

Something in his words strikes a chord with me.

My entire adult life has felt like a battle up until this point—fighting for my son, my freedom, and my worth.

But it turns out that the man that was made for me came into my life when I was fourteen. I just had to go through a lot of lessons and hurt to get back to him.

I don’t regret our time apart, though. In fact, without those years, I wouldn’t have Chase. But now, I have the promise of a future I never knew was possible, and it’s all because of Grady—the boy who shared a passion for the same sport I loved, my friend that chased his dreams, even when mine shifted, and the man who loves me now, showing me that sometimes, when you fall, the right person will be there to pick you up and guide you to your next adventure—the one you were meant to take all along.