“No, no. I was thirty-four when I had Maya. I was pretty sure she’d be my one and only. I didn’t care whether she was male or female, as long as she was healthy.”
“She’s a beautiful little girl, Kath. She looks just like you.”
“Thank you.” The warmth of a blush raged up her neck. “She does favor me, though she has Danny’s eyes. He has those gorgeous icy blue eyes. I’m glad Maya got them. They’re so noticeable.”
“I like your warm brown ones, Kath,” Brett said, smiling. “Though Maya is beautiful. I don’t mean to say she’s not.”
“I know.” Kathryn smiled. “Tell me, do your other girls look like Zoe? In other words, like mini Bretts?”
He laughed. “Candy does. Evie favors Michelle more. Still dark hair and eyes, like me, but her facial features are softer, a little curvier, like Michelle.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“Okay. We’ll plan on it sometime. Does that mean…” His words trailed off.
“Mean what?”
“That you want to…be with me? I mean, I hope you do. It’s what I want. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, to be honest.”
Her insides melted and she nodded. “But we don’t know each other very well, Brett. We never did, really.”
“We knew each other in the biblical sense.” He smirked.
She couldn’t help but return his roguish grin. “Evidently, we still do. But really. It’s been twenty years. There’s so much about each other that we don’t now. That we need to learn.”
“We’ll have fun learning.” He reached across the table and took her hand, massaging her palm gently with his thumb. “I want to know everything about you, Kath. Every single thing. I want to know what kind of dressing you like on your salad. What you like to watch on TV. What kind of books you like to read. What makes you laugh, smile, cry. Everything.”
“Oh Brett, that’s lovely.” Her eyes misted. There was so much he didn’t know. So much he needed to know. She opened her mouth to tell him, but lost her nerve.
“I mean it. Every word. I shouldn’t have married Michelle, Kath, when I loved you. I should have chased you down. Found you. Convinced you I could give you what you needed.”
She shook her head. “Brett, we were different people then, with different needs. You deserved the chance to play baseball.”
“I know. I guess I couldn’t compete with Stanford.”
“Oh, it wasn’t just that.” God no, it wasn’t just that. If he only knew…“You and Michelle had a history. And you had a baseball scholarship.”
“That only lasted a year.”
“I know. I’m sorry you had to quit school and work.”
“It wasn’t just that.” He looked down.
“What is it?”
“I injured my knee. Had a few surgeries. I’m fine. I mean, I get around fine, no limp. But it ended my baseball career.”
“Oh, Brett, I’m so sorry.”
Her heart sank. All this time she felt she’d done the right thing, keeping their child a secret. She’d wanted him to have the chance to play baseball. She’d wanted him to have the chances for so many things…the chances he deserved. Now, to find out baseball never would have been possible…Shivers raced up the ladder of her spine. Had she made the wrong decision? Would he have wanted the baby? Would he have wanted her?
“It’s okay. I enjoyed school, but I never would have done as well without you there to help me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “You never needed me, Brett. I shouldn’t tell you this, but Mr. Phillips, the counselor, remember him? He confided in me when he was trying to get me to tutor you that you had scored in the superior range on the state tests.”
“Superior? What’s that mean exactly?”
“It’s one ranking below genius level.”