Her questions were personal, but for some reason, I didn’t mind.
“They are healing well.”
She went to her cabinet and pulled out a bag.
“I mixed these for Samuel, but I wasn’t sure if he would be willing to use them. Some people are not into essential oils and natural remedies, but this is apricot oil, neroli, rose, and lavender oil mixed with raw shea butter. If he puts this on his wounds as a moisturizer, they will heal nicely.”
I took off the top of the container to smell it.
“This smells very good.”
“Thank you. I used essential oils for everything. They work well.”
“Thank you. I will make sure he uses it.”
I sipped some of my tea.
“Earlier you said you and Wesley were together, broke up and are now back together again?”
“In a nutshell, yes,” Charli replied. “He was my first everything, but he broke my heart. I was all prepared to give him the cold shoulder for the rest of my life, but the heart wants what the heart wants. My heart wants Wes and Wes’ heart wants me.”
“That’s a beautiful story.”
“I still pinch myself when I think about it. I never thought I would have the chance to be with Wes again, but here we are.”
Samuel
Wes and I went into his media room and sat in the black reclining chairs that were situated in the middle of the room. He went to the small bar and poured two glasses of cognac. He handed me one of the glasses then sat in the chair next to mine.
“I need you to explain this situation to me, Wes. I’d never heard Charli’s name and all of a sudden you are engaged. It’s important that you are careful about these steps you are taking. You were just with Diamond.”
“Like Charli said, she and I were high school sweethearts, but it was more than that. We’d planned a future together, but I got it in my head that I couldn’t have her and baseball, so I chose baseball. I think I thought she would wait on me to get my shit together but she didn’t. She moved on. I broke her heart, but I never stopped loving her even when she was married to someone else. She’s not some chick I met last week, and I put a ring on her finger. She should have been wearing my ring since we were kids.”
“Right, now I remember you mentioning something about her at dinner before the season started.”
“Right and Diamond and I were never really anything plus you know how she was moving.”
“I remember. So, what are your plans now that you’ve got your girl?”
“They haven’t changed. I’m following you into the front office. I want to marry Charli and get her pregnant as soon as I can.”
“Sounds like my plan,” I laughed.
“Great minds,” Wes laughed.
“I am still working with my investment group on acquiring the team. As soon as that deal in done, I will let you know.”
“I’m ready when you are,” Wes replied.
He held his glass up, and we clinked glasses and took a sip.
“How are you feeling, El?”
“I feel good man. Blessed, for real. The doctors didn’t expect me to make it, but I did. Now it’s time for me to expand my borders and put some plans in motion. I’m going to bring Averie back into this neighborhood tomorrow to look at a house around the corner. I’m going to purchase a house here, so we don’t have to stay in a hotel when we come down. After the deal goes through, I will be town a lot more often.”
“That’s smart. I am going to build Charli a house in our hometown. My dad and I are going to design it and build it. We will stay in both cities but mostly in Ragston during the off season.”
“Nice.”