Page 59 of Walk Off

Want to help me make Celia fall in love with me again?

Zara:

Is that even a question? I’m in, but if this doesn’t work, I was never involved.

Kyle:

It has to work. I can’t live without her. Not anymore.

Zara:

I like your confidence. Tell me what you need.

He told her what he was thinking and how she could help. Then he put his phone away and spent the rest of the day focusing on Jasmine and Celia. He wasn’t going to waste a single second of his time with them.

After breakfast, they took Jasmine to a park where she played with other kids, and he and Celia sat and watched. It felt almost like they were a family. After the park, they stopped by a store that Jasmine had been talking about for days where they custom-made a doll, especially for you.

“You don’t have to do this,” Celia said. “She already loves you. You don’t have to buy her love.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. I want her to have something that reminds her of me when I’m not here.” He kept one eye on Jasmine as she browsed the store, something he was going to have to get used to, as he talked to Celia. “You know my life, how I grew up. I don’t want that for Jasmine. It’s not about stuff either. It’s more about knowing I cared enough to buy the stuff. If that makes sense.”

Her eyes softened and she reached out, touching his forearm. “I can understand that. Ruby always tells me stories about how great our dad was and how much he loved us. I want that for Jasmine. I hate that my mom didn’t seem to care about us and only wanted us to anger my dad.” He’d learned that Celia’s dad had died when she’d been young, after a pretty nasty divorce from her mom. Both Celia and Ruby loved their dad and were used as pawns in the game their mom played to hurt him.

It was unfair to everyone involved.

That summer they’d been together, she’d told him about her mom and mentioned that her dad had died, but he hadn’t known how bad it had really been. Hearing the story made the last parts of anger he’d held onto disappear.

He wanted to show her that not all parents were bad. That not all love would fade. That forgiveness was possible when you loved someone enough.

“It’s going to be weird not seeing her every day,” he said randomly. He’d been thinking about it a lot the last twenty-four hours. How strange it would be not talking to her and laughing with her. They’d have FaceTime but it wasn’t the same as seeing her in person. In just a week, he’d come to love Jasmine more than he’d ever imagined possible.

“You can call anytime. I know she’ll be excited to talk to you.” Her voice told him she meant her words.

“I know and I will. It just won’t be the same.” He held her gaze for longer than he should have before Jasmine came rushing over.

“I picked one!” She held up a doll who was wearing what looked like a baseball uniform. “Her name’s Juniper and she likes baseball and pitches for her school team.”

Kyle’s heart stuttered in his chest before falling completely and hopelessly in love with his daughter. She’d picked a doll that played baseball like him. How was he supposed to hold out against that?

“It bet she’s the best pitcher on the team,” Celia said when she noticed him at a loss for words.

“Do you like her?” Jasmine looked up at him, worry in her eyes.

He knelt down in front of her. “I love it. She’s got to be the best doll in this place.”

Her face lit up. “I think so.”

He glanced up at Celia just in time to see her wipe a tear away. “Why don’t you go pick out a few more outfits for Juniper,” he told Jasmine. “She can’t play baseball all the time.”

After she ran away, he stood up, stepping a little closer to Celia. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head continually. “No, I’m absolutely not, but at the same time, I’m more okay than I ever thought I’d be.” She looked up at him with damp eyes. “She’s needed this. You. I kept her from having an amazing dad and somehow, neither one of you hates me. It doesn’t make any sense.”

He reached out, saying screw it to his plan of not touching her. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Because sometimes you just needed a hug. “I could never hate you. Believe me, I’ve tried so many times.” He stroked her back, doing his best to tell her with his touch that it would all be okay.

“I’m so sorry.” She cried into his shoulder. She said the words over and over again as if she was trying to earn forgiveness from him. What she didn’t realize was that it was already done. He’d forgiven her already.

He loved her too much not to forgive her.

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