Page 74 of How We Fooled

Before I go, my mom stops me. “Can we talk before you leave?”

I know my mom, and when she has this somber tone, I know something’s up. She was just as over-the-moon excited as I was, so the change in her mood catches me off guard.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Let’s go outside.” She motions to where I was just heading, then walks out the door and sits down on the rocking chairs we have sitting on our porch. “Have a seat.”

I do as she asked, not having a clue what’s going on, so I stay silent until she speaks up.

“Where are you heading?”

“Nowhere, just out for a drive,” I say, not lying since that is what I’m physically doing.

“So you can call Liza?”

My heart drops as I try to act unaffected by her words. My silence doesn’t help my cause though.

She places her hand on mine. “I know you were in Billings with her yesterday.”

I narrow my eyes. “How?”

“Because I’m your mother. I know you better than you think. I like that you’ve tried to be sly about it at least. I don’t think your dad suspects anything.”

“Then, how did you? Do you not trust me?”

“Well”—she opens her eyes wide, tilting her head—“you were lying to us, so you did give me a reason not to trust you.”

“If you knew then, why did you let me go?”

“You know I just want to see you happy. I see how you’re trying to keep it a secret and doing a decent job of it.”

“Then, how did you know?”

She shrugs. “I pay attention. I know you’re not texting someone named Melissa.”

“Do you go through my phone?”

She shakes her head. “No, I don’t. You’re an adult, and I trust you. But like I said, I pay attention. You always play music when you come up our driveway. You haven’t been every time you come home since school started. I’m guessing that’s when you get to talk to her, which is exactly why you’re leaving right now—to call her.”

I stay silent, not wanting to tell her she’s right even though she’s spot-on.

“I knew you couldn’t just stop your relationship with her as quickly as you did. I know you better than that. It breaks my heart that you guys can’t be together. It really does. I’ve dreamed of you finding a girl like that.”

“But?” I state, getting to the point.

My mom can be a little sappy at times, and I’m not in the mood to hear her say how much she likes Liza because that doesn’t help my situation one bit.

She holds my hand tighter. “But you have to put a stop to it. You heard the agent today. There’s a real chance you can get drafted. Were you listening when he talked about making sure your social media was clean and there was nothing they could dig up on you?”

I close my eyes, not wanting to hear it.

“If you guys get caught, you can kiss the MLB dream goodbye. That will be more than small-town gossip. And you know that.”

I nod, letting out a breath in defeat.

Coaches warned me a girl could get in the way of me and my dreams, but I never imagined it would be this way.

My mom hugs me, knowing she doesn’t need to keep talking. I heard what she said. Now, I just need to decide if I’m going to listen to her or not.

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