Page 36 of Chasing Football Dreams

I caught him frowning when I raised my gaze.

“The night of the interview when I collapsed, memories flooded my mind of my childhood. The nightmares and dreamsI thought were nothing seem to be memories that were suppressed,”

It seemed as if I hit the air from his lungs he just stared at me with eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. I waited for the gushing sound of air making its way back to him followed by him scolding me for not telling him.

“You know your kidnapper?” It was the first word that fell from his mouth.

I shook my head. “He kept his identity concealed with a mask but his voice is familiar. Like I know him,”

“And Coach Shane?”

I rubbed my left hand up and down my right arm wanting to wipe away the chills. “The blood tests are going to confirm whether I am nor not,"

The realization was still unbearable to comprehend. For seventeen years I was forced to believe that my parents passed away when all this time, I was taken away from my family and placed in an orphanage where I suffered the harsh part of life. Yet, I don’t seem to regret learning of the situation because if I were Zoey Martin, I would have never known about the state of living in an orphanage as personal.

“What are we going to do about this?” He asked, taking my hands in his.

“Take one step at a time,”

He nodded but I saw the frown on his face. I informed him that I decided to seek refuge at my so-called grave when Coach Shane showed up and gave him all the details of my afternoon. By now he has let me take a shower and change my close, including making sure I stayed warm not to catch a cold for this weekend’s championship game.

“He expected all this time that you could be his daughter,” Duncan noted in the darkness filled with silence.

I nuzzled closer to his side, embracing the warmth of his body. “Crazy, huh? I guess, I can see where my stubbornness and gut feelings come from,”

He chuckled. “Your self-assurance can’t be identified as stubborn just because you know what you want. I won’t lie when I admit that you were stubborn initially, but you just needed a hand to guide you to help spread your wings. You did the flying all on your own,”

“I don’t know what I am going to do when the truth comes to light,” The pressure of being his daughter is going to be overwhelming and I don’t know if I was ready for it.

He rolled on his side, caging me in his arms and pulling me against him so that my face nuzzled in the crook of his neck. “You don’t have to change just because your father is famous. You can still be you and still be his daughter,”

“How do I reconnect with my parents after seventeen years? All this time I thought they were dead only to find out that they are very much alive,”

“You take it day by day. Me and the team, we have your back, Zoey. Even Eliza is going to be at your side every step of the way,”

I rolled out of his arms and onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. “Eliza is meeting her mother tomorrow at the coffee shop and she wants me to tag along,”

“I thought her parents don’t want anything to do with her,”

I shrugged. “Her mom reached out and Eliza is suspicious of her sudden interest,”

“What do you think she wants?”

“In my opinion? Mess with Eliza’s head,”

Chapter Eighteen

“There she is,”

A woman with golden brown curls sat alone in a window booth overlooking the street. She came forth as a classy woman, dressing impeccably and always well-groomed with her pretentious sophistication and poise. She can pretend to be this woman everyone admires while she is a snake who abandoned her daughter at an orphanage. The only positive thing about this narcissistic woman was that she was at least honest when she didn’t lie to Eliza years ago but other than that, I don’t trust her.

It’s been years since Eliza found them. What could she possibly want now? Did she only realize currently that her daughter has an amazing talent and she wants to be a part of that fortune?

“Come on, let’s get this over with. You’ve practiced in an hour,” Eliza said tugging me on my arm and stringing me along with her.

“What she wants to mend fences?”

“I doubt that. Why would she only make the effort now?” Eliza was as suspicious as me.

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