Page 88 of Love Game

“You got fired again,” she said on a sigh.

Annoyance spurted up inside him. “You know, Ma, technically, I’ve never really been fired from a job. I was asked to resign from Northern, and if you’ll recall, they had to pay me a truckload of money to get me out of there.”

“Did the new school ask you to resign because of that woman?” she persisted.

The tremor in her voice and the fact that she couldn’t seem to retain the names of the schools where he’d coached in recent years reminded him that his mother wasn’t a young woman anymore. Hadn’t been for quite some time. And the misadventures of her only sons were probably not adding to her chances at longevity. But how could he answer her without lying or setting his marriage to Kate up for failure in his mother’s eyes? He had been asked to resign because of her. And though his mother hadn’t already heard the news, she would soon. Danny decided it was time to throw the long ball.

“Kate and I got married this afternoon, Ma.”

His mother’s gasp rang sharp in his ears. “You what?”

“We were married in Judge Dennis Baxter’s chambers this afternoon. I wanted to let you know because we’re doing a kind of a joint interview on the National Sports Network tonight. Live,” he added. “You can watch, if you want.”

“Watch?” she repeated, sounding bewildered.

“The interview with me and Kate,” he clarified gently.

“Have you called Tommy to tell him?” his mother asked.

Heaving a sigh, Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “No, Ma, I haven’t called Tommy. I called you.”

“You should call your brother. Tell him about this Kate woman. Maybe now that you’re both married, you can put this whole thing behind you,” she insisted.

“Ma, it was never about Tommy and LeAnn. I’ve told you that a million times.”

“Yes, but now you’re doing well on your own and he’s doing well, you’re both married… Please, Danny, I’d like to have Thanksgiving like a normal family.”

“We never had Thanksgiving like a normal family, because Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. You take dinner to other people on Thursdays,” he said, remembering all the times he and Tommy had seen their own portions of turkey and dressing dwindle away to nothing because someone else needed it more.

“Being able to give to others is a blessing, Daniel,” his mother reminded him sternly.

“I agree, Ma.” And his exorbitant salaries had made it possible for his mother to grant more blessings than most, but he didn’t bother reminding her of that fact.

“And you only have one brother,” she added, segueing into her favorite fallback. “When I’m gone, you won’t have any other family.”

“I’ll have Kate,” he reminded her. Thinking back on the sadness in Kate’s tone when she talked about her strained relationship with her sister, he straightened his spine and steeled his resolve. “We’ll be each other’s family.”

His mother released a long-suffering sigh. “One can never have too much family.”

Danny begged to differ, but now wasn’t the time to argue. “I have to go, Ma. It’s time for us to get ready for the interview. Kate and I are going to take a little honeymoon when she gets done with her summer commitments, but we’d like to fly up to see you when we get back.”

“Oh, I’d like to see you too, sweetheart. And your Kate.”

His Kate. She was his Kate now, for better or for worse. And he was going to do everything in his power to make it for better as far as his new bride was concerned.

“I’ll talk to you soon, Ma.”

“Talk to you on Wednesday, Danny,” she said, the correction a gentle rebuke for his daring to call off schedule.

Danny ended the call but stared at the phone long and hard. He could call Tommy, but he didn’t really see the point in it. The guy was an NSN junkie anyway. He had to have seen the news about the coaching job by now. His brother was a professional strategist. Any connection between Danny’s job and his marriage was not going to be flattering, and Danny didn’t feel up to taking hits from anyone else at the moment.

Pocketing the phone, he smoothed his tie over his stomach, then stepped out into the deserted corridor. It was time for him to find his Kate and get this show on the road.

* * *

Kate checked her phone for the fiftieth time, then dropped it into the pocket of her pale-blue suit jacket. She’d left a voicemail asking her sister to call her, but so far, there’d been no word from Audrey. She and Danny had agreed it would be best to call their respective family members before the live broadcast, but it looked like she wouldn’t have the chance to forewarn her sister.

Not unless she did so via message.

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