Page 28 of Catching Our Moment
“Me? No, Riley, I own a business. I work?—”
“You’re a contractor. You work for yourself. Surely?—”
Shaw held up his hand to stop them from going down that bumpy road, and his smile was sad but resolved. “I’ll be fine.” He lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. “I’ll be okay, honey.”
“But in Charlotte?—”
Aaron stepped forward. “He can come home with us.”
Five sets of eyes swung to Aaron and, in unison, said, “What?”
Aaron walked over and took my hand in his, his gaze resolute. “Mom and I can take care of him.” He stood shoulder to shoulder with me. “Mom is a real good physical therapist, and I can babysit him after school.
Oh my God, my son with the heart of gold… I was going to kill him. “Aaron, I don’t think Shaw would want to live with us. We don’t have a lot of space, and he’s used to his privacy?—”
“Mr. Dylan, what about the other side of the house we live in?”
“The other side of the duplex is finished, actually.” Dylan brightened, his back to Shaw, knowingly putting me on the spot.
Aaron squeezed my hand. “See. It will be perfect.”
My phone chose that moment to work, ringing with a shrill sound that I thought was saving me from an uncomfortable situation. Then I looked at the caller ID.
James. My stomach clenched. What did he want?
I sent the call to voicemail. I could only deal with one situation at a time.
My moment of distraction solidified Dylan and Aaron into a united team. “He’ll come home with us,” Aaron said, and Dylan put his hand on Riley’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry about our guy here. We’ve got him. He’ll be back on the field in no time.”
Riley perked up at that idea and began gathering herself to leave. She cupped Shaw’s face and kissed him deeply. I closed my eyes, wishing I didn’t have to witness this.
“Alright, then, I see you are in good hands. I’ll call you, baby, when I get to LA and let you know more of the details.”
I turned away from them in disbelief. How could she just leave him in the hospital?
Grace gently added, “Hey, guys, I heard traffic getting to BWI may be an issue. Riley, you’d better get going.”
She bounced on her toes. “Uh. Okay.” Pulling on her hair, she turned back to Shaw, kissed him again, and began walking toward the door. “Are you sure?”
“Go,” he whispered, as if he would ask her to stay at this point.
She slung her purse over her shoulder and stepped backward to the door. “You get better, and by the time I get back, you’ll be back on the field. I will email you my emergency contact information and try to call when my contract allows.”
“Sounds good.” He gave her a small wave, as if he were sending off a colleague, not a woman he’d been in a relationship with. “Be safe.”
And with a flourish—but without a backward glance to the rest of us—she exited, stage left.
Dylan offered a respectful twenty seconds of silence before clapping his hands then turning to the rest of us. “Okay. So, here’s what we are going to do…”
“No.” Shaw spoke to all of us but was looking at me. “You all don’t have to do this. I don’t need a babysitter.” He shifted, grabbing the bed controller and raising it some more. “I’ll just go back to Charlotte. I’ll be fine.”
“You can’t drive,” Dylan pointed out.
“I’ll hire a car service,” he countered, smoothing out his bed sheets.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Grace said. “You can’t take care of yourself with your shoulder that way?—”
