Page 73 of Sliding Into Love
Ethan said nothing, but he understood what she meant.
“So, we thought—wellIthought— you…I thought you had a family and didn’t tell us.”
And it stung, to hear the hurt in her voice, even if the slight hadbeen imagined.
“Mom, I wouldn’t have…” he paused. “Ivy has…” but that didn’t feel right, either. “I think…I want to start over. Being with Ivy has… shown me that.”
“I’d like to start over too. We’ve missed you, you know. Lawrence has been keeping tabs on you.”
Ethan’s hackles rose at the mention of his uncle.
“I don’t want to talk about Lawrence.”
“Ethan,” Laura started, but he interrupted.
“No, I won’t. I’m not ready.”
For a moment, Laura’s face froze, and Ethan knew she was trying to hide whatever she was feeling.
Just as he always did.
“Okay,” she said, sounding defeated, and Ethan wondered just how tired she was. Laura Lorne wasneverdefeated. She was infamous for that. “Oh, and Ethan?” she added. “I’d like to meet Ivy. Officially.”
Ethan grimaced as he left the office.
The day’s team meeting was more of Harkness’s team-building bullshit. After running drills he and his teammates hadn’t done since high school, she made them dotrust falls. It wasterrible. Ethan hadn’t given his teammates cause to trust him, nor had he ingratiated himself with them enough to trust them, so it seemed as though Harkness had chosen this as a specific, hellacious torture meant for him. Derek, of course, loved it. He laughed while falling and stayed leaning back in Isaac’s arms a smidge longer than necessary. Jen went through her turn silently and efficiently, falling without flinching and immediately walking away after she was pushed back up. Ethan’s turn came too soon, and when he turned his back on his team, he had to count down to his fall to hype himself up. When several pairs of hands caught his arms and back, and unfortunately, his bruised side, Ethan was surprised. He realized he’dexpectedthem to drop him. That they hadn’t felt like another stitch falling into place, tugging the shattered remnants of his broken self back into place.
Eventually, they proceeded to a more standard practice: conditioning and strategizing in preparation for the next stretch of home games. Harkness’s coaching methods, other than her weirdness, were efficient, and after practice, Ethan was confident in his pitching in a way he hadn’t in a long time.
And maybe it was the endorphins, or some residual painkillers in his system, but as he left the stadium parking lot, Ethan decided to drive to the hospital.
It wasn’t where he’d expected to see his father again after so long—not that he’d thought much about thewhereso much as the how. Thehow,he expected to be…bad.
But Jimmy hadn’t seemed angry last night, so maybe…
Ethan hovered outside the door when it flew open beneath his hand. A nurse in blue scrubs stepped out and held the door for him, so Ethan had no choice but to go in unless he wanted to look like an asshole.
“Hey, kid.”Jimmy looked old. Beeping machines and wires surrounded him, and he seemed small.
At least his voice sounded the same.
“Umm. Hi.” Ethan did an awkward wave.
Jimmy snorted.
“Dad, I’m—” Ethan began.
“I know.”
And that was it.
It was enough.
When Franklin Soto sauntered in half an hour later, Ethan and Jimmy were discussing baseball, of course. Ethan had been surprised and pleased to learn Jimmy had been keeping up with Ethan’s stats, and they were discussing Harkness’s methods compared to the good old days of Jimmy’s coaches half a lifetime ago. A deep grunt sounded from the doorway, and Ethan looked up to see a large, hairy man leaning on the doorframe.
“Hi, Frankie.”
Another grunt.
