Page 72 of Very Unlikely
His visit isn’t shocking. My father has been overseeing the restoration of his ‘47 Comet since he was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago. Its collection has been scheduled on the calendar for today since before I left Ravenshoe, having no clue I would never return. I didn’t even have to go back there to collect my things. Lennox had them couriered to me as he promised to do with his stuff when I return to Morrison in two days. It hurt like a bitch watching anyone but him behind the steering wheel of Cubie, but since it stopped the endless questions I got as to why I was driving my father’s truck around, I was also grateful.
After dragging his eyes down my body, Cody says, “I’ve missed seeing you around Ravenshoe.” I’m wearing my usual get-up of overalls, chunky shoes, and a messy bun, but I kept the flannel shirt at home since it is as hot as hell in the workshop half of the shop. My tube top is reckless, but not when you notice grease seems to be a part of my scent lately. “You kept things interesting.”
“Which is odd for you to say, considering I’m the reason you got a six-week suspension.”
I’ve refused to watch a single game of baseball the past six weeks, but while checking team stats because I am a sucker for punishment, I noticed Cody’s name was absent from the team write-up for a lot longer than the one measly game he tried to make out he skipped because he was worried about my near-drowning.
Coach Randall suspended him for multiple games as Lennox informed, and even if this could have me accused as having a big head, I know it was about me. The coach treats his players as if they are his sons and their girlfriends and wives as if they are his daughters. For half a second, I was umbrellaed under that clause.
Realizing his game is up, Cody mutters, “You weren’t the sole reason I was benched.” I can hate a guy and still appreciate his honesty when he murmurs, “But a good four weeks of it was your fault.” I can’t tell if he’s being honest or deceitful when he says, “I wouldn’t have letanyof them get close enough to you to win the bet. I just needed Lennox to believe I would.”
“Why?”
I understand guys love competition, especially ones as gung-ho about winning as ballers, but what benefit would he get from making Lennox jealous? His attempt to wedge a divide between Lennox and me only drew us closer together. It forced Lennox to stop hiding his feelings and gave me the confidence to express mine.
I blow hot air out of my mouth when Cody replies, “I wanted Lennox to lose.”
“And since you couldn’t get that on the field, you had a dig at his private life?” Not needing him to answer me to know the truth, I mutter, “Lennox was right. You’re an asshole.”
When I walk into the workshop to grab his keys, more than eager for him to pay up and leave, he follows me in there. “Can you blame me? He had everything. A skyrocketing career. The girl everyone dreams about getting.” My scoff almost drowns his next comment. “The utmost attention of our father. He had it fucking all.”
It dawns on him what he said when I spin around to face him. No matter how hard I try, I can’t remove the shock from my face. “You’re Lionel Cabarello’s son?” After dragging a hand over his clipped locks, he reluctantly bobs his chin. The truth has been exposed, so there’s no use denying it. “Does Lennox know?”
Cody’s head nod switches to a shake. “No one does because unlike the rest of the women he sowed his oats with, my mother wasn’t with Lionel for financial gain.”
“If you’d give Lennox half a chance, you’ll realize it was the same for his mother as well.”
“Bullshit!” he huffs out with a laugh, his roar gaining him the attention of my father and his crew. “He left my mother for her. She broke my family apart!”
“And that’s Lennox’s fault how?” I fan my hand across my father’s chest when he joins us near the key station. He’s using a walking cane to get around, and one side of his head is still shaved from where they cut into his skull, but I have no doubt he could still put Cody on his ass if he didn’t back down the instant he reached my side. “Lennox isn’t responsible for his father’s actions any more than you are.” After removing the key for his Comet from the pegboard in front of me, I shove it into Cody’s chest. “You need to tell Lennox the truth.” When he attempts a rebuttal, I squash my index finger to his lips. “If you don’t, I will.”
“He left you, so why do you give a fuck about him?”
“Because he didn’t dump me to be spiteful. He did it to make sure I didn’t have to sacrificeanythingfor him, so I wouldn’t give up my dreams so he could pursue his. He left because he loves me more than he loves himself, and he doesn’t want to be his dad. He doesn’t want to hurt people like Lionel has his entire life.”
I freeze when I realize what I said. It’s all true. Every word I spoke was the utmost truth. Lennox has always been one step ahead of me. He intuits what I’m going to do and say before I’ve even considered it. That’s why he left because he knew I’d pick him over my career any day. I’d follow him to the end of the world if that’s where he wanted to go, and I did a terrible job hiding that from him during that magical night we shared.
“Daddy…”
“Already halfway to Ravenshoe, pumpkin,” he announces before he barks out enough instructions to keep his crew occupied the two days it will take us to drive to Ravenshoe. His speech is crisp and clear like it isn’t impeded by the slur it’s had since his life-saving surgery.
Aware I’ll need Cody to finalize his account to fill Cubie with gas, I enter the office again to ring up his bill. He follows me, but his steps are nowhere near as aggressive as they were when he shadowed my walk out.
“Sum—”
“If you’re going to try and talk me out of going to see Lennox, save your breath. My decision is six weeks overdue.” After punching in an excessive five-figure sum into the card machine next to the dated register, I raise my eyes to Cody to silently demand his credit card. The unsure expression on his face chops up my words when I say, “I love him, and I would whether he was a major league baller or bagging groceries at a local Walmart.”
As he digs his wallet out of his pocket, he bobs his head in defeat. Nothing he could say will ever change how I feel about Lennox, so he doesn’t bother. Instead, he pays his bill before proving without a doubt that I was an idiot when I let Lennox walk away. “You should look closely at the charity who funded your father’s medical procedures. It’s part of the Colt Enterprise entity.”
“The owners of the Ravenshoe Ravens?” I double-check, confident I’ve heard of that company before.
Cody nods through a brief smirk. “Part of Lennox’s agreement to sign with them was that they’d pay for your dad’s medical expenses under their name so—”
“I wouldn’t know the money was coming from him,” I mutter to myself, finally clicking on to why a charity organization in Florida would fund the expenses of a man in another state. I didn’t know how they had heard of my father’s plight, but I was too grateful for their assistance to question it as thoroughly as I should have. When Cody nods for the second time, I breathe out, “What more proof do you need that your brother isnothinglike your father? He’s a good man, Cody. You could benefit from having him in your life.”
Stealing his chance to reply, I process his credit card, hand it back to him along with his receipt, then hotfoot it to Cubie that my father is loading with snacks like he’s planning for us to drive the twenty hours to Ravenshoe without stopping to rest.
I’m about to slip into the driver’s seat when Cody shouts my name. As I spin to face him, he exhales a big breath before coming to the plate for me like I hope he will Lennox one day. “I know a way you can get to Ravenshoe in hours instead of days.”
