to believe too.” Glancing at the fridge, she asked, “Do you want a beer?”
“I’d better not. I’m one long blink away from falling asleep where I’m standing as it is.”
She released his hand to get two cups from the cupboard and filled them with water and ice. As they headed back to the sofa and sat back down, she noted how heavily he sank against the cushions, as though he carried a great burden. She longed to ease it for him. Maybe she could if she better understood what that burden was.
He took the cup from her and drank some water. He looked like he was quickly losing steam. She’d have to guide the rest of their conversation if she wanted to learn how she could best help him.
“How well do you know Carol Ann?” she asked.
“Not at all, it turns out.”
She detected the bitterness in his voice. “Did you meet her in high school?”
He shook his head. “I met her my first month out of high school when I was in North Carolina for Single-A ball. I pushed to graduate early so I could enter the draft. I was seventeen and thought I was the shit, you know?”
She nodded in understanding.
“She was older than me by a couple years, and boy, did she know what she was doing. She led me around like a puppy begging for attention. I was more than happy to—” he paused and took another drink of water. “Well, you can fill in the blanks. Anyway, things got hot and heavy for a week or two before I caught her making out with one of my teammates.”
“Ouch.”
He shrugged and leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “Not really. That might be the saddest part of all. I brushed it off and moved onto the next one. I don’t think I even remembered her name by the following week.”
That should have made him sound callous and cavalier. Instead, it relieved her. She had wondered how deep his feelings for Katie’s mother ran, especially after meeting her.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen her since she…”
“Abandoned Katie on my doorstep?” he finished for her.
Her hand tightened into a fist. “Is that what happened?”
He nodded and looked down at the cup he held between his hands. “Katie was four. I lived in Denver at the time and had no clue she even existed. Carol Ann left her on my porch in the middle of the night. Katie wasn’t dressed for the Colorado winter. If I hadn’t been out at a party and come home to find her…”
Jasmine’s eyes stung as she pictured Katie all alone in the cold and the dark, left behind by the one person in her life who was supposed to love her most.
“You’re an amazing man, Will Campbell,” she said softly. “You saved Katie’s life.”
He shifted uncomfortably, setting his cup on one of the coasters on the coffee table. “I did what any self-respecting father should do.”
“That doesn’t make it any less admirable.”
“Does that mean you forgive me for forgetting to cancel with you this afternoon?”
She smiled and patted his hand. “Sure.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He released a long breath. “So now we get to move on to my second apology of the night. The one for being such an ass after the concert.”
Some of the hurt she had buried rose to the surface over the memory. He obviously saw it, as he nodded.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face. “The whole comment about you failing and being alone…that was me talking out of my ass. It was a total dick thing to say. I’ve got no good excuse for it either, but I swear on my mother’s grave that I’m really, really sorry I hurt you.”
Sincerity infused every word. She decided to put her pride aside for once.
“Could it have been because you wanted to discuss taking our relationship to the next level and I brushed it aside?”
His mouth opened, but all that came out was, “Uh.”
“I sort of reasoned it out over the past couple weeks,” she explained. “The time apart helped me put things into perspective.”
His brow wrinkled as though he couldn’t quite comprehend what she was saying. It once again brought his fatigue to her attention.
“It did?” he said.
“Yeah. And you know what? I’d really like to discuss our relationship too.”
“You would?”
“Yes.” She got to her feet and gave him a gentle tag until he also rose. “But not tonight. Tonight, I’ve got other plans.”