Caught (Men of the Show Book 3) (22 page)

“Where are they from?”

“Texas,” she answered.

“Texas.” Shannon replayed the woman’s voice in her head. “She didn’t have an accent at all.”

“Really? I remember her having a distinct twang.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t notice any. Who knows. She’s here since I met her today.”
 
Shannon loaded a carton of eggs in the fridge. “She seems nice and she suggested we do drinks or something when the guys are busy. It will be good to have someone to do things with, especially when you go back.”

“It’s good for you to meet some of other girls. It helps to have others relate to what’s going on. Having Maddie was a godsend, that’s for sure. Both of us learning the ropes together, otherwise I would have gone mad with the guys’ moodiness when things don’t always go so well. Now you can commiserate with us,” Karen added with a smile.

“It looks that way,” Shannon agreed as she took out the fixings for turkey sandwiches.

“So I take it the surprise went well?” Karen asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She and Shannon hadn’t any time to catch up since arriving. “Not much talking happened, I’m going to guess.”

Shannon laughed. “There was some talking and some…not.”

“And?”

“And,” Shannon said with a one-shoulder shrug as she rinsed off leaves of lettuce, “we’ll see how it goes. We’re both kind of trying to figure things out as we go. We both want to be with each other, so I guess that’s as good a place to start as any.”

“Matt wants a family. He wants to get married and settle down,” Karen said with what sounded like a warning in her voice. “That’s what he’s going to be looking for, he’s never hidden that, so if that isn’t what you want, then better to cut your losses now.”

“I know,” Shannon said, “but that doesn’t mean we have to run out and do it tomorrow. We have time, which we need. I’m still trying to process the changes happening inside me. He knows that too.”
 
She pulled two plates out of the cupboard. “One day at a time. That’s all I can take right now. It helps that we’re open and honest with each other. No games and no hidden agendas. No secrets.”
 
Shannon picked up both plates and headed toward the small outdoor patio. “Let’s sit outside since it’s nice out.”

They ate in silence and as she sipped her iced tea, Shannon studied her sister. Glowing with happiness, Karen was finally at peace, the negativity built from past anger and hurt, which had hung like a dark cloud over her, finally gone, and Shannon was so thankful for Jerry since it was because of him.

“You look amazing.”
 
Shannon leaned forward to pat her sister’s stomach.

“I look like a whale.”
 
Karen slipped off her sandals to put her feet up on the chair next to her. “And I’m only going to get bigger. Ugh.”

“You do not,” Shannon laughed. “Do you know what it is?
 
Did you guys want to find out?”

“It’s a pain in the ass, just like his father. He can’t sit still for five minutes,” she sneered before she smiled. “No, we don’t want to find out, we want to be surprised, but he’s adamant it’s a boy.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I honestly don’t have a clue, but if it’s a girl, Jerry’s not going to know what to do with her.”

“Oh, he’ll be great,” Shannon said. “She’ll totally be daddy’s little girl.”

“Oh, I have no doubt, but he’ll be paralyzed with fear at first. He knows what to do with a boy, but has no idea when it comes to girls. It might be funny.”
 
Karen gave her a long look. “You do, too, you know?
 
You finally look relaxed. Happy.”

“I am,” she decided. “Very happy.”

“You and Matt look good together. Do you love him?” Karen asked bluntly.

“Karen!” Shannon exclaimed.

“What?
 
It’s an easy question really. You do or you don’t.”

“Omigod, this is coming from the Queen of Feeling Denial,” Shannon teased.

“That was the old Karen,” her sister insisted. “This is the new, matured, overly emoting one.”

Shannon laughed before she gave a small shrug. “Yes.”

“You should. He’s a great guy.”
 
Karen eyed her for a second before she said, “Have you talked to your dad again?”

The smile fell from Shannon’s face as she shook her head. “No. I need to get my thoughts straight before I deal with him. It’s not going to be easy, as you know.”

“They’re your decisions, Shannon. If this is what you want, then fuck him. It’s your life, not his.”

“I know, I know. I just hate disappointing him.”

“You’re going to have to get used to it and he’s going to have to get over it,” Karen said.
 

Shannon sighed. “It’s just weird. I’m not used to conflict with him. I’m used to him being proud of me, not angry with me.”

“Girl, he’s been disappointed with me since the day he married Mom and I’m still here,” Karen told her. “He’ll get over it eventually. And if he doesn’t, then he doesn’t.”

“He’s my father,” Shannon insisted. “I can’t just write him out of my life.”

“I’m not saying you should write him out,” Karen said. “But if he’s being an ass and he can’t be supportive, then you have to accept this is how it is going to be. The only way he’ll be happy is if you go back to Chicago, get back into some snooty law firm and work to death, but that means no Matt. Is that what you want?”

“No,” Shannon said firmly.

“You can’t make everyone happy, Shannon. You can only worry about yourself and Matt. Everyone else will fall in line if they sincerely have your best interest at heart and not their own.”

“You’re right,” she sighed. “It’s just so hard.”

Karen reached out and squeezed her hand. “He’ll come around, I know he will. Just give it time.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course, I am,” Karen said with a smile. “Have you forgotten your older sister knows all?”

Shannon grinned. “Nope, and I’m glad she’s here.”

“Me too.”

*
 
*
 
*

“Let’s go!” Matt said from the doorway of the apartment.

Shannon gave herself once last glance in the hallway mirror before grabbing her purse. “I’m ready.”

He smiled at her and before she strode out the front door past him, he grabbed her hand and brought her closer to him. He leaned in and gently laid his lips on hers. “Have I told you how beautiful you are and how much I love you?”

She linked her arms around his neck. “It doesn’t get old hearing it and I love you too.”

He kissed her again before giving her butt a smack. “Shall we?”

“Absolutely.”

They met Jerry, Karen and Jason out on the sidewalk, where they stood waiting on them. They climbed in Matt’s truck, heading to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner with the team.

Sitting in the front seat next to Matt as he drove, Shannon smiled when he reached over to hold her hand. She loved the way hers looked so small and fragile in his. She wasn’t a giant, her exaggeration of her size drawn from insecurity, but she hated how she seemed so much bigger and awkward next to women who appeared petite and dainty.
 

Matt gave her a squeeze. “What are you thinking?” he asked quietly under the drone of the voices in the backseat as Karen and Jerry bickered about something while Jason laughed at them.

“How happy I am thanks to you.”

He smiled and even though his aviator sunglasses hid his eyes, she could envision how the blue of them warmed as they usually did. “Me too.”

At the restaurant, they found some of their teammates already seated at a long table in a large room with walls filled with sombreros and Mexican blankets, intermixed with paper flowers in every shade of the rainbow. Colorful
papel picado
stretched from corner to corner and piñatas in every shape and size hung from the ceiling. Matt took the time to introduce Shannon to each of his teammates even though she was never going to remember everyone’s names, but she smiled and tried her best.

At the end of the table, Matt slapped the shoulder of a man who had just taken a sip of his beer, causing liquid to slosh over the rim. “Jesus, Buck,” the guy cursed with good humor. “Take it easy with those paws of yours.”

Matt grinned. “Just reminding you of your place in the pecking order.”
 
He motioned toward Shannon. “Brian, say hi to my girlfriend, Shannon. Shannon, this is Brian Woodsey. He plays right field.”

Shannon, recognizing the name instantly, smiled and stuck her hand out while Brian stood. “It’s nice to meet you, Brian.”

“You too,” he said with a firm shake before he sat back down. “Not sure how you put up with this one here, but good luck to you.”

Shannon chuckled and dropped into the seat next to Brian while Matt sat next to her. He didn’t seem to be familiar with her name, but perhaps Shelly hadn’t mentioned their meeting to him. “Oh, he’s not so bad most of the time.”
 
She glanced around, but didn’t spot his wife. “Where’s Shelly?”

Brian frowned. “How do you know Shelly?”

“I met her the other day,” Shannon said.

“You met her?
 
Shelly?” Brian asked, still clearly confused.

His perplexity made Shannon pause and question her memory. She was certain Shelly had said her last name was Woodsey and Brian was her husband. “Yeah, at the grocery store…” she started to say, but Matt interrupted, introducing her to another teammate who sat on the other side of him.

When Shannon turned back, only an empty seat remained.

Well, that was strange
. Brian stood at the opposite end of the table talking to Jerry, but an eerie air settled around her, leaving the impression something wasn’t quite right. His reaction to her asking about his wife, not to mention how he never answered where she was, combined with Karen’s surprise to hear Shelly was in Florida, all left a notion of things being off-kilter, but even that didn’t make sense.

Maybe there’s trouble in paradise,
she supposed, trying to get rid of the uneasy sensation in her stomach, which she didn’t understand.

“You all right?”
 
Matt reached out to grab her hand.
 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”
 

A waitress appeared a few minutes later, placed an overflowing basket of chips with salsa on their table, and proceeded to take their order. As everyone nursed beers or margaritas, or water in Karen’s case, a constant stream of conversation continued around Shannon. She tried to keep up as best as she could, before giving up, since she couldn’t follow most of it, and letting the noise flow all around her. Brian had returned to his seat, but had yet to say anything more to her and appeared to be avoiding her. Perhaps she was being sensitive, however, as he was in a deep conversation with the player sitting on his other side about diving for balls and how the guy apparently needed to leave his feet more in the outfield.

Hector
. Shannon tried to remember the player’s name.
No, Jorge. Center field
. She’d never get everyone down.

Some movement behind Jorge, who sat with his back facing the front of the restaurant, caught Shannon’s attention, and she recognized Shelly as she walked purposefully toward the table. Shannon moved to nudge Brian, since he hadn’t noticed, when the expression on Shelly’s face stopped her. The bright smile and perkiness were gone, and in their place was…a wildness, almost. No, madness and she hadn’t even glanced at Brian, her supposed husband. Instead, her focus was intent and solely on Matt, as if he were the only person in the room.

Things took a full turn toward the inexplicable when Matt glanced over and all the color drained from his face. A bad taste entered her mouth that Matt acknowledged Shelly, not Brian.

Matt jumped up, causing his chair to topple over. “What are you doing here?”

Shannon’s attention volleyed between them before noticing Jason’s quiet presence behind Shelly, his eyes wary, as if expecting her to do something. The entire table stopped, all eyes on the exchange, unsure what it was they were witnessing but sensing something was off. Shelly continued to stare at Matt, and her eyes welled up.

“Why?” was all she said.

Shannon shoved her chair back and stood, finally finding her voice and needing to understand what in the hell was going on. “Matt?”

He put a hand on her arm as he stepped past her and over to Shelly. “You need to get out of here, Natalie. Now,” he warned in a low and guarded tone.

Natalie?
 
Who the hell is Natalie?
 
And why did she tell me her name was Shelly?

Natalie rushed him, throwing her arms around his waist as she started to sob. The restaurant had dropped into unnerving stillness, the silence somehow loud, everyone watching the bizarre scene unfolding, drawn to its peculiarity like a house fire. Matt clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut for a second as he took a deep breath, obviously steeling for patience, before he pried her off him. Shannon didn’t comprehend anything, but she needed to show her support for Matt somehow and stepped around the table to stand next to him.