I cast my eyes above him and saw a woman paying at the counter, but she was looking at me and mouthing, Sorry.
I smiled at her and turned back to the boy. “I am. Who’re you?”
“I’m Mateo. You’re one of my favorite players even though you don’t play on my favorite team. Think you’ll ever join the Rattlers?”
I shrugged. “I’m not too sure what the future holds, kid. You never know though.”
He held his hands out in front of him. One was holding a pen, and the other was holding a crumpled piece of paper. “Can I have your autograph?”
His mom came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes connected with my mother’s, and they smiled at each other. This kid was going through the same thing I was, and somehow he was smiling and happy. If he could do it, I could too.
“Sure.” I grabbed the paper from him and scrawled my name and jersey number. After I handed it back, I took my phone from the pocket of my dark-blue jeans and pulled up the notes app. “Ma’am, can you write Mateo’s first and last name and an e-mail address I can contact y’all at? How about I send you something,” I asked Mateo, “when I land on my new team?”
His head nodded vigorously, and he bounced on the balls of his feet. “Give it to him, Mom.”
My mom chuckled and patted the side of my cheek. Something she’d always done when she liked something I did or was proud in that moment. It was these little things that I wouldn’t be able to bear losing.
Mateo’s mom handed the phone back to me with tears filling her eyes. Her hand went over her heart and her chin quivered as she spoke. “Thank you. That’s really kind of you. It means a lot. Thank you for brightening our day.”
I nodded and gave her a smile. If I did get a contract with the Rattlers, I’d send them some game tickets. I stood and wrapped an arm around her in a quick side hug, speaking softly. “I don’t know if this is the right thing to say. I’m new at this, I just found out about my mom, so forgive me if I make an ass of myself. Good luck. I hope you feel better real soon. I promise to be in touch.”
I released her from the hug and sank to a knee in front of Mateo. “Do you play ball?”
He nodded.
“Never stop having fun. It’s the greatest game in the world.”
He launched his little body at me, wrapping his arms around my neck. I swayed backward as I caught him and hugged him back. “Can’t wait to send you something, bud.”
I stood and he and his mom turned to leave. I sat once they walked out the door, and I turned toward my mom, speaking quietly. I knew people in the lobby were staring now. I could see two phones, out of the corner of my eye, snapping pictures of me. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me before I spoke.
“I called Zeke. I asked him to get me on the Rattlers. It’s time I come home for good.”
My mom’s breath hitched, and I could see her brain working as she slowly turned to me. Her eyebrows rose before she narrowed her eyes. “Gunner Thomas Gentry,” she hissed through her teeth.
Shit. “Mom. Just hear me out.”
“I will do no such thing. This is your dream. Everything you’ve ever worked for, and you’re going to sacrifice it for what? To be closer to your sick mother?”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because you can’t give up your life for this. You can’t run away from it. It is what it is, and now the only thing we can do is what is best for us. And what is best for you is finding a way onto the best team for you. If that’s the Rattlers, I’ll happily accept it. I’d love to come to every home game and cheer you on. If it’s a team farther from here—if it’s in Canada—then that’s where you’re going. End of discussion.”
“But—”
“No,” she hissed, raising a finger. “I don’t care how old or big you are, Gunner Gentry, I’m your mom and I will still ground you.”
I cracked up. I covered my mouth to smother some of the noise, but I couldn’t stop. “Glad to see the cancer can’t take any of your fire.”
“You’re goddamn right it can’t. I’m Jenna Gentry. Just where do you think you learned it from, boy?”
“Mrs. Gentry.”
The laughter died in my throat, and my head popped up to look at the nurse waiting for us. I slowly stood and followed my mom past the pine door, trudging behind the nurse as she led us to a small conference room. There was a small rectangular table set up in the corner with an automatic coffee machine and a small stack of Styrofoam cups, with red stirring sticks next to it.
In the middle of the room was a circular table, with six black leather chairs, and a computer monitor on a rolling cart. On one wall was the light board where doctors hung X-rays.
“Please take a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly,” the nurse said.
“Thank you, we will, Hilda,” Mom said.
Hilda closed the door as she left the room.
“We will what?” I asked my mom.
“Make ourselves at home. Want anything to drink? Dr. Michaels will be with us shortly.”
I shook my head and sat down in one of the chairs facing the door, and I focused on the doorknob, willing it to turn. I wanted him to come in and lay the evidence in front of me. I wanted him to come in and give me the plan, so I could be a part of it.
So I could fix this.
But a smaller, scared part of me wanted Dr. Michaels to never come into this room, so I could wake up from this nightmare and pretend it had never happened, that this was all fake. A sick alternate reality.
Not soon enough and yet all too soon, Dr. Michaels strode through the door with a smile on his face. “Jenna, it’s nice to see you outside of one of our usual appointments. How’re you feeling?”
“It’s been a good few days. Gunner, this is Dr. Michaels. Dr. Michaels, this is my son, Gunner. I told him everything, but he wanted to meet you and hear it from the horse’s mouth.”
“Of course,” Dr. Michaels said. He held out his hand, and I rose to shake it before sitting back down. “Would you like me to start from the beginning, or do you want to ask your own questions?”
“If my mom has an emergency, can she get in touch with you?”
“I am on call twenty-four seven. All my patients have my cell phone number if they need anything. They also have my partner’s number. They can call her if, for some reason, I am unavailable. I also urge my patients to go to an emergency room if they are unwell. Sometimes even the beginning of something can turn into a huge risk when on chemo.”
I nodded. “Where did you go to school? What’s your success rate?” I nodded after each question and continued to fire off every one that came into my mind. Mom smacked my arm multiple times, but I didn’t care about being rude. I wanted to make sure that she had the best. I took notes in my phone as he explained her treatments and laid out the plan.
Chapter 7
Delilah
Tuck yanked open the front door of my SUV and jumped in. He threw his backpack on the floorboard, unzipped it, and started digging through the mess. He tossed papers and pencils to the floor of my car.