Page 44 of Penalty Shots

“Do you really think I’d just let you stay up all night with the baby?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Have you ever cared for a baby?”

“Have you?” he retorts.

I straighten.

He catches himself.“I’m–Jesus Rina… I’m sorry, that was insensitive. I—”

I hold a hand up to stop him. “It’s fine.”

He drops his arms and leans toward me on the island. “Ri, it’s not fine.”

“Yes it is. I’m fine.”

“Can we at least talk about it?”

“No,” I grab my laptop off the counter and make my way to the couch. I need to put space between us.

As I sit, I see on the reflection of Ryker’s giant flat-screen TV that Keelan’s watching me.

“Look, Hicks told me," he says, a little reserved.

"Hicks told you what?" I type out my password and open up my emails.

"He told me, before he left for Georgia, he told me why you and Bonehead got married so fast."

I stop scrolling. "You have no idea."

He gets closer. "I know you want to be a mom."

I shut the laptop almost as soon as I open it. “Just because we’re stuck in the same house for the next three days does not mean we’re forced to interact, Landry. I have work to do. I’m sure you can find something to entertain yourself with while Stella naps. Until then, can we just please… not.”

I watch on the dark TV screen as he drops his head, exasperated. “Fine.”

“Good.” I open the laptop again. That familiar pang in my chest is beating. The one I always get when I'm this close to Keelan. Old feelings. Never laid to rest.

I ignore it. And instead open an email from my new colleague.

Subject line: Update

Hello Rina.

I want to ensure that everything is running smoothly when you come back into the office on Weds for the sync meeting with Mack. Attached is a list of all the things I’ve taken over. I also have some suggestions I think would be beneficial for you to focus on for the PR side of things. As you know, I turned one of the league’s lowest-ranked baseball teams into the team that everyone wanted to watch, selling out arenas in just a matter of months. I plan to do the same with the Heatwave.

Thank you for your cooperation. I look forward to hearing back.

Sincerely, Jennyfer Cobbs

Heatwave Director of Marketing

I open the document. She’s changed dates for events that I had set up. She’s re-doing the entire Heatwave calendar. She’s using my assistant to help her with tasks.

At some point in reading the document, my hand clenches so tight that I have crescent marks from where my manicure sinks into my palm.

I let it go, shaking it out and trying to breathe. It’s fine. Just like with everything in life–I’ll figure this out.

I hear Stella’s little cry ring out through the quiet house. When I look back into the kitchen, Keelan is gone.