Cole: Red, Hot & Blue, Book 5 (4 page)

“I’m going over to say hi to Bobby.”

“What? You can’t.” Lizzie grabbed his arm in a claw-like grip.

He frowned down at her hand. “Why not?”

“Because they’re in the middle of a game, that’s why not. You of all people should know better.”

He raised his brow in shock. “I may be injured and no longer in the majors, but do you really think those kids don’t want some coaching advice from the formerly great Cole Ryan? Come on, Lizzie. What’s really wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me.”

“Then give me back my arm.” What was this all about? Maybe she didn’t want him to leave her? Could she still care? His heart leapt at that. “I promise, I’ll come back and talk to you about us later, if that’s what you want.”

She dropped his arm like he’d electrocuted her. “That’s not it.”

Her intensity took him aback.

“Fine.” Cole rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and stalked away toward the field. Bobby was hanging onto the cage watching the hitter at bat when Cole came up behind him. “Need any coaching help from a former major leaguer?”

His joke was answered by Bobby spinning around. Instead of a welcome or a smile, his childhood best friend pulled back one arm and greeted him with a fist to the face. Bobby hit him so hard, the next thing Cole knew he was on his ass staring up at the sky. Then he could no longer see the sky, because the kids on both teams and most of the parents surrounded him in a tight circle.

Cole struggled to sit up and gingerly touched his jaw while looking at Bobby’s angry face. If he stood now Bobby would probably just punch him again, so he stayed where he was for the moment. He’d vowed ten years ago that if Bobby beat the crap out of him for having sex with Lizzie he’d allow it. He just never imagined Bobby would come to collect ten years later. He guessed some offenses had no statute of limitations.

His train of thought was interrupted when the pitcher he’d admired from the bleachers broke through the crowd. “Uncle Bobby. Why did you punch him?”

With his mind still foggy and working a little slow from the punch, Cole took a moment to wonder why Lizzie didn’t just say he was her and Bobby’s nephew. The kid must be their older sister Mary Sue’s son, so why would Lizzie not tell him that?

The kid glanced into the crowd. “Mom. Get him some ice out of the cooler.”

When Cole looked to see
Mom
, she turned out to be a Lizzie. She was a little paler and looking not so happy as she sent Cole a look, but it was Lizzie nonetheless. It was a good thing Cole had remained sitting on the ground, because that would have knocked him on his ass again otherwise.

Head still spinning, he stared at the boy and realized he looked nothing like his mother and everything like Cole himself. He took a shaky breath and asked him the question he feared the answer to most. “You’ve got some pitching arm on you, boy. How old are you anyway?”

The boy smiled proudly. “I’ll be ten in February, sir.”

Ten
. The magic number. They’d had sex in May. He was born in February. It didn’t take long to do the math. Cole swallowed as acid backed up his throat.

Lizzie appeared beside the boy. “Mike, go find your grandparents.”

Mike?
At that, Cole finally got to his feet and looked Lizzie right in the eye. “You named him after my father? Is that supposed to make up for keeping this a secret from me for ten damn years?”

Bobby’s eyes opened wide. “Lizzie. He didn’t know? You never told him?”

Lizzie looked panicked. “Mikey, I need you to come away from here now.” She looked behind her for her parents, who Cole hadn’t noticed before. “Mom, Dad. Please, take Mikey home. Now.”

“Mom. The game’s not done yet. Please don’t make me go.” Mikey pleaded with his mother as his grandparents, catching on to what was happening along with the rest of the crowd, ushered him briskly off the field.

Cole turned back to Lizzie and spotted a television camera barely ten feet away from him. “How the fu—” He hardly managed to censor his language in front of the rest of the kids in time. He closed his eyes to gain his composure. “How did reporters find me here already?”

Bobby looked back at the camera and groaned. “They’re not reporters. They’re with me. I’ll take care of it.” He started to head for the camera crew, stopped and turned back to Cole. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Why? You gonna hit me again?”

“No, I’m gonna apologize and Lizzie’s gonna explain.”

Cole cocked his head. “In that case, I’ll wait.”

While Bobby went to have a very animated argument with a little brunette and the cameraman, Cole turned back to Lizzie. Thankfully, the other coaches and parents had somehow gotten the game back on track, so at least the audience was gone. Cole felt free to voice his opinion to Lizzie about the sudden turn of events. “I can’t believe you would do something like this. You had no right.”

“I had every right. He’s my son.”

“He’s
our
son.”

She frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “You don’t know that.”

Cole laughed. “Come on, Lizzie. It’s like looking in a goddamn mirror. Besides, your brother wouldn’t have attacked me like that unless he thought I was Mike’s father.” He reached out and gripped her by both arms. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks unchecked as she shook her head, but she didn’t answer.

Suddenly, Bobby was back beside him. “Okay. I got rid of them, but only for a little while. I’m going to have to sell my soul to get that damn tape from them but at least we can get out of here and talk in private for now.”

Cole had no clue what Bobby was talking about, but at the moment he didn’t care. “We’ve got it covered, Bobby. Lizzie and I can handle this alone.”

Bobby shook his head. His gaze dropped to where Cole grasped Lizzie. “Nuh, uh. You’re angry and you’ve got Lizzie crying now. I can’t let you be alone with her.”

Cole sighed and let his arms drop from Lizzie’s. “Fine. Come along. I don’t care.”

Lizzie shook her head, still crying. She glanced around the field. Cole followed her gaze and noted though the game had started again, most eyes were turned to the action off the field—the argument between him and Lizzie with Bobby as referee.

“You two can both go to hell for all I care, but I’m not coming along.” Red faced, Lizzie spun on her heel and ran off the field.

“She’s upset. She’s kept the secret of who Mike’s father was from every living soul except for me for ten years, and in one fell swoop nearly the entire town knows.” Bobby sighed and shook his head, watching her. “We’re probably better off letting her go for now. You and I will get things squared away between us, then we’ll deal with her later.”

At least everyone had been in the dark, not just him. That made Cole feel moderately better, though not really. “Can we do it over a stiff drink and an ice pack?”

Bobby laughed. “Sure thing. Just let me tell the assistant coach I gotta leave.”

In less than ten minutes, Cole sat opposite Bobby in the dimly lit bar next to The Hideaway Motel, literally hiding from the half a dozen television camera crews roaming the town. “I can’t believe that in this frigging hole-in-the-wall town, a man has to dodge television cameras. And not even reporters. A reality show? Being filmed in Pigeon Hollow? What the hell, Bobby?”

“Yeah, I know. I was actually for the idea until the head producer decided I was going to be a main character. They’re on me eighteen hours a day, if not more. The producer came originally to focus on Gordon Equine. Now I wish I hadn’t convinced Jared Gordon it was a good thing for the town so he’d agree to it.”

Cole shook his head. “Well, whatever reason they’re here, the timing sucks.”

“I know. I’m sorry, but we’ve all signed releases and contracts. We can’t get out of them. Just don’t you sign one now that you’re back. Maybe I’ll be able to keep you out of this damn reality TV show.”

Cole shook his head. “They don’t need a release. I’m a public figure. My life is public domain.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly.” Cole echoed Bobby’s sentiments and raised his glass.

“About Lizzie and Mike. I thought you always knew and just didn’t give a shit. That’s what pissed me off. I never imagined she didn’t tell you.” Bobby nursed his sore hand by keeping it wrapped in a bar rag and shoved in the bucket of ice supplied by the bored-looking day-shift bartender.

Cole laughed while holding a cold pack on his own sore jaw. “If I’d known, Bobby, I would have married her and moved her to the city to be with me. You know me better than that.”

“I thought I did, but then again, I never knew you were sleeping with my sister.” Bobby downed another slug of his drink. “How did you manage that without me noticing, and why the hell didn’t you two use birth control?”

“It was only the one time and I pulled out.”

“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out too well, now did it?”

“No. Believe me, I know better now. But I swear, Bobby, I was serious about Lizzie. I wanted a relationship with her, even if it had to be long distance in the beginning. Then she went and dumped me. No reason, no explanation, in a goddamn email. Can you imagine how I felt?”

“That must have been when she figured out she was pregnant.”

“But why not tell me?”

Bobby shrugged. “Don’t know. That’s something you’ll have to ask her, if you can get her cornered.”

“Yeah, easier said than done.” Cole fiddled with his glass and then asked the question he’d been wanting to since they’d arrived. “What’s he like?”

Bobby broke into a grin. “I couldn’t be prouder of him if he were my own.”

Envy ate at his gut. “I wish I’d gotten to see him grow up.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that. But hey, you’re here now. The first few years they don’t do much more than sleep and shit anyway. Now is when we’re getting into the good stuff.” Bobby grinned.

Cole nodded. “You know what? I’ve been wallowing in self-pity since my injury, but now, for the first time since they dumped me, I’m happy I’m off the team. I’m gonna get to know him, Bobby. I’m going to publicly claim him as mine. Hell, I’ll get my own place and he can stay with me if he wants.”

“Whoa, wait a minute there. Mike lives in the Barton house and has since the day he was born.”

“It would be nearby. He could still visit you all.”

Bobby grabbed Cole’s arm. “A word of advice. Don’t make waves in the kid’s life or Lizzie’s. Mikey’s been her entire world since she found out she was pregnant.”

“I’m not out to hurt anybody, but I want him to know me.”

“He already idolizes the public you. He was glued to the television for every game you played just because he knew you grew up in this town and he wanted to be like you. All you need to do now is let him get to know the private you. Hell, what kid wouldn’t want the great Cole Ryan as his daddy?”

“He inherited my arm.” Cole had to smile at the thought.

“Yeah, so I’ve noticed.” Bobby laughed.

Cole took a sip from his glass slowly so not to jar his tender jaw and then shook his head. “It’s a lot to take in.”

Bobby inclined his head in a nod. “Yup.”

“I’ve got to introduce him to my parents. He’s got another whole set of grandparents he knows nothing about.”

Bobby nodded again.

“I should probably tell my parents first and then bring Mikey over.”

“He doesn’t like being called Mikey anymore. Now that he’s almost ten, he wants to be
Mike
.”

Cole raised a brow. “Oh, thanks for telling me. Although, it may get confusing when he and my father are in the same room.” He was feeling bitter and confused again. She’d named Mike after his father, but still never told him his son even existed.

“She’s never stopped thinking about you, you know. It really pissed me off when I thought you were nothing but a deadbeat shit-head, but she kept a scrapbook of everything she could find concerning you.” It was as though Bobby was reading his mind.

Cole snorted. “That’s nice, but I would have rather she told me about Mike.”

“There’s plenty of photo albums and scrapbooks of Mike that I’m pretty sure she made for you. Hell, we’ve got the real thing underfoot, she didn’t need to make ’em for us.”

Pictures
. Yeah,
that
would make up for missing nearly ten years of his son’s life. Cole took a deep breath and then stood, unable to sit still any longer. “I gotta go.”

Bobby raised a brow. “Lizzie?”

He shook his head. “No. My parents, before the town gossip reaches them. You’re right. I’m still too confused and angry to see Lizzie quite yet. Nothing productive will come out of talking to her like this.”

Bobby nodded and then handed him a sheriff’s department card. “Call me on my cell if you want me to bring Mike over to your parents, or if you just need to talk. But I gotta warn you for the next few weeks I come with a camera up my ass.”

Cole sighed. “Great. My timing always was impeccable.”

Lizzie sat in the kitchen of the Barton house and ran her finger up and down the condensation on her glass of sweet tea. She was still in her waitress uniform from the late shift at the diner. She smelled like grease and dirty dishrags, but she didn’t care. At the moment, she didn’t have the mental or physical energy to go change or shower.

It had been one hell of a shift. In addition to the camera crew that had parked itself in the diner for the evening rush, the news about Cole had circulated through town faster than a wildfire through dry brush. There was more whispered gossip than usual in Pigeon Hollow and the expected sudden silence whenever she neared told her it was all about her.

Lizzie let out a loud breath. She usually enjoyed the quiet of coming home after the late shift, but not tonight. Bobby was out bowling. Her parents and Mikey were all sleeping. And she was left listening to her own conscience shout accusations at her. Well-deserved accusations, and that was what sucked most.

She’d robbed Cole of nearly ten years of his son’s life and now she was going to pay for it. He was rich, he was famous and he was pissed off at her. In a custody battle, he would hire the best lawyers money could buy and win, no doubt, and she could lose the only thing in life that mattered to her.