Which made covering late night games more and more difficult.
Tapping on the phone icon, she brought the receiver up to her cheek. Three rings later, Sunny answered with her true-to-name disposition.
“Hey Ms. Danaher,” she said.
“Sunny, it’s Danielle.” She hated it when Sunny called her Ms. Danaher. It made her feel old. And at twenty-eight, she shouldn’t feel old.
“Sorry. Right. Hey, Danielle.”
Danielle sighed. “You texted me?”
Sunny paused and then snorted. “Oh, yeah, that. Jesse refused to do his homework…but we figured it out. He’s now watching some Lego show.”
Danielle glanced down at her watch. Nine o’clock. Great. That meant Jesse was going to be a bear tomorrow. “Oh, okay.I’m glad you figured it out. But he should probably be going to bed soon.”
Sunny clicked her tongue. “Right. Got it. Jesse, your mom wants to say something to you.”
Danielle tried not to sigh. Sunny was forcing her to be the bad guy. It wasn’t like Danielle wasn’t used to it. As a single parent, she was getting used to taking on all the parenting roles, but it did get draining. But what could she do? Dating was out of the picture, and Isaac? A familiar twinge settled in her stomach when she thought about him. Isaac was gone. The only other support she had were her parents who were on some extended cruise through the Pacific. The Stedman’s didn’t even know Jesse existed which left Danielle alone.
Bring on good cop/bad cop.
“Hey, mom,” Jesse’s voice filled the air.
Danielle’s heart softened at the sound of her son’s voice. “Hey bud. It’s way past your bedtime and we’ve got lots to do tomorrow. Go to bed, okay?”
Jesse paused and then let out a groan. “Okay fine.”
Danielle thanked him then told him to mind Sunny before he grunted and the line went silent. Danielle dropped her phone into her purse and glanced over to see Thomas studying her. She sighed and forced a smile. “Boys.”
Thomas smirked as he grabbed the camera case handle and tipped it up. “How is Jesse?” He straightened with equipment hanging on each shoulder and his fingers curled around the handles.
Danielle sighed as she pushed her purse higher up on her shoulder. “Typical kid. You know. Hates school and homework. Just wants to stay home and play video games.” Danielle’s stomach clenched as she thought about her son. She hated that he was growing up without a father figure in his life. She loved her dad and knew how important someone like that was.
Too bad she stunk at picking men. After a few doozies, she decided that love just wasn’t for her and she should stop while she was so far behind.
Thomas chuckled. “I get that.”
Then he glanced over at her and steadied his gaze. The intensity with which he stared at her made her cheeks flush. What was that? It must be residual feelings from seeing Zach.
“I can come over sometime. Maybe we could all go out together?” He shrugged as if he didn’t care what her answer was, but from the hopeful look on his face, she doubted that was true. Suddenly, warning bells went off in Danielle’s mind.
This was not good. She couldn’t get involved with anyone from work. Not when she needed this job to survive. The last thing she needed was a scandal. But she was friends with Thomas and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. “Um, sure. Maybe,” she said, stifling the awkward feeling that rose up in her stomach with a nervous laugh.
Thomas’s eyes lit up. “Really? That would be amazing.” He turned toward the parking lot and then paused. “I’ll call you?”
Danielle pinched her lips together and nodded. “Sure.”
Thomas smiled and then started to walk away. He paused and turned around, giving her another smile.
Danielle watched his retreating frame for a few seconds before she made her way to the bus stop. She’d ridden over to the stadium from her tiny apartment in downtown Atlanta. She hated traffic and it stressed her out to drive. Add never finding a parking spot and the bus looked better and better.
She found a bench and sat down. Pulling out her phone, she checked her email only to find that her producer, Seth, had emailed her. She clicked on the email titled,New Assignment,and held her breath. Anything but the Patriots. She had thought she could be professional when interviewing Zach, only to have that notion fly from her mind the moment she saw him standingthere. Which only solidified in her mind that her past, really wasn’t in the past.
Which meant being around him was not good.
She skimmed the email before she stopped, the blood in her veins turning to ice as she read the words “Patriot’s individualized exposé.”
She swallowed as she moved up a few lines to catch the entire conversation.
