Chapter Fifteen
Nate
I sat in the car, physically crossing my fingers. Tammy and I had finally reconnected - for real, this time - and we knew that we wanted to spend our lives together. Together meant together physically as well as emotionally, and we had agreed that no matter the outcome, I had to quit my job as the general manager of the Lexington Colonels and come home to live in the Hamptons. The distance wouldn’t work for us or the family we would soon be starting, and I just wasn’t cut out for the position anyway - honestly.
However, there was still one thing standing in our way - my year-long contract as the general manager of the Lexington Colonels.
I had time for all of these thoughts during the long silence from Mack on the other end of the phone call. “Are you sure?” Mack asked. “You’re sure.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” I said firmly. “With Tammy being pregnant, my first thought has to be for my family. You gave me a fantastic opportunity, and I truly appreciate it… but the truth is that it wasn’t working for either Tammy or me. We want to raise a family together in the Hamptons where we can both live all year round. I hope you understand where I am with this.”
“Yes, Nate, I definitely understand. I would be miserable if I had to say goodbye to my wife for over half a year at a time.”
“And really,” I continued, “I think we both know I’m struggling with this job. I’m a player, Mack. I know the general manager is supposed to be part of the team too. But it is an administrative position. I was a player on a team that won the Super Bowl. I’m still disappointed about what happened with my knee, and Tammy is helping me move on from that, but I can’t move on while I’m the team’s general manager.”
“I understand.” Mack’s voice was laden with disappointment, but he didn’t try to convince me to stay. “I wish things were different, but I do understand, especially since you have a baby on the way. Don’t worry about the contract, and I hope you find the life you’re looking for in the Hamptons.”
I already had, but I thanked Mack for the kind words anyway. He was doing me a huge favor by letting me out of this contract. Finding a new general manager in the middle of the season was going to be a process for him, but I couldn’t wait even a few months to make this call. I refused to be separated from Tammy any longer, and Mack’s agreement to let me out of the contract just proved to me beyond a doubt that fate was at work here.
There was one more thing that would add just a little more to that proof, and I said goodbye to Mack to walk into the jewelry store and see if my luck would hold a little longer. “Hey, there,” I greeted the same store owner who recognized me immediately. “I was wondering if you still had those rings I borrowed a while back,” I explained. “I’m getting married, and if you still have them, I would really like to purchase them.”
I held my breath, but the owner broke into a grin. “I do!” he exclaimed. “I still have those rings. And please… as a huge thank you for giving us a boost, I’ll offer them to you at cost.”
“That’s great,” I told him enthusiastically. “I need an engagement ring that will go with the set too.”
“I have it right here. Since I have the lady’s ring size from before, I see this is a perfect fit. You can take them today if you’d like.”
I walked out of the shop with several thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry for a fraction of the price. Regardless, anyone who had heard my conversation with Mack and saw the receipt would shake their heads, assuming I would soon go bankrupt if I insisted upon spending this kind of money with no job… except that I did have a job.
After hearing our story over dinner a few nights ago, Clinton had called me yesterday with an offer that solved any remaining problems with quitting my job with the Colonels. Clinton invited me to come aboard his world-renowned real estate agency, overseeing marketing for all his locations up and down Long Island with the bulk of the properties in the Hamptons.
I would be overseeing all marketing that entailed real estate sales to people who were billionaires - the Hamptons’ filthy rich, as Tammy called them. And this new turn of events would position Tammy right where she wanted to be, a phone call away from anyone who happened to mention wedding arrangements to Clinton’s real estate agents, each with a unique portfolio of properties for sale, or lease. She would have to pay them a commission, of course. And paying them was okay with Tammy. That was business, as she had once reminded me. What could be a more perfect partnership?
With our jobs and these rings, and the love we shared, we were about to become a real power couple.
A real couple in general,I reminded myself, still thrilled with the banishment of the lie. Actually, the lie had merely evolved into the truth - a truth that Mack would never, ever find out, but a truth nonetheless.
I happened to look out the side window as I drove past a high school, and I realized that the high-school football team was practicing on the school field. Half the boys wore yellow vests over their white jerseys, and they faced off against each other across the field, waiting for their coach’s whistle.
I missed those days, I really did. Back then, the idea of an injury hadn’t even crossed my mind. I got tackled a thousand times and returned the favor just as many, and aside from lots of minor bumps and bruises, I had always come out just fine. Those high-school boys on the field over there probably thought they were invincible. Some of them might even have dreams of playing for the NFL like I had.
Somehow, even though I felt a bit angry, I didn’t hate being injured like I used to. I had always enjoyed working with Clinton in real estate. For years, I got to play the sport I loved, and I achieved my goal. Maybe it was time to set a new goal, one I could reach at home in the Hamptons with the woman I loved at my side.
I shook away any remorseful thoughts left about my knee as I headed toward the guest house. Since renovations had just started to add a nursery and to do some painting at my mansion, we were living in Eileen’s guest house. And today, I had planned to do something I should have done a long time ago that would finally show Tammy how much I loved her. The means to do it was tucked neatly into a bag that sat on the passenger seat, and I couldn’t be more excited.
As I approached the last turn to the Moore estate, though, I started to sweat a bit. How exactly should I do this? I should have spent more time planning this surprise. I wanted it to be perfect, but I had no idea what would make it perfect. It had to be somewhere beautiful, obviously, but where? The docks where all the yachts floated at their moorings? A quiet park somewhere in the Hamptons? At a romantic dinner when we had eaten our fill from a four-course meal?
I took my time trundling down the driveway, letting the car roll as slowly as it traveled naturally across the flat pavement. By the time I reached the end and took the split in the driveway to the right so I could park next to Tammy’s car, I had no better idea of what I wanted to do.Come on, Nate, think…
I couldn’t sit in the car all day. Tammy would notice and suspect something. Although I had called to tell her about Mack’s decision, I also had gone to great lengths to hide my visit to the jewelry shop today from her. I owed her a special moment after putting her through so many fake ones.
In the end, I just slipped the little satin box into my pocket and walked along the sidewalk through the rows of flowers, bushes and ornamental trees to the front door. Tammy pulled it open before I could walk in, then stopped cold. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Then, I finally understood. Tammy and I didn’t need a specific place to create a special moment. All we needed was the two of us, together, and the knowledge that what we had was real and wonderful.
Under the sweet-smelling trees on either side of the front porch, I went down on one knee. The little box was just where I left it, and my hand closed over it at the perfect rotation to hold it out, hinges toward me - another tiny hint that we were meant to be together.
Tammy realized what was happening just as I opened the box, revealing a shimmering, intricate bridal set. Her mouth opened to say something. Then she turned red as the roses in the garden when she realized that I hadn’t even said anything yet.
“Tammy Burke,” I said, my voice as soft as the September breeze whispering through the green garden. “I love you, and I’ve loved you for a very long time. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize that, but now I want to tell you that I love you every day. I want to raise our child together, and I want… I want to keep the goodbyes to a minimum.” Tammy laughed through happy tears that sparkled in the sunlight. “Tammy Burke,” I continued, “will you do me the honor of being my real wife?”
Tammy had rushed into my arms before I could finish, but that drew either a sniff or a snort from her, I couldn’t tell which because I was too busy holding her close. “Of course, especially since I already am,” she said with a grin that showcased every single one of her pearly-white teeth. She held up her hand so I could slip the rings onto her finger - first the wedding ring and then the engagement ring over it. “They’re so perfect,” she breathed, touching the rings as gently as she might touch a delicate flower petal. “Aren’t these the ones we used?”
“The wedding ring is. And he just happened to still have both of our rings and the engagement ring that makes it a set,” I chuckled.
“Where is yours?” Tammy glanced at my hands to see if I was holding it somewhere.
“It’s still in the car. I wanted this to be about you.”
“No, it’s about both of us.” She tugged at my hand and led me toward my car. After I slipped mine on too, I pulled her into a kiss that banished the world, leaving us bathed in the light we had created for each other.
