trade places with you, I would. I lie awake at night asking God why it couldn’t have been me—it would have pained me far, far less to have cancer than to watch you go through this.”
Her heart crumbled when she heard the sadness and fear in her mother’s voice, and the genuineness of her words. Her parents would do anything for her, even give up their own lives. “But five doctors said it wasn’t necessary.”
“They don’t have the kind of experience Dr. Hughes has. And even they admitted a mastectomy was the most conservative route.”
“How will anyone ever stand to look at me?” Who will ever love me?”
“Love isn’t about breasts, Cassie. Real love is more than a physical attraction. No man who truly loves you will reject you because of your breasts.”
Her parents had been married fifteen years before she was born. Her mother had suffered more than a dozen miscarriages. They’d given up all hope of having a child by the time she came along. She was their miracle baby, their only child, who they loved more than life itself.
So, at not quite twenty-two, feeling alone and deathly afraid, she traded her left breast for their peace of mind.
Chapter Six
Cassie reached for her phone, smiling when the number popped up on the screen. “Hello.”
“Hello, yourself. What are you doing?”
“Sweeping the floor.”
“Any chance you’re wearing one of those sexy maid outfits?”
“Not a chance.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Doesn’t a big-time baseball executive like you have better things to concern yourself with than what I’m wearing?”
“I have nothing better to think about than what you’re wearing, sweetheart. Not a damn thing. Let’s have dinner tonight, maybe go listen to some music. When the team was in Baltimore, I read about a hot local band, and they’re in town this weekend.”
“Where are you?” she asked, cradling the phone in the crook of her neck while she continued cleaning up from the morning crowd.
“Boston. But the flight to Baltimore takes less than an hour, and there are dozens left today. I want to see you, and learn more about what happened in your life during the time we were apart.”
Her stomach began a series of backflips on the high beam, just like it did every time he probed the past ten years. “Drew, we can’t keep rehashing the past.”
“I know. That’s why we’re having dinner. I want us to get to know the people we are now, but let’s face it, the past plays some role in that. I already know about the first twenty years of your life, but the last ten are a mystery to me, and I don’t like it… Although, it’s not like it’s been a hundred years. You don’t seem all that different, you’re still the girl who stole my heart freshman year.”
“But I’m not. I barely resemble that girl, and lots of things have changed about me.”
“Whatever you say. You can tell me all about the changes over dinner.”
Not a chance. “ I haven’t been to hear a band in ages, and dinner with you sounds great, but only if we can stay in the present.”
“Deal. Cass, there’s someone outside my office who needs to speak to me. I’ll call you on my way to the airport.”
Drew hung up with Cassie, and beckoned the visitor into his office.
“Jim, what can I do for you?” Jim Rogers was a seasoned sports reporter from Boston’s most prestigious newspaper, and a huge pain in the ass. They had a cordial relationship, but Rogers had been hanging around the clubhouse for decades, and he’d enjoyed a very cozy relationship with Drew’s predecessor. Too cozy. When Drew became the GM, he began treating Rogers the same way he treated every other reporter.
He gave him no special access, although that didn’t keep Jim from trying. Rogers took every opportunity to give him advice, which irritated Drew no end. But out of deference to the older man, he usually just listened and said very little, hoping one day the gruff reporter would take the
Her heart crumbled when she heard the sadness and fear in her mother’s voice, and the genuineness of her words. Her parents would do anything for her, even give up their own lives. “But five doctors said it wasn’t necessary.”
“They don’t have the kind of experience Dr. Hughes has. And even they admitted a mastectomy was the most conservative route.”
“How will anyone ever stand to look at me?” Who will ever love me?”
“Love isn’t about breasts, Cassie. Real love is more than a physical attraction. No man who truly loves you will reject you because of your breasts.”
Her parents had been married fifteen years before she was born. Her mother had suffered more than a dozen miscarriages. They’d given up all hope of having a child by the time she came along. She was their miracle baby, their only child, who they loved more than life itself.
So, at not quite twenty-two, feeling alone and deathly afraid, she traded her left breast for their peace of mind.
Chapter Six
Cassie reached for her phone, smiling when the number popped up on the screen. “Hello.”
“Hello, yourself. What are you doing?”
“Sweeping the floor.”
“Any chance you’re wearing one of those sexy maid outfits?”
“Not a chance.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Doesn’t a big-time baseball executive like you have better things to concern yourself with than what I’m wearing?”
“I have nothing better to think about than what you’re wearing, sweetheart. Not a damn thing. Let’s have dinner tonight, maybe go listen to some music. When the team was in Baltimore, I read about a hot local band, and they’re in town this weekend.”
“Where are you?” she asked, cradling the phone in the crook of her neck while she continued cleaning up from the morning crowd.
“Boston. But the flight to Baltimore takes less than an hour, and there are dozens left today. I want to see you, and learn more about what happened in your life during the time we were apart.”
Her stomach began a series of backflips on the high beam, just like it did every time he probed the past ten years. “Drew, we can’t keep rehashing the past.”
“I know. That’s why we’re having dinner. I want us to get to know the people we are now, but let’s face it, the past plays some role in that. I already know about the first twenty years of your life, but the last ten are a mystery to me, and I don’t like it… Although, it’s not like it’s been a hundred years. You don’t seem all that different, you’re still the girl who stole my heart freshman year.”
“But I’m not. I barely resemble that girl, and lots of things have changed about me.”
“Whatever you say. You can tell me all about the changes over dinner.”
Not a chance. “ I haven’t been to hear a band in ages, and dinner with you sounds great, but only if we can stay in the present.”
“Deal. Cass, there’s someone outside my office who needs to speak to me. I’ll call you on my way to the airport.”
Drew hung up with Cassie, and beckoned the visitor into his office.
“Jim, what can I do for you?” Jim Rogers was a seasoned sports reporter from Boston’s most prestigious newspaper, and a huge pain in the ass. They had a cordial relationship, but Rogers had been hanging around the clubhouse for decades, and he’d enjoyed a very cozy relationship with Drew’s predecessor. Too cozy. When Drew became the GM, he began treating Rogers the same way he treated every other reporter.
He gave him no special access, although that didn’t keep Jim from trying. Rogers took every opportunity to give him advice, which irritated Drew no end. But out of deference to the older man, he usually just listened and said very little, hoping one day the gruff reporter would take the
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