Chapter 44

Of course, I would have to wait to meet Lexi officially. I had known that before I even made the request but I wanted to make sure Suzette saw the second choice as the lesser of two evils.

The LPGA season was winding down so everyone but Sara, who had classes wanted to join me on my foray to the North. I wasn't convinced it was a great idea, but I figured it was best to have as many allies as possible close by. The Cardinals were rolling along at 10-2, while the Browns were sputtering at 3-9 by the time game week rolled around. The coaches weren't happy, but when I explained the situation they agreed to let me miss our Thursday session and head to Cleveland Wednesday night.

Eight of us disembarked at Hopkins Airport and loaded up in three cars to head an hour west to Sandusky. Suzette had called the week before and offered to meet us in Cleveland, but we decided to visit on her home turf — not to mention there was a new indoor water park-themed hotel everyone was dying to try out. It seemed like it might be the perfect "meet your daughter" place.

Suzette was supposed to call back earlier in the week, but didn't. I received no answer at her house and only voice mail on her cell phone. When I called her, Marie said she hadn't heard from her in a couple of weeks. I was leery about what I was wandering into, but right at the appointed time Suzette and Lexi came walking into the hotel lobby. Two tiny red-haired pixies headed over to the only group of people waiting to enter the park — us.

Suzette gazed at all the people who were around me with an odd look. I know she recognized Bailey, but the vast amount of women and children seemed to amaze her. Maybe because it was six more friends than she'd ever known me to have.

She held tightly to Lexi's hand as I made the introductions. Melissa and Tanner were chattering at each other in whatever language they used, and Timothy was jumping up and down, wanting to hit the water. He didn't seem to be a big fan of northern Ohio's November weather since he'd become quite the pool lounger in Arizona. Beth greeted Suzette as coldly as I'd ever seen her greet anyone. It reminded me of my introduction to the erstwhile Elizabeth Ferguson in her parent's kitchen. Lexi kept eyeing the water slides through the glass walls, but she didn't seem interested in heading in.

I wondered why, because even I was a little anxious to try a couple trips down the tubes. The place was almost vacant when we entered, so we took an entire section of chairs right by the kiddy pool so the babies would have a place to splash and I sat down next to Lexi. No time like the present.

"Hi, Lexi," I said. "I know you don't remember, but I met you with your grandma in Arizona a while back."

She nodded as Suzette put her hand on Lexi's shoulder.

"Well, my name is R.J. Hartley," I continued. "I'm your dad."

I had expected her eyes to fly open. I had expected her to cry. I had expected a lot of things.

"I know," was all she said.

I glanced as Suzette but she was looking at the top of Lexi's head.

"You're my dad," she said sadly. "And now Doug can't be."

It was all I could do to keep from drowning Suzette in the kiddy pool. I was so mad I literally saw white spots in front of my eyes. What had these people told this little girl? Luckily Bailey was composed.

"Oh, no, Lexi," she said. "There's nothing wrong with having two daddies, especially two daddies who will love you as much as yours will."

"Who are you?" Lexi practically spat at Bailey. But Suzette explained that Bailey was my friend.

"So then why doesn't Doug live with us anymore?" Lexi asked Bailey. "If I can have two daddies, why did we move out?"

Suzette started to say something, but stopped.

"Lexi," I said. "I don't know why he doesn't live with you anymore, but I promise you anything you want, that it's not because of you."

"Baby, that's what I've been telling you," Suzette, near tears, whispered to Lexi.

Lexi shook her head.

"I'm not a baby," she almost screamed, "you started fighting and the next thing I know I'm meeting him."

She said "him" with a look of pure hatred on her face. I had to blink tears away when I thought of how much Lexi had been hurt by this.

"It's not his fault and it's not your fault," Suzette assured Lexi. "It's mommy's fault. Mommy told a lie to Doug and that's why we moved."

Lexi didn't seem to care about her mom's revelation.

"I've met him," she said simply. "Can we go home now?"

Suzette looked at me, and I gave an almost imperceptible nod, as tears filled my eyes.

"No, sweetie," Suzette said. "I think once you know your dad, you'll like him."

I told Suzette it was OK.

"The last thing I want is for her to be forced to spend time with me," I said. "But if you two want to stay and enjoy the water, I can go back to the room. Your mom told me you'd wanted to come here for awhile. There's no use in spoiling your whole trip."

I got to my feet but Timothy latched on to my hand.

"You promised to take us up to the big one," he wailed, "you said you would."

"Just one time," I said, but suddenly I heard a voice behind me say, "I want to go, too!"

Lexi was tugging at Suzette's hand but Suzette was shaking her head.

"I told you, kid," she said, "there's no way you're getting me up on that thing."

Lexi put her hands on her hips — something I'd seen Suzette do a number of times herself.

"But I want to go," Lexi seethed.

"You can go with us," Timothy said, as if it were obvious. To a three-year-old, it probably was.

Lexi looked up at me hesitantly, then at her mother expectantly.

"It's OK with me if it's OK with him," Suzette said with a small smile, and Timothy held out his hand to Lexi. It was an unusual move for him because he was painfully shy around strangers. Lexi took his hand with a smile.

"We can make a train," she said excitedly as we headed up the steps for what seemed like forever. And that's what we did. Lexi held on to Timothy's back and I held on to hers as we rode the carpet-like foam down through twists and turns and tunnels. We hit the bottom with a splash and an outburst of laughter.

"Again," Timothy and Lexi screamed in unison and both took one of my hands before I could protest. Not that I would have.

We trooped up to the top again and flew back down. By the end of our second trip, Suzette had shucked off her jeans and sweatshirt and was waiting for Lexi at the bottom in a green bikini. She looked even better than the last time I'd seen her.

I had to shake my head to avoid losing myself in a flood of memories.

Amelie and Jill were right beside her, but Bailey and Beth and the small kids were off by themselves.

I told Timothy and Lexi to try some of the smaller tubes for a little while. They both pouted for a minute, but ran off with the five women while I joined Beth and Bailey in the kiddy pool.

"Timothy saved the day," Beth said with a smile and Bailey laughed. I'm sure Tanner and Melissa peed in the pool to show their appreciation. I splashed around with the kids for a few minutes before Lexi came back over.

"Those rides are too small," she said. "We want to go on the other big ones."

I slipped over and took Timothy with us to the next big ride. I was sure any of the others would ride it with them, but if Lexi wanted to me to go with her, I sure would. And of course, if Timothy wanted anything at all from me, he just had to ask. I could barely deny him anything.

As we approached the top, I sensed the whole evening falling apart. Beth and Suzette were having a heated discussion by the baby pool. I'd asked Beth to let things go. I hoped I could at least develop a working relationship with Suzette for Lexi's sake. It was a lot to ask of Beth because she was the one who got stuck picking up the pieces Suzette left. It seems it was too much to ask.

Beth and Suzette filled me in on the details later — so I'll relate them as if I were there.

Suzette made the mistake of asking why Beth didn't like her.

"I can sit here the rest of the night and list reasons," Beth snarled. "I can list the top 10 and never even touch what you did with Lexi."

Suzette was startled.

"I was the first girlfriend he had after you," Beth said. "I was the one who had to help him realize that not everyone would treat him like you did.

"Oh, I know your side. He told me all about your 'problems.' He always gives you more credit than you deserve. I can assure you that. You're selfish. You're weak. You're pathetic. You took the most wonderful man I know, and made it so he was deathly afraid of getting close to anyone.