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okay?”
    “Ren?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Just keep an open mind where Zach is concerned, okay? It could be he’s changed. Maybe he’s not the same self-absorbed jerk who made you want to call off your wedding.”
    She couldn’t allow herself to imagine he might have changed. She’d given him her heart once and he broke it. No way would she make that mistake again. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

 
     
Chapter Three
     
    Zach swore softly as he listened to Rennie’s voice mail message. He’d missed her call about setting up lunch tomorrow because he’d been too busy schmoozing with people he could barely tolerate. Next time Jaxon insisted he attend one of those events, Zach was going to bill him.
    At least I have her number. He smiled as he stepped outside to call her, away from the noise in the packed sports bar. He half-expected her voice mail to kick in after the third ring, but he heard her voice instead.
    “No, Tyler, don’t push the button. Damn it,” she whispered.
    “You’re not supposed to swear, Mom.”
    Zach’s gut clenched when he heard the boy’s voice. Her son . His Rennie had a son with another man. It was still difficult for him to wrap his mind around that. “Hello.”
    “Hi, Zach,” Rennie said, sounding defeated. “Sorry about that.”
    “Zach!” the little voice squealed. “Zach Foster! Mom, is that really Zach Foster?”
    “Tyler, sit back right now!”
    “Um, hi, buddy,” Zach said, unsure how he should respond to the boy’s enthusiastic greeting. The little guy was the evidence of Rennie’s love for another man, but he couldn’t hold that against him. He was just a kid, after all, an innocent kid with no control over who his parents were. He should have been mine. Zach was shocked when that thought came out of nowhere.
    “Oh wow, I can’t believe it’s really you!” he shouted. “I can’t believe I’m really talking to Zach Foster! Wait ‘til I tell my friends.”
    Zach smiled, unable to control his instant affection for the kid. Even over the phone, he could tell he would like Rennie’s son. “I take it you’re a baseball fan?”
    “More than a fan!” he said, still shouting as though he couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “I play. I just came from my game. We won 3-1.”
    “Really?” Zach chuckled. The kid sounded mature for an eight-year-old. He would have guessed him to be at least ten. “What position do you play?”
    “I’m a pitcher, just like you!”
    Zach leaned into the brick wall behind him. He must have done something really terrible in a past life to deserve this. Rennie’s son was a pitcher… just like him. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “That’s great, buddy. I’d love to come and see you play sometime.” He knew he would be a fool to do that. He would have to watch Rennie and her husband play the proud parents to their great kid.
    “Oh wow, would you really come to one of my games?”
    “I’d love to.” He hadn’t been to a kid’s baseball game in years. His nephew would join his first team next year, and Zach couldn’t wait to see the look on Danny’s face the first time his bat struck the ball.
    “Tyler, stop,” Rennie said, sounding desperate. “You’re being rude. Mr. Foster has a lot of important obligations. He doesn’t have time to—”
    “We’re playing on Thursday. You don’t have a game that day, right? Could you come? Could you, huh?” Tyler asked, ignoring his mother.
    “Um…” Zach didn’t want to upset Rennie, but he didn’t want to disappoint the kid either. “How about I talk to your mama about that at lunch tomorrow?”
    “Okay.”
    “Lunch, yes,” Rennie said, obviously looking for a way to end the call. “Where do you want to meet?”
    “How about High Rollers at one?”
    “I…uh…”
    She sounded as though she wanted to object, so Zach said, “If you have somewhere else in mind…?”
    “No, that’ll be fine. I’ll see you then.”
     
    ***
     
    Rennie could