Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 55

Chapter 55

-Andi-

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I should have known I couldn’t escape this nightmare that easily. The nightmare named Beckett Hale. I had been unemployed since last night, and in the span of two hours, he whisked a wrecking ball into my life and dragged my mot

into the mess.

I never should have gotten involved with Beckett Hale. I never should have let Vivian and Lila persuade me to come to! Lucy’s birthday party. And I never should have gotten ready for that date. Everything had been fine before Vivian and I. had shown up at Beckett’s estate. Now I am unemployed, annoyed, and broken–hearted.

Yes, I am fucking heartbroken, dammit!

I might hate having Beckett around, but I can’t deny how my heart was punching its cage when he touched me. And the thought of having his lips on mine again made my stomach twist in ways that I hadn’t felt before.

For one stupid, fragile moment in his car, I almost gave in to my body’s desire. If we had stayed longer on the side of the road, or if his hands on my face had lingered a moment longer, I know my resolve would have caved. And now he’s here our home.

One look and one would say he doesn’t belong here. The chair he’s sitting on looked like it belonged to a child. And the w he wiped his mouth with the tissue Mom handed him made this situation comical.

“Clean this up and make him another cup of coffee,” Mom instructed me, but she couldn’t hide that knowing smirk.

“I thought you will make him another cup,” I grunted, but followed suit. I picked up the rag from the counter and cleaned up the spilled coffee on the table.

I glanced up at Beckett, scowling at him. ‘Why don’t you just disappear? Nobody wants you here, so why are you still here?”

He matched my gaze, but his was amused, as if he even enjoyed the bitter coffee I served him. I gave another death glare before making him another cup of coffee. I was tempted to put salt in it, but I knew Mom would just give me an earful.

Unbothered, Mom hummed as he turned back to the waffle iron. The smell of batter and cheap coffee filled our tiny kitchen. While I made coffee, I threw a secret glance at Beckett. He looked rather comfortable sitting on that ridiculous chai like he belonged there, like he hadn’t blown up my life less than twenty–four hours ago.

I hated how easy he looked and how he managed to get on Mom’s good side. They were exchanging stories now. My face pruned watching him laugh softly at something Mom said. Watching the way his shoulders relaxed, the way his mouth curved like he wasn’t calculating ten moves ahead.

When I placed the fresh cup of coffee before Beckett, that’s when it hit me.

Paparazzi don’t wait. They don’t hide for days near a rundown trailer park on the off chance I might come home. They swarm and ambush. They don’t sit patiently in one spot like a planted landmine. I was a freaking nobody, for crying out

loud!

My stomach dropped.

The image replayed in my head–Beckett pulling out his chest, spinning a story so smoothly it barely sounded rehearsed. The way he’d stepped in before I could think, before Mom could panic.

You don’t know what lengths these paparazzi will go to.

I stared at my ex–boss when the realization came quietly, like something cold sliding under my ribs and settling there. It

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gave me chills.

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He knows something was up with that guy. And he might have lowered his voice, but heard Cole’s name in that phone cal Those men in the white van came quicker than a fire truck responding to a burning building. They were already here bef I even noticed the camera guy in George’s mini garden.

“Mom,” I said suddenly, pushing off the doorway. My voice sounded sharper than I meant it to. Beckett looked up, surpris flickering across his face.

“Yes, Andi?” Mom turned, spatula in hand.

“Did someone knock on our door asking questions about me?” I asked.

She blinked. “Questions?”

“Yes, reporters, photographers. Anyone.”

Beckett stilled, and Mom frowned, thinking. “No one. Why would they?”

I held Beckett’s gaze as I spoke. “Because you said they would go to any lengths just to get a story.”

Silence stretched, and Mom slowly turned to Beckett. Her smile was still there, but something behind it had shifted- tightened. “Are you serious about that?”

Beckett cleared his throat. “I have dealt with them for quite some time now.”

That was the crack.

My mother had survived my father leaving. Bills piling up. Raising two kids in a house that barely held together during typhoon season. Mom might be soft spoken, but she knew when a man was feeding her half–truths.

“And yet,” she said calmly, “no one has bothered us before today.”

I saw it then–the way her fingers curled tighter around the spatula. The way her eyes sharpened, assessing instead of welcoming.

Beckett smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes this time. “This could be my fault, but I wasn’t the only one who the paparazzi chased here, right, Andi?”

Mom turned to me, taking the waffles from the iron without looking. I was always amazed at how she did that. “What is he talking about?” She wanted to know.

I pinned Beckett with another death glare. I hadn’t thought about that bastard since Nana Lucy’s birthday celebration because of him, and now he was also the one who reminded me about Carter.

Great. Just great.

“It’s no one, Mom,” I lied.

Mom placed the plate of waffles on the table. I went to get one, but she slapped my hand. “Nuh–uh answer the question

first.”

“Mom!” I whined, watching Beckett munch on the waffles my mother made. “Why does he get to eat and not me?”

“I didn’t say you can’t eat. Answers first. If we are truly in danger here, don’t you think I have the right to know why?” Mom

said as a matter of fact.

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She has a point, but I don’t want to talk about my failed love history with Mom, especially not with Beckett around. But the look on my mother’s face says she wasn’t taking no for an answer. So I sighed and flopped onto the rickety couch where she always sleeps at night.

“Carter Benette was here a few days ago, Mom,” I admitted.

She sat down beside me. “Should I know who he is?”

I completely forgot that Mom doesn’t know the baseball player Caleb idolizes. She was innocent of all of this

I narrowed my eyes at Beckett before answering Mom without breaching the NDA I signed. Mom would never put me in danger, but I don’t think she will let Carter slide without a scratch once she finds out what he did to me “He’s someone from my past, Mom. It was a long time ago.”

In my periphery, I saw Beckett roll his eyes. I didn’t tell him anything about Carter, but he knew that this Carter thing was

new.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were seeing someone, Andi. And when did this happen?” Mom pressed.

I sighed helplessly. “I don’t want to talk about it, Mom.”

In fact, I can’t talk about it without being charged with a crime!‘ I wanted to add, but swallowed the bitter taste of that reality.

Pity and understanding were the first emotions that rolled across her face. “I understand, but why is he relevant in this conversation?” She threw that question to Beckett and me.

Surprisingly, Beckett kept his mouth shut and allowed me to break this news to Mom. “Because when I went out with Siobhan, Carter saw us, and he said he wanted me back. And some paparazzi got a picture of us together.”

Oh, the horror of bashing me online when they barely know me, and the thought of having people recognize me rushed back at me like a tidal wave. If that paparazzi earlier was real, pictures of Beckett and me will circulate online in just minutes

Beckett’s jaw ticked at this new information. He saw the pictures circulating online, but he didn’t know what really happened in that photo. “And I didn’t know that he had followed me home. When he confronted me here, the paparazzi saw us again.”

Mom swallowed hard, shock evident in her face. Then she sank into the couch as if her bones couldn’t hold her posture

anymore.

‘Mom,” I called, worried she might faint.

‘And you dealt with this all by yourself?” she asked, her voice so flat you would think she’s making a monologue.

I can’t answer that. I know I should have told her, but for what? I don’t want her to worry about something that’s already done. Besides, I’m fine. I can handle Carter and Beckett all by myself.

“Honey,” Mom cooed, grabbing my hand. “I wish you had told me… You know I’m here for you, always.”

“I know that, Mom,” I said. “But it’s done already, and Carter and I were over long ago. It’s history, so I don’t get why we

should make a fuss out of this.”

Mom turned to Beckett, as if his opinion mattered in this family now. “You think that paparazzi will go back?”

“Him? No,” Beckett shook his head. “I will file a case against him and make sure he never sets foot near you again.” He looked at me as he spoke.

He can convince Mom to believe him, but I know everything he’s saying is all bullshit. What case will he file against that

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man? And those people in the white van who took him? I’m sure they’re not from the police department

“But I still suggest that you leave this place for a while, at least until I figure out why that man was lurking in your neighbor‘ house,” he suggested, as if leaving our home was as easy as grocery shopping.

I pursed my lips, ready to give him a piece of my mind when Mom beat me to it. “We can stay at your aunt Susie’s for a while.”

“What?! No,” I gasped. Is she for real? Is she really gonna believe Beckett’s words?

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man? And those people in the white van who took him? I’m sure they’re not from the police department.

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“But I still suggest that you leave this place for a while, at least until I figure out why that man was lurking in your neighbor’s house,” he suggested, as if leaving our home was as easy as grocery shopping.

I pursed my lips, ready to give him a piece of my mind when Mom beat me to it. “We can stay at your aunt Suce for a while.”

“What?! No,” I gasped. Is she for real? Is she really gonna believe Beckett’s words?

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