After the night’s turmoil, I feel oddly serene when I next wake. I check the time—eleven-thirty. No hurry. But I can’t sleep anymore. I lie beside Tommy, drifting in his presence. Then he finally wakes.
“Time?” he asks.
“Plenty left.”
“Good.”
I find his hand and take it in mine. As words gather, I blow out a long sigh. “I’m worn out, Tommy,” I finally begin. “The game, the situation. I’m going to retire at season’s end.”
“Geez, where’d that come from?” he asks as he rolls onto his side to face me.
“It’s been around all season,” I confess. “I just kept pushing it away, but that’s not fair to you, to us. So, total honesty now. I never thought I could say it or even think it, but it’s over for me.”
He kisses me. “You should have told me what you were going through.”
“I know, but I wan
