A League of Her Own (15 page)

“Did Reed and Smythe take a look at this?” Heather asked, her eyes running over the inventoried items and prices. How could her mother have identified all of these needs on her own?

“Of course. We’ve been holding those weekly meetings. It’d be wonderful if you’d stop in.”

“I’ll stick to emails, thanks,” Heather said dryly, pitching her voice low. The proprietor, blast her, now carefully wiped the sparkling tabletops beside them. What Heather would give to really say what she thought...

Her mother sucked in her lower lip and nodded, her features composed. “Of course.”

Heather scrawled her name on a few pages, then stopped on the last.

“You’re booking a party planner to celebrate the Falcons getting into the playoffs?”

Her mother lowered her coffee and nodded. “We’re going to clinch a spot.”

“Mom!” Heather leaned forward when her rising voice brought Mrs. Mapes’s head around. “You can’t know that.”

“I can bet on my daughter. Have faith. You and the Falcons have had an incredible month. You’ll pull this off.”

Heather stared at her mother, incredulous. Her pupils looked normal-size, her eyes shining but not glassy. When she spoke, her words were crisp, not slurred. It didn’t seem like she was using pills... Could this inflated certainty be genuine? After years of harping from her father, it was hard to take in.

“And what if we don’t?” Heather’s eyes smarted when she thought of how hard they’d all worked to turn the team around.

“Then we’ll have an end-of-the-season party. You’ll deserve it. What do you say?”

“We still need to conserve costs,” Heather grumbled, liking the idea but unwilling to give. She sensed that if she did, she might slip right back into becoming that trusting girl who did whatever her mother told her, including getting into the car that fateful day.

Her mother waved a hand. “This is my money. You just need to approve its allocation. Please sign, Heather.”

The industrious barista gave up all pretense and simply stared at them, a dishrag dangling from her hand.

Trapped. To say no sent the message that she and her mother weren’t working as a team. Signing would encourage her mother to plan more of these get-togethers. Lose-lose. But when it came to her mom, Heather never won.

She scrawled her name across the line and stood. “Enjoy the rest of your day,” she said as graciously as she could, conscious of their avid audience.

Her mom’s hand alighted on hers before she could escape. Despite everything, Heather’s heart skipped a beat. It’d been a long time since she’d felt her mother’s touch. “You too. Have a good one, sweetheart.”

Heather forced her feet out the door, wondering why they dragged with each step.

Did a part of her want to stay?

Impossible.

Yet she couldn’t explain her smile...or the way her hand tingled long after her mother let go.

* * *

“S
QUARE
YOUR
HIPS
to the plate,” Garrett urged the next day as Levi stood on the mound, his glove to his chest. “Push hard off the rubber.”

“There’s too much to remember,” Levi protested, dropping his arm and rubbing it.

“If you do it often enough, your muscles will remember so your brain can do the thinking.”

Levi laughed. “Hah! Muscles having memory. Good one, Mr. Wolf.”

“It’s true.” Garrett pulled a ball from his pocket and tossed it to Levi without warning. The boy caught it and looked up at him in surprise. His freckles seemed to have multiplied under the midday sun.

“See.” Garrett smiled. “You didn’t have to think to catch that, did you? Your muscles knew what to do. It’s instinctive.”

Levi nodded. “You’re right.”

“So let’s keep practicing. Eventually this is going to feel as natural as riding a bike.”

“I never rode a bike.”

Now it was Garrett’s turn to stare in disbelief.

“Never?”

“None of the foster families let me near them once they read my record about running away. At the group home, we only have the backyard. Never had a chance to learn.”

Garrett’s jaw clenched. He hadn’t meant to get close to Levi. Wished like anything he hadn’t, but something about this kid, his tough life and need for someone to believe in him made him impossible to ignore.

“That ends now. Get your stuff.”

Levi looked around the empty ball field. Like usual, he’d gotten special permission to stay longer and work on specific skills with Garrett.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked in a small voice.

For some reason, that irritated Garrett more. He knew what it felt like to have people assume the worst.

“No, kiddo. We’re riding bikes.”

Levi’s eyes widened. He bounced on his toes, excited. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Now hurry up before I change my mind.”

Garrett strode out of the stadium, Levi hot on his heels.

“Where are we getting the bikes?”

“The team has some in the training room,” he replied once he’d crossed into the cool, shadow-filled tunnel. Since Levi was tall for his age, he could handle an adult-size bike.

Levi tugged on Garrett’s shirt. “Where are we riding?”

“The skate park.” He ushered his charge into the locker room.

“The big one in Holly Springs?” Levi pranced ahead of Garrett, his face bright with excitement.

“Yes.”

“But that’s just for skateboards.”

Garrett shrugged as he pulled open the training room door. “They have a bike path there.”

Levi stopped short as Garrett lifted the bikes off their hooks.

“What if I fall and look stupid?”

“I’ll laugh at you.”

A snort escaped Levi. They each wheeled a bike outside and down to Garrett’s car. He reached for his keys and came up empty.

“What’s wrong?” Levi’s anxious eyes took in Garrett’s frown.

Garrett forced a smile. He wouldn’t let anything stop their outing. “Left my keys in the locker room. But I always keep a spare set here.” He reached for the magnetic box beneath his car and pulled out another set.

“See?” He dangled the keys. “All set.” After opening the trunk and shoving the bikes in as far possible, he tied the top to the bumper with string, securing it. He glimpsed a familiar brown bag, the whiskey he’d yet to throw out. What was he waiting for? He knew he played with fire, keeping it in there, not telling his sponsor, AA group members, Heather...but whenever he went to get rid of it, something stopped him. A low hum of warning that urged him to wait until he was sure that this incredible direction his life had taken wouldn’t swerve off course. He had no intention of drinking, but somehow he couldn’t pour the bottles out, either.

A snuffling sounded behind him and he turned, catching Levi wiping his eyes.

“Hey, bud. What’s going on? Change your mind? Would you rather go home?”

He watched as the boy’s shoulders rose, his body tightening all over.

“You don’t have to do this,” Levi said, his voice defiant.

“Do what?”

“Be nice to me just because I’m a foster kid.”

His words slid between Garrett’s ribs, slicing him.

“I’m not.” He stepped close and put a hand on Levi’s bony shoulder. “You’re a great kid. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with you?”

“No one would.” Levi kicked a piece of gravel. “Not superstars like you.”

“This one does.” Garrett angled his head, trying to catch Levi’s eye. “Besides, I’m counting on you falling to make me laugh.”

Levi guffawed and lifted his face, his expression relaxing. “Thank you, Mr. Wolf.”

“It’s Garrett.”

The boy threw his thin arms around Garrett’s middle. “Garrett,” Levi murmured, holding on tight.

Garrett’s heart jumped. He squeezed Levi back, remembering his last hug with Manny, then opened the passenger door before scooting around the car to slide into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and headed into town, his eyes on the road, his mind inward.

Was he taking a risk, letting himself get this close to another troubled kid? Maybe. But Levi eased his pain over Manny. He could shower the boy with the attention he wished he’d given his foster brother. The wound would never heal, but it was more bearable.

He wanted to be a part of Levi’s life. Planned to stay in touch when he moved to the Majors. Levi wouldn’t think Garrett had given up on him. The more time he spent with the boy, the more he believed that he could have a real human relationship. One that didn’t end in tragedy.

Could that be possible with Heather, as well?

A sign flashed by. Holly Springs, 10 Miles.

Amazing how much he’d come to care for this sleepy town and the incredible woman determined to save it and the Falcons. How could he convince her to trust that he wouldn’t fall off the wagon? She’d said she’d always wait for the day he slipped. He shook his head.

It was impossible.

Especially given the bottles lurking in his trunk. She’d never understand that.

If only his brain could convince his heart to stop wanting her so much. He looked forward to being around her each day. Needed to, if he was honest. If he went to the Majors, he’d rarely see her. The thought rattled around the lonely space inside him.

He nodded along, his mind still full of Heather, as Levi chattered excitedly beside him.

Once he would have considered sobriety impossible, but he’d conquered that. A second chance at a professional baseball career had seemed even more out of reach. Yet here he was, getting scouted by his home team, the Falcons one win away from clinching a spot in the playoffs, his bronze AA coin still untarnished, despite his close call.

If he could manage all of that, why doubt that he could have something even more important? Heather. Every conversation they had, small or big, touched him deeply. Laid him bare. She’d come to mean a lot to him. He couldn’t imagine his future without her. His fingers tightened on the wheel as he steered them into the skate park.

Somehow he had to get through to her. After tomorrow’s game, he’d find a way. He’d grab her before she left and never let her go. Maybe then the part of him that held on to those bottles would let go, too.

“We’re here!” Levi bounced up and down in his seat, throwing open the door before Garrett put his car in Park.

“Hold on, speedy.”

But Levi was already undoing the string and dragging his bike out of the trunk, metal screeching on metal.

Garrett gently nudged the boy aside and grabbed the wheels, hauling them out. When he looked up, Levi was gone. He swore under his breath. He should have known better than to take his eye off a kid with a reputation for disappearing. With his gaze roaming the park, he slammed the trunk closed.

“Over here!” shouted Levi. He stood with his fingers hooked in a chain-link fence, watching kids on skateboards zipping up and down half-pipes and performing aerial tricks.

“No running away like that again,” Garrett growled. Levi looked up, chastened.

“Sorry. Promise not to do it again. But this is so cool. I wish I had a skateboard.”

Garrett smiled down at him, already planning the custom board he’d buy Levi. “Maybe Santa will be good to you this year.”

The preteen shrugged. “I’m always on the naughty list. Everything I get is practical—like socks.”

Garrett pressed his lips together to hold in his angry exclamation. That wouldn’t happen to Levi again. Garrett would guarantee it.

He pointed to a large concrete circle between a clump of maples that swayed in the stiff breeze. “Let’s start there.”

Levi flushed as red as his hair when they reached it. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Of course you can’t. You’ve never done it before.” He leaned his bike against a tree and rolled the other to Levi.

Levi’s shoulders lowered. “Are you really going to laugh at me if I fall?”

“That’s
if
you fall, and I promise—though I’m not going to lie, it’ll be hard.”

Levi snickered, threw a leg over the bike and sat. He reached for the handlebars, then looked up at Garrett.

“What do I do?”

“Put your feet on the pedals. Pump your legs to make the tires go forward. Squeeze the metal bar on the handles to brake.”

“Okay.” But Levi remained motionless, his knuckles white against the black handles.

“I’ll push you off.”

Levi nodded. “Don’t let go until I say so.”

“Got it. Ready?”

“Ready.”

Garrett rolled the bike forward as Levi pressed on the pedals, his knees rising and falling. The bike wobbled as they crossed the circle to enter one of the paths.

“Can I let go?” Garrett hollered, racing alongside the bike.

Levi shook his hair out of his face. “Not yet.”

They rolled farther down the path. “Ready yet?” called Garrett.

“No.” The brakes squealed, bringing the bike to a jarring halt.

“What’s wrong?” Garrett squinted down at Levi. The boy’s chest seemed to have shrunk into itself, his chin low.

“How do you know when you’re ready to do something?”

Garrett raked a hand through his hair. Good question. One he had no solid answer for.

“You just have to have faith. Hope for the best.”

Levi squinted up at him. “That’s what you do?”

Not as much as he should. Not when it came to Heather. But he was going to change that. “As much as I can.”

Levi squared his shoulders. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Garrett pushed off again. They raced down the pavement, the back of the bike in his grip.

After a minute, Levi yelled, “Ready!”

Garrett’s hands dropped to his sides. He watched with pride as a furiously pedaling Levi wobbled down the bike path.

Levi was riding his first bike. But in the next instant, the boy was down in a tangle of gears and limbs.

Garrett raced to the scene and pulled up short at Levi’s laugh. The kid’s delighted face shone up at him, his silvery smile glinting in the light.

“Did you see that? I did it! I rode a bike!”

Relieved, Garrett helped Levi to his feet and set him back on the bike.

“Good job, Levi.” He pushed the boy off again, watching with a grin as the kid rode away fast, a success.

And all it took was some blind faith.