Out of Her League (41 page)

The
crack
of the bat on the ball, the cheer of the crowd and the voice of the announcer—
“Going, go
ing, gone! A home run for Toni Scalotta!
”
—were anticlimactic to Evie.

Her season had been complete—and a rousing success—before Toni even stepped up to the plate.

She turned around to hug the twins—but they had disappeared.

Adam
waited
just
beyond
home plate and swept Toni into his arms. They kissed amid the whir of
cameras. That picture would be front page center tomorrow, Joe figured. It wasn
’
t every day the catcher and the pitcher kissed full on the lips after winning the World Series.

Joe should be annoyed, but right now all he could do was grin. This was probably the most fun day of his life, and he
’
d lost the game. Winning wasn
’
t everything, or the only thing. It was pretty much nothing—unless it made someone you loved as happy as Toni looked right now.

He had planned on giving a pep talk to his team, though now that they
’
d lost there wasn
’
t much to be peppy about, but after a quick look at their long faces he decided that they wanted to be alone. So he sent them to the bus with one of the parents and went toward his little girl.

Joe chuckled. His daughter had just hit a home run to win the W
orld Series. Now, that was some
thing you didn
’
t h
ear every day. Too bad, too, be
cause it sounded dam good.

Toni saw him approaching and disentangled her
self from her boyfrie
nd, and her fans, to launch her
self into his arms—something she would never have done a few months back. They
’
d come a long way. They still had a way to go, of course, but Joe be
lieved that they would get there—together.

He swung her around and hugged her tight.
“
Did you see it, Dad?
”

“
Couldn
’
t miss it, honey. That was a classic.
”
Joe released her fro
m the circle of his arms. Speak
ing of happy people... He glanced around, but
couldn
’
t find the woman who should be just as happy over this win.
“
Where
’
s your coach? I need to shake her hand.
”

Toni frowned and turned toward the dugout. Joe followed her gaze. Evie should have been in the midst of the party. Instead, she and Hoyt were deep in a serious conversation. As Joe watched, she put her hand to her forehead and swayed.

Joe swore and shoved aside everyone in his way until he reached Evie
’
s side. He took her elbow and pulled her around to face him. The fear in her green eyes and the paleness of her face set his heart thumping too hard.

“
What
’
s the matter, babe?
”

“
Do not call me
‘
babe,
’”
she said absently.
“
The twins are gone.
”

“
Gone? Where?
”

Joe glanced at Hoyt, who shrugged.
“
They were sittin
’
there as pretty as ye please. Then the game was done and they were gone.
”

“
They
’
re in the bathroom or on the playground.
”

“
They aren
’
t,
”
Evie said.
“
I checked every
where. The popcorn man saw them leave the park.
”

Panic first fluttered, then burned, in Joe
’
s belly. He changed his grip on Evie
’
s elbow from a clasp to a caress. She folded into his arms with a soft, helpless cry that scared him even worse than her words. Evie was never helpless. But then again, her kids had never disappeared before.

He held her tight and brushed his hand over her hair.
“
Shh,
”
he murmured.
“
We
’
ll find them.
”

“
How?
”
She took a deep breath that threatened to become a sob.
“
They
’
re so little, and the world
’
s so big, and mean, and crazy.
”
She tilted her head and her eyes glittered with tears.
“
Joe, I
’
m scared. Those kids are my whole life.
”

Adam cleared his throat. He and Toni stood, hand in hand. Adam stared at his mom as if he
’
d just seen her for the first time. He gave himself a little shake and asked,
“
What
’
s going on?
”

“
Your brothers have disappeared,
”
he said.

The initial joy on the kid
’
s face turned to shock. He let go of Toni and went to his mom, but she only moaned and burrowed deeper into Joe
’
s chest.

Adam frowned, glanced at Toni, then at Joe. He looked terrified, and Joe couldn
’
t blame him. His brothers were missing and his usually rock-solid mother couldn
’
t seem to function. But Joe had no time to coddle the kid. He had to find the twins.

“
Where do you think they
’
d go?
”
Joe asked.

Adam
’
s face was pale, but he didn
’
t fold. He met Joe
’
s eyes, and the two of them exchanged a silent truce.
“
They wouldn
’
t
go
anywhere. They
’
re a pain in the behind to watch, but they don
’
t wander off.
”

“
Would they run away?
”

Adam considered that a moment.
“
Maybe. But why?
”

“
That
’
s the $10,000 question I plan to get the answer to once I have the scruffs of their necks in each of my hands. Now, where would they go? Think.
”

“
Iceman, the Wildman, Scalotta!
”
A microphone
nearly hit Joe in the teeth.
“
Your daughter has just won the Big League World Series. What are you
going to do next?”

“
I
’
m going to Disney World,
”
Joe snarled.
“
Where else?
”

“
That
’
s it!
”
Adam shouted.

Joe tried to look at the kid, but the reporter kept waving the microphone in front of his face. He
’
d had enough of that for one lifetime. Joe stared her straight in the eye and used his Iceman glare.
“
Go away,
”
he snapped. She did.

He turned to Adam.
“
What
’
s it?
”

“
The twin rats—
”
Adam winced and glanced at his mother, who had straightened and disentangled herself from Joe
’
s embrace when Adam shouted.
“
Sorry, Mom. This morning, on the way here, they asked me if you could get to Disney World on a bus. I said you could get to Disney World any way you wanted and a bus was probably the cheapest.
”

“
You think?
”
Evie breathed, hope lighting her eyes.

“
Let
’
s go.
”
Joe took her hand, and they raced for the exit.

Evie
couldn't
think straight. In fact, she couldn
’
t seem to think at all. Her mind was numb, her heart heavy. Her babies were missing, and she needed to do something to find them, but she couldn
’
t seem to do anything but stare through the windshield of the taxi and try not to cry.

The bus station was within walking distance of
the ballpark, but Joe had grabbed a cab so they could get there quickly. Evie didn
’
t think she
’
d have been able to run or walk, anyway.

Joe seemed to sense her panic, and he took over. Right now, he held her hand, and she clung to him. He hadn
’
t let her go since they
’
d left the ballpark. What would she have done if he hadn
’
t been here to help? Evie had always prided herself on handling everything her kids dished out. But this—this was too much for her.

“
Here you go,
”
the cabbie said.

Evie was out the door before the car came to a complete stop—br
eaking her own rule and not giv
ing a damn. Joe threw money at the man and tore through the glass doors right behind her. He bumped into her when she stopped just inside the doorway.

“
Thank God,
”
he whispered, and his breath stiffed her hair. His hard, capable hands rested on her shoulders, and E
vie reached up to twine her fin
gers through his.

“
Thank God,
”
she echoed.

The twins hadn
’
t seen them enter. They were too engrossed in a television bolted to a chair, their noses pressed nearly to the screen.

Toni and Adam walked in. Evie eyed them and shrugged. Adam took one step toward the twins, hands clenched into fists, but Evie touched his shoulder and shook her head.

She approached her boys. They looked up when her shadow fell across the television screen—first
joy, then anxiety, filled their blue eyes. They were happy to see her, but they knew they were in trouble.

The two joined hands and waited for the storm to burst, but Evie didn
’
t have the heart to yell. She was too darn glad to see them. Instead, she pulled the twins into her arms and held them tight, breathing in the fragrance of little boy and trying not to sob her heart out.

“
Mom, how come you
’
re here?
”
D
anny mum
bled against her neck.

“
To get you and take you home, where I can ground you for the rest of your natural life.
”

“
Really?
”
Benji asked.

Evie ignored that.
“
What are you two doing here?
”

“
We were watching this great movie.
”
Danny looked up.
“
Hey, Joe, have you ever watched
Mr. Mom
? You know, with the guy who ended up being Batman?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Joe said, moving closer.

She welcomed the warmth of his body and the calm in his voice. Sometimes being an adult was too hard. Sometimes you needed someone. She
’
d done things on her own so long she hadn
’
t realized how much it helped when there were two against the world, instead of one.

“
The guy in the movie—he
’
s a stay-at-home daddy. Isn
’
t that cool?
”

“
Sure.
”
Joe sounded as puzzled as Evie felt.

“
We were gonna sack-the-face for you and Mom.
We heard how you want a baby, but how Mom don
’
t want no more
‘
cause we were so awful.
”