Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (39 page)

She gives a wave, wiggling her fingers. “Hi, you must be Toby.”

Toby moves behind me, acting bashful and hides his face in my legs. I look at Mia, worried she’s upset, but instead she gives me a sympathetic smile and stands. She grabs her beach bag and I frown. Throwing it over her shoulder, she walks to me and I shake my head.

“No, Mia, don’t—”

She places her hand on my chest and interrupts me as she sets her bag down. “I’m going to the beach to build a sandcastle.”

Toby peers out from behind my legs. He peeks into her bag and seems to approve. “Do you know how to build one with water going around it?”

Mia nods slowly as she purses her lips and taps her finger to her chin as though she’s deep in thought. “I think I do…but I’ll need some help.”

Toby’s eyes get big and he looks from Mia to me and back. He puffs out his chest and announces, “I can help.”

Mia holds out her hand and Toby immediately takes it. “Great. Now, how high should we build it?”

The two walk toward the ocean hand in hand discussing their approach for their sandcastle. As they step onto the sand, Toby says, “You must be Mia, the lady who my dad keeps talking to Gram about. My Pop says he needs to focus more on baseball and not—”

Toby, what are you saying!
I hop over the deck and land in the sand behind them. Mia is laughing at Toby’s comment, thank goodness. I take the beach bag from her and slide my arm around her waist. Things are off to a good start.

CHAPTER 21

Mia

The water is freezing and I have goosebumps all over my body. I surface and give a little yelp as my body is shocked by the temperature. Toby giggles as he hangs on to my neck, the cold water not bothering him.

Tate joins his son’s laughter and nods in my direction. “You’re a good sport.”

Shivering, I smile and talk through chattering teeth. “Other than when someone tossed me in the ocean the other morning, it’s been years since I’ve been in this ocean. It’s always cold, no matter what time of year, but especially in May.”

Tate shoves water out of his way, fighting the current of the water as he takes long steps toward me. He plucks Toby off my back and balances him on his own. Tate pulls me to him, his arms around my waist, holding me securely against him. He rubs his hands up and down my sides in an effort to try to warm me up, but it has an entirely different effect on me. Our eyes meet and by his raised eyebrow, I can tell what he’s thinking. Tate swings Toby around and holds him on his hip as he takes my hand.

“Come on, buddy. I think it’s about time I start grilling dinner.”

“Okay, I’m starving!” Toby announces.

“Mia got you hot dogs,” Tate says as he squeezes my hand.

Toby stops and spins to face me. “Ballpark franks?”

I laugh. “Yeah, I think so.”

The water is now just over our feet. Toby hugs my legs and looks at his dad. “I don’t care what Pop says. She’s awesome!”

Tate and I both laugh at his statement while my stomach flutters at his words. Toby runs ahead of us back to the house where Tate’s mom is waiting for him on the stairs. Tate keeps walking but I pull on his hand stopping him.

Trying to hide my frown, I ask, “What did Toby mean?”

Tate slips his arms around my waist and pulls me to him, his lips lightly kiss my shoulder, sparking some unwanted attention at the moment.

“Tate, I haven’t even talked to your dad yet other than hello. Why doesn’t he like me?” I can’t hide the worry in my voice. They’ve only been here for three hours and I haven’t said more than a friendly salutation to either of his parents. As soon as they arrived, Toby pulled both of us to the beachfront and we’ve been playing in the sand while his parents relaxed by the pool. “Do you think they think I’m rude for not talking to them yet, I mean, I was just—”

Tate leans back with a grin on his face. “You’re cute when you’re all worked up like this.”

I narrow my eyes and frown. “I’m serious, Tate.”

His lips get wider and he kisses my forehead. “It’s nice to know that you care so much about what they think about us.”

My stomach flip flops again. Now his parents don’t like me and he knows how vested I am in this relationship. His strong hands grip my forearms.

“Mia, they don’t care you didn’t have a long, drawn-out conversation with them. They were just giving us some space. This trip out here was for Toby, not them, and I think it’s pretty obvious that my son is head over heels for you, just like I am.”

The afternoon has been perfect, Arctic water temperatures and all. Toby and I worked together as a team and built the biggest sandcastle I’ve ever seen by a duo that consisted of a four-year-old and a woman who last built a sandcastle when she was his age. Whenever Tate would try to help, Toby would insist that he had things “under control,” a phrase that he used repeatedly and was completely adorable. After about an hour, Toby got tired and insisted on sitting on my lap while we took a break. Holding him in my arms as his head nodded back and forth, fighting sleep, and Tate sitting on the beach towel beside me, his arm around me protectively felt perfect. It was comfortable, like this is where I’ve always meant to be. The James’ boys aren’t the only ones that are head over heels about someone. Still, I want the approval of the patriarch in their family.

Tate pushes a loose hair out of my face and smiles. “My dad has always thought baseball came first in my life. When he found out about Toby, he was the one that decided he and my mom would raise him so I could focus on my career. I might be twenty-seven but my dad still treats me like I’m a high school ball player.” He sighs and then kisses me lightly. “Please don’t stress about it. Until I get a World Series ring, he’ll always find a reason why I’m not the best.”

His words don’t calm my nerves any as we walk onto the deck of Tate’s house. With a quick kiss on the cheek, he finds his way to the grill to start dinner. I pull on my cover up from earlier and head into the kitchen where I find Connie, Tate’s mom. She’s opening cabinets, obviously looking for something but stops when she sees me standing at the breakfast bar.

Connie laughs and shrugs. “I can never find what I’m looking for. Don’t you hate that? I wish the measuring cup would just appear.”

I smile and without thinking twice, walk across the kitchen and pull it out of a drawer. It isn’t until Connie raises her eyebrow that I realize what I just silently admitted. She doesn’t say a word as she continues mixing flour and cocoa powder, making her homemade brownies. Finally, as she pours the batter in the pan, she comments without looking up, “I was surprised the fridge was full… with Tate having four games in a row this week.”

My heart thumps loudly as I try to decide how to respond. Connie closes the oven door and leans against the counter directly across from me. “I take it you stay here often.”

I nod slowly and swallow, wondering what will come next. I say a silent prayer that Toby will burst through the door, ready for round two on the beach. Without warning, Connie closes the space between us and wraps me up in a bear hug. I stand there awkwardly for a few seconds until I return the gesture. When Connie pulls away, tears trickle down her cheeks and I try to hide the confusion on my face.

Laughing, she wipes at the tears. “When my son first told me about you, I was shocked. He’s never talked to me about women before. When he told Toby about you, I knew you were someone special. I was probably just as nervous as you were about meeting. I know we haven’t even talked, but watching you with my grandson today…” Connie looks away, tears coming to her eyes again.

I take her hand and squeeze it. “Your son and grandson are very special to me too, Mrs. James,” I say softly.

She laughs and shakes her head. “Oh, call me Connie…or Gram, that’s what the boys do.”

As if on cue, the door slides open and Tate calls, “Gram, bring the hot dogs out, please!”

We look at each other and laugh. I carry the meat out to the men at the grill. I thought Tate was big, as in muscular and tall, but he’s got nothing on his dad who is at least four inches taller and double his size. My heart races again as I hand him the plate.

Tate’s lips press against mine, but I’m too nervous to kiss him back. “Thanks, babe,” he says, not even noticing my lack of reaction.

I start to walk off but Tate grabs my hand, keeping me in place. He and his father discuss baseball stats until Toby yells for his dad to come inside. Leaving me alone with his father, I shift my weight back and forth uncomfortably. Mr. James takes a long pull from his beer then wipes his mouth.

“So, Mia, tell me about yourself,” he says casually.

I take a deep breath before I answer. “Not much to tell. My family is from the Midwest. I stayed here in California after I graduated college. Now I run a real estate business.”

He takes another long drink before continuing the interrogation. “No kids?”

I shake my head no, and while normally I feel like my situation is too much information to share, I feel like it might put Tate’s father at ease. “I can’t have kids so… you don’t…have to worry about that,” I stammer out.

His eyebrows arch and he looks at me confused. “What’s that mean?”

In a rush, I blurt out, “Tate said you wanted him focused on baseball and I know you think our dating is interfering with that. Looking at past situations, I wanted you to know that there’s no way possible that could happen again so I won’t be a distraction to your son.”

Mr. James laughs and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Mia, Tate doesn’t need negativity in his life, it brings down his skill level when he’s distracted. I can tell you aren’t a negative aspect in my son’s life and it looks like my grandson likes you too. I think you’re good for him. You’re something he’s needed for a long time. I can tell he’s in a much better place than when he left Milwaukee. As long as you take care of my family then we’ll have no problems. And by family, I mean both my son and grandson.”

My heart slows, yet quickens at the same time. It’s a relief to know that both of his parents approve of me. At the same time, things are moving so fast with our relationship, which isn’t the problem. As it’s always been, the problem is Asher. I have to figure out a way to ditch him without Tate finding out about my past… or my ex finding out about my future.

Tate

Standing at the front door, I have Toby on my hip and my other arm around Mia’s waist. We wave goodbye to my parents who have decided to stay at a hotel for the evening. I take that as a sign that they approve of Mia and want Toby to get some more one-on-one time with her. I grin and pull Mia closer to me.

Their rental car turns onto the main drag and Toby grabs my chin to look at him. “Do I have to go to bed now?”

I laugh and nod. “Quick bath then bedtime, okay?”

Toby yawns in answer and Mia smiles and ruffles his hair. “I’ll clean up the kitchen while you two get ready for bed.”

Toby’s head lays on my chest, but he looks at Mia and asks, “You’ll come say g’night, right?”

She kisses his forehead and nods. “Promise.”

My heart swells at their interaction. Toby’s never been around a woman like this before. I always feel guilty for not having that female figure for him, although I know my mom does a great job. Still, it’s totally different seeing my son and Mia together.

After an extremely wet and playful bath, I carry Toby into the room I’d designated for him. When I open the door, I’m just as shocked as Toby at what is before us. Mia decorated the entire house for me when I was at spring training. Of course, I walked through when I was back in town, but this is not how it was when I last saw it. She must’ve done this last week when I was on the road.

Toby’s eyes get wide. “Whoa, Dad! This is so cool!”

He wiggles out of my arms and jumps down to check out everything from the baseball glove bean bag chair to the baseball painted dresser. The room is decorated in blue and white for the Stags and has pictures of me playing ball framed around the room along with other baseball artwork.

“Dad, look!” Toby points to the ceiling fan where the blades look like bats and the light is a baseball.

I shake my head in awe at what Mia’s done to this room. Her long, soft fingers slide over my bare shoulders and I feel her lips press against my skin. “You like it?”

I nod, but before I can tell her thanks, Toby runs to us, reaching for her. Mia leans over and scoops him up. He’s talking a mile a minute, pointing out every little detail; no clue that she’s the one who decorated it for him. He jumps out of her arms, but doesn’t let go of her.

Mia smiles as Toby holds her hand, dragging her from the table made out of baseball bats to the lamp made out of baseballs. Then he spots the bookcase filled with books and he’s gone. He pulls out book after book, giving us a quick synopsis of each one.

Walking over to him, I mess his hair and laugh. “Okay, son, pick one for us to read then bedtime.”