Balk (Home Stand #2)

by Lacy Hart

  “Of course,” the woman replied politely and waved Kristin inside.

  The entryway immediately reminded Kristin of Gone with the Wind with its sweeping staircase and décor. A large chandelier hung overhead that made the room brighter than it needed to be, and all Kristin could think of when she looked at it was that it must be a pain in the ass to clean or change a light bulb for whatever staff that chore fell to.

  The housekeeper fluttered with Kristin through room after room, so much so that Kristin thought she might have a hard time if she needed to find her way back out of the house once the meeting with Marion ended. They finally reached Marion’s office, a spacious spot that might put the Oval Office to shame. Kristin couldn’t believe the floor-to-ceiling bookcases, the antique desk at the center of the room, the wondrous tapestries, and the gold birdcage with a colorful macaw eating seeds.

  Kristin took a seat in the plush chair opposite the large desk and suddenly felt like the naughty schoolgirl that had been called to the principal's office.

  “Mrs. Harris will be in shortly. Can I get you something to drink?” the housekeeper politely stated.

  “Oh, no, thank you,” Kristin responded.

  The housekeeper gave Kristin a gentle half-bow and made her way from the room. Kristin couldn’t help herself and needed to go look at the rows of books that adorned the bookcases. There was a ladder much like they had at the library so that you could get to the books on the upper shelves. Kristin always dreamed of having a room in her house like this, where she could escape to and relax, curled up in a cozy chair by the fireplace so that she could get lost in whatever she chose to read that day.

  Kristin let her hand gently glide over the spines of the books in front of her. Many of the books looked antiquated, and she guessed some were easily a hundred years old or more. She was tempted to just take one off the shelf to look at it but was afraid she might damage it or set off some silent alarm that would have guards rush in with guns drawn at her.

  “Ahhh, I knew you would appreciate my office,” the proper voice beckoned from behind her. Kristin gave a startled shake, and her hand jumped back from the books as she spun around to see Marion.

  Marion entered the room further, and Kristin watched as the housekeeper pulled the doors closed.

  “Your library is amazing,” Kristin commented as she paced back over to the chair. Marion took a seat behind her desk and smiled.

  “Thank you, dear. My family has always had a great love of books. One of my ancestors started the town library. Many of those you see here are first editions, some from my grandfather and great-grandfather. I need to keep supporting reading, which is why I take my role at the library so seriously.”

  Marion’s face turned serious and stern. Kristin worried about what might come next, but she prepared to defend herself vigorously if needed.

  “Marion, I just want to say before you state anything that I feel I have done an excellent job taking care of the library and helping it grow. My passions are books and reading, and I do all I can to foster that within our community. As for what happened at the board meeting, I held my tongue and did not lash out at Fred Clark as I could have and should have for his remarks, and I don’t feel I should be punished for what he said or did. If that’s the way you want to go and run things, then perhaps I am not the best fit for the library after all.”

  Kristin trembled and sat on her hands to keep the visible shaking hidden from Marion. Kristin surprised herself that she got out her statement without passing out on the floor. She looked up at Marion and saw that the older woman just stared back at her. After about ten seconds that felt more like an hour to Kristin, Marion leaned back in her chair and smiled.

  “Did you think I asked you here so that I could tell you we were letting you go? Don’t be ridiculous, dear. I think you have done a fantastic job with our library, and you have been a great asset for us. I did ask you to come here so we could talk about that meeting, though. I wanted to apologize again for Fred’s behavior. I am sure you understand many people in this town are, shall we say, a bit behind in the times when it comes to their views on women. I understand how difficult it can be for a woman to work hard and earn respect for what she has accomplished. No, dear, I support you wholeheartedly. I just wish some of the others around here would get their heads out of their asses, so to speak.”

  Kristin exhaled and allowed herself to relax a bit.

  “Thank you, Marion. That means a lot to me.”

  “Now,” Marion added, opening a folder on her desk. “The rest of the board and I met this morning, and we voted to ask Fred to step down from his position. After some cajoling on our part, he saw things our way and resigned.”

  Kristin did not expect that reaction at all. Her past experiences with the board led her to believe they stuck by each other. Moving Fred Clark out was undoubtedly a shocking maneuver.

  “Okay,” Kristin remarked and nodded, unsure of what else to say.

  “Naturally, that left us one position short on the board, and we needed a seventh member to help avoid constant ties in votes. Luckily, we found someone more than willing to step in and help us out. Do you know Dr. Trainor?”

  Kristin had heard the name before, but she saw lots of names come across her desk in the course of the day.

  “I think I have heard the name before, but I have never met Dr. Trainor.”

  “Oh, well he has only been in town for a few months,” Marion answered. She began to flip through a few of the pages she had in her folder before she set upon Dr. Trainor’s information.

  “Yes, Dr. Richard Trainor. He’s a chiropractor who just opened an office in town back in December. Quite a nice gentleman, just thirty years old, came from a family in Pittsburgh and worked there for a bit before relocating here. He has done some volunteer work with a few of the charities I am associated with, and I believe he will be a good fit for us. He brings in some younger blood to the board.”

  Kristin smiled, happy to hear the news. Someone younger on the board! That could definitely work to her benefit. Another person that might support newer technology and methods that could broaden the services and appeal of the library would be ideal. She had the chance to implement some new ideas and get the proper funding to make it all happen.

  “That sounds good to me,” Kristin offered as she worked to hide her excitement. “I would love to get the chance to meet Dr. Trainor. I can give him a call and see if he wants to swing by the library to go over what we do if you would like.”

  “Oh no need, dear,” Marion added, closing her folder. “I already spoke to him and let him know he could just drop by when it is convenient for him. I hope that is okay.”

  “Certainly,” Kristin replied. She had already started going over in her head what she might need to do to get everything organized and ready. It would take some hustling, but Kristin had the confidence that she would make it happen.

  “Is there anything else?” Kristin stated anxiously. She wanted to get going to return to the library and start work.

  “No, I think that was it,” Marion told her. Marion stood up behind her desk and smiled. “Hopefully we can put some of these things behind us now and get back to doing good work at the library.”

  “I agree,” Kristin said hastily. She stood up and turned to see the housekeeper standing in the doorway as if she had appeared by magic.

  “Sonya can show you out,” Marion said.

  “Thank you, Marion,” Kristin said with earnest.

  “No, thank you, Kristin, for all the hard work you do. I know you will keep bringing good things to our town. Have a good day, dear.”

  Marion sat back down at her desk, picking up her reading glasses and placing them on so she could go over some files.

  Kristin followed Sonya through the maze of rooms and back to the front door. She reached her car and gave it a light tap on the roof before opening the door to get in. Once inside the car, she let out an exhilarated yell.

  “Yes!!�
� she shouted, loud enough so that the man pruning a tree about twenty yards away turned and looked at her to make sure everything was alright. Kristin blushed and started her car, heading back to the library parking lot and feeling good about the way things were going for the first time in weeks.

  11

  When Wes took his steps out onto the back lawn for his daily trek to the batting cage, the ground was much firmer, having dried out from days of warmth and sunshine. The sun warmed his skin, and he quickly found no need for the sweatshirt he put on before he left the house. The constant string of warm days meant that spring indeed appeared, but it also said that the start of baseball season loomed precariously close.

  Wes pushed open the door to the batting cage and went inside, turned the lights on and got everything started. While the cage felt cooler inside than the temperature outside, he had no need to even put heat on to warm things up today. That thought alone had him going right into the batting area to start to hit.

  Wes took thunderous, angry swings each time the ball came in. He couldn’t hit the ball hard enough for his liking. It had been over a week since he last talked to Randy about a team that would give him a tryout or even a minor league spot to start out with. More than once he had been tempted to pick up the phone and call Randy, only to put it back down, almost fearful of what the answer would be from Randy to his question about what was going on.

  Line drive after line drive leaped off his bat, and the pitches Wes did miss he practically screwed himself into the ground he swung so hard. He chased curveballs that were slower and out of the zone, and he wanted to crush anything that came his way. He knew it was the wrong approach, and as frustrating as it was to miss pitch after pitch, he didn’t care. Wes swung at every ball that came in and tried to drive the ball through the netting at the back of the batting cage no matter what.

  The timer went off and buzzed in the air to signal the end of the session Wes created. He didn’t need to look at the computer to let know he failed to have a good session. Wes flung his bat to the ground, grabbed his towel and phone, and flipped the power off. He slammed the door shut behind him as he left. He marched down the hill and went into the house, heading right to the bathroom to shower.

  Wes climbed in and just let the water run over his body continuously. He hung his head right under the showerhead and closed his eyes so tightly that just dark colors and flashes coursed through his eyelids.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, he told himself.

  After just standing under the water for minutes on end, Wes opened his eyes and washed off. The shower and the bathroom filled with heavy steam by the time he finished. Wes grabbed a towel and dried off, then tossed the towel angrily to the floor before going back to the bedroom naked. He sat back on the bed and glanced over at the nightstand to see that the screen on his cellphone was lit. Text messages from Kristin dotted the screen.

  In the past, the two of them sent messages back and forth often to keep in touch during the day. Lately, that routine died off, particularly with the moods Wes flashed over and over. It had all been on Wes, and he knew it, but lately, there didn’t seem to be much of a way to get out of it. The messages from Kristin usually stated things like she was going to be late or had to pick up Izzy that day and what would they do for dinner instead of the fun, flirty or romantic notes of the past.

  Today’s message didn’t read much differently. Kristin asked where he was and what he was up to. Wes prepared to respond, but then noticed a couple of phone messages as well. He pressed the button on his phone, and the first message played. It was from Kristin:

  “Wes, where are you? I sent you some text messages, and you didn’t answer. I just got a call from Randy, and he said he’s trying to get in touch with you…”

  Wes didn’t listen to the rest. He skipped to the end so the next message would play, hoping it was from Randy.

  “Wes, it’s Randy. Call me back when you get a minute, okay. Thanks.”

  Randy’s voice didn’t sound like it had any excitement to it or anything, so Wes couldn’t get a good read on what was going on. He hesitated for a moment, but then pressed Call Back to get to Randy.

  “Hey, Wes,” Randy said after just one ring. “You’re a tough man to get a hold of today.”

  “I was just up hitting. Nothing exciting,” Wes answered. “What’s going on?”

  Wes tried not to show any hint of anticipation in his voice. He wanted to be prepared for whatever it is Randy told him, good or bad.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner,” Randy began. “I’ve made calls for you left and right, and talked to all kinds of people and connections.”

  There was a bit of silence on the phone after that.

  “And?” Wes asked.

  “I haven’t been able to get anyone to bite just yet, majors or minors. There’s… there’s nothing there.”

  “If you’ve been trying to chase me down just to tell me that Randy, I can’t say I’m pleased about it. There’s nothing urgent about that.”

  Dejection overwhelmed Wes at this point as he paced the room.

  “Well, I do have one thing…” Randy added as his voice tapered off a bit.

  “What is it?” Wes said excitedly.

  “Wes, keep in mind…”

  “Randy, get to it!” Wes interrupted.

  “Okay, are you familiar with the Washington Wild Things?”

  The name raced through Wes’ mind as he thought about minor league teams.

  “The name doesn’t ring a bell. Who are they affiliated with? The Nationals?”

  “No, different Washington,” Randy responded.

  “Seattle?” Wes cut in again.

  “No, not there either. Look, Wes, the Washington Wild Things are an independent baseball team in the Frontier League. They play in Washington, Pennsylvania, not far from you. I know it’s not what you wished for, but I gave them a call. When I told them you were looking to play this year, they got very excited about having you. A local guy, big-league experience, it would be great for their team.”

  “Independent ball?” Wes said softly.

  Independent ball. The last bastion of the truly desperate professional. Most of the players were guys who played college ball that weren’t good enough for the minors and wanted a shot somewhere; at least that’s how Wes thought about it.

  “Hey, it’s not luxurious, that’s for sure. Truthfully Wes, if you want to play ball, this is probably your only shot,” Randy said solemnly.

  “What about… what about if I wait it out, stay in shape,” Wes responded. “It could be like last year. Someone might get hurt, they might want a solid replacement.”

  “Sure, we could do that, Wes. The difference is last year you had been at spring training the whole time and missed only a week. You haven’t played in a year now. Teams don’t know what they will get from you and will be reluctant to take a chance. At least if you play independent ball, you are playing. If someone is interested, then they have somewhere to go and watch you play to see what you have got.”

  Wes stroked his cheeks, feeling the stubble as he pondered what to do.

  “Do I have to decide right now?” Wes asked.

  “No, you don’t,” Randy answered. “They don’t start playing until later in the spring, so you have some time. I’m pretty sure they would take you no matter what. They are just excited about the opportunity. Talk it over with the family and get back to me when you are ready.”

  “Thanks, Randy.” Wes tried to hide the disappointment in his voice.

  “No problem, buddy. Let me know if you need anything, or just want to talk, okay?”

  “Yeah, will do. Thanks again.” Wes hung up and realized he had wandered out into the kitchen while he was talking to Randy. He placed the phone down on the counter, opened the fridge, and grabbed the bottle of orange juice he saw in there. Without a thought, he twisted the top off and took a drink from the container.

  Wes’ phone buzzed, indi
cating another text message. It was from Kristin.

  Did you talk to Randy? What did he say?

  ****

  The library buzzed with people as the crowd gathered. Kristin lined up a few local authors to come in and read and then have a Q & A with the audience, advertising it as a ‘meet the local authors’ day. She set up readings to go on all day, with different genres throughout to draw in people most interested in a particular type of book. The early parts of the day included a few children’s authors to bring in Moms and Dads with young kids, and the turnout exceeded what Kristin could have hoped for. She made sure to have some beverages and snacks on hand, donated by the local bakery, and she and Karen moved more chairs over to the kids’ section where they had everything set up for the event to accommodate everyone.