Dropped Third Strike (Portland Pioneers #1)

by Micah K. Chaplin

  “I still have reading to do, but it’s getting kind of late so I should go,” he said.

  Katie nodded and stood. She yawned, surprising herself. She hadn’t even felt tired until that moment.

  “And that’s definitely my cue to go,” Reid said. “Sorry for staying so late and keeping you up.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t go to bed very early anyway. I’m kind of a night owl.”

  “Me too,” he said with a smirk.

  She often stayed up late reading and watching bad TV. Somehow she doubted his nighttime activities were as tame. She’d seen the girls who hung all over Reid and his friends. She’d also heard about some of the parties the athletes and popular girls attended. She was certain Reid could have his pick of female companionship even though he always appeared to be single. She had to will herself not to let her mind wander too far as she watched him pack up his things.

  She walked him to the door, and he insisted on thanking her parents before he left. Moments later, he was gone, and she went back to her room to do a little more reading before finally calling it a night.

  They continued meeting at her house to study from there on out. Katie’s parents liked Reid, and they always had snacks ready when he arrived. They were also good at keeping Katie’s sisters out of the way while the two studied.

  Katie wasn’t all that surprised when her mother asked if there was more to their relationship than math. Katie quickly and thoroughly denied any romantic interest, which seemed to disappoint her mother, but only briefly. Her father never asked, although Katie suspected he hoped there was something going on. A former athlete, he was undoubtedly disappointed when none of his daughters had elected to participate in sports. At that point, there was still hope for the younger girls, albeit a slim hope. Katie often watched games with him, which was how she first got into baseball. They’d bonded over baseball for years – her father was a lifelong Mets fan, and Katie was true to her hometown Diamondbacks. Still, Katie supposed he was excited at any opportunity to discuss sports with another male, and Reid was all-too-happy to oblige a brief exchange on the latest sports headlines before their study sessions began.

  Katie noticed she was making a conscious effort to be dressed casually whenever Reid came over. In her mind, it was a way of preventing her imagination from getting carried away again. She saw the kind of girls who fawned over him at school. If they couldn’t get his attention, there was no way she could. Besides, she didn’t want to be one of those girls. She’d avoided it thus far in her high school career, and no boy – no matter how cute he might be – was going to turn her into a passive, uninteresting Barbie. She attempted to keep that mantra in her head, but Reid had a way of turning her resolve to mush. He was completely charming, although he didn’t seem to be aware of it. And that, in turn, made him even more charming. It was a losing battle. More often than not, they would take study breaks and end up chatting for an hour longer than the 15 minutes they had intended to set aside.

  Once Reid discovered Katie knew a little about baseball, he was eager to discuss the subject, quizzing her and listening to her insights. Katie had watched lots of games with her dad over the years, so she was already aware of the basics and some of the more popular stats. Talking to Reid provided her with a different angle on the sport. Through their conversations, she was able to get inside a player’s head and see the game in a different light. The more Reid talked, the more Katie realized how cerebral baseball was. It was a lot more than just throwing a ball and hitting a ball. There was a lot of mental game to go along with the physical. In fact, she quickly figured out that the mental aspect was more important than the muscle, and she began to see how smart Reid really was. While she’d never really thought of him as dumb, she knew he wouldn’t be graduating with honors either. She was starting to realize there were different kinds of intelligence, and Reid hadn’t missed out on all of them. His math might not have been good, but if there was a course on baseball history and strategy, he’d ace it. She had no doubts about that.

  Looking back, Kate realized those study break conversations had formed the foundation for her future career. She didn’t want to give him credit, but deep down, she knew Reid deserved some acknowledgment for her success. He’d broken her heart, but he’d also helped provide her with some of the tools she needed for a successful career in baseball management. For that, she supposed she should be grateful to Reid and his lackluster math skills. If not for their nights spent doing pre-calc homework and subsequently talking baseball, she doubted she would be sitting in major league general manager’s office today.

  This realization gave her a slight sense of obligation to hire Reid. Fortunately, he was also the best man for the job. She knew it was the right decision for the team, even if it meant opening a door to her past she’d never imagined going near again.

  After phoning the communications department to begin drafting a press release regarding Reid’s hiring pending his acceptance, Kate opened her e-mail and scanned the messages. Most of them immediately went into the trash. Next, she went to a popular sports web site to check out the latest transactions and rumors. News was slow at the moment; if only Reid or his agent would call to approve the contract, she could make the hiring official, and the Pioneers would make a splash in the press. Not only would there be plenty of analysis about the risk of taking on Reid and his history, but he would be the youngest hitting coach in the game. The airtime would thrill James Scott. Kate glanced at the phone again, almost willing it to ring. She was anxious to publish the headline. A small part of her knew she also wanted to hear Reid’s voice again, but if he called her “Katie,” she might not be able to continue playing it cool around him.

  Finally, as Kate was straightening up her desk and office, which she did at the end of each day, her phone rang, and her assistant relayed the one caller’s name she’d been waiting to hear.

  “Hey Kate,” Reid said, after she picked up her extension. “The contract looks good. I’m in.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Kate said. “Our communications folks have started doing a press release. Could I transfer you to them so they can include a quote or two from you?”

  “Sure, but not until you agree to have dinner with me tonight,” he said.

  “I don’t know how late I’ll be here,” Kate said despite the fact that she had been preparing to leave when he called. “You might have been the biggest thing on my to-do list, but you weren’t the only thing.”

  Reid chuckled, and Kate blushed as she replayed her words in her head and realized how unintentionally suggestive her statement sounded.

  “I understand,” Reid said. “I’d be happy to wait until you’re done at work. I don’t like to eat alone and you’re the only person I know in this city.”

  “Last I knew, Reid Benjamin made friends wherever he went.”

  “That may be true, and I’ll have plenty of time to make new friends, but tonight, I’d like to have dinner with an old friend.”

  Kate sighed. He wasn’t backing down. The communications department was waiting on his statement, and Reid was waiting on her acceptance of his invitation.

  “Fine. You still like seafood, right?” she said. “I’ll meet you at Splash around eight.”

  “Perfect,” Reid said. “Now let me give my statement, so I can clean up in time for dinner.”

  She rolled her eyes at that comment. She’d seen Reid only a few hours earlier and he looked fine. She couldn’t imagine any reason he’d need to clean up. But right now, she wasn’t going to call him out on that. She punched a few buttons and talked to the communications director before connecting Reid to the department. She then finished the task of closing up for the evening and headed down to the communications department to sign-off on the press release.

  By the time she climbed into her car, she had just enough time to drive across the city to Splash. Traffic required her concentration, but it wasn’t enough to distract her from the myriad of emotions going on ins
ide her. She couldn’t decide how she really felt about this meeting. On one hand, she was interested in catching up with Reid. A lot had happened to him since they had last spent significant time together, and she was curious to see how it had changed him. Despite her inner protestations, she did still care about him on some level. On the other hand, she dreaded the old feelings this dinner might dredge up. She couldn’t afford to go back to that emotional turmoil – especially not with her job on the line. Then again, she was going to be seeing him frequently now, so maybe it was best to start getting used to chasing those old feelings away.

  Reid was already at the table when she entered the restaurant. He spotted her when she came in the front entrance and waved her over. As she approached, he stood and, instead of offering a handshake, pulled her into a hug. His embrace was warm and strong, just as she remembered. She was surprised at how familiar it felt after all these years. As she retreated from his grasp, she tried to shake off the nostalgia but Reid wasn’t cooperating.

  “It’s so great to see you, Katie. I can’t believe we’re going to be working together after all these years.”

  “It’s just Kate now,” she corrected him as she took her seat. “And you’ll be working FOR me.”

  Reid cocked an eyebrow and looked at her for a minute. He laughed lightly and finally nodded.

  “You’re right, I’ll be working for you, but I’d like to think of it as working with you,” he said. “You know, like when we used to study together. It started out with you tutoring me, but eventually, we were just studying together.”

  He had a point, but Kate didn’t think calculus and Major League Baseball could be compared that easily. Then again, they were both situations in which each of them needed some sort of help from the other. She only hoped this time around would result in less hurt on her side of the deal. She planned to do everything in her power to guarantee that.

  “That was different,” Kate said. “You needed my help for awhile, and then you didn’t. I still don’t really understand why you kept coming over to study.”

  “Your mom made the best cookies in town, and I liked talking baseball with your dad,” Reid said. “I could tell it made his day.”

  Kate smiled at the memory. Whenever Reid came over, he and her dad would spend the first several minutes hashing out the latest baseball headline, trade, or game. Kate had felt virtually invisible, but it had made her dad happy. Almost as happy as the day she told her father she’d gotten her first job in minor league baseball.

  “It did,” Kate agreed. “He really liked you.”

  “I liked him too,” he said. “I liked your whole family, even your sisters.”

  Kate rolled her eyes, remembering all the study disruptions when her younger sisters thought they needed to show Reid their new dress or toy. Reid never seemed to mind. He would stop and pay attention to them every time, which only encouraged affections from the young girls. They were crushing hard on Reid, and they didn’t make a secret of it. They would giggle and even flirt a little. Kate would watch with a mixture of amusement, annoyance, and jealousy. Yes, jealousy. As a teenager, Kate was incompetent when it came to flirting. She was afraid of looking stupid or foolish, so as she watched her sisters not only flirt, but flirt successfully with Reid, she was envious.

  “They liked you more than anyone else in the house,” Kate said. “They were your biggest fans.”

  “And here I always thought you were,” Reid said, smiling at her.

  Kate felt the heat creeping up her neck. She hoped it hadn’t reached her cheeks as his comment silenced her. She didn’t know how to respond. In truth, she had been a huge fan of his and that had been the problem. Her adoration of him had gotten in the way of her judgment, which cost her a lot in the end. She lifted her menu to study it, reading it a bit more intently than was necessary; she’d been to this restaurant hundreds of times. When the waitress arrived to take their order, she chose her usual - salmon, lightly seasoned, with steamed vegetables. Reid chose the daily special without even asking what it was. This highlighted another reason she and Reid hadn’t worked out. She liked routine and predictability while he had always been more adventurous and spontaneous.

  Once the menus were no longer between them, Kate had no choice but to look across the table into those green-speckled hazel eyes, which, in turn, seemed to be studying her.

  “So how have you been?” he asked. “I mean, obviously, you’re doing well, professionally, but what about the rest?”

  “What else is there?”

  “Well, are you married? Seeing anyone?”

  Kate bristled a bit at the question. It was an innocent one and a common one, but one she never enjoyed hearing. And she definitely didn’t feel like it was any of his business. He had relinquished that right years earlier.

  Reid could tell his question bothered her, as her nostrils flared slightly and she pushed her long dark hair back over her shoulder. He didn’t quite understand the hostility, but he was too distracted by her hair to dwell on that for long. Reid remembered how it had felt to run his fingers through those locks, and he had to restrain himself from reaching out to see if they were still as soft as ever. The color was basically the same, with a few auburn highlights added in.

  “No and no,” she replied. “I have my work and it keeps me busy. That’s enough for me.”

  “But you deserve more,” Reid said. “Someone deserves you too.”

  “Funny, you didn’t seem to think so a few years ago,” she spat back.

  Reid sat up a little straighter, as if she’d actually reached out and slapped him with her hand instead of just with her words. He was surprised by the bitterness of them. He frowned as he studied her. They hadn’t been in touch for a long time – each busy building their own careers. Obviously, she had done a better job of that than he had. Still, he couldn’t imagine what he’d done or said to evoke that tone in her voice.

  Kate hadn’t meant for the words to come out like that. She probably shouldn’t have said anything at all. She didn’t want him to think she was still affected by him or that she ever thought about their past. But she was and she did. His memory crept up on her every now and then, but the frequency had slowed quite a bit in the last two years. She could already see that reversing. She would be seeing him practically every day for the next eight months, and those distinct eyes and that devastating smile were bound to keep her memories of him close to the surface. Granted, not all of those memories were bad ones, but the bad ones made even the good ones hurt a little.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked after a few moments of tense silence.

  “Nevermind,” Kate said. “It’s been a long day, and I haven’t slept much lately with the stress of this hitting coach search. I don’t know what I’m saying,”

  She reached for her glass of wine and took a sip, silently praying he would let it go. She really wasn’t in the mood to hash out their past – now or anytime in the near future. She was prepared to deal with the memories, but she wanted to deal with them on her own, without his interference.

  Reid was tempted to push her but he decided against it. The ink was barely dry on his contract, and he wanted and needed this job. He also didn’t want to upset her. He had never wanted to upset her, and sensing that he had once done just that bothered him. He wished he knew what he’d done but he could tell he wasn’t getting any of those answers tonight. He decided to shift into a topic that would make her more comfortable.

  “So, how’s your family? I haven’t been back home in a while. Do they still live there?”

  Kate relaxed visibly as she smiled and filled him in on her family. Her parents were retired but still living in the same house. They spent much of their free time enjoying their grandchildren’s company and activities, as all four of Kate’s sisters lived within 30 minutes.

  “I get to see them all when I’m in Arizona for spring training,” Kate said. “Mom and Dad also come see me for a week or so each summer. Dad makes
sure it’s during a series he wants to see, of course. Mom likes baseball, too, but Dad’s the fanatic, so she lets him choose.”

  “Is he still a Mets fan?”

  Kate smiled, surprised he remembered that. Then again, Reid and her father had spent hours discussing baseball, so she shouldn’t have been too shocked.

  “Of course,” she said. “He even bought a replica of your jersey after they signed you. He was so proud.”

  Reid smiled, but then his smile faded and he looked down at the table.

  “Yeah, I’m guessing he’s not so proud anymore.”

  “You’d be guessing wrong,” Kate said, noting the sudden lack of confidence in Reid’s handsome features. “I had a voicemail from him this morning. Three minutes of him ranting about the Mets letting you go. I’d say he’s still one of your biggest fans. He’ll be thrilled to know you’re working for the Pioneers now, and I’m sure he’ll be excited at the chance to see you when he visits this season. He’ll probably even ask you to autograph that jersey.”

  Reid looked up at her again and although his full confidence wasn’t back, his expression didn’t seem quite so self-defeating.

  “I’ll sign anything for him. It’ll be good to see him again. Your mom, too,” he said. “What about your sisters? Do you see them very often?”

  “Again, usually when I’m in Arizona for spring training and again during the winter holidays,” she said. “With the kids now, they don’t get many chances to come to Portland to see me. Maybe when the kids get a little older. The oldest one, Brody, is only five; he’s starting to get into baseball, but Chelle doesn’t think he’s ready to sit through a whole game yet.”

  “I can’t believe Chelle has a five-year-old,” Reid said. “She’s still 11 in my mind.”