by Duncan Leigh
“Nah. Mr. David and me, we used to play catch at our old house.”
The ball arced perfectly into Travis’s glove, bringing a little twinge of jealousy along with it. Hating himself for asking, he chucked another question with the next grounder. “So does Mr. David come see you now that you’ve moved here?”
“Uh-uh. He worked for my dad. And he’s—” Josh’s face scrunched “—gone.”
Sorry he’d asked, Travis framed the next pitch. Pop. The ball slapped into his glove. He returned the throw, this time a little harder, and shook his head in wonder when Josh tracked the speed and moved to intercept it.
“Good job,” he told the boy.
For the next few minutes, he put the youngster through his usual warm-ups. Josh never missed. In fact, he did so well Travis began to think he’d gotten the better end of the bargain he’d made with Bob Morgan. Motioning the boy to him, he folded the ball into his glove and shoved it under his arm, smiling.
“You looked good out there.” Though Courtney had no reason to lie about it, he asked, “You sure you haven’t played before? Not T-ball? Maybe Pony League?”
“No, Coach.” The child stopped to readjust the floppy glove he’d tucked under his arm the same way Travis had. “I went with my mom to watch the Orlando Twisters play. But I’ve never been on a field like this one.” The youngster looked around. “It’s smaller, but it’s kind of nice.”
Josh’s face was so open and honest Travis had to believe him. Convinced he’d stumbled on a natural-born fielder, he itched to find out if the kid could swing a bat. Before they could move to the cages, though, music blared from the announcer’s booth.
“That means tryouts are getting ready to start,” he told Josh. “I have to help the other coaches get things organized, so I need you to run on up to your mom and have her pin your number on the back of your shirt. She’ll tell you where to go next. You got that?”
For the first time since they’d started tossing the ball around, Josh looked uncertain.
Travis reached deep, dredging up the memory of his own first tryout. He’d been a lot younger than the boy in front of him, but he remembered feeling scared and thrilled all at the same time. He tried to recall what his dad had said to him on that occasion and came up empty.
“I…uh…I…” he started. He stared down into a face that had gone two shades lighter. Seeing the kid’s nervousness, he drew in a steadying breath. “Look, I know you might not do as well as some of the other boys out here today, but everybody needs to learn new stuff. Even them. You just do your best and try to have a good time.”
As speeches went, it wasn’t his best, but watching the color flood back into Josh’s face ignited a warm feeling in Travis’s chest.
“You got nothing to worry about, kid.”
He centered Josh’s baseball cap over the boy’s hair and pointed him toward the shade trees. It wasn’t until he raised a hand to signal Courtney that he realized she’d been watching them the whole time. She sprang to her feet, a wide smile breaking across her face. For a second, her pleased expression made his pulse race. Then Josh cut between them. By the time he could see her again, Courtney was on her knees hugging her son.
What had he been thinking?
Courtney Smith had no more interest in him than he had in a woman who didn’t like sports. Sure, she was cute and possessed an amazing pair of legs. But he’d set his sights on coaching pro ball. And lately his old team, the Norfolk Cannons, had shown a lot of interest. Once their call came—probably by the end of the summer—he’d be on the road again. Which made another in a long list of reasons why he should stay as far away from Courtney as possible.
His lecture finished, he blew a calming breath over his lips. Baseball. He was here to play baseball. Not to watch women who were all wrong for him. An entire Little League season loomed ahead. If he was going to have a decent team, he had to concentrate on the kids he’d pick in tonight’s draft.
Throughout the rest of the day, Travis worked hard to keep his focus where it belonged. He noted the names and numbers of a dozen good solid players. He spoke to their parents, made decisions about which ones he’d choose if he got the chance. Through it all, he allowed himself only the occasional glimpse of the woman who sat among the other parents beneath the trees. Almost every time he stole a look, her eyes were tracking her son’s movements, but there were a couple of times he swore she was watching him, too.
Once, he caught her smiling, though he almost preferred the pensive frown she usually aimed in his direction. It told him she hadn’t quite made up her mind about him, and that suited him just fine. Even a confirmed bachelor like he was had to admit that Addie, with her drooly chin and big blue eyes so much like her mom’s, was kind of cute, but a ready-made family didn’t fit his plans for the future.
As for Josh, the more he saw of the kid, the more confused Travis grew. The boy had a head for the game, that was certain. When the other coaches threw routine grounders at him, Josh knew where the ball would be and got there in time to field it. He caught pop flies as well as many of the kids and better than some. By the time Josh walked to the batter’s box, Travis was scratching his head and wondering how a kid who’d never stepped onto a ball field before had drawn the attention of every coach in the league. They lined the fences when Josh stepped to the plate.
Travis held his breath. The first pitch was low and outside. A murmur of surprise rippled through the coaching staff when Josh’s bat sliced through empty air. The youngster shook his head and squared up for the next one. This time he managed to connect, though Travis was pretty sure the hit was pure dumb luck. The kid’s eyes were closed when his bat met the ball.
One by one, the rest of the coaches lost interest and drifted off as Josh missed easy throws and swung at bad ones. Spectators and parents still crowded the bleachers, though. One of them jeered when the boy swung at a pitch so far over his head he’d have needed a ladder to actually make contact.
Immediately, anger flooded Josh’s face. The boy slung his bat and stalked off the field.
Shooting the offender in the stands a dark look, Travis hurried after the kid. He caught up with Josh on the far side of the dugout. The boy’s shoulders slumped. Furious tears streaked his face. He pressed his back against the concrete wall.
Travis leaned down, his head buzzing. He’d dealt with angry young boys and a few out-of-control parents in his time. Every coach did. But for reasons he didn’t quite understand, getting the point across to this one was more important than it had ever been.
“Hey, you did a great job out there,” he began. “In fact, you did so well that I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m glad you didn’t get a lot of hits today.”
Josh’s head snapped up. “That’s a lie,” he spit. “You need good hitters on your team. I can’t hit.”
The kid reminded him so much of himself that Travis’s heart nearly melted. “Nope, it’s true,” he said, giving the boy an indifferent shrug. “In fact, I was hoping you wouldn’t shine much at all.”
Josh swiped the tail of his T-shirt over his face. “That’s crazy talk,” he sniffed, but he didn’t look away.
“No, it’s coach talk,” Travis corrected. “You made my job a lot easier when you missed that last pitch. I won’t have to worry about some other coach snapping you up before I have a chance to draft you to the Sluggers tonight. I want you on my team, Josh.”
Travis straightened. That he was telling the unvarnished truth came as a big surprise.
Conflicting emotions played across Josh’s face. “Really?” he asked.
“Really,” Travis assured him. He waited until he was certain the boy believed him. “I have some ideas about what we can do to help you hit better. We’ll talk about that later. For now, though, no more throwing the bat around, okay?”
Josh toed one tennis shoe through the grass before he met Travis’s gaze. “Sorry, Coach,” he said. “I won’t.”
Travis didn’t fool
himself. The kid had issues, and it’d take more than one off-the-cuff talk to resolve them. But for now, an apology and a promise were good enough. He swatted the brim of the boy’s baseball hat and told him to join the rest of his group for the pitching tryouts that would wrap up the day.
Turning, he decided he’d done a good enough job with her son that he’d earned himself another glimpse of Courtney. Only he didn’t expect to spot her standing at the end of the dugout, her hands on her slim hips. Travis whistled. If looks could kill, the woman would make a world-class assassin.
Worse—he gulped—she stared straight at him.
Having raced to the field, Courtney swung toward the coach, prepared to give the man a piece of her mind for letting Josh get away with such outrageous behavior. She’d seen the harm anger caused when it was unleashed on the ball field. People got hurt. Careers were ended. Lives were irrevocably changed. Travis might think he had a plan for dealing with Josh’s emotional outbursts, but he’d obviously never considered the danger of putting a virtual club in an angry boy’s hands.
What if Principal Morgan found out? Deal or no deal, he’d carry through on his decision to expel Josh.
And then what would become of her son?
Telling herself she had to be the strong one, had to end this now before something worse happened, she stood, her feet rooted in gravel and red dirt.
One look at Travis’s confident smile, and her resolve wavered.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Where’d you come from? Where’s Addie?” He studied her as if he expected the baby to materialize in her arms.
“Melinda Markham has her.” She gestured toward the trees where, until moments ago, she’d taken advantage of the opportunity to make friends with a few of the other moms. “I rushed over here to take Josh home, but…” Tears clogged her throat. “Did I hear right? You still want him on your team?”
Travis’s searching gaze roamed her face. Questions formed on his handsome features. “Why wouldn’t I? Nothing’s changed.”
“But he…he lost his temper,” she protested. Whenever a professional ballplayer did something like that, he faced stiff penalties.
“No harm. No foul.” The big man shrugged. “He learned something. Next time, he’ll think about it before he lets one bad appearance at the plate get to him.”
Travis’s reaction was so different from what she’d expected that she gaped at him.
“I know you’re worried about him, but trust me. He’s not the worst kid I’ve dealt with. He’ll come around.”
Relief at finding someone who shared her opinion of Josh triggered tears she’d held at bay for far too long. As they rolled unchecked down her cheeks, she never saw Travis move. One second he was standing at the opposite end of the dugout. The next he was simply in front of her, shielding her from prying eyes. He stood so close she caught a whiff of his aftershave mingled with the faint musky scent of a man who’d spent the better part of the day in the sun. His large hands cupped her elbows, and she gasped.
Heat shot from his fingertips and spread up her arms. Her head came up and she met his deep brown eyes. What she saw there spread a delicious feeling right through her midsection.
“Look, all kids get upset from time to time. Learning how to control their temper and frustration, that’s just part of the game.”
The game. The baseball game.
Courtney’s heart stuttered. The tingly sparks ignited by Travis’s touch died. A vague hunger faded. She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back, letting cold air fill the space between them. Travis wasn’t interested in her. She was a fool to think he might be. No man, no single man, would want any part of her baggage. Or her secrets.
“I’d better get back to Addie, then. I’ll…uh…I’ll talk to you later.”
Making a dignified escape was difficult considering the way her legs protested each step she took away from Travis. Unable to help herself, she snagged a final look over her shoulder. The coach stood where she’d left him, a bemused expression on his face.
And no wonder. Her emotions were all over the map. He probably thought she was nuts. Which was really a shame. Big, strong, impressive Travis had arms a girl could get lost in. For a moment there, she’d wanted to bury herself in his wide chest. Wanted more than that, if she were brutally honest about it.
She nearly tripped over the idea.
Not that she’d ever consider a fling, she corrected. She knew herself too well. A casual affair was so far beyond her comfort zone it was laughable. Besides, there was the little matter of interest—and Travis was more focused on helping her son than on her. Which was what she wanted, right?
Exactly!
She drew in a breath filled with resolve. Steeling herself against the feelings Travis had stirred, she returned to her place with the rest of the moms.
“You bolted out of here so fast Addie didn’t even miss you.” Tommy’s mom, Melinda Markham, could make anything sound dramatic. “Is Josh okay?”
“He’s fine,” Courtney answered as smoothly as her racing heart would allow. “Travis talked to him.”
“He brings out the best in the boys. This will be Tommy’s third year on his team, and I’ve never heard Coach raise his voice.” Melinda leaned close enough to whisper. “If it weren’t for my Tom, that man could leave his cleats under my bed anytime.”
At her friend’s wicked grin, a laugh bubbled up from Courtney’s center.
“He’s really not my type,” she whispered in return. She gave herself a pat on the back for managing to sound disinterested, though it was harder than she imagined to remember why no baseball player ever would be.
The group beneath the trees thinned as families departed after their youngsters’ pitching tryouts. When the coaches handed Josh the ball, Courtney gave her son a good hard look. The boy had his father’s long lean frame. His talent, too, if she was any judge. Having spent a good part of her life around baseball players, she thought she might be.
Had he also inherited Ryan’s foul temper, his philandering ways?
She pushed her fears aside as Josh went into his windup. His throws were erratic, no doubt, but he threw the ball hard. With practice and the right kind of coaching, she knew he could bring it into the strike zone.
And then what?
“Mom, did you see me? Coach Oak says I did real good.” Hero worship glowed in her son’s eyes a few minutes after tryouts ended.
“That’s right.” Travis clapped the boy on the back. Pride danced in the gaze he gave Josh. “You’ll do even better next time. And the time after that.” He practically beamed at Courtney. “I think your son has the makings of a great ballplayer.”
A bright smile firmly in place for her son’s sake, Courtney stifled a groan. Travis’s assessment was exactly what she didn’t want to hear.
One season. In exchange for keeping him in school, she’d promised to let Josh play one season of Little League. Not even the best coach could hone his natural talent in just a few months, could he?
Something inside her warned that if anyone could, it’d be Travis Oak.
She scanned his face, hoping he was simply blowing the kind of smoke all coaches fed their players. No such luck. From the way he looked at Josh, he was already envisioning the boy’s future in the major leagues.
Which wasn’t going to happen. Not if she had anything to do with it.
“I have one condition,” she said in a firm voice. She braced for the argument that was sure to erupt. “I’ll let Josh play for the Sluggers, but only if I can attend every practice, watch every game.” At the first sign that Travis had anything more than one Little League season in mind for her boy, she’d yank her son off his team. Agreement or no agreement.
Travis’s easy smile caught her off guard. “Well, that’s great!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for a new team mom. Since you’ll be there anyway, you might as well take the job.”
Too late, Courtney sensed a trap. “What would I have to do?”
>
Looking far too pleased, Travis scuffed a foot through the grass. “Oh, you know,” he hedged. “Help out with schedules and snacks. Pull together the team roster. Organize team pictures. There’s more, but you and I can go over all the details when we meet.”
“It sounds as if we’d need to work pretty closely together.” Behind her sunglasses, she let her eyes narrow. Keeping an eye on Travis at the ball field was one thing. Could she keep her distance if she had to work with him several times a week?
“That’s not a problem, is it?” He removed his hat, ran a hand through thick hair.
Aware that Josh stood nearby, she couldn’t very well admit why it was. Her mouth went so dry her “No” was barely audible.
“Good,” Travis said, snugging his hat back on. “So how ’bout tomorrow afternoon?”
She started to object, but the coach was one step ahead of her. “Don’t worry about Josh and Addie.” He shrugged. “I spend my entire day around kids.” He squatted at the edge of the blanket. “And aren’t you a cutie,” he said, chucking the baby’s wet chin.
Instantly entranced, her traitorous daughter held out chubby arms and waited to be held. Travis beamed a smile but stood. “I’d better not,” he said, pointing to his jersey. “I’d get her all dirty. So tomorrow?”
She swallowed. “Addie takes a nap around two. Swing by then. We can meet downstairs in the café.”
“Two it is. I’d better get back,” he said, gesturing at the coaches and volunteers who were storing gear and dismantling the sign-in tent. He turned to Josh. “I’ll talk to you later. After the draft.”
Watching Travis’s long strides take him back to the field, Courtney feared she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life. Not only had she agreed to let her son participate in the sport that had left her alone to raise her children, but she’d signed up to spend time with a man who disturbed her equilibrium far more than he should. The only solution was to keep him at arm’s length. She held out her hands and groaned.