by Fredrick, MJ
“She liked to make things special. She was good at making things special.” Like the night she’d told him she was pregnant, the dinner she’d prepared. He’d known something was up when he’d walked in the door of their apartment and seen the table set like something from a magazine. When she’d ushered him to his seat, a tiny gift had been on his plate. He’d opened it under her watchful gaze, and pulled out a pair of baby booties.
They hadn’t eaten her carefully prepared dinner, at least not then. He’d carried her to bed and made love to her over and over.
“She made me happy.” Tears blurred his own vision and his heart ached, as it had every day since she’d died. “I want to see if I can be happy again.”
“I want to be happy, but I don’t remember how,” Max said, his voice choked, and this time Leo didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his son, pulled him close and they both cried.
***
Trinity didn’t see Leo all weekend, and Max was absent on Monday. Despite the paperwork piled on her desk, she couldn’t stop herself from watching out the window Tuesday morning as the students were dropped off. Her heart bumped when the sporty SUV pulled into the drop-off line. Max jumped out with a smile. The rare sight took her aback, and made him look just like his father. She looked past him to see Leo, leaning over, grinning. He said something to Max, who laughed—laughed!—and closed the door before Leo drove away.
Every ounce of self-control kept her from hurrying into the main part of the office to find out why Max had been absent.
She hadn’t thought she’d miss Leo so much when she pushed him away. She hadn’t thought she knew him well enough to miss looking forward to seeing him, to him paying attention to her, but seeing that grin sent longing pulsing through her. She’d been the one to put the brakes on. She didn’t know what to do to roll forward, and even if she did, she wasn’t sure she should.
She encountered Max in the cafeteria as she was collecting her lunch tray. “Hi, Max. Missed you yesterday.”
He looked at her in a way that made her wonder what Leo had talked to him about, too knowing for a nine-year-old. “My dad and I went to Saint Paul this weekend. We went to the park and out to eat, things he and my mom used to do.”
Her heart squeezed. Leo had taken her advice and talked to him. So where did that leave her? Well, wasn’t that a selfish thought?
“That sounds nice. Did you spend the night?”
“Two nights in a really nice hotel, where they got married. And we went to the hospital where she used to work when they met. Some of the nurses remembered her and told me stories about her.”
Tears burned the backs of her eyes. “That’s great, Max what a great way to remember her.”
Max gave her a quick hug and went to eat with his friends.
Trinity considered meeting Leo out front but after the way they’d parted, she didn’t think speaking so publicly was the best option. Instead, she went home to change and headed to the baseball diamond. She stood behind the bleachers and watched him wrangle the kids into groups, set them up to work on different skills. A couple of other parents worked with him, one with each group, some kids grounding, some catching pop flies, some batting, and Leo circled among the groups, offering advice, demonstrating, looking good enough to eat in his stretched-out gray Twins T-shirt and Levis, his dark hair flipping from beneath his battered Twins cap.
Showing up here was a mistake. He would be leaving soon. Before she could bolt, he looked up and saw her. For a moment, no expression registered on his face, then he smiled, excused himself from the fielders, and trotted over.
“I didn’t think I’d see you today.” He tapped the brim of her pink cap.
“I wondered if maybe you needed help.”
“Did you?” His gaze was too knowing, much like the one Max had given her earlier, and again she was jolted by the resemblance to his son.
She lifted her chin and let a smile curve her lips. “I did. Put me to work, Coach.”
He made a sexy little growl in his throat at the title. “Okay, go hit some pop flies for my catchers over there.” He motioned to the fence with his gloved hand and started walking away backwards. “We’re meeting at Quinn’s later. Can you make it?”
Shaking all over with relief at the ease of the exchange, she nodded. Okay, so she’d had the courage to come here. Now she just had to find the courage to tell him about her past.
***
The school was buzzing with energy the following day. At first Trinity thought it was just her, but she heard parents, children, teachers, all talking about the upcoming baseball game, their plans to drive to Wilson to watch it. Pride fizzed through her even though her involvement was peripheral.
That afternoon the school emptied out earlier than usual, since the game was at five and Wilson was twenty miles down the road. She had time enough to run home and change.
“Where are you going?” her mother asked, stepping out of the kitchen as Trinity headed for the door.
“I told you. The baseball game in Wilson.”
Her mother’s lips tightened. “Because of Leo Erickson.”
“Because my students are playing.” She didn’t want to have this conversation now. “I’ll be home late.”
“Chasing after that man is only going to make you look foolish.”
Eight years she’d followed every rule, trying to regain the relationship she’d had with her parents before her pregnancy. Eight years, and still no trust. “Good night, Mother. I’ll see you in the morning.” Because no doubt her mother would be up at the crack of dawn to make sure.
She didn’t let the tension roll from her shoulders until she pulled into the parking lot at the park in Wilson. It was already crowded with cars, many she recognized. Lily waved at her from a group of folding chairs. Trinity grabbed her own chair from the trunk and approached. She noticed Quinn wasn’t among the group, but a glance about revealed him sitting on the aluminum bleachers, his intent gaze on the game.
She unfolded her chair by Lily’s and inclined her head questioningly in Quinn’s direction. Lily just shrugged, but Trinity recognized the anxiety lining her friend’s mouth. She turned her attention to the field, where Leo was throwing some grounders to his second-baseman and another parent, John Evans, was throwing fly balls to the first baseman. Every time Leo bent over to retrieve a ball, Trinity had to hold back a sigh of appreciation for the way his jeans fit.
“You’re shaking,” Lily pointed out. “Are things better between the two of you?”
“I don’t know. Why can’t it just be simple?”
Lily cast a glance at Quinn. “God only knows.”
Leo straightened and scanned the crowd. His grin widened when he saw them. Waving his team to the dugout, he trotted over, tossing the ball into his glove.
“You made it.”
“I said I would.”
He inclined his head, accepting that. “We’re going to take the team to get pizza after, win or lose, then the grown-ups are going to Quinn’s.”
“Where are you going to get pizza?” Bluestone didn’t have a pizza place.
“Here in town.”
“Where the other team will likely be?”
He lifted a shoulder. “It’ll teach them good sportsmanship. Maybe when Bluestone gets on its feet, someone will see the need to build a pizza place. I have some leads on some bands who’d like to play at our summer music festival—we need to talk about that.” He included Lily in the statement, then backed toward the field, tossing the ball, eyes bright with anticipation. “Come to Quinn’s, all right?”
She nodded, and he pivoted and trotted over to the umpire, who signaled for the game to begin.
The Bluestone team had shirts, blue, of course. She’d heard only that day that they’d named themselves the Bluestone Bulldogs, and they fielded first. Trinity noticed Max was the catcher, and he did an admirable job on the few pitches that made it through the batter. By the time the Bulldogs got their first out, the other team—bigge
r, in full uniforms, not T-shirts and jeans—had eight runs. That was going to be hard to come back from. She should have known the balance would be skewed when she saw even the Wilson parents had team shirts.
The Bulldogs’ first batter hit a pop fly, the second struck out. Max was third.
She gripped the arms of her chair. The kid didn’t need this kind of pressure. No score for his team, two outs. What was Leo thinking putting Max in this position? Above the crowd, she heard Leo’s voice, soothing, calm, calling encouragement.
“I can’t watch,” she murmured to Lily.
“He doesn’t look anxious at all.” Lily patted her hand. “Leo has faith in him. That has to count for something.”
The first pitch was a ball, and the call was contested by a parent on the opposing team. She’d noticed Leo hadn’t fallen into that trap, not yet. He kept his reasonable tone as he encouraged Max to be patient. Max gave no indication if he heard anything, just kept that steady gaze on the pitcher, who threw another ball.
“Not the right pitch, good boy. Keep your focus,” Leo said.
The next pitch was a strike, but Leo’s tone didn’t change.
Trinity ducked her head to Lily’s shoulder, unable to watch. The crack of a bat hitting the ball echoed off the trees, and Trinity lifted her head to see the ball arcing between second and third base, to an empty spot where no yellow uniform stood. She rose, shouting encouragement as Max raced around first base toward second, not even a third of the way there when the third baseman fielded the ball and aimed toward the crouching second baseman, who held out his glove. The ball flew, Max ran, Lily squirmed under Trinity’s squeezing hand.
“Go, Max, go, Max!” she screamed.
Skinny legs pumped, a glove reached up—
“Safe!”
Trinity jumped up and down, squealing her happiness, hugging Lily, then turning to see Leo’s pride beaming from across the field as he grinned at his son, who allowed himself a small smile in return.
The rest of the game didn’t go as well for the Bulldogs, though they managed to get six runs. Max denied three runs by catching the ball at home plate. Still, they lost by a score of twelve to six. The gloating Wilson Warriors—another clue there—didn’t help the team spirit, but Leo gathered his players around. She couldn’t stop herself from drifting toward the group, rimmed by other parents, to hear his words.
“You all made me proud today. We’ve only been practicing a few weeks, this other team has been together for years. You kept your cool, you did everything I told you to do, and you did it with good sportsmanship. Now, we worked hard, so we’re going to play. Who wants pizza?”
The resounding cheer had him grinning, and he circled the group to Trinity. “Good thing about not having a pizza place in Bluestone—it’s a treat to get it. Are you going to join us?”
She wanted to, but Leo and Max needed this time. “I’ll meet you at Quinn’s after. Two hours?”
He nodded, then dipped his head for a quick kiss. A blush heated her cheeks, but he grinned and turned back to his team.
***
Trinity’s heart thumped a little faster when Leo walked into Quinn’s more than two hours later, with two of the other parents who’d helped with the coaching. His gaze landed on her right away, and he waved for her to follow them to the table in front of the plasma TV.
She’d been sitting alone since Lily hadn’t wanted to go to Quinn’s, and wouldn’t say why. Quinn hadn’t exactly been great company either, so Trinity picked up her beer and joined Leo and the other parents. Leo motioned for her to sit beside him, close enough that his knee kept contact with her thigh as he talked to the other coaches about the game, the schedule of the season and baseball in general. Having nothing to contribute made her antsy. She wasn’t accustomed to feeling like the dumb girlfriend.
Leo put his arm around the back of her chair and turned the conversation to the concert series. She was surprised when Helen Evans frowned and shook her head.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Do we really want people coming out here for music? I mean, are they going to see the things we want them to see—the beauty of the lake, the sportsman atmosphere? Are they going to be the kind to come back here and spend money to fish?”
Leo reached for his beer. “It’s not like we’re getting heavy metal or punk bands. Our headliner is Maddox Bradley, and he’s a country star. And I think with the other bands, the followers will come, appreciate, and remember. Maybe they’re not interested in fishing or boating now, but they will be. Lily’s planning on running specials those weekends, to lure people out on the lake, get ‘em hooked, so to speak.”
“I still don’t think we are prepared for the kind of security it’s going to take.”
“Quinn knows some guys who’ll come out and play bouncer in exchange for free board at Lily’s,” Trinity added.
“If all these people are staying at Lily’s for free, where are the others going to stay? How is that going to help the economy?” John Evans asked.
“There’s plenty of space, and then there’s how it will boost Quinn’s and the diner and the bakery and the sandwich shop.”
“So most of the benefit will be toward the tourist places, Lily’s and Quinn’s and the restaurants,” Helen said.
“Lily and Quinn are doing most of the work,” Leo said reasonably. “This is their brainchild. Only stands to reason they should profit from it.”
“What would you do differently?” Trinity asked in an effort to appease the woman who may be speaking for the rest of the town, though she hadn’t gotten wind of the discontent until now. “Maybe there’s something we haven’t thought of.” Though it was too late now, with Maddox confirmed.
“I don’t know. I’m just worried we’re not targeting the right element. Maybe a fishing contest or a chili cook-off would draw more the people we want to come to Bluestone.”
“We tried the contest last summer,” Trinity reminded Helen. “It didn’t really bring a lot of business and cost us more in promotion than it brought in.”
Helen’s mouth tightened in a stubborn line as she curved both hands around her beer bottle. “I think once isn’t enough. We need word of mouth to build it up, make it annual or semi-annual.”
“Maybe we could try that again as well, on a non-concert weekend,” Leo said. “I know my dad would love it. I can help with promotion but otherwise I’m stretched pretty thin these days.”
Helen gifted him with a bright smile that made her husband scowl. She pulled money out of her back pocket to pay for their beer. “We need to get home to the kids. Destiny will kill us if we make her babysit too long on a school night.”
And then they were alone. Trinity tried not to squirm in her chair when he focused those blue eyes on her. He folded his arms on the table, making no move to ease away, though they had the whole table to themselves. “I talked to Max.”
“I know. He mentioned your trip.”
Leo nodded, his gaze shifting toward the screen a moment. “You were right. It was important that he knows more about her, that he knows that I haven’t forgotten her.” He turned back with a smile. “He said you smell good.”
That surprised a laugh out of her. “Why would he say that?”
“We talked about you, about me liking you. I guess that was the only thing he could think to contribute.”
“Oh, good. Not that I’m nice or that I listen, but that I smell good.”
“Yeah, I kinda thought he’d mention you being able to catch, since that was what clinched it for me.” He pushed his chair back from the table, reached for his wallet and tossed a couple of bills on the table. “Let’s get out of here.”
She took a quick pull from her still-cold beer. “And go where?”
“Walk by the lake or something.” He held her chair as she stood, then leaned close. “I have to get my hands on you.”
A thrill ran through her and she looked up into his eyes, saw them darken with desire. Then she couldn’t
get out of the bar quickly enough.
They crossed the main street to the path by the lake—the one she’d stopped running out of worry that she’d see him and wouldn’t know what to say. He took her hand and led her away from the landing, to where a group of trees offered shadows from the moon. The next thing she knew, he’d turned her so her back was against one of the wider trees. He stroked the hair back from her jaw and kissed her, his mouth hot and hungry. She returned the intensity, her arms around his shoulders, her fingers in his hair, her body pressed against him as if just that could ease the ache coursing through her. His hands molded her waist, bringing her closer, his tongue stroked between her lips in a rhythm that made every nerve sing.
More, more, more.
She angled her hips into his. He groaned into her mouth and pushed back, sliding his hands up over her hips to her waist. Her breasts ached in anticipation of his touch, but he cupped her face instead, his fingertips caressing her skin beneath her ear, down her throat, until she arched forward, her breasts against his chest. God, she needed—needed—
“Trinity?”
That wasn’t Leo’s voice. No, it was Cindy Olsen, one of the ladies from her brother’s church, and Trinity was wrapped around Leo, rubbing against him like a horny teenager, so close to, well, doing something a preacher’s unmarried sister shouldn’t be doing. Damn it, she didn’t want to talk to anybody, not when her body burned.
“Come on,” Leo said, low, closing his hands around hers and leading her away from the questioning voice, toward the lake.
She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as he pulled her down the dock, staying in the shadows, guiding her onto a fishing boat.
“My dad’s boat. A little musty, maybe.” He fiddled with the lock to the berth, opened the doors and backed in, drawing her with him.
“Leo.” Her heart thundered as he sat on the berth and drew her between his legs, angling his head to kiss her again.