Spring Training

by KB Winters

  “Good. What’s the story with you two?”

  “Daddy…” I rolled my eyes.

  He chuckled. “Aha. Don’t wanna talk to your old man about it, huh? This is just like when you were in high school. But you know what, JoJo? I always knew which boys you liked. And I’d like to still think I’ve got that fatherly instinct even though you’re far away now.”

  “Far away? Daddy, it’s only a few hours on a plane.”

  He shrugged, refusing to retract his statement. “Now, as part of my fatherly duty, I’ll tell you that while I think Trey is a nice guy, you still need to be careful, Jo. His world is very different from yours.”

  I nodded, thinking to the conversations we’d just had at the breakfast table. “I know. I’m not rushing into anything, I promise.”

  “Good to hear.” He glanced over at his screen again and I knew there were probably half a dozen things on his to-do list before he could get back outside, where he’d much prefer to be. He was a businessman first and a rancher second. Though, I had a feeling he’d switch the order of importance around if he could. He thrived in the business world, but as soon as he had enough money, he’d poured it all into building the ranch up from a parcel of land into the gorgeous retreat it was today. “Was there something else, Jo?”

  I cleared my throat. It was the moment of truth. Everything hinged on this conversation and the resulting bits of information. I scooted a little closer to the edge of my seat and leaned forward a little further toward my dad. “Yes, actually, Daddy, there is something I need to talk to you about.”

  He took off his glasses and folded them up before slipping them into the front pocket of his long-sleeved flannel shirt. “What’s wrong?”

  “Maybe nothing,” I replied, my tone unsure. “It’s about Mr. Arlington, actually.”

  “Oh?”

  I nodded and wet my lips with the tip of my tongue. “Yes. When I was in Denver, following the Warriors, I saw him with Senator McNary. Which, I suppose, by itself wouldn’t be that weird. But, they were meeting in the corner of the fleabag hotel I was staying in. I don’t think either of them were guests there. And while I was watching, I saw Mr. Arlington give the senator an unmarked envelope.”

  My dad arched a bushy brow, putting the pieces together. “That does seem odd. I don’t know why they would meet at a hotel in Denver. As far as I know, Michael doesn’t have ties to Denver, or Colorado in general. I can’t speak for the senator. And you don’t know what was in the envelope?”

  I shook my head. “No. But I just had that gut feeling, you know? I took pictures, undercover sorta, and showed them to my boss. He thinks something is fishy too and wants me to track down the story. So, I wanted to ask if you knew anything about the new business deal Mr. Arlington is bringing to you. Maybe it has something to do with the deal he and the senator have. Maybe it’s the same one.”

  My dad nodded slowly. “Well, there’s not much to tell. He emailed me the details this morning. It’s a land development project. I don’t think the senator would be interested. But maybe he’s an investor as well. Here, come around and take a look at the proposal.”

  I stood and rounded the desk to peer over his shoulder as he pulled up the email that had come in. I scanned through it for a few minutes. At first, nothing looked out of place. Then it hit me. “Wait a minute…this piece of land is in Oklahoma?”

  My dad nodded. “Yeah. He said he thought of me because you live there. I have to admit—it was a draw. I could use it as an excuse to come see you.”

  I pursed my lips. “Very funny, Daddy. You know you don’t need an excuse to come see me. I have a sofa bed ya know.”

  He chuckled and scrolled down on the page. “You’re gonna put your old man on the couch?”

  “Oh, Daddy. Wait—stop right there!” I pointed, tapping my fingernail on the screen. “I know right where this is. It’s part of a protected wildlife refuge—Indian reservation stuff. He does not want to mess with the reservation.”

  My dad leaned in a little closer and slipped his glasses back on. “Are you sure? There must be a mistake. He’s knows better than to mess with sacred lands—we all do.”

  “Well, Daddy, I think something is going on and it’s not on the up and up. This Arlington character might be trying to scam you out of your money.”

  “Well, princess, I haven’t signed any deals with him lately, but I think I’ll give him a call and see what he knows.”

  I nodded and returned to my original chair.

  Minutes later, Mr. Arlington answered the phone. Every one of my muscles tensed and I sat up ramrod straight in my chair.

  “Hey, Michael, this is Jeffery Crawford. Listen, I got your email about the new development and have a few questions.”

  “Sure, Jeff. What’s going on?”

  “Well, it looks like the proposed site is actually sitting on an Indian reservation or a wildlife refuge.”

  Michael laughed. “For now. That’ll be taken care of.”

  My dad arched a brow at me. “But isn’t it legally protected?”

  “Like I said, Jeff, for now, it is. Senator McNary is going to make sure it gets pushed through to get the permits approved.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “The Indians aren’t going to give up their land, Arlington. Won’t that be a conflict of interest?”

  “No worries, Jeff. The land butts up right next to the reservation so we won’t be on their land per se. Just the refuge and that’s not a problem. Hell, you know how this works.”

  I scoffed. Had my daddy been paying off government people to get his own businesses built?

  “No, Arlington, I guess I don’t know how this works. Care to elaborate?” My daddy let out a sigh and his face went dark. He didn’t know. Which for a businessman like him was odd, but it sure made me feel ten times better. I didn’t know what I’d do if I found out he was in on this.

  “Jeff, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. And the Senator owes me. So, it’s not going to be a problem. We’ll probably have a bunch of tree huggers out there and some hate mail, but it’ll blow over and we’ll have our retail space with condos and be raking in so damn much money that we won’t give two shits about those hippies.”

  My blood boiled inside my veins. I felt like I was made of molten lava. Michael Arlington was the epitome of everything wrong with the world. Nature and the environment were just obstacles to be overcome in the pursuit of a dollar.

  Sensing the silent rage pouring off of me, my father raised a hand. “Listen, Michael, I’m far from being a hippie and to be honest, a project like this isn’t up my alley. In fact, I would urge you and the senator to reconsider your plans or at least find a different plot of land.”

  Michael scoffed. “If you’re out, that’s your call, but this deal’s gonna be huge.”

  “Why would the senator even push this through? Won’t that damage his reputation?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Senator McNary does what I say.”

  Chills swept over me, snuffing out the anger. My dad locked eyes with me and I knew we both felt the dangerous shift in the conversation.

  “How’s that?” he ventured.

  I barely took in a breath.

  “McNary and I go way back. We went to college together and let’s just say that while he was there, he wasn’t the polished, shiny, icon of a man that he is today. He got himself in some trouble with a girl. Luckily for him, his family has more money than God and his lawyer got him out of it. They paid off the girl and it was done. However, if that story ever got out, he’d be finished.”

  Damn!

  My dad looked just as stunned as I felt. He flexed his jaws and hands in tandem and then shifted his angry eyes to the phone base. “Michael, let me just say that I don’t appreciate this kind of blackmail and I’m no longer interested in working with you or your associates. Clear?”

  “Jeffery, come on, man—”

  Click. With one sharp jab, my dad disconnected the call.<
br />
  “Wow,” I breathed, shaking my head to blink away the stars flashing inside. “That was…”

  “Disgusting,” my dad supplied, grimacing. “To think, I’ve been doing business with that snake all these years.”

  I pushed up from my desk. “Well, once my story goes live, you won’t have to.”

  With that, I stalked from his office. Trey’s horse riding lesson was going to have to wait.

  Chapter Thirty

  Trey

  When Josie and I landed back in Oklahoma City, we hit the ground running. On the flight home, she filled me in on what her dad told her about the fuckwad she was investigating. Truthfully, I was a little freaked out at the idea of her using her pen to simultaneously take down both a power hungry business man and a newly reelected senator—but I also knew it wasn’t my place to tell her not to do it. All I could do was warn her to be careful. As soon as we landed, she gave me a kiss goodbye, and bolted for the car I’d arranged to pick her up and take her straight to the news station.

  I left the airport and went to the practice facility to reunite with the team. I had four days’ worth of rust on me and needed to shake it off if we had a snowball’s chance in hell of kicking ass at the next game. To my surprise, everyone welcomed me with a round of applause and my team mates seemed genuinely happy to have me back. I dove into practice and pushed all other thoughts to the back of my mind.

  The next two weeks flew by as Josie and I both caught up with life after our mini vacation to Texas. Her story made the national news, leaving Senator McNary on the verge of impeachment and Michael Arlington getting indicted by the FBI. Josie was offered a full-time reporting job with half a dozen stations but in the end, she turned them all down and opted to stay with her current station—who promptly gave her a full time slot.

  My girl was kicking ass and taking names.

  I couldn’t have been happier for her, or more proud of her after the story broke.

  The Warriors rallied after I got back in the groove and we went on another road trip, coming home with five more victories to our name. The championship finals were rapidly approaching as the season wound down, and I think we were all a little more than surprised when we slid into the last place on the bracket.

  And when we got past that and made it to the league finals, we went into full-blown shock.

  “All right, gentlemen, let’s hustle up,” Coach Robinson called, his commanding voice booming through the locker room. It was a home game, and if we cinched a win, we’d go to the finals and compete for the title.

  Cody and Robby flanked me in the circle around our proud coach. He raised his hands to get us all to shut the fuck up for a minute and then started his pregame speech. “As you all know, the Warriors haven’t been in this position for nearly a decade. In fact, I was damn near ready to give up hope that I’d make it to this level again in my coaching career. Damn, I’m glad I didn’t retire last year,” he paused, grinning at us as a chorus of chuckles washed through. “In all seriousness, this team, you all, have reminded me what it’s like to be one of the greats again and for that I will always be thankful. You have all pulled together and reframed the meaning of words we throw around every day. Words like teamwork, integrity, sportsmanship. You’ve taken this team to the next level and you should all be immensely proud of how far you’ve come.”

  “Aww, c’mon, Coach,” Robby called. “We’re all just a bunch of assholes. You’re giving us way too much credit.”

  Coach laughed and then nodded at Robby’s assessment. “Y’all might be a bunch of assholes, but at least you’re classy assholes.”

  “Preach it, Coach,” someone from the back cheered out and we all laughed again.

  He smiled at each of us in turn and stopped when he got to Cody, who was standing on my left. “Thank you. To each and every one of you. Now, let’s go kick some ass!”

  Yeah, Coach was kinda a legend like that.

  I grinned at Cody and then Robby. “All right boys, let’s go fuckin’ rock this show!”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Josie

  “Wow, it has been way, way too long since we’ve done this.”

  Claire smiled at me from her place, lounged on the sleek leather loveseat across from me. “Seconded.” Her eyes roamed the box and a grin tugged at her pouty lips. “This is really happening, huh?”

  I laughed. “I guess so.”

  Trey had set me up with one of the executive boxes for the big playoff game. I’d invited a handful of people from work and my parents and two of my brothers had flown up to join in the fun. The box had a bar and an array of catered food laid out for everyone. Claire and I hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks and were taking the opportunity to catch up a little on the couches near the front of the box. A line of flat screens were placed throughout, but the game hadn’t started yet.

  Claire’s eyes sparkled with mischief over the rim of her glass of white wine. “Totally crazy. Last time I saw you, you were telling me that guys like Trey were no good and that you wouldn’t be caught dead with a pro baseball player.”

  “I don’t think I said I wouldn’t be caught dead…” I paused, searching the archives of my mind for confirmation. Maybe I had said that.

  Claire giggled. “Well, either way, I didn’t expect you to end up with Trey for more than a night or two.”

  I lifted my own glass to my lips and drank deeply. “You and me both.”

  “So, fill me in, what happened?”

  I laughed. “I don’t think we have enough time.”

  “Try,” she prompted.

  I sighed, contentedly. “Claire, I’m telling you, it just kind of…happened. One day I was totally sticking to my guns, staying away, but life had other plans. I couldn’t get away from him, and somewhere along the way, I realized that I didn’t want to get away. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He’s great!”

  Claire grinned. “Aww. That’s so romantic!”

  “It was all pretty left field, excuse the pun.”

  She laughed and then glanced up as my oldest brother, Jay, came around the edge of the couch and plopped down next to me. “What are you two ladies chatting about?” he asked, leaning forward to snag a handful of chips from the large bowl on the table between us.

  “How JoJo fell head over heels in love with a bad boy.”

  Jay glanced at me, an indiscernible look on his classically handsome face. He was six years older than me, and as he was my oldest brother, had always played into the protector role. “Oh, yeah? I think Mom’s got a little crush too.” He grinned at me. “She hasn’t stopped talking about how polite and sweet he was when y’all went down to visit.”

  I giggled. “Great. I’ll let Daddy know she’s trying to go cougar.”

  Jay laughed and shoved a few of the chips into his mouth. He shrugged and then reached for a napkin. When he’d wiped off his fingers and chased the chips down with a swig from his beer bottle, he looked to Claire. “What do you think? Do I need to worry about this Trey guy?”

  “I’d be more worried for him. Sounds like he’s got it pretty bad for our little Joey girl here.” Claire sipped her wine. “I haven’t gotten her to confess if the feelings are mutual. For all I know, she might be plotting to break his heart and steal all his money.”

  I groaned. “Very flattering, Claire.”

  She laughed and feigned innocence. She was just digging for dirt. So far, I hadn’t actually told anyone—including Trey—exactly how I felt about him. It wasn’t that I didn’t know. I’d known for some time that my heart had tipped over the edge and fallen hard for him during our stay in Texas. But, in the months since being back in Oklahoma City, neither of us had said it out loud. It was just kind of there. An unspoken heaviness that gave weight and meaning to all of our interactions. Every kiss felt different. Deeper. When we were in bed together, and our eyes met, a zing of lightning would strike, flashing in our eyes. It was obvious but I couldn’t get the words out.

  “It do
es seem like he’s pretty head over heels. This is quite the party,” Jay said, glancing around the box. I followed his eyes, stopping to look at Danny and his new girlfriend, Sophia from the marketing department at the station. Hallie, from PR, was there too. My other brother, Clarke was glued to her side. My parents were chatting with the bartender, each with a drink in their hand, laughing and smiling. It warmed me through to see everyone together. My third brother, Roger, wasn’t able to join us, but he’d called the night before to ask what I was doing with a pro baseball player. He was the most skeptical of the bunch.

  “Yeah, it was sweet of him to fly y’all out.” I nodded and took another long sip. I smiled to myself, remembering the way he’d told me. We were in bed together, after another electric night, and while he was running his fingertips over my bare skin, he asked if I wanted to come to his big game. I of course, said yes, and then he told me, “Good, ’cause I already bought everyone’s tickets.”

  It was just another way that he was the polar opposite from his public persona. Where the media wanted to portray him as this selfish, cocky, douchebag, he was actually one of the most considerate guys I’d ever met. Certainly the best man I’d ever been with. All other men paled in comparison to him.

  “So, spill!” Claire said, going back to demanding answers. “What’s happening with you two? Are you moving in? Getting engaged? Having a million babies?”

  I laughed nervously and looked to Jay, hoping he’d deflect the spotlight, but he was waiting too. “We’ve talked about getting a place…”

  Claire squealed and bounced up and down in her seat. Good thing she’d already polished off most of her wine. “I knew it!”

  “When he was first traded, he didn’t get a place here. He’s been living in a hotel for the last few months. But, he’s looking into buying a place now, and he invited me to move in with him.”

  “So, are you?” Jay prompted.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t answered him yet. Things have been a little crazy for me too, with the story and all the publicity. I’m going to be traveling a lot in the next few months on a special assignment. And then, of course, Trey has a lot of traveling to do if this game goes well and they get into the finals. I told him I don’t want to make any big decisions on the future until we get through the next few weeks and see where everything lands.”