“See what I mean?” he asked as he bent down and scooped up the wiggling ball of brown fur. “I brought you some visitors, Delilah.” He turned the dog around. “This is Jordan and Miss Evans. You’ve got to be nice, or they won’t want to come back again.”
Julie touched one tiny paw. “She’s adorable.”
“I think so, too,” Eric said slowly, his eyes not on the dog in his arms, but on Julie’s face.
“Can I hold her, Coach Gibson?”
“You sure can.” He handed Delilah to Jordan. “Let’s go inside. It’s almost time for the game to start.” He flipped on lights as he led them through an attractive foyer and down a wide hallway. Most of the rooms they passed were only partially furnished. “As you can see, I’m still working on getting furniture.”
Eric waved them into a long, narrow room running across the back of the house. The hardwood floor was protected by large area rugs. Jordan, still holding Delilah, went to sit on one of several oversized chairs grouped around a square coffee table. Julie was admiring the largest flat screen TV she’d ever seen when a hand lightly touched the small of her back. To her annoyance, she jumped a mile. If Eric noticed, he was polite enough not to comment on it.
“Have a seat, Miss Evans. Can I get you something to drink?”
What she needed was a pill that would stop these silly reactions. “No, thank you.”
“How about you, Jordan?”
“I’ll take a soda.”
Eric picked up the remote from a compartment cleverly hidden in the table, pushed a few buttons and the screen on the wall came to life. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Julie looked around the room for the requisite trophy case commemorating Eric’s baseball prowess, but there was nothing to indicate that he’d even played the game. Perhaps he kept those mementos somewhere else. The few pictures adorning the walls had nothing to do with sports. They were oil paintings of lighthouses and seascapes. Wondering if Eric had painted them, she stepped closer. The name scrawled in the corner was Nerina Gibson. Obviously a relative since they shared a last name. Whoever she was, she was very talented.
Knowing that Jordan would prefer Eric to sit near him, Julie chose a chair farther away. Its ample proportions swallowed her petite figure. Delilah jumped off Jordan’s lap and ran over to her.
“She wants you to hold her, Aunt Julie.”
“Does she?” Julie picked up the little dog. A tiny tongue licked her chin. “She’s very friendly, isn’t she?”
Jordan laughed. “I think she likes you.”
******
In the kitchen, Eric poured chips into a bowl and ice into glasses. Why was he so pleased that Julie had come with Jordan? Was it because he’d been so sure she wouldn’t? The last woman he brought to the house was Sydney. After that debacle, he hadn’t been in a hurry to repeat the experience. Of course, none of that had anything to do with tonight. Julie wasn’t here for him; she was here because of Jordan. And that was the way it should be. As for the near slip when he’d been caught staring at her, that was best forgotten. It was all a matter of staying focused; surely he could do that.
This resolution was soon to be tested. When he sat down next to Jordan, he made the disturbing discovery that Julie was directly in his line of vision. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep his attention on the game. With maddening tenacity, his eyes found their way to her again and again. Adding to his discomfort was a curious sensation of not being able to breathe. Was this what happened when a man wasn’t around a woman for a long time?
So much for thinking he was immune to women - that his longing for companionship could simply be ignored or buried so deep nothing could revive it. He’d told himself (and everyone else) that he wanted to be alone, but that wasn’t true. He was simply choosing the lesser of two evils. Better to be lonely than risk making a fool of himself again.
Falling for Sydney was decent proof that he had no understanding of the opposite sex. He’d given his heart so easily and had it returned to him in pieces. The depth of that hurt and the rawness of his emotions lingered on in spite of the passage of time. What was a year or more to a broken spirit? A man doesn’t quickly forget rejection and public humiliation.
******
Julie had never been that interested in baseball. In her mind, it was a game consisting of long stretches of inactivity interspersed with a few moments of excitement. She didn’t think tonight’s experience would be any different. In this, however, she was wrong.
Watching the game with someone who could explain the reasons for certain actions, and who didn’t mind answering her naïve (and probably stupid) questions was very different. Where she expected to be bored, she found herself fascinated. Baseball was more cerebral than she realized. It wasn’t just big bulky guys hitting the ball over the fence and strutting around the bases.
When the game was over, she waved a hand at the assortment of dishes and glasses on the coffee table. “You guys certainly went through a lot of food.”
“Just us guys?” Eric asked with an infectious grin. “I saw you snag a couple brownies when you thought no one was looking.”
She uncurled her legs and stood up. “You should never mention how much or little a woman eats.”
Eric winked at Jordan. “I wonder what other things I’m not supposed to mention.”
“My dad says talking to a woman is like walking in a mine field.”
“That about sums it up,” Eric agreed and then looked at Julie guiltily. “Present company excluded, of course.”
“You can’t take it back now. The damage is done.” As she picked up the used plates and cups and carried them into the kitchen, she pretended not to hear Jordan whispering to Eric. Their teasing was all in fun, and Jordan needed something to laugh about.
Julie walked over to the sink and absently filled it with water, admiring the effect of white porcelain against black granite. She wished her mom could see this kitchen. It was a cook’s dream.
“I have a dishwasher,” Eric said when he realized what she was doing.
“I know, but I like washing dishes.” She handed Jordan a towel. “You dry.”
“Why can’t I dry?” Eric asked.
She tilted her head to the side. “I didn’t think you knew how.”
His face took on a pained expression as he opened a drawer and took out another towel. “I’ll have you know that my brother and I helped my mother do dishes every night growing up.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Boys should know how to take care of a house.”
Eric picked up a glass and began to dry it. “Prepare to be impressed: I can also do laundry, iron clothes and clean a bathroom.”
“Did you hear that, Jordan? Coach Gibson doesn’t mind doing chores.”
Jordan didn’t look convinced. “Do you still do all that stuff?”
“Well, I do my own laundry, but I did have to get someone to do the heavy cleaning. When I was pitching, I wasn’t here for weeks and months at a time. Now that I’m back here permanently, my long hours at work make keeping up with the house difficult.”
“Does one person clean all this?” Julie asked.
“It’s actually a mother and her teenage daughter. They come three times a week. When Mrs. Parsons saw all the microwave dinners in my freezer, she offered to cook for me, too.”
Julie drained the water and rinsed the sink. “That was nice of her.”
“It’s been a lifesaver. My cooking is limited to omelets and boxed mac and cheese. Matt says she’s spoiling me, but of course, he doesn’t mind helping me eat those home-cooked meals.”
“You should get Aunt Julie to cook for you some time, Coach Gibson. She makes the best chicken enchiladas in the world.”
Eric dried the last plate and put it in the cabinet. “She’s already cooking for you, bud. I don’t think she wants to take me on, too.”
Julie decided to jump in before Jordan invited Eric to live with them. The way things were going, that was the next
logical step. “This was fun. Thanks for having us over.”
“It’s not that late. Don’t you want to try out the porch before you leave?”
“I guess we could.”
He walked over and opened the door leading outside. “Jordan, you can bring Delilah if you want to.”
Julie hadn’t taken ten steps when she stopped suddenly. “You’ve got a swing. I didn’t see it before.”
Eric smiled at the obvious pleasure in her voice. “Another one of those must-haves. I loved sitting in a swing when I was little.”
This suggestion of sentiment touched a chord within her. Most of the guys she knew didn’t care about such things. “I haven’t sat in one in years, not since my grandparents died and their house was sold. You don’t see swings much anymore.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. Try this one out, and let me know what you think.”
She laughed as she went to sit down on it. “Aren’t swings all the same?”
Eric watched her from a few feet away. “How can they be? This one is new; it hasn’t had time for the elements to weather the wood or loosen the links in the chain. It has yet to experience the laughter of a child or a couple’s first kiss.”
These weren’t the words of an insensitive man. Julie tried to see his face, but it was difficult in the dim light. “I’ve never thought of it like that, but it makes sense. Houses are known to have personalities. It’s not much farther down that road to apply it to a swing.”
“So you don’t think I’m a lunatic?” he asked as he sat down beside her.
“I’m starting to think you’re something of a dreamer. It takes one to recognize one, you know. I’m often accused of having too much imagination.”
“In your line of work, it’s probably a necessity for keeping a roomful of children happy.” He glanced to the opposite side of the porch where Jordan sat playing with Delilah. Lowering his voice, he asked, “How long is his father going to be gone?”
“About six more months.”
“He mentioned a stepmother to me the other day. Where is she?”
Julie might have resented these questions from anyone else, but in Eric she sensed genuine interest, not idle curiosity. “In Columbus. She’s not sure she wants to be a wife or a mother right now.”
Eric shook his head. “That’s unfortunate. I don’t have to tell you that he’s a great kid. Even so, it couldn’t have been easy to have a boy his age thrown into your life without warning.”
“I was glad to do it, and Devon would do the same for me.”
His eyes rested on her face intently. “I don’t doubt it, but being single means it all falls on you. Between your job and taking care of him, you can’t have much time for yourself.”
“I don’t mind. Whatever I might be missing isn’t nearly as important as what I’m getting in return.” She shifted slightly and bumped against Eric’s leg. “Excuse me.”
“No problem. I take up a lot of room. This swing looked big enough when I ordered it, but with two people, it’s kind of crowded.” He laughed softly. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing in certain circumstances.”
Julie nodded. “Yeah, there’s something romantic about a swing.”
“I’ll have to try it sometime and see.”
“Meaning you haven’t already?”
“I’m not the smooth operator talked about in the tabloids. The truth is I’m not good with women. I never have been.”
“Then why did you go on that show?”
A strange look entered his eyes. “So you do know about that.”
“Your name was slightly familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out where I’d heard it until Devon told me. I don’t watch a lot of reality television.”
Eric laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Neither do I.”
“You realize how ridiculous that sounds given your appearance on Find Your Mate.”
There were a few seconds of silence and then, “That doesn’t make it any less the truth.”
She walked her fingers across the hand rest. “Your experience tells me what I always suspected.”
His eyes left their contemplation of the floor and lifted to her face, his expression almost masklike. “What is that?”
“That everything on those shows is scripted, and who someone ends up with is predetermined ahead of time.”
A taut silence stretched between them, as if a physical wall had suddenly appeared. Why hadn’t she kept quiet? Was he about to tell her to mind her own business? She waited for a scathing reply that never came.
“I won’t bother to appear even more ridiculous by denying it,” he said quietly. A few minutes later, he brought the swing to a stop and stood up. “I should be getting you and Jordan home.”
There was neither anger nor irritation in his deep voice, just a sort of resigned acceptance that left Julie with the impression that she’d disappointed him. How could he be disappointed? He was the one who’d deceived all those people. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she frantically blinked them away. That would be the final embarrassment – letting him see her cry.
“I’ll go get my purse,” she managed to get out. Once she was inside the house, she covered her suddenly hot cheeks with her hands. Why did it hurt to hear him admit that everything he’d done on that show was pretense? Had she been foolishly hoping she was wrong because she was finding it difficult not to like him?
The contradiction she thought she saw in him confused her. His actions on Find Your Mate didn’t fit the man she was coming to know. There was a reserve about Eric that seemed out of place in someone who hadn’t shied away from the limelight. Did he regret his earlier actions? Had that experience changed him? If so, why had he passed on an opportunity to say so?
When she returned to the porch, Jordan was already in the truck. Eric said nothing as he locked the front door and trailed behind her. He opened the passenger side door and helped her step up inside. A wet nose touched her neck and she squealed.
“It’s just Delilah, Aunt Julie. Coach Gibson said she could ride home with us.”
She laughed shakily. “I thought I’d collected a bug.”
Once they left the house behind, Eric sent her a quick glance. “I’ll be at the field tomorrow afternoon working on the batting cages. If you don’t need Jordan for anything, I could use his help handing me tools and things. It won’t be anything dangerous.”
Julie couldn’t see his face, but his voice sounded normal. Had she imagined his reaction on the porch? “He’s got a book report to write. If he gets that done, then he can go with you. What time did you need him?”
“Around four. Matt and I should be done mowing the fields by that time.”
She laughed. “Do you ever take a day off?”
“Not many. We can’t afford to at this point. There’s a lot of competition for lawn services.”
“You’re going to wear yourself out.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind the work. I like being busy.”
Or he didn’t like being home. Did the house have too many painful memories? That would only make sense if he’d married for the usual reasons. In all likelihood, his wife had never stepped foot in his house. That entire marriage was built on lies.
******
Eric grabbed Delilah’s lease and whistled. She came running from wherever she’d gone while he talked to his brother on the phone. What should have been a five minute conversation turned into an interrogation after he made the mistake of mentioning who he’d spent the evening with. Talk about making something out of nothing. He fully expected to find the announcement of his engagement to Julie on Matt’s Twitter account.
As he walked out the back door, his eyes lifted to the sky. A full moon lit his way past the pool and to the path leading to the lake. That same light had shone on a woman’s face a few hours earlier, giving her an elusive beauty that awakened his slumbering senses. It had also allowed him to watch her expression change when the conversation took such a disastrous turn.
“I could have told her what really happened, Delilah. But it’s like trying to swim against the current. Too much has already been said – too many things that I never bothered to refute. If I say something now, it comes across as resentment or bitterness. I mistakenly thought I didn’t need to explain something so obvious. I didn’t know people would automatically assume the worst.
“The reputation I worked so hard to preserve didn’t save me in the end. That’s what galls me the most. Everyone believed all those lies Sydney told. The woman I loved and trusted hung me out to dry. And do you want to know something really twisted? Part of me still loves her.”
He stopped for a minute, and Delilah stopped, too. Her light brown eyes with their ridiculously long lashes gazed at him adoringly. Eric picked her up and cradled her in his arms. “It shouldn’t hurt so much, especially from someone I just met. But I dislike being defined by my biggest mistake instead of the few things I did well.” He set Delilah on her feet again. “Time for you to do your thing so we can go to bed. I’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
******
When Julie opened her eyes the next morning, her first thought wasn’t what she was going to make for breakfast. It was what Eric said the night before. I’m not good with women. I never have been. What had made him say something like that? Was he trying to be funny? And did he think she was foolish enough to believe it?
She was still thinking about it when she called Jordan to breakfast. This was ridiculous. Again, she was trying to find a way to make his actions acceptable instead of just accepting the fact that the obvious explanation was the right one.
While Jordan worked on his book report, Julie mopped and vacuumed floors. After a quick lunch, she disappeared into her bedroom to fold laundry and iron her work clothes. Eric’s comment about doing his own laundry floated through her mind. Why couldn’t she forget about him?
Team Mom: A Sweet Contemporary Romance (Finding Love Book 1) Page 5