Change Up

by Lacy Hart

  Lunch will have to wait, I told myself as I put my hood up and raced back towards my apartment so I could get my car.

  29

  Wes

  I had pretty much ignored my phone the rest of Tuesday, choosing to just be by myself for the day, other than when I called Dad to check in. He was on his way down to Harding’s as Mom and Izzy were getting ready for their regular Tuesday night, girls-only time. I was glad Izzy got to spend some quality time alone with Mom since she was the only female role model Izzy had in her life right now. Mom had become the one person Izzy could open up to, and maybe the time they spent together could ease some of the icy moments that were going on between Izzy and me.

  As Tuesday night was ending and I was in bed, watching a ballgame on TV, I saw my phone buzz with a text message. I expected it to be from Izzy or even Randy, and I was stunned when I saw it was from Kristin. I was almost a little nervous to read it, wondering what she could have to say after ignoring my messages for days. The message from her was nice and simple, saying that she was thinking of me and wishing me good luck.

  I wasn’t sure how to respond. Kristin had made it clear that she wanted some space between from the few moments of conversation we did have, and she had not answered any messages from me up until now. Even this one was a late reply, so I had to wonder what prompted it. In any case, I didn’t want to read too much into it or jump at it, thinking that it was a sign that she wanted more interaction right away. I decided to treat it the way she wanted me to and just take it for what it was. I put the phone back down and decided not to respond to it. Instead, I turned the TV off and tried to get some sleep so I would be rested for the game the next day.

  Wednesday morning started to feel more like the game days I had experienced for the last thirteen years. I got up at a decent time, ate some breakfast, and even got in a workout at the hotel in the morning. I tried to relax and not think too much about Kristin, though the urge to write back to her was certainly there. I threw myself into work instead and decided to go to the stadium early as a distraction. I could at least get in some batting practice and do some other things there until game time.

  I didn’t want to chance running into Bill Thomas again, so I made sure that I got out of the hotel and got a cab to take me the short distance over to the stadium. The sky was a bit overcast today, and there was a forecast for rain in the afternoon, but it should clear up by game time. The cab took me over to the stadium, and I walked in and went straight to the clubhouse.

  There were more people around today since it was a game day and approaching early afternoon by the time I got there. A few of the players came over to get more familiar with me since we were new teammates. It felt good to be accepted and getting off to a good start the game before this one probably made things easier for people to want to come up to me. We talked for a bit, and then I decided to hit the exercise bike for a bit and listen to music to take my mind off things.

  The bike gave me both a good workout and time to get lost in the music, and out of my head, for a little while. I listened to a mix of country and some older rock to get me going, and it was good to help block out the louder music that pervaded the speakers most of the time in locker rooms today. I went to work, using one of the programs on the bike so that it would go up and down in intensity and give me a good workout. By the time I was done, my legs were tired, and I was sweating a lot.

  One of the younger players on the team, Albert Morris, saw me walking back to my locker covered in sweat.

  “Take it easy there old man,” he said with a smile. “We don’t want you keeling over before the game starts.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” I told him. “Just make sure you get on base for us tonight.” Albert got a mad look on his face, but Anton Rogers came over, laughing, and slapped him on the back.

  “He’s right, Morris,” Anton told him. “If you had gotten on a couple of times maybe I would have had some RBI instead of Wes here.”

  Albert went on his way, and Anton sat down next to me at his locker.

  “Damn kids in the game today don’t know it takes hard work to stay here, Wes,” Anton said to me.

  “How long you been playing now Anton?” I asked him as I wiped the sweat from my brow.

  “Six years,” he told me. “This is my walk year, so I want to put up some big numbers, maybe get a nice contract like you got last time,” he said with a laugh. “With you hitting behind me, maybe I’ll see some good pitches for a change.”

  “I’ll do my best, Anton,” I told him as I headed towards the showers. I had forgotten that game days often turned into two or three shower days for me.

  After a quick shower, I put on a t-shirt and shorts and headed over to the indoor batting cage. There were a couple of guys there already, along with the hitting coach, Ken Abernathy. Ken and I had played together early in my career as his was coming to an end. He was still a big guy, easily three or four inches taller than me, and he still had the thick arms and legs he had during his playing days. He moved away from the cage when he saw me.

  “Wes, sure you want to hit? I don’t want to jinx what you did Monday,” he told me.

  “I need my swings, Ken,” I told him. “Besides, I think Monday was all adrenaline, but I sure was seeing the ball well.”

  “Whatever it was, keep it going.” Ken patted me on the shoulder and went back to watching one of the other guys hit, giving some advice about his swing.

  When it came to my turn, I only spent a few minutes taking swings. Everything felt so good that maybe Ken was right and I didn’t want to jinx anything. I went back inside and saw a bunch of the guys gathered around the TV, laughing at something on the screen. I walked over just as the story was ending and saw Anton walking away from the TV, muttering the word “asshole.”

  “Anton, what was that?” I asked as I sat at my locker.

  “News story on Bill Thomas,” Anton said. “Pirates suspended him today. Seems he went out, got drunk yesterday, was staying at some hotel with two girls with him messing around with them, and he trashed the place. Police came and busted him.”

  “Word to the wise, rookies,” Anton yelled from his locker, getting the attention of others in the room. “You can fuck up your career real fast by being stupid. Pay attention to what you do. Look at Martin here. Man’s been in the league thirteen years; keeps his nose clean, stays in great shape, people respect him. See where it can get you,” he said glaring at the young guys in the room.

  Anton turned back to me. “They’re going to learn a lot from you and me this year Wes, whether they like it or not.” He broke out into a big smile again as Pete Doyle came in the room.

  “Let’s go, guys! Suit up. Infield practice and batting practice in twenty minutes,” he said, clapping his hands and walking out of the clubhouse.

  I took one last look at my phone before turning it off and storing it for the night. I re-read Kristin’s message to me. It made me feel good knowing she was thinking about me because I sure was thinking about her. I turned off the phone without doing anything and put it in my locker.

  Put your game face on Wes, I told myself. I knew that if Kristin was in my head all night I wouldn’t play well. I had to do something for a distraction. I grabbed my white wristbands and held them in my hand.

  “Anton, you got a Sharpie?” I asked him.

  “Yeah,” he said tossing me a black one from his locker he used to sign baseball cards. I took the pen and carefully put a “KA” on each one.

  “What’s KA?” Anton said as I handed the pen back to him.

  “Somebody special I want with me tonight,” I told him.

  “You know they can fine you for that,” Anton said.

  “I can afford it,” I said to him with a smile as I started getting dressed for the game.

  30

  Kristin

  Rain continued to fall as got into my car and then made my way down Main Street. People were scattering into the storefronts or hiding out under ca
nopies as they waited for the spring storm to pass, but it didn’t seem like this was going to be rain that went away easily. I eased my way onto Route 5 and then made the quick turn onto Martin Way and up to Wes’ parent's house. I could see Wes’ home looming up on top of the hill, all dark with no one there, and I tried not to think about the last time I was up this way. Instead, I pulled into his parents’ driveway and parked next to Wyatt’s familiar pickup truck.

  I tucked the book into my purse so it wouldn’t get wet from the rain, tugged my hood over my head, and made my way to the porch. I knocked on the door and glanced up at the camera that I now knew was there, pulling my hood back off so that I could be recognized. The front door quickly opened, and there was Wyatt inside, greeting me with a smile.

  “Wow, I didn’t expect you to come by so quickly,” Wyatt said to me with surprise.

  “It was my lunchtime anyway, so I figured I would just bring it over,” I said to Wyatt, putting the book out in front of me for him to take.

  “Why don’t you take it in to Jenny?” Wyatt said to me. “I’m sure she would like to meet you after hearing about you.”

  I was a little nervous about meeting Jenny, particularly because the circumstances lately may not have been ideal. I nodded to Wyatt and took my wet windbreaker off. Wyatt took my coat and hung it on one of the hooks by the door, and then took the lead as he walked through the living room and down the hall. I followed a few paces behind, trying to keep my composure.

  Wyatt knocked on the bedroom door, and I heard a voice say, “Come in.” He swung the door open and went in, and then waved me over to follow him. I walked into the room and saw Jenny Martin for the first time. She sat there on the bed, blanket pulled up to her over her lap. I could see the oxygen machine she was using sitting on the nightstand next to her and hear it as it was working. Jenny looked over at me and smiled and then looked at Wyatt.

  “Wyatt, why didn’t you tell me we had a guest over? I would have gotten more presentable. I look a mess,” she said, trying to straighten her hair.

  “Don’t be ridiculous Jenny,” Wyatt said, moving to the foot of the bed. “You look fine. This is Kristin Arthur, the librarian.”

  Jenny looked up at me and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Kristin,” she said to me with a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you around here,” she said as she looked at Wyatt.

  “It’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Martin,” I said to her, giving a nervous smile.

  “Please, call me Jenny,” she said to me. “What brings you out in this horrible weather today?”

  “Oh, well Wyatt had sent me a message about a book he thought you might be interested in,” I said as I held out the book to her. Jenny reached over, her thin hand taking hold of the book and bringing to her lap.

  “Wyatt, you made this poor girl come all the way out here in the rain for this?” she said to him, scolding him.

  “I just sent her a message,” Wyatt said in his defense.

  “I came out on my own, really,” I said to her.

  “That was very sweet of you,” Jenny said. “It is one of my favorite books. I’ve probably read it a dozen times, but it has been a while since I read it. And I don’t think Izzy has read this one yet either so it will be good for both of us. Thank you, Kristin.”

  “You’re very welcome, Mrs. Martin,” I said as she glanced at me, reminding me not to call her that. “I mean, Jenny,” I said with a smile.

  I stood nervously for a minute as Jenny leafed through the book and Wyatt smiled at her. Jenny then looked up at me and then at Wyatt.

  “Wyatt, why don’t you get some tea for Kristin and me?” Jenny said to him. Wyatt arose from the bed.

  “Sure thing; I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Wyatt said as he went to go to the kitchen.

  “Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” I replied. “I should probably get back to the library and leave you to rest.”

  “Nonsense,” she said to me. She reached over and patted the chair positioned next to her side of the bed. “Come and have a seat.”

  I walked over to the chair and sat closet to her. I could see close up that she looked a bit weary and a little thinner than I had expected, but she had the same fire and spirit in her eyes that I saw in Wes. I sat and put my hands in my lap, nervously fiddling with my skirt as I sat there.

  “I’m sorry if Wyatt pushed you into coming out here,” Jenny said to me quietly. “I know it probably wasn’t easy for you to come out here with all the turmoil that went on.”

  “He didn’t push me, honestly,” I said to her. “I was happy to do it. Actually, I was glad for the opportunity to meet you after all I had heard about you from Wyatt and… and Wes.”

  “I’m surprised they had nice things to say about me,” she said with a laugh. “I run a pretty tight ship out here. All three of them can tell you that.”

  We sat silently for a moment as Jenny adjusted the oxygen cannula in her nose to make it sit more comfortably. “This thing is a royal pain,” she said to me.

  Wyatt appeared with two cups of tea, passing one to me and then one to his wife.

  “Thank you,” I said softly, placing the cup and saucer in my lap while Wyatt placed a bed tray on the bed for Jenny to use.

  “If you ladies don’t mind,” Wyatt started, “I need to run down to the stables for a minute. George was having an issue with a delivery. I won’t be gone too long.”

  I felt nervous about staying with Jenny, but she chimed right in. “Go ahead Wyatt,” Jenny told him. “But you better not be running down to the diner to tell Clyde Stuart that you got this pretty girl to come to your house.”

  I blushed when she said this, and Wyatt cracked a smile.

  “Well, I was going to tell him I had two pretty girls here, but now you’ve gone and spoiled it,” he said as he leaned over the bed and gave Jenny a kiss.

  “Be back in a bit,” Wyatt said as he waved.

  Jenny turned and looked at me. “So, what shall we talk about?” she said as she smiled at me.

  I felt like a schoolgirl before the principal. “Um, I’m not really sure,” I answered. “What would you like to talk about?”

  “How do you like being the librarian here in Chandler?” Jenny asked me.

  “I love it,” I told her. “Being a librarian is something I always wanted to do, and to get the chance to share my love of books with everyone else is a real treat for me. I think we can do some great things with the library if we get the chance.”

  “Well if you can pry some money out of Marion Harris and the rest of the board, I’m sure you will,” Jenny said to me. “I used to be on the board before I got sick,” she said to me. “But, I was missing too much of the going ons and thought it would be better to leave it to someone that could devote more time to it, but I do miss it. And I know how tough it can be to deal with them. But from what I have heard about you, it seems like you can handle yourself well. They’re the ones that should be worried,” Jenny said with a laugh.

  I laughed along with her. “Thank you for the vote of confidence,” I told her. “I try to stand up for myself as best I can.”

  “That brings me to another topic,” Jenny said. “My granddaughter, Isabelle.” I was little worried this was going to come up and could feel myself feeling uncomfortable.

  “I am sorry for all that unpleasantness,” Jenny said to me, stretching her hand out to put it on top of mine. “I’m afraid Wes, Wyatt and I didn’t do such a great job preparing her for something like that. We never talked much about Wes dating and seeing people because it was never around us. I think she was taken by surprise by it and by how she reacted to the situation.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me, Jenny,” I told her quietly. “I understand that there were special circumstances. If I were in her shoes, I might have reacted the same way.”

  “Don’t defend the way she spoke to you,” Jenny said strongly. “She had no right to speak to you that way. I gave her a good lecture about all t
hat. She let her emotions get the better of her and acted badly, and rudely, and she knows it.”

  “It may have been for the best anyway,” I told Jenny. “If Wes was going to be leaving, I’m sure he didn’t want to get tied down into a long-distance relationship. It would just be a difficult distraction for him.”

  “I think you underestimate him a bit, Kristin,” Jenny said. “I know my son pretty well, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. I could see it in his face when he talks about you. You may not have known each other very long, but you mean a great deal to him. It hurt him deeply the way things played out, and I think he would do whatever he could to try to make it work for you.”

  “He is special to me too,” I told her softly. “I just don’t want to be a complication in his life, and that’s what it seemed like to me. It was very hard for me to just give up that easily.”