Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“ W e were talking about you before the phone call, weren’t we? So you’re an only child?” Audra asked.
Damon nodded. “Yes.”
“Did you always play baseball, or were you interested in other sports?”
“I played other sports but excelled at baseball. Nowadays, it consumes my life, but that’s normal for someone playing sports at a professional level. When we’re not playing, we’re training or preparing by watching film. We also have to be careful about our diet.”
“But you love it.”
“I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
“When you’re not training or playing, what do you do?”
“Well, I’ve been working on some business ventures and ideas for life after baseball. In my downtime, I try to do some mentoring, but I’m not able to do it as much as I’d like. In between all those things, I sometimes squeeze in time to pursue a woman who interests me.”
“I see. Making time for the important issues.”
“Of course.” Amusement filled his eyes.
“By the way, I never verbally, out my mouth, thanked you for the flowers and the gifts—so, thank you. Each delivery brightened my day.”
“Good to hear.”
“I especially liked the puzzle made out of a photo of you.”
He let out a throaty laugh. “You liked that, huh?”
“It was a top-notch gift.”
“It’s one of a kind. You’re the only person in the world who has one.”
She liked his sense of humor. “I figured so.”
“Have you tried to put it together yet?”
“Not yet, but I’ve put it on my to-do list.”
“I’m going to check in with you to see if you’ve done it,” Damon warned.
“Darn, I shouldn’t have told you my plans. Now there’s so much pressure.” Audra sipped her wine, thoroughly amused by their conversation.
Damon swirled his drink. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything. What makes Audra Connor tick? What’s important to you?” His eyes remained on her.
“Those are interesting questions. I’ll tackle the second question first and say my family is important to me. As I mentioned, I have a little girl. She’s very smart. I know every parent says that, but the other day she showed me how to change a setting on my phone, and she’s a whiz with the iPad. She always tries to stay up later than her bedtime, and she can sometimes convince my mother to let her—we live with my parents—stay up and have ice cream and cake and whatever else her heart desires. Being the first grandchild has its privileges.”
He laughed softly. “I bet.”
“I’m going on and on.” Audra twisted the napkin in her lap. She was more out of practice than she realized. What man wanted to hear about a woman’s kid on their first date—or whatever this was?
Damon sat forward and rested his hand on the table, his expression earnest. “It’s fine. Matter of fact, I’m glad you’re sharing stories about your daughter. Gives me insight into your relationship.”
Audra smiled appreciatively. “She’s the center of my universe,” she said honestly.
He nodded, as if that declaration had revealed something to him. “You have siblings?”
“Oh yes,” she said emphatically, followed by a laugh.
He arched an eyebrow. “What does that answer mean?”
“I come from a big family. Blended, actually. There are seven kids, plus my parents—so a family of nine.”
His eyebrows shifted higher. “You weren’t kidding when you said big.”
“No, and?—”
The waitress arrived and placed a sizzling dish of stuffed mushrooms in front of them.
After she left, both Damon and Audra placed one on their plates. Audra was the first to try it and hummed her satisfaction.
“Yeah?” Damon said.
“Really good.” She watched as he placed the appetizer in his mouth and then raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed.
“You know what? I think I’m gonna finish this on my own.” He pulled the dish toward him, and Audra grabbed his wrist.
“Hey! I want more too.” She dragged the dish back to the middle of the table.
He chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t come between you and your food.”
“Never ever,” she advised, scooping out another mushroom and shooting him a mock angry look.
He grinned. “Okay, so finish telling me about your big blended family. Explain the dynamics of it.”
Audra finished chewing her bite. “My mother had three kids—me, my sister, and my older brother—when she met my stepfather, Benicio. He’s Mexican and had three boys of his own. Then they had a child together, a boy, the one we call the baby.”
“He’s number seven.”
“Exactly.”
“So, two girls and five boys.”
“Yes, and the boys were nightmares sometimes. They terrorized us.”
“But I bet no one ever messed with you.”
“Absolutely not. They could terrorize us, but no one else was allowed to. To this day, they’re very protective.”
“It would be nice to have a big family,” Damon said, a note of wistfulness in his voice.
“Being an only child, I understand why you would say that, but trust me—it wasn’t all fun and games.” Audra sliced a particularly large mushroom in half.
“I bet it wasn’t with seven kids. I’m sure there was plenty of chaos.”
“Mostly when we were younger,” Audra admitted. “Imagine blending not only families but cultures and having to deal with language barriers. It was… interesting at first. We had a housekeeper and a chef, but my mother learned to cook Mexican dishes. Then they had their own traditions for the holidays, which were different from ours. They’re Catholic, we were raised Baptist. You get the picture. Eventually, we started gelling, and you couldn’t convince me that my Mexican brothers are not kin.”
“That’s the way it should be. Family isn’t defined by blood. Family is in the connections we make and the bonds we build with people in our lives.”
He spoke with a fervency that caught Audra’s attention.
“Sounds like you know a little bit about that,” she commented.
For the first time, the smile on his lips seemed forced. “Long, ugly story. One of these days, I’ll tell you about it.”
“I guess that means I better stick around.”
“I guess so.”