Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
kendra
The excitement of opening day was only mildly dampened by the shitstorm that had exploded in my sister’s life. I had offered for her to sit with me in the suite, but with no one else in our family knowing why, it would be difficult to explain.
I was one of the few executive staff members invited to the owner’s suite for Opening Day.
The dirty looks were more than obvious, but fuck that, I had more than proved myself at work and worked harder than any of these crusty old men.
Jonathan had unfortunately had to settle with my former director, whose job I had taken, rather than waste energy on a court battle.
The crowd went wild as my brother-in-law Sam took the mound. The pitching reports had shown that he’d come back this season stronger than ever.
Me: Go Kelsey’s husband.
Kelsey: Lol. So freaking excited. Heads up, Sam found out Luc is the baby’s father.
“Fuck.” It slipped out before I realized.
Jonathan slid towards me to see what was wrong. “Anything I need to know?”
I let him read my texts; his eyes bulged briefly before darting back to the dugout. Luc’s frustration seemed to increase, and Sam’s pitching was starting to look like the other team was at batting practice.
The top of the first inning ended with us down three runs, a lead the Minutemen miraculously erased. Jonathan had just introduced me to his parents when Sam made his way out to the mound for the second inning.
Me: Um, WTF?
Kelsey: The boys need to keep this shit at home.
Me: Tell your husband that, please.
Kelsey: Oh, okay. I didn’t make the rules disallowing cell phones in the dugout.
“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry,” I said, excusing myself from the conversation with Jonathan’s mother. “It looks like something is going on down there.”
“Is that your brother-in-law?” She asked, and I nodded.
When Luc approached the mound, Jonathan stood over my shoulder, and we both watched with bated breath while they argued on the mound. We both let out our collective breaths when Luc patted him on the back and walked back to the dugout.
“He knows?” Jonathan asked.
“Appears so. Luc found out the other day. Sam heard this morning. Looks like he’s not happy with how the situation has been handled.”
His mom’s attention bounced back and forth between the two of us. “God, I want to know what’s going on, but it sounds like it’s none of my business.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. It’s been painful watching this all go down and being powerless to stop it.” It wasn’t until Sam settled into a rhythm of pitching that I finally relaxed and could hold a normal conversation with Jonathan’s parents.
Me to Sister Group Chat: Crisis averted?
Kylie: Hopefully.
Kelsey: Sam went into protector mode.
Kylie: No one asked him.
Me: Luc’s not an asshole.
Kylie: No shit.
Me: Forgive the baby daddy … for my sake.
Kelsey: And mine.
Jonathan read over my shoulder. “So I’m not firing my pitching coach?”
I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You weren’t going to do that, anyway.”
“No, not until it looked like it was affecting the game.”
“Well, it looks like they worked it out.”
“That trip to the mound might have been the world’s best pep talk—or biggest hissy fit—”
“We’ll never know,” I said. “Do you still want to come meet my family?” I searched his face for any hint of hesitation.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Jonathan had arranged a car to bring me to Sam and Kelsey’s house after the game. I knew I would be one of the last guests to arrive, and Jonathan would be even later.
“Sorry, go ahead and enjoy yourself. I have some loose ends to tie up.”
There had been a nasty fight between two fans towards the end of the game, and while they were both removed from the stadium, one had collapsed just outside the park. It wasn’t his responsibility to address the issue directly, he wanted to wait and see how the fan fared.
“Okay. See you soon.”
Crew ran into me, yelling my name as soon as I walked in the door. I kissed and snuggled my nephew until he squealed and squirmed to get down. He loved fiercely one moment and then dropped you in a second for his toy truck.
I caught Kylie and Luc walking hand in hand towards the front door.
Her eyes met mine, and I gave her a reassuring smile, watching her shoulders visibly relax.
Fuck. If that wasn’t a sign that I’d fucked up with my sisters, I don’t know what was.
Instead of her focusing on how she felt with Luc, she’d worried at least momentarily about what I thought.
I wanted to scream out loud that I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing either.
She pulled me in for a quick hug and left.
I found Kelsey with Lindy Griffen, both laughing hysterically about something, stopping only when I approached.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just telling her about the school drop-off line. Ella refused to get out of the car, and the rule is that if your child can’t make it out of the car on their own, you’ve gotta walk them in—I was wearing dinosaur Santa pajamas.”
“Sounds like material for the podcast.” Lindy’s podcast had taken off. Her social media presence had driven tons of listeners to her weekly show. Kelsey had joined her several shows, and the response had been great so far.
I set off to find my parents, and on the way up to the roof, Tucker caught me in the stairwell. Caught off guard, my family’s home had always been a safe space for me.
“I wondered if I’d be seeing you tonight.”
My entire body froze, and I took a long breath, clenching my fists as I fought not to scream.
“You would be better off if you ignored my existence.”
“Eh, I don’t feel like it. I know I told you I was done with you once before. But the more I think about it, we’ve still got a few more rounds in us, don’t you think?”
“How did you get here?” Kelsey’s voice shouted from the end of the hallway.
“Your husband invited me.”
Right then, Sam joined us, almost as if he could sense Kelsey was in distress. Without knowing what was going on, Sam immediately separated Tucker from us.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“I asked Tucker to leave.” Kelsey said, crossing her arms over her chest. Sam didn’t hesitate, if Kelsey said someone had to go, he’d make it happen.
“Tuck, why the fuck is my wife asking you to leave?”
“No clue. This is the first time I’ve met her.”
Sam’s attention slipped to me. “Is he bothering you?”
“Oh, come on, man. Are you gonna go after me now? Just because of your wife’s whore sisters?”
I never thought such a big man could move that fast. Sam had Tucker pressed against the wall, no questions asked. “Yeah, you insult my family, I don’t give a fuck that we’re teammates.”
“Break it up.” The call came from Austin Monroe, our center fielder.
“Yeah, yeah. I was leaving anyway.”
Sam backed away, giving Tucker room to leave. The fuck dared to wink at me on the way out.
After he left, Austin patted Sam on the back. “That fucker isn’t worth an injury.”
“How’s Ashley?” Sam asked.
“Good. She was downstairs with Avery and Chloe last I saw. I should go find her.”
Rumor had it that when Tucker hit on Ashley Monroe, Austin’s wife, she was receptive.
Austin was well known for his devotion to his wife, one she didn’t fully return.
The rumors also included a few affairs on her part.
To his credit, Austin hardly ever joined his teammates on the road for post-game celebrations and instead spent those nights in his hotel room.
“Congratulations, you two,” I said to Sam and Kelsey once we were alone.
Sam and Kelsey shared a sweet smile; my brother-in-law radiated love toward his wife.
Kelsey had found out that morning that she was expecting; it would be her second baby, and Sam’s first. You would never know that Sam was Crew’s stepfather.
He loved my nephew fiercely, and I had no doubt that he would always see him as his son, no matter how many babies they had together.
“We’re telling people?” he asked.
“My sisters.”
He nodded, and I watched, appreciating their ability to communicate without words. “Got it.”
Just then, there was a commotion at the door as Jonathan arrived.
“Yo, Sam. The owner guy is here.” One of the rookies, Nate Reaves, ran into the hallway, warning us to be on our best behavior.
Reaves was nineteen years old, and while the plan had been to keep him in AAA for a year or two, he filled a hole we had in right field.
His emotional immaturity aside, he played as if an experienced veteran.
“Did you invite him?” Nate looked around nervously and then down at the beer in his hand.
“Who the fuck gave you a beer, man?” Sam swiped the beer from Nate’s hands. “And yes, he’s invited. He’s also dating my sister-in-law—” Sam gestured to me, “—also a corporate executive.”
“Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. I mean, I’m so sorry, ma’am.”
I burst out laughing. This kid was fucking adorable. “You’re good. But I don’t think Sam and Kelsey want to be responsible for violating Boston’s social host laws.”
“And no one in this town is going to believe that shitty fake ID you were showing off in the locker room.” Sam’s warning made the kid blush.
“This town knows the players, and you’ve been touted as the youngest kid on the roster.
If you had wanted to get drunk, you should have gone to college instead. ”
Tucker’s presence had put me on edge, but Nate’s innocence had been like a balm to my nerves. When I found Jonathan—already cornered by my father—his eyes met mine, and I melted.
“Who would have thought the ice queen would thaw?” Kelsey whispered, sharing an inside joke from when we were younger. We would dress up and pretend to be our favorite characters from books and movies. I had always chosen the ice queen and never wanted a happy-ever-after.
“The man is fire.”
“Shh, I’m not supposed to be looking, but damn girl, you did good. Now save him from Dad.”
I slid beside Jonathan, and his arm drew me close, palm resting on my hip just before he placed a chaste kiss on my cheek.
“I see you’ve met my father. Dad, this is Jonathan. I hope you didn’t already manipulate him into season tickets.”
“And a parking pass.” Jonathan winked at me, and Dad looked back at me, only mildly embarrassed.
“What did I always tell you girls?”
“Don’t be afraid to ask for what you really want…
” I repeated the phrase Dad had drilled into me since I was five.
A phrase that he’d taught us so that we didn’t shy away from trying things, or from competition.
It’s why I applied to Dartmouth, even when I wasn’t sure I’d be accepted.
It’s why I trained and ran marathons: I wanted to succeed there, and training every day was how I asked for it.
But it was also why I preferred to rely only on myself. Double-edged sword, for sure.
My phone dinged in my pocket, and I excused myself so I could read it privately. While I normally didn’t hide my texts from Jonathan, the look that Kelsey was giving me from across the room spoke volumes.
Kelsey: You need to tell him the entire story about Tucker. He’s going to continue to be a problem.
Me: How? I am going to put him in a horrible position.
Kelsey: You aren’t putting anyone in a bad position. Tucker’s actions did. He’s the villain in this story.
Me: You’re right. But I don’t see how this ends without things blowing up for the team.
Kelsey: Have you seen the damage he’s already doing to the team? Sam fucking hates him, and Sam likes everyone. He doesn’t even know the entire story.
Me: Is he really fucking around with Ashley Monroe?
Kelsey: 85% positive it already happened. Ticking time bomb. Ready to fucking blow.