Chapter Fifteen
Friday rolled around, and unseasonably warmer temperatures greeted Razor as she stepped out of her truck.
Even though it was only late February, she knew the days when she’d retire the handwarmers and thermal shirts were around the corner.
She stretched toward the sky and basked in the heat.
Rain was projected for that evening, and she hoped it’d hold off long enough to get their doubleheader in and complete the series.
She opened the duty box, pulled out her gear bag, and searched the contents for the much-needed athletic tape, hoping she hadn’t inadvertently left it at Slugfest the night before when she’d decided to get a few extra hits in.
“Excuse me. Miss?”
Razor turned and saw a tall, broad man with short auburn hair jog toward her, then double over, out of breath. She was so distracted she’d missed the sounds of his approach.
“Can I help you, sir?” Razor seriously thought she might have to call an ambulance.
The man shook his head, gasping. He stood to his full height and sucked air through his teeth, placing his hands on his head.
“I just…wanted…Whew, that was farther than I thought.” He pointed back across the parking lot to a gray truck.
Razor did her best not to chuckle, but some of it slipped out while watching this man recover from what had obviously been a sprint.
“My name is Bill Storm. I’m Summer’s father.”
Razor took in the man’s features. The eyes and the jawline looked familiar, as did the dimpled chin and wisps of red hair sticking out from underneath his hat. Razor’s worry over his health ebbed away, and she extended her hand.
“Mr. Storm. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Bill, please.”
“Are you going to be all right, Bill?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied, waving her off. His breathing had calmed. “It’s been a while since I had to run that fast. My old body doesn’t like it.”
Razor didn’t even try to hide her amusement when she said, “I’m sure it doesn’t.”
“You mind if I walk with you? I’d like to talk to you for a moment.”
Razor nodded. “I’d be delighted. You set the pace.”
They walked toward the complex in companionable silence, and unsurprisingly, Bill took a slow pace.
Razor was used to parents approaching her all the time at Slugfest, all of them wanting tips on how to help their kids hit better.
But this was the first parent of a teammate who sought her out, and she wasn’t sure how to proceed.
“So, I bet you’re excited to see Summer today.”
He laughed heartily. “Yes, I am, but I heard the real excitement happened on Tuesday.”
“You didn’t see it?”
“Nah. I had to move my cows to the lower pasture on my property. It’s near Cave City, so I wouldn’t have made it down in time.”
“Oh yeah, I know what that’s like. That’s pretty much an all-day chore.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “You know cattle?”
“A little bit. There were plenty of summers when I’d work on a friend’s farm, bale hay or tag newborns, to earn a little extra cash.”
“You must have a good work ethic, then.”
She snickered. “My mom always told me talent gets you so far. Hard work will get you the rest of the way.”
Bill hummed in agreement. “I was the same with Summer. I knew she had the talent, but instilling the drive to work took some effort. She can be really stubborn.”
“Yeah.” Razor drew out the word. “We didn’t get off on the right foot.”
Bill laughed. “I’ll say. There were a few nights she’d call, complaining about this new catcher with a weird name who was bossy. Next thing I know, she’s singing your praises. That’s why I wanted to talk to you today.”
She shielded her eyes from the sun as she stared up at him. “About what?”
“I wanted to say thank you. For not giving up on her.”
“The thought never crossed my mind.”
“Well, you’d be one of the few, I’m afraid,” he admitted.
“Summer…she is a handful,” Razor confessed. “But that doesn’t mean she’s not worth the effort. I just had to learn to let her be herself and be what she needed, not what I wanted.”
“That’s pretty enlightening.”
“A good friend told me that.”
“Sounds like a smart friend.”
“The smartest.”
Her cheeks were on fire. Talking about Ashton caused that kind of reaction more and more recently.
They entered the sport complex and looked around the lobby. Bill took a breath and hummed, as if deep in memory.
“This takes me back.”
“What does?”
“The smell of cleaning supplies trying to cover up the sweat and dirt. Summer didn’t tell you I used to play?”
“She didn’t give a lot of detail.”
“I was a catcher, and her mom was a pitcher. Actually, that’s how we met.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“I was the catcher on our high school baseball team, and Sarah was the ace on the softball team.”
Razor smiled. “How’d you meet?”
“One day, our coach brought Sarah in to pitch during batting practice because we’d let our egos get out of control.”
“Lemme guess. You all thought, no problem.”
He laughed. “Boy, were we wrong.”
“How many of you struck out?”
“All of us. Totally embarrassing, very humbling.”
“I bet.”
“Anyway, when I wasn’t hitting, I caught for her, and I was very impressed with how well she painted the plate.”
“So what happened?”
“I asked her out.”
“Did she say yes?”
He guffawed. “Hell naw. Turned my ass down flat. Turned me down lots of times after that, too.”
Razor shook her head, trying not to laugh. “How did you finally convince her?”
“I started going to the softball games. I guess she saw me in the stands ’cause she cornered me in the hall at school and said she’d go out with me.”
“That’s really sweet.”
“I loved her so much,” Bill said wistfully.
“I was devastated when she died. But I had Summer to think about, so I picked myself up and did everything I could for her. It’s what Sarah would’ve wanted.
And even though Summer doesn’t remember her, I always make sure she knows who her mom was and what she loved most in this world. ”
“Softball.”
Bill nodded.
“Of course, by the time Summer came along, softball was number three, but it’s all even in my book.”
Razor gazed at him, taking his measure. There was a genuine adoration and love when he spoke about his late wife and daughter. Razor’s heart swelled, and she wished her mom was still around.
“I’m glad I was able to track you down before the game,” he said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep in touch.”
“What for?”
“I want Summer to be as independent as possible, and I’ve told her if there’s anything she needs, she can talk to me. About anything.”
“And you don’t think she’ll do that?”
Bill took his hat off. “We are as close as a father and daughter can be. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she keeps secrets. I’m not asking you to spy on her for me. Just keep an eye on her. And if there’s anything you see that could put her in harm’s way, would you let me know?”
Razor rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t feel comfortable telling you personal information about Summer behind her back.”
“I understand.”
“But if I do see something, or Summer tells me something, I will strongly suggest she tell you.”
He grabbed her hand in a hearty handshake. “That works for me. Thank you.”
They exchanged phone numbers after Razor explained that if something happened to Summer, she could get in touch with Bill faster than the school.
With a final wave, a more relaxed Bill exited the complex.
He was an honorable man who clearly loved Summer, and it was obvious to Razor why she was so protective of him.
When Razor entered the locker room a few minutes later, she saw Summer and smiled, knowing she was even more special than Razor originally thought.
* * *
Emery waved everyone off and clutched the ball in her glove, mercifully ending the top of the second. Razor and her teammates ran into the dugout, expressions dour.
Their first game had been easy, thanks to an early lead that led to a run-rule victory of 11–2.
The second game proved more challenging.
Nancy, again, relied heavily on Summer’s changeup, and the Southern Nazarene Jaguars had made their adjustments after their loss.
The first two batters hit back-to-back doubles and took an early 1–0 lead.
By the time the inning ended, they were up 3–0.
The second inning made it worse when the Jaguars scored two more runs, extending their lead to 5–0.
Razor quickly discarded her gear and prepped to bat second.
She turned when she heard heated voices and was surprised to see Summer standing toe-to-toe with Nancy.
She couldn’t hear what was said, but she guessed Summer told Nancy they needed another strategy.
Judging by Nancy’s expression, Summer’s protest was ignored.
Razor turned away when it was her at-bat, and thanks to her and Sabrina, they got on the scoreboard. But the Jaguars answered back in the top of the third to make it 7–3. Every hit, every run scored, was off Summer’s changeup.
“This sucks,” Summer said when they returned to the dugout in the bottom of the fourth. They watched Tori’s at-bat, but they weren’t really seeing it, too distracted by anger.
“Look,” Summer said, just as Tori hit a single up the middle. “I know I promised—”
“No.”
“But—”
“No buts, Summer,” Razor said, “this is serious. You and Harper were lucky last time. This time, I guarantee Nancy will know what we’re doing.”
“She’s being unreasonable. I keep telling her we need to use other pitches, but she won’t listen.”
Razor saw Nancy off in the corner. They’d been getting along better as of late. If Nancy wouldn’t listen to Summer, maybe she’d listen to Razor. She stood and slowly approached Nancy and waited to be acknowledged.
“If you’re here to tell me we need to change strategies, save your breath.”
Razor gritted her teeth at the immediate dismissal, but she stayed calm.
“I respect your strategy. But the Jaguars are totally on to Summer’s changeup. We need to rethink it. Maybe if we—”
“Are you questioning my coaching?” Nancy barked.
“No…but…”
“I’m the coach here. Not you. We stick with the plan I created. Got it?”
Razor slowly backed away and resumed her spot next to Summer.
“She shut you down, didn’t she?”
Razor nodded. “Maybe if we tell Coach Dyer, she’ll force Coach Inglewood to make the adjustment.”
“How do we know Coach Dyer won’t side with her?” Summer asked.
Razor almost laughed at the thought, but the concern on Summer’s face stopped her. There was genuine worry they wouldn’t find support anywhere, and while Razor believed Courtney would be more reasonable, she decided she needed to support Summer in this moment.
“What do you propose we do?”
Summer’s eyes lit up, and her shoulders relaxed. “Next inning let’s use my fastball. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to listening to Coach. But if it does…”
The unspoken was easy to discern. They would keep going.
Razor gave a nod and a fist bump to show her support just as a round of disappointed moans went up, signaling their return to defense.
She took her position behind home plate and went through the usual warm-up.
When she finished, she hand-delivered the ball back to the circle.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Summer nodded.
“Okay, we’ve got the bottom of the order first. Everyone has adjusted to the front of the batter’s box. If I rub my right thigh, throw the fastball.”
“Okay.”
“Hopefully we can get through without turning the lineup over.”
“What happens if we don’t?”
“Curveballs, and lots of them.”
“Got it.”
She patted Summer’s shoulder and returned to home plate.
Please let this work. She went through the motions and looked over to Nancy, who, unsurprisingly, called another changeup.
Discreetly, Razor glanced at the batter’s position.
As predicted, she was positioned at the front of the batter’s box.
A quick swipe of her right thigh, then it was all on Summer as she released the ball at a faster velocity and caught the batter off guard.
Strike one.
Razor sighed and looked over at Nancy, whose eyes were cold. Nancy’s hand motions were abrupt as she emphasized every number in the changeup signal.
Razor swiped her leg again, and Summer delivered another fastball right down the heart of the plate.
Strike two. For the third pitch, Razor didn’t even look to Nancy.
Three fastballs and the batter struck out.
The second and third batters struck out as easily as the first, giving them their first 1-2-3 inning.
As they made their way back to the dugout, Razor tensed when she saw Nancy walking toward them.
To her surprise, Nancy didn’t say a word. She didn’t make a spectacle.
“Wow,” Summer whispered. “I’d thought she blow up at us.”
Nancy stopped next to Courtney and whispered something in her ear. Courtney then turned to them, disappointment written across her face.
“Don’t worry, slick,” Razor assured her. “We’re going to catch hell soon enough.”