Chapter 10
TEN
S uits and baseball did not mix. At least, not in Last Chance County.
Eddie marched toward one of the suited men in question. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He would not, could not, hit this man. Some of his players saw enough violence at home and in the streets. But Roger Pointe could have only one reason to tell Eddie’s team about the previously failed grant money—to get more votes for his own election campaign.
Eddie cleared his throat. “Mr. Pointe, a word.”
Beside Roger Pointe, a stocky man with dark hair that drifted down over his even darker brows turned toward Eddie first but then slinked behind the mayor’s opposing candidate, who finally turned.
An innocent expression brightened Roger’s face as he extended his palm. “Well done, Coach. I hear it’s not every day this team pulls off a victory.”
Eddie stared down at the offered welcome. “The season has only just begun.”
Roger tsked and reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden container with a crown engraved into the metal. He opened it and picked out a pearl-shaped mint. “Based on the frowns on your team’s faces, it sure doesn’t look like a win. I wonder why that is. Though it could be that you’re struggling to fill your chief’s role as head coach. Leadership doesn’t come naturally for everyone.”
The old Eddie would have taken the bait, comparing himself to Macon. Instead, he took in a slow, deep breath. “I believe you had something to do with the frowns tonight.”
Roger popped in two mints and wrinkled his nose. “Those frowns will turn right side up as soon as the election is over and I’m declared the winner.”
Eddie crossed his arms. “You’re a smart man, Roger. You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
The other man behind Roger shifted his gaze between Eddie and the mayoral candidate almost like a pinball. He edged closer to Roger’s ear. “I’ll go bring the car around, sir.”
Roger patted him on the back. “Thanks, Kelson.” He pulled out a pocket watch. “What can I help you with, Coach? My door will always be open to all fine taxpayers of this soon-to-be-great town.”
Eddie squeezed his hands around his arms. “Why did you tell one of my kids about the failed grant? How did you even hear about that information?”
The pocket watch shut with a click. “The better question would be why you hadn’t told them something that greatly affects their lives.”
Eddie rolled a pebble in the dirt with the tip of his shoe. Would he have told the team about the grant before tonight if the mayor hadn’t decided to take another look?
“There’s a right time to discuss hard things, and during the middle of a ball game?—”
“Interesting. You, as these kids’ mentor, practically a hero these days…” He angled his chin at the dugout, where Bianca had been standing when Eddie had seen Roger. “I would have assumed the truth would always be welcome. That’s what I promise once I’m elected as mayor. Leading in truth. Here I thought you were always a man of your word.”
Eddie refused to allow the growl that caught in his throat. “Truth offered in love.” Exactly what Bianca had said yesterday. Something he often failed at himself. He took in a deep breath. “Roger, can you see that with you telling them, with cameras around, it looks like it’s some kind of hidden plot to promote your name over Gregory’s?”
Roger fisted his hand and plunged it against his chest. “You wound me. I think Gregory has blinded you. It’s time for you to stop hanging all your hopes on a mayor who has obviously let you and these kids down. Then you would see how you and I could be on the same team.”
Eddie wasn’t sure if he’d get a truth or a lie. It was like he was a little kid and listening to his mother’s fabrications. But he still had to ask. “What kind of team would that be?”
Roger raised his brows. “One that wants the best for Last Chance County. After all, it was your beloved mayor who denied the grant money for the youth center. Was it not?”
How had he even gathered that information? “He’s reconsidering things currently.”
Roger tapped his finger against his chest. “Well, currently, I can guarantee those kids a future youth center.”
It was Eddie’s turn to raise his brow. “How would you plan on doing that?”
Roger winked. “You let your new future mayor worry about the details. Just full support from our local hero will be enough.”
There it was. Nothing was ever free.
“Eddie.” The current mayor, Gregory Harrelson, and a cameraman stepped up to Eddie.
Roger offered his hand to Gregory. “Surprised to see you here. Thought you golfed on weeknights.”
Gregory wagged his finger at Roger’s chest. “I’m going to figure out how you’re doing it.”
Roger looked around him. “How I make time for the youth of this town? Easy. I’m a better mayor.”
Gregory’s face bloomed red. “You set that fire at my auction.”
Roger lifted his chin. “I was nowhere near your house that night.”
Gregory fisted his hand. “You won’t steal any more of my backers from me. I’m going to figure out how you got into my house, and when I do…”
Rap music blared from the road, gaining Eddie’s attention. A car with a Fella’s Pizza sign whipped into the parking lot. Two teens hopped from the car. Each pulled out two huge pizza carriers.
Roger spoke Eddie’s thoughts out loud. “What’s all of this?”
The taller teen shrugged as he shifted the carriers. “Probably dinner.”
Bianca waved the teens into the dugout. “Perfect timing. I think inside here would be good.”
What in the world?
Eddie held up his finger to Roger and Gregory. “Excuse me a moment.” He ran into the dugout just as the teen deliverers brushed past his shoulders.
Will bit into what looked like a slice of bacon ranch pizza. “This is on point!” Then, with his mouth still full, he wiped the edge of his mouth with his arm. “Coach, you should have started dating Coach B way sooner. I vote we do pizza for every win. This is way better than the peanut butter sandwiches you bring.”
Eddie scowled. An actress swoops in, throws money around, and she’s the good guy. “Will, first of all…” Eddie’s gaze stuck on something colorful and huge out in the left side of the field. The hum of fans kicked on, and the thing started to blow up. He’d been distracted for longer than he thought. “What is that? Did you throw more money at them?”
Bianca pulled the end of her ponytail over her shoulder and picked at the ends. “Not exactly. It came free with the pizza order.”
Eddie narrowed his eyes. “Blow-up slides don’t come free with pizza. Not in the real world.”
Scout swallowed down his own gulp of pizza. “They do when you’re dating Bia Pearl.”
Eddie crossed his arms. “We’re not?—”
“Scout!” Scarlette motioned from beside the slide. “It’s almost blown up, and we have to race Tank and Will first.” Scarlette put her hands up around her mouth. “Coach B, will you time us?”
Bianca jiggled her phone. “Sure will. Why don’t you get a couple of practice rounds in first?”
“Sweet.” Jacob fist-pumped at the same time that Tank yelled, “This is the best day ever!”
Apparently, the grant issues were all forgotten with some pizza and a slide. Things that were very temporary.
Once all his players ran to left field, Eddie shook his head. “You can’t bribe them too.”
Bianca’s smile fell. “You said the boys were hungry. I got pizza?—”
“One, two, three…twelve boxes?” He threw up his hands. “You think I can’t pay for pizza because I’m just a firefighter and you’re a famous actress? If you’re not bribing, then you’re spoiling them. And a free slide? Really? I told you. I’m not okay with lying.”
“It’s fifteen boxes.” Her eyes almost sparkled in the baseball field lights as she met his glare. “Enough for each of them to take some home for tomorrow’s lunch. I think the words you are looking for in this situation are Thank you, Bianca . Just because you’re angry with those suits over there doesn’t mean you can take it out on me.”
Bianca opened a box of pizza. “And yes, hangry is a thing, but your attitude’s still not okay.”
His stomach chose that moment to incriminate him and growl. Oh, she was right again. His anger was misdirected. But still, she wasn’t perfect. “You should have asked. This isn’t your team. You can’t always get what you want.”
The box lowered against her stomach. “Trust me, I don’t get what I want a lot. Can we at least agree that the kids needed food?”
A bug flew past his ear, and he swatted at it. “Will you agree that you overstepped in how you handled it?”
She eyed the kids out by the blow-up slide. “The slide really was free as long as I agreed to stop by later and sign an autograph. Or ten. I can’t remember how many they asked for. And I think you should know that they also asked how they should deliver it, and I told them they could go through the gate by right field. But I shouldn’t have assumed that would be fine. I overstepped.”
Eddie reached into one of the pizza boxes and pulled off a pepperoni. She had done a kind thing, and that had gotten lost in his anger. “Thanks, Bianca.”
She bobbed her head. “You’re welcome. Now, if you want to tell me what all that was all about”—she lifted a pepperoncini out and pointed to where Roger and Gregory remained, red faced and muttering to one another—“you might feel better. I mean, I’m pretty sure listening comes free with your pizza order.”
“You must have used some special coupon. Or is it only because you’re the Bia Pearl?”
She picked up two boxes of pizza and then stacked them on top of a third. “Definitely option one.”
She patted the bench beside her.
Eddie found himself sitting and leaning his elbows onto his thighs. “Maybe Roger was right. I should have already told the kids that the grant had been previously denied.”
She pulled apart two slices and put them into two empty boxes. “Does that man spend much time with these kids?”
Eddie took another bite of pizza. “Hardly. Both he and the mayor are here for themselves.”
Her knee bumped against his leg. “Then why are you letting him get inside your head? It’s not like you aren’t currently working on another path that can help get the kids more funds for their youth center, right?”
Roger had also guaranteed Eddie not just money but an entire youth center. “Maybe you’re right.”
Could he trust Roger? For that matter, could he trust Bianca or Gregory? What Eddie really needed was to trust God’s timing. However, that was easier said than done.
Bianca put her fingers around her ear and leaned toward him. “I’m sorry, did you say I was right?”
Of course the woman was cute when she smirked.
Eddie swiped his finger in some pizza sauce and dotted it on her cheek.
Her eyes bugged. “You dirty dog.”
Eddie chuckled. “I was afraid your head was getting too big. It was about to float away. Had to hurry and weigh it down.”
Bianca reached for a napkin. “Bet you did.”
He stretched around her and swiped all the napkins.
She grabbed for them, but Eddie jerked them above his head.
She gave him a saucy look. “I think pizza makes you feisty.”
“No one has ever called me feisty. But you”—he handed her the napkins—“were gutsy when you sent Scarlette to second.”
She wiped the sauce off her cheek and balled up the napkin. “That gutsy decision started the rally that saved us the game.”
Eddie leaned closer, not wanting any of his players to hear. “You had our worst slider going in for a squeeze play and one of my strongest hitters on deck.”
Bianca dropped her forehead into her palm. “These are things I would have known if I’d been to more than one practice.”
“Next one’s Tuesday. I mean, you don’t have to. You’re busy and…”
And the truth was, she wasn’t actually a part of his or the kids’ lives. He wasn’t sure what made her prettier—the smirk earlier or her genuine smile now.
“It’s a team date. Speaking of…” She pulled out her phone. “Mind taking a picture?”
Reality sank in his stomach. This was not a potential assistant coach before him. Not a real friend, or anything more, no matter what his heart had done earlier when she’d smirked. All he could do was nod his head once.
She scooted over and rested her shoulder against his. Her cheek next to his.
Eddie swallowed.
She held up the phone. “Say ‘baseball’…”
A bee buzzed by and hovered by her face for a minute.
“Eddie. Let’s get one where you’re looking too.”
He took his eye off the bee and smiled. After she’d taken the pictures, she swiped through them. She paused on the one when the bee must have flown close. In the photo, Eddie didn’t appear to be watching a bee but rather Bianca.
He looked like a man who wasn’t faking anything.
A call popped up on her phone with an unknown number.
Bianca hit ignore.
“Spam callers even have famous actresses’ numbers too?”
She dropped her phone into her lap. “I’m not that famous. And they do when they’re my ex who can’t take a hint.”
Foot, meet mouth. Eddie wiped a napkin over his lips. Her ex had been tried in a big jury case, but Eddie hadn’t followed it. Something possibly about fraud?
She stood and pocketed her phone. “One of the things I hate about acting is how my life is picked apart. From my past relationships to how I supposedly lied on the stand. But trust me, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
He rose to his feet. “It’s none of my business, but he shouldn’t be bothering you…Hold on, is he angry with you? Could he be behind the car accident yesterday? Even the building? Or he saw you and me and assumed…got jealous?”
Bianca stared at her phone. “There’s no way he’d jeopardize…” She shook her head. “No. He’s already moved on to another woman. Some heiress to her father’s company. I should have known he’d only been after my money, but I haven’t always made wise decisions when it comes to men.”
Eddie fisted the napkin in his palm. “You’re definitely more than money.”
She gave him a closed-mouth smile. “Says the man who made a deal with me.”
It was more with the mayor than her, but she wasn’t exactly wrong. Her donations and help fundraising remained a huge bonus in his decision. “That’s not fa?—”
“Fair?” She raised her brow. “What’s not fair is that my accounts were frozen along with Nathan’s when he was indicted. I spoke the truth under oath and was labeled a liar. When I told everyone in an interview that I’d decided to follow Jesus, they said I was only doing it to clear my name and conscience for lying. When Nathan was found not guilty, all his accounts were released. Yet mine are strangely almost empty. And no one seems to believe me. So I’m stuck trying to regain my finances through a horrible movie contract.”
Eddie blinked. People had called her a liar just because she’d said she followed the Lord? He needed to say something. Encourage her. “Then you probably shouldn’t be wasting money on overpriced pizza.”
Based on her scowl, that wasn’t the best thing to have said.
“Coach B, come and time us,” Scarlette called from the bottom of the blow-up slide.
Bianca walked around him.
Eddie grabbed her hand, and she stilled.
He released his touch. “That didn’t come out right.” He met her gaze. “I’m sorry your interview didn’t go well, but I’m impressed by your boldness for the truth, and if Nathan ever comes around, call the police. Or me.”
She simply nodded.
What would it be like if those he rescued called him a liar for following Christ?
He fell in step behind her, and when they neared the team, Bianca held out her phone. “Who am I timing first?”
Scarlette grabbed her phone. “It’s the coaches’ turn to race.”
Bianca waved her hand in front of her. “No, I don’t think we should…”
Eddie lifted the bill of his baseball cap. “She’s right. I’d probably win anyway.”
Both Bianca’s and Lincoln’s mouths popped open.
But it was Scarlette who set her fist on her hip. “You gonna let him get away with that?”
Scout took Eddie’s phone. “On your mark, get set, g?—”
Bianca dashed up the steps.
Eddie pulled her back.
“Hey!” Bianca pushed on his chest, but instead of going down, they both managed to make it to the top of the blow-up slide while only slipping twice.
Bianca laughed and panted until her attention locked on something below. “Oh.” She scooted back. “It’s higher than I thought it would be.”
She was scared of heights? “I thought I read that you do your own stunts.”
He refrained from rolling his eyes. Now she’d know he’d researched her a little after the night of the masquerade. And after Zack had mentioned her interview about Christianity. But she only stared at the ground.
She curled her knees up toward her chest. “Sometimes I do. But it doesn’t mean I don’t freak out right before those high stunts. I know the Lord is always with me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t ever get hurt.”
Wasn’t that the truth. Eddie laced his fingers around hers. “Come on. Together. One, two, three.”
Bianca didn’t move but released her grip. “You go ahead.”
Eddie scooted over closer to her. “And hear how you let me win? Never.”
He got a side smile out of her then. He offered his hand, and she put hers into his. “I won’t let you fall.”
She laughed then. “I’m so silly. It’s a slide and an irrational fear.”
Eddie shrugged. “But God’s here for it. So am I.”
Instead of smiling brighter, her face went slack. “Thanks, Eddie, for being such a good guy.”
A good guy. That should’ve been a compliment. Except he couldn’t help but hear one of his old foster brother’s words when they were younger: Good guys have no fun. No life.
That comment had come right before Eddie had found his teen self behind bars.
Bianca smiled over at him. But it looked…fake. Shouldn’t be surprising. She was an actress. “Okay. I’m ready.”
An actress who acted out their relationship for not only the kids but also the world.
“One, two, three.” Bianca shoved off, and Eddie trailed behind.
“Coach B won!”
“I’m next.”
“No, I am.”
Both Scout and Tank raced up the steps and tumbled down the slide together. Tank landed on top of Scout before leaping off the slide. But Scout didn’t get up. He lay there, holding his hand.
“Ah, Coach.” Will frowned. “I think Scout’s hurt.”
Tank shook his head. “He’s faking because I beat him.”
Scarlette raced over and pried her brother’s hand off the top of his other one. She gasped. “His pinkie’s bent weird.”
Eddie’s knee landed in the grass in front of Scout, and he inspected the pinkie. It was as he’d feared. “I’m so stupid.”
Bianca squatted beside Scout. “Accidents happen.”
“Not if I’d put a stop to all this extravagance when it got here. This never would have happened.”
Bianca jerked back as if she’d been struck.
Great. Both hangry and whatever word meant upset and angry together.
He’d probably been too harsh, but right now he had to get all the boys safely home and Scout to the hospital.
He pointed to the team. “Get everything loaded up. Tank, help Scout to my truck.”
Scout grimaced. “My legs still work, Coa?—”
“Scarlette, get in the truck too. All the rest of you wait in the dugout. I’ll call Zack. He’ll make sure you all get taken home.”
Of course tonight would be one of the only nights Scout and Scarlette’s grandmother had volunteered at the women’s shelter and missed a game.
Bianca stood. “I’ll wait with them.”
Pain etched across Scout’s face as he took another step, Tank and Scarlette beside him.
Eddie grabbed his phone back from Jacob. “Scratch that. I’m calling the crew. The ambo team will be quicker.”
Bianca stepped in front of Eddie. “It will be quicker if you take Scout. The ambulance may be clear across town. I can help watch the team. I’m right here.”
“You’re right. You are.” And he wasn’t sure if that was turning out to be a bigger problem. He needed to fix this situation before his team—and possibly his heart—got hurt too.