CHAPTER SEVEN
Playing with the boys seemed to have quelled Mitch’s anger. He was now in full uncle mode and had worked up a little sweat running around with the boys. They had set up a makeshift baseball field using random items from the yard as bases.
“Okay, whose team am I on?” Maggie kicked off her flip-flops and headed toward the “field.”
The boys looked at each other and said in unison, “Uncle Mitch’s.”
“I see my athletic prowess is once again going unappreciated.”
Maggie was surprised when Mitch laughed out loud.
God, his smile was amazing. It left her momentarily speechless.
She’d had a major paradigm shift after learning more about him and the struggles he was having dealing with Jimmy’s death.
She was a sucker for a cause but couldn’t let on she felt sorry for him. He still thought she was mad.
“That wouldn’t be fair to have two adults on one team.” She glared at Mitch. “Come on, Toby, we’ll take them on.”
“Okay,” Toby said. “You and I will bat first.”
“You sure you shouldn’t be on the injured reserve list?” Mitch asked, glancing down at her bandaged knees. One bandage was on the verge of falling off, weighed down by too much antibiotic ointment.
“The boys did a great job fixing me up,” she said loud enough for the boys to hear and in a tone that let him know not to say anything more about their patch job.
“You boys did that?” He nodded toward her legs, then continued to stare at them, making her self-conscious.
“Yeah, we were practicing first aid,” Toby boasted.
“Well, when we’re done here, how about I give you a few pointers?”
“Sure, Uncle Mitch. Okay.”
As they played, Mitch became more and more animated. He let his guard down and acted somewhat friendly. Maggie was waiting on first base while the boys chased Coco around the yard, trying to get the stolen ball back. He wandered over and after an awkward moment of silence, blurted out his apology.
“Look, I’m sorry about this afternoon. Sometimes I can be a real jackass.
I’m working on it, but sometimes, well, I mean, that’s no excuse, but…
” He was bumbling through it, and it was so endearing she had to fight back a smile.
It had probably taken a lot for him to work his way over here.
Pride was a hard pill to swallow. She could tell it was a big deal for him to admit he was wrong and say he was sorry.
She decided to put him out of his misery. “Apology accepted.”
He sighed and smiled. “Thanks.”
Ten minutes later, he was carrying her up the back steps, her ankle throbbing.
She’d twisted it tripping on a squirt gun while trying to catch a fly ball.
This wasn’t her first rodeo, though, and she could tell it wasn’t too bad.
She just couldn’t put any weight on it at the moment.
Mitch set her on the counter next to the refrigerator and opened the freezer in search of ice.
“I could’ve walked. You didn’t have to do that,” Maggie complained, though she had to admit, being in his arms wasn’t the worst feeling in the world. He’d picked her up like she didn’t weigh a thing.
“Oh, geez, what happened?” Jenny rushed over. “Did you fall?”
“It was faster this way,” Mitch replied. “You should get some ice on it ASAP.” He carefully lifted her leg and placed a frozen bag of peas on her swelling ankle.
The boys had followed them in and wore matching sheepish looks. “It was our fault, Mom,” Toby confessed. “She tripped on a toy we left in the yard.”
It was obvious they were sorry. “Tell Aunt Maggie you’re sorry, and then go pick up the backyard,” she scolded gently.
“We’re super sorry, Aunt Mags,” Toby muttered. Jack looked close to tears.
“Hey, guys, don’t worry about me. You know I could trip on a paper clip. It wasn’t your fault.” She smiled to let them know she didn’t blame them.
They perked up at that. “Okay. We’ll be back to do more first aid in a sec.” They ran out the back door to do as their mother had asked. “You got this, Uncle Mitch?”
The door slammed behind them.
“Yeah, I got this,” he said with a chuckle. “So, this is the second fall you’ve taken today. Perhaps you should take it easy for the rest of the evening.”
“Yeah, probably. Right after I light the grill and sharpen the knives, I’ll take it easy.” He laughed out loud again. She liked the sound of it.
Jenny laughed, too. “Adam, maybe you should start the grill? Mitch looks like he has his hands full. Mitch, keep her away from the knives, okay?”
Adam and Jenny headed out to start the burgers. The boys came back inside and ran off to get the first aid supplies again while Mitch moved Maggie to the couch so he could show the boys how to put a bandage on properly.
He was so good with them. Patiently answering their questions and helping them redo the bandages over and over until they were just right.
She was very conscious of him. His hands were warm, and his touch light.
After a while, she leaned back and closed her eyes while they tended to her.
Her scrapes weren’t that bad, but it gave the boys some good first aid practice.
“All done, Aunt Mags. You’re all fixed up now,” Jack announced proudly.
“Thanks, guys. Great job. That feels so much better.”
Both boys beamed.
The rest of the evening progressed without injury or verbal assault.
There was a little tension, but everyone was on their best behavior.
The burgers turned out perfectly, and everyone loved the brownies.
The conversation revolved mostly around the boys and their upcoming baseball season and spring break plans.
No one mentioned that the anniversary of Jimmy’s death was also looming. Maggie knew Jenny didn’t want to be home for that particular day and was glad the boys’ spring break happened to fall that same week. Hopefully, the beach house would serve as a distraction for them.
When Maggie mentioned the need to call a cab, Adam offered to drive her home, and she gratefully accepted. He even agreed to stop by the store so she could let the dogs out for a minute. They said their thank yous and goodbyes and left.
***
Mitch helped Jenny put the boys to bed and then went to the kitchen to start the clean-up.
“We don’t need to do this now,” she said. “I’ll get it in the morning. Let’s just sit?”
“Sounds good.” He grabbed his half-empty beer, and she refilled her wineglass before heading outside to the porch. The night air was chilly, so she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders before sitting down next to him.
After learning what he’d been going through at work, she figured he didn’t need any more psychoanalyzing and decided to forgo her plan to have an in-depth conversation into his “issues” and kept things light. “So, what do you think of Maggie?”
“She’s a klutz. And a goody two shoes. Do you know what she said when she fell in the backyard? ‘Son of a biscuit!’ What the hell does that even mean?”
Jenny gave him a mock look of surprise and laughed. “She’s the sweetest thing. She doesn’t care that others swear but rarely does it herself. It’s just the way she was raised.”
“The boys seem to really like her.”
Realizing what he was doing, she let him off the hook. They chitchatted a while longer, and then he got up to leave. She kissed him on the cheek and told him to be safe. He smiled in return and told her to lock the door behind him.