Chapter 13 Extra Innings
Chapter thirteen
Extra Innings
Godwin
How long would Derby wait for me? I couldn’t be in a relationship with him, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want him, miss him, care about him.
I wanted to make sure he knew that. It wasn’t fair to jerk him around, but I couldn’t let go, either.
I couldn’t stop regretting that email, and I had to do something, anything, to smooth things over a little.
I grabbed my tablet and headed for the front of the office. “Nancy, I’m going to be out of pocket for a bit. Text me if you have an emergency or anything.”
“Not likely,” she muttered as I headed out the door. I didn’t stop to ask her what she meant. I wanted to stay on track. First, I made a quick detour and loaded some equipment on the truck. Then I headed to my destination.
Derby’s mother’s home was a work of art.
I had worked more closely on it with the architect than I normally did.
I’d wanted it to be perfect. It could only be better if I’d designed it all by myself.
When I pulled up in the drive, I saw I was right.
It was time to mow the lawn for the first time, and I wanted to be the one to do it.
Because I wanted it done right. Because my own mother would want me to.
Because I wanted Derby to know I still cared, even if I wasn’t with him.
I pulled the mower off my truck and made sure it had gas, then I cranked it up.
I didn’t want Derby’s mom worrying about the lawn, and I knew Derby would be gone a few days.
I’d barely made two passes when she came out of the house waving her arms. I killed the mower and wiped my brow with the back of my arm. It was mid-day and hot as hell out.
“I think you might have the wrong house, sir. I didn’t order yard work.” She looked a lot like Derby, or vice versa.
“No, I’m not a lawn service, but I know I have the right house, Ms. Ward.”
She glared, questioning me with one raised eyebrow, a look I’d seen a time or two from Derby. “Oh, Mr. Ellis. I didn’t recognize you. But what are you doing?”
“Derby will be away, and, uh...” How did I explain what this meant?
“Ahh...I see. This is all about Derby getting his britches in a knot over you.”
Maybe I didn’t need to explain at all. “I didn’t want you to worry about the lawn.”
“That’s sweet. Does Derby know you’re doing this?”
“Uh...no.”
Ms. Ward winked at me and smiled shyly. “Well, I appreciate it, and I’m sure he will too, but you would probably have more luck with him being direct.”
“Direct? Uh, no, uh...” I chewed at my bottom lip. This conversation was getting uncomfortable. “We’re not—”
“Hey,” she interrupted. “I’m not getting involved. Relax.” She held up her hands. “But I know how much he likes you. I saw how happy you made him.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say.
“Well, you did a great job on the house. I love it so much. It’s rapidly become home. And better than I’ve ever had before. I’m so happy he had you for that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But, uh, my time’s limited. I’d like to get back to this.” I gestured to the lawn and mower.
“I’ll let you do your thing, then. But, Mr—”
“It’s Godwin. Please.”
“Godwin. Let me know if you want to talk. About Derby, I mean.”
I nodded, though I didn’t think I’d ever talk to her about that. About him.
She went back in the house, and I set the throttle and yanked the cord.
The mower came to life with a rumble, and I concentrated on pushing straight lines across her grass.
I finished up and hit the side yard, then pushed the mower around to the back gate.
I opened it and pushed through. Ms. Ward was on the deck.
“Hey, Godwin. Take a break and get some water before you dehydrate. It’s hotter than, well, you know. ”
I stomped up the steps, knocking the grass off my boots and took the cold bottle she held out to me. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“No trouble at all.”
For a few minutes, I drank my water, and we stood on the porch together.
The silence was awkward and expectant. Finally, the words came, and I listened.
I was curious about what she would say, and maybe I needed to know more about Derby.
“So, Godwin. I’m gonna be honest with you.
Derby’s struggled. He’s not always the sharpest tool in the shed if you know what I mean. ”
“What? I...”
She held up her hands. “I’m his momma. I can say that.” She laughed a little. “It’s true to an extent. But he has common sense and determination. It’s the determination part I want to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” I’d already seen some of that.
“See, once my boy sets his mind on something, he does it. He gets what he wants. If he’s set his mind on you? Well, you’d be better off just giving in now.”
I chuckled. It seemed she wanted us together, even if she wasn’t getting involved. “Is that so?”
“That’s the way it is.” She held out her hand. “I think he’s set his mind on you, by the way he was moping around here the last time he was home.”
“I don’t know. I think I’ll end up hurting him.” I didn’t know why I revealed that. It must have been all the southern sweetness she was exuding.
“Well, I think that part is his decision to make. His risk. You have to decide if he’s worth taking the chance.
It’s a gamble on both sides. Always is. Sometimes you get burned.
Sometimes you burn someone else. Hurts either way, but the alternative is sitting alone every night.
Or spending your free time mowing some old lady’s yard. ”
I cracked up then. “Trust me, mowing your yard is not a hardship.”
“No. Not now. But what about a year from now?”
That last bit got me thinking. Would Derby and I still be in this limbo state a year from now? Would he have moved on? Would I?
Did I want to?
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about it, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want Derby moving on without me.
Ms. Ward took my empty water bottle, and I took a step toward the yard, but then I stopped and turned toward her. “Would you tell him...tell him...?”
“I think you should tell him yourself.”
I didn’t contact Derby. After my little talk with his mom, I saw that I needed to fix myself before I could have anything with him or anyone else. I needed to get my shit together before he was gone for good.
I spent the next few weeks researching schools and possibilities.
And thinking about Derby. I wanted him to be proud of me, but more importantly, I wanted to be proud of myself.
Not for running a business or making stupid matchstick houses.
That was all fine, but it was what I’d fallen into, not what I reached out to get.
I applied to a few schools. Most of them were online.
But I would still need help with the business, and I thought I had that figured out, too.
I jumped in my SUV and drove over to my brother’s house on a Friday afternoon.
I knew he let the team cut out early on Fridays, so most likely, he’d be there.
I knocked on the door and opened it. “Beau?”
“In here,” he answered.
I circled around to his kitchen and dining room area. He had the sliders open and was sitting on the porch with his eldest son, who worked with him at the truss company. They were enjoying a cold beer, and the dog was running around the yard like he’d lost his mind.
“What’s up, guys?”
Beau pushed out one of the chairs with his foot. “Have a sit, man.”
I nodded and relaxed in the chair as best I could, but I had shit on my mind. “Need to talk to you about something.”
His son, Deacon, stood to leave, but I put my hand up to stop him. “This involves you, too. Might as well stay.”
“Alright.” He sat back down and glanced at his father.
My older brother tended to be stern. He took after our dad a lot.
Everyone expected that he would take the company and run with it, but after a year at the helm, he turned it over to me and opened his own.
He said it felt right, and I didn’t argue.
Maybe I should have. Hindsight was often clearer than looking forward, though.
“What is it?” Beau asked, and I knew he would appreciate it if I got straight to the point.
“I want to step away from the business and work on something else.”
“On what?” he asked, while Deacon looked back and forth at us as if caught in the middle.
“I want to go back to school. I want to be an architect. It would add a lot to Ellis Homes, but I need help to do it.”
Beau laughed. I hadn’t seen him laugh like that in years.
“What?”
“Took you long enough.”
I gave him a stern look. “What do you mean?”
“I thought for sure you’d do this when your little house plans started selling. You’re talented, and that’s where your heart is. Riley Fuller says you’re as good as he is.” Fuller was the architect our firm used. “Especially that house you did for that baseball player.”
That surprised me. “So?” I’d worked on those matchstick houses for years, and even before that, I was always sketching plans and subscribing to architectural magazines, but I hadn’t known he’d seen me.
Hadn’t known Fuller had ever said anything to him about us working together on plans. I’d been wrong.
Beau leaned forward and set his beer on the center table. “So, how do you expect this to work? What’s your plan?”
“I’ll give you forty percent of the business to manage Ellis Homes while I’m in school. When I return, you keep the forty, but you can do what you want, keep on with managing all or part of the business or walk away. We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, Deacon can run Truss.”
“What makes you think Deacon wants to run Truss?”
I shrugged. I’d been counting on that, but if I was wrong, the plan would crumble. “Do you have a counteroffer?”
“I’m fucking old, Godwin. A few years ago, I might have jumped at this, but now...” He leaned back and propped his foot up on Deacon’s chair. “What do you say, Deac? You want to run Ellis Homes?”
My eyes widened, but Deacon’s widened more. “What?” he asked.
“I started the Truss company so I could take it easy. Building houses is a lot more complicated than supplying. I can run trusses in my sleep. But you’ve been to business school and shit.”
“I have an associate degree. That’s not nearly the same thing.” Deacon shook his head.
Beau snorted. “Eh. You’re smart. If Godwin shows you the ropes and gives you a decent transition period, you can do it fine. You have more education and experience than he did when he started.” He jutted a thumb at me. “And I’ll be here if you run into trouble.”
Deacon looked at me with pleading eyes. “Uh...okay?”
I hadn’t considered Deacon as my backup plan. Perhaps I should have. It wasn’t a bad idea, and I certainly trusted him. And I trusted Beau to help him. After all, he’d want his son to succeed. “Okay, I’ll give you thirty percent. Then if you want to stay on when I’m done, I’ll up it to forty.”
Deacon raised an eyebrow. “Thirty-five now and forty after.”
“Deal.” I stuck out my hand, and Deacon shook on it. Then Beau stuck his hand out, too. He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me toward him. He enveloped me in a weird side-hug. “You’re a good man, little bro. You’re going to be amazing.”
The last piece of my puzzle was Derby. How would that work?