21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Koa
Keeping my head in the game is almost impossible, not after Eleanor’s call this morning.
She’s been more help than the lawyer I pay to keep me apprised of things, but she’s never really a bundle of good news.
Dad was attacked in jail. He’ll survive, but he’s in a secured ICU with tubes and lines, and now I’m not so sure spending time out in public is a good idea.
What if whoever Dad is going against comes after Katie?
Or Spencer or the other guys? Or Evalina and Dustin?
The crack of a bat brings me back to the little league game.
Evalina stands and screams with joy as Dustin rounds first and makes it to second.
The kid’s speed picks up every time I see him play, and with the summer camp just a few weeks away, I can’t imagine how good he’ll be next season.
I clap but can’t seem to put my worry far enough in the background to be excited.
Eleanor sitting beside us doesn’t help me forget, either.
How awkward to sit beside one woman who, beyond my wildest imagination could let me in, let me fall wholly in love with her, and build a future together, while on the other side is my hired babysitter.
Eleanor nudges me and leans in. “Your smile seems broken and Dustin is looking at you.”
I plaster one on and give him a wave. He grins and refocuses on the game at hand.
“Believe it or not, I’m good at my job. When I say you and Katie are safe, I mean it.” Eleanor’s big brown eyes connect with mine, and I can’t miss the sincerity there. How can she be so sure of that while my father sits in a hospital bed after a brutal beating?
“How do you even know that for sure?” I whisper so Evalina isn’t distracted from watching the game, but also because this is not something I want her to worry about. I have to make decisions though, and putting her son at risk is not an option.
She presses her lips together and looks away. “I have connections. I can’t say more than that, but I assure you that you and everyone you care for are safe.”
I want to press her for more, but it’s clear this is where the conversation ends. She’s a wall, completely impenetrable.
Rather than press, I shift my thoughts to something else, namely the upcoming meeting between Evalina and Andrew’s sister.
It seems like a done deal, provided Evalina agrees, but things always seem to go wrong just when they’re about to go right here lately—my father included.
I hate not knowing what the truth is or how this will end, but evidently it doesn’t matter how rich and famous I am, secret operations are shockingly secret.
Another inning passes while I sit like a sour lemon beside the most amazing woman on the planet. She screams for every kid who gets even a nip at the ball, encourages them from her seat with whistles and chants even more than their own parents.
Dustin is up at the plate again, so I commit to the moment, be all in and forget my worries for now.
He takes a few practice swings then bears down into his stance just like I showed him.
The pitcher is nervous, knows he’s throwing to a player who knows what he’s doing, and it weakens his throw.
Dustin’s bat connects with the ball and it sails.
No doubt about it, this is a home run, and the bases are loaded.
The kid is about to experience something few players ever will: a grand slam, and he’s only eight.
I leap to my feet and cheer as the ball sails out of the field.
Dustin rounds the bases with his teammates, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of anyone in my life.
Evalina jumps up and down, tears streaming down her face while Eleanor hollers go Tadpoles at the top of her lungs.
If nothing else can be said of my babysitter, I can say she goes all in, all the time.
“I can’t believe it!” Evalina grasps my forearm, smile wide as it can possibly go. “That’s all because of your help, you know?”
“Nah, kid had it in him already. He just needed a little confidence—”
And she kisses me. Smack on the mouth in front of God, Eleanor, the parents, and everyone. Then she gasps and steps back.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She covers her mouth even as her eyes go wider. Frankly, I can’t believe she did it either, but it’s nothing for her to worry about. If anything, it gave me the confidence boost I need to see this thing home.
I lean in so only she hears. “Don’t be sorry. It was welcome.”
“There are children present,” she squeaks, still covering her mouth like she’s gotta stop it from getting away from her again.
A light chuckle escapes that I couldn’t hold back if I wanted. “Sometime, Lina, there won’t be any children around and you can do that all you want.”
“Mom, did you see that?” Dustin bombards us in the stands, crawling over his teammates’ parents and everyone else who’s come to watch the Tadpoles. I’ve never seen a kid so excited, nor so loved in all my life.
“I did! That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! We’re going to have a party for the team after the game. Sound good?”
“Yes!” Dustin runs off to tell his team about the party that I’m sure was an on-the-whim idea. The kids cheer and surround him, bringing back memories of my own little league days.
“You’re gonna need some help with that party.
Mind if I join?” Eleanor peeks around me, kind of ruining the moment, but there is no missing the desperation in her tone.
Could it be that Eleanor Dawson wants a friend?
I hadn’t thought of how lonely her life might be with three overbearing brothers, working with a slew of men she can’t date, constantly cleaning up other people’s messes.
Now I feel awful for thinking of her as a babysitter.
Evalina laughs and nods. “Yes, please. I did not think that through before I made the offer. Good thing I didn’t pack up the rest of the shop yet.” Her eyes drift from Eleanor to me, and her smile softens. “Are you coming, too? Dustin will want you there.”
“Just Dustin?” I arch an eyebrow, ready to dig a hole or get confirmation.
“Me too,” she whispers, cheeks blooming with color.
I take my chance, lean in, and kiss her forehead. “Then I’ll be there.”
The boys’ locker room is, quite possibly, the most rowdy I’ve ever heard a locker room.
That’s saying something, all things considered.
Coach gives a short speech and commends the boys for working together.
Once he finishes, talk of a party takes center stage.
Dustin slips free from his friends and corners me just as I’m headed out the door.
“Mr. Keaton, wait a minute, please. Can I talk to you?” He approaches me with a stiff back, a firm expression, and an all-business tone.
“Mr. Keaton? What happened to Koa?” I tease.
“Koa is my friend, but this isn’t a talk between friends.” Dustin’s lower lip quivers, but I’ll give him credit, he’s holding himself well for a kid addressing an adult about something big. Whatever he’s got to say is important enough for him to be a man about it, and it’s got my attention.
I shut the door and motion toward Coach’s empty office. Once inside, I take a seat and give him my attention.
“I saw my mom kiss you at the game,” he admits.
“Oh.” I lower my gaze to gather my thoughts. I haven’t even spoken to her about it, not more than teasing, so it’s difficult to explain it to Dustin.
“Do you like my mom? I mean, not like a friend.” His stance is still stiff, and I know whatever comes from this conversation will make or break his confidence, not only in baseball, but in men altogether.
“I do,” I admit.
“I’m pretty sure she like you, too, but she’s probably scared. I think that’s why she went on a date with that bad guy.”
“Do you?”
“Maybe. I mean, I’m a kid so I’m not sure, but I know she wasn’t excited to go on the date. Not like she is when we’re coming to spend time with you. She smiles a lot when you’re around.” Dustin lowers his gaze, finally unable to keep eye contact with me. “She doesn’t smile like that much.”
“What do you mean?”
He frowns, shuffles around a bit, and finally gives in. “She smiles a lot, but it’s not like that. She’s trying to make me think everything is okay, and I know it isn’t. If you married my mom, she’d be happy. Like really happy, and not just pretend to make me happy.”
“Dustin, I—”
“If you like her, why can’t you just marry her?” Desperation drips from his tone, like the kid is clinging to his last hope for something good, something happy, a family he can put his trust in.
“It isn’t that easy.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t just meet someone, decide you like them, and get married. That’s not how it works, Dustin. You have to build a relationship, get to know—”
“What about arranged marriages?”
What? Who on earth has been explaining life to this child? I try not to chuckle, but the idea of arranged marriage is clearly outside of his scope of understanding.
His frown deepens.
“Mom watches a lot of movies about books like Pride and Prejudice or something like that. They’re always setting people up for getting married in a week. Why can’t you do that if you like each other?”
Oh man, how do I even begin to explain this to a child?
One who isn’t mine? I have no right to give him the basics of life and love and marriage, but he’s standing here in front of me, practically begging me to marry his mother.
On the surface, one might think it’s kind of cute, but there’s a storm raging in this boy’s eyes that speaks to much more.
“Come here, Dustin. Sit beside me.” He shuffles to sit on the bench seat beside me, defeated as he can be.
That won’t do after hitting a grand slam, but there is no way I can promise him that his mother and I will marry.
Less than a month ago, the woman pelted me with hot donuts and likely would have been happy to see me walk into traffic.
“I really need you to know how much I care about you. I think you are the greatest kid around, and I’m so proud of you. You did an amazing thing today, and you should be focused on that. I’m pretty sure your mother would agree that things between adults should stay between adults.”
Defeat darkens his mood further.
“But,” I add, “I can promise you that I will respect and support your mom as much as she’ll let me. I do care for her, too, but I can’t make promises. She has a heart and a mind of her own, and there is no way I can force her to love me, kiddo.”
“Do you love her?” he presses.
I chuckle. “Don’t take this the wrong way, kid, but that isn’t something for us to discuss right now. Your mom and I have some talking to do, but anything between us is something for her to talk to you about, not me, okay?”
“I guess so.” His mumble says he most certainly does not.
“All right. Let’s go to this party and celebrate that grand slam because I want some donuts.”
Dustin plasters on a smile, one I am sure he learned from his mother because it’s fake as can be, and shuffles out the door a little wiser about all things love, whether he likes what he learned or not.