Chapter 3
THREE
LEE
“How’s the neck?” I walked up to Adrian as the team came off the field and headed toward the locker room.
He’d pitched a shutout and stayed on the mound for all nine innings, despite wavering a little at the end.
A couple of guys got on base at the end of the ninth, but Silas had let him finish since we’d had a five-run lead.
I’d laughed at Adrian’s full-body exhale when Chris, our catcher, had caught a pop-up for the last out. I suspected that relief was twofold, both from not letting his team down and showing his best to whoever was in the stands to see him today.
“Good,” he said, rolling his shoulders. “Got a little interesting at the end, but Chris got me out of it.”
“You got yourself out of it,” Silas said, coming up behind us to slap him on the back while he kept stride with Adrian. “Don’t lose that focus you had today.”
Adrian snuck a look to me, raising his brow. I hoped he’d be as successful after the game too.
My mind was on a woman in the stands today as well.
I racked my brain for reasons why Stella had dropped everything to move back to New York.
She’d never stayed in one place for more than a couple of weeks at a time, working freelance and traveling all across the country.
She’d moved in with her boyfriend in Ohio about a year ago, but from what I knew, she still spent most of her time on the road.
Both Stella and Gary had bounced from place to place on a consistent basis since they’d graduated from college. Gary’s military career dictated his next stop, and I’d lost count of all the moves he’d made since he’d enlisted.
They’d always been restless, thriving on travel and always moving around somewhere, although Gary had seemed more grounded since he’d gotten married.
If I hadn’t met Katie in college, I might have lived the same way.
Although, was my life that much different?
I traveled all the time for work too, although not as much as they did, and had given up my apartment when I’d lost Katie, to move in with my family.
I’d become a permanent guest in the house I’d grown up in, along with my daughter, although it was the only home Bennie had ever known.
“Good luck,” I leaned in to tell Adrian in a low whisper, tapping his arm.
“Thanks,” he said, a shy smile lifting his cheeks. “And hey, you too. I heard you had a visitor.” The corner of his mouth tipped up as he made his way into the locker room before I could reply.
Silas stepped in front of me, his eyes narrowed.
“Good luck? For what?”
“Do you have supersonic hearing or something?”
“Yes. I have to around here,” Silas said, coughing out a laugh. “Nate told me that a very attractive woman came looking for you before the game.”
“Seriously?” I said. “Does that guy ever stop moving his mouth?”
“Says the guy who used to be on my case all the time to get a life.” He quirked a brow. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not. It’s Stella. I believe you met her at Katie’s…”
Her funeral had been five years ago, and yet I still had trouble saying the word.
Silas shut his eyes and nodded. Whenever I brought up Katie, if there was something I had to say or couldn’t say, he’d simply nod and wait for me to finish.
“She has a brother in the army. You all met when you were kids, right?”
“Teenagers, yeah. She’s usually on the road for work, but she moved back to New York and wanted to surprise me at the game.”
“I think Nate had his hopes up for a better story than that.” Silas’s shoulders shook with a chuckle. “When he said she leaped into your arms, I was curious myself.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned against the wall. “I gave her a hug. She didn’t leap. You know how Nate is.”
“I do,” Silas said with a slow nod.
Even if I wouldn’t admit it, I understood how Nate may have gotten the wrong impression. My jaw had dropped when I’d seen Stella, and I’d scooped her into a fierce hug that probably looked a lot more than friendly, but I was just that happy to see her.
Had I realized how attractive she was over the years? Absolutely, but I’d kept those thoughts to myself.
Even though we’d all been kids, I could still remember meeting Stella’s gaze for the first time. Her golden eyes were striking, but when she became excited about something, they glowed. They’d been captivating enough to be unnerving at first.
Stella was a good friend—and a good friend’s little sister—making her double off-limits. Too much would be at risk if I’d let myself think of her as anything more than that.
I’d meant what I said about needing a friend right now.
I had no idea what to do and no one to talk to about it.
Speaking to my sister would only make her feel even guiltier about leaving, and for the first time since I’d become a single parent, I felt like I was in this alone. It was both frustrating and terrifying.
“Hey!” A familiar voice wafted from the hallway. Rachel, Silas’s wife, scurried up to him and flung her arms around his neck.
“Good game, Coach,” she said as Silas smiled down at her, giving her a quick peck on the lips.
I laughed to myself before I looked away. Silas had been a quiet brooder before he’d met Rachel. He was still stern and stoic on the field with the guys he managed, just as he’d been when he’d played, but he lit up whenever he was around his wife.
“I missed the first couple of innings because I had a meeting with my editor, but Stella filled me in.” Rachel nodded behind me.
I craned my neck to find Stella at my side.
“She told me you texted her that you had a friend in her section today,” Stella said, peering up at me, her lips curving up.
“She gave me the scoop on how to enjoy the good seats. Thanks for the upgrade. Again, good flex.” She pinched my bicep.
“You didn’t have to cover my food and drinks, though. The seats were enough.”
“What kind of VIP treatment would that be if you had to pay?”
“Hi, Stella,” Silas said. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too. I enjoyed hanging out with your wife today.”
“She’s one of my readers too,” Rachel told Silas in a loud whisper, smiling at Stella.
“Is that right? So am I,” he said, kissing the top of Rachel’s head.
Rachel wrote romance as R.M. Dioro, but her pen name had been blown along with her real identity when compromising pictures of her and Silas had hit the internet.
They’d been trying to keep their relationship private because the company where Rachel worked at her day job had done PR for the Bats at the time, and she’d ended up losing that job when they were found out.
When all the chaos had settled, getting caught had let them be together out in the open. I was thrilled to see my friend finally happy, thrilled enough that it almost muted the ache of loneliness that got to me whenever I was around them both.
“Hey, everyone,” Nate said, strolling out of the locker room and wiping the back of his neck with a towel. “Nice to see you, Rachel. And nice to see you again, Stella.” He flashed Stella a wide grin when he met her gaze. “Hope you enjoyed the game.”
“Yes. Congrats on the win.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. “‘Would it be weird if I asked you both for your autographs for a friend of mine? I can’t brag about being behind the scenes without a little proof.”
Stella met my gaze with a grimace, chewing on her bottom lip. The movement of her mouth distracted me for a second before I nodded, pushing a smile across my lips as I blinked away whatever the hell had come over me to fixate on my friend’s mouth.
“Absolutely,” Nate said, taking the paper from her and leaning it against the wall to scribble on it. “Here, Coach,” he said, handing the paper to Silas while he drew his shoulder back with a groan.
Silas and I shared a quick look as he took the paper from Nate’s hand. I worked on Nate all the time and he seemed to be in great shape after his shoulder surgery last season, but both of us watched him like a hawk to make sure he wasn’t pushing through pain.
“I’m fine,” he said, breathing out a sigh. “Going in the sauna tonight, and I promise to do all my stretches.” He held up a hand.
“We didn’t say anything,” Silas said, handing the paper back to Stella.
“Nope. I think you’re paranoid,” I joked, searching his face for any winces of pain.
“You two need to get better with the telepathy.” Nate waved his finger between us. “It’s a little obvious.” He rolled his eyes. “I’d tell you if anything is wrong, I swear.” He shook his head and turned to Stella. “Again, pleasure to meet you, Stella.”
I took a protective step closer to Stella on instinct.
Gary and I would get in between Stella and jerks who tried to hit on her in our younger days, but she hadn’t needed our misguided protection.
I wasn’t sure what had made me get between her and Nate now, the same as I couldn’t figure out why I had taken such an interest in whatever her teeth had been doing to her lip a minute ago.
I pressed my temple as if that would reset my warped brain.
Stella smiled back at Nate, unaffected by either of us.
“It was a great game. Three for four and two home runs,” Rachel said. “Nice to have you back, Nate.” She wrapped her arms around Silas’s torso. “My sister told me to tell you hi if I saw you.”
“Thank you. And tell her I said hi back.” He winked. “I will recover tonight and enjoy my day off tomorrow. You all have a good evening.”
He shifted toward the locker room, throwing me a smirk over his shoulder before he went back in.
“Nice guy,” Stella whispered to me. “A little cocky, though, right?”
“You should have seen him last year,” Silas said, exhaling a long breath.
“But I’m thankful he’s back, cocky asshole or not.
If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take my wife home and enjoy my day off tomorrow.
Make sure you do the same.” He nodded at me before leading Rachel down the long hallway toward the offices.
“I have to admit, VIP treatment is pretty cool.” Stella swept her gaze over the hallway.
“If you’d come to visit me in Washington, I could’ve set you up the same way. Wayne Field was built a few years ago, so everything is a little more high-tech. And the seats behind home plate are extra-luxury here. New York has nothing but the best, and this place has a billionaire to fund it all.”
She nodded. “I can see that. I’m excited to live here again. Or I will be when I figure out where exactly I’m going to live.” She let go of a long sigh and shrugged.
“So what do you do at the senior center?” I asked, snickering while Stella glowered back at me.
“I’ve been hanging out with Mom and her friends. We play bingo sometimes. It’s relaxing, I guess. Although the ladies there are a little cutthroat when they play.”
“So that’s why you’re back? To play bingo with your mother on a Friday afternoon?”
“I did come back to see her more, but I didn’t have a real plan. I still don’t.” Her gaze drifted while her chest rose and fell with a slow breath.
I turned and stepped in front of her. “Not going to lie, Stell. You have me a little worried.”
“Please don’t be. I’m fine now,” she whispered, almost to herself.
“You’re fine now? That’s not helping.”
“Lee, stop. It’s a long story.”
“Well, for the next few hours, I have nothing but time to hear it. Where are you parked?”
“I took the train since I didn’t know what parking would be like. Plus, I need to get acclimated as a New Yorker again.” She popped her brows. “Nothing like a subway ride to bring it all back.”
“I’m sure,” I said, searching her gaze. “There’s a good Italian place up the block. We can walk there, and I’ll take you home later.”
“Sounds great. Are you sure you don’t have to be home for Bennie?”
“I let my sister know I had plans with you so she can put her to bed for me. Although since tomorrow is a school conference and she’s off, she’ll probably be up when I get home. I have plenty of time to find out whatever it is you’re telling me I shouldn’t be worried about.”
I arched a brow.
“Will you let me buy dinner since you didn’t let me pay for anything here?”
“Nope,” I said, popping the p.
The corner of her mouth tipped up when her gaze snagged on mine. I dropped my head, averting my eyes from her mouth again.
Stella was pretty, and I was worried about her. Whatever reaction I was having was from protective and human feelings, nothing more.
I didn’t have time for more, even if a woman weren’t double off-limits. I didn’t have time for anything since dinner with a friend would be a rare luxury in the future without live-in babysitters.
“Hey,” Stella said, “where did you go just now?”
“Nowhere. Sorry, Stell. I have…a lot on my mind.”
“You said. Or hinted at,” she said, examining my face while we made our way up the block to the restaurant. “How late is this place open?” she joked when we came up to the door. “Sounds like we have a lot to cover.”
She turned toward me, her eyes glowing as they flicked up to mine. It brought me back to a different time, when the three of us came together over tragedy and yet life was a hell of a lot simpler than it was now.
I was worried about Stella, worried about my daughter and putting her through another adjustment—one she was old enough to remember this time—and worried about making it even worse because I had no plan.
“After you,” I said, pulling the door handle for her to walk ahead.
Her smile shrank as she nodded, something flitting across her face so fast, I almost didn’t catch it.
“If I’m going to live here, you can’t feed me every time. Next time is all me.” She poked my chest and stepped inside.
The word next had made my throat close up lately. Next week, next month, next year. Without a plan, next was a scary fucking word.
“We’ll see,” was all I told her as I followed her.
Having Stella here was already a relief. She’d known me long and well enough that I didn’t have to pretend everything was okay and I had it all handled, when I absolutely did not have a handle on anything.
And after having five years to figure it out, it was about time I did.