I always do my best to avoid snap judgments when I first meet people, but, despite all of the commentary from Aaron and Chase, I wasn’t ready for the man I met at Concourse C. It had to be Harley Donaldson. There was no one else that looked remotely like a baseball player, other than a high school kid built like a rail. He could have been Mo if Mo was twenty years younger.

Most guys that I knew dressed up for their initial arrival in the city of the team that signed them to their first big league contract. After all, you never knew what press might be there. Photos on the sports page or ten seconds on the TV evening news were your first impressions for the fans.

Harley looked like he wasn’t concerned about any of that. He wore a weathered, red Indiana University T-Shirt that fit a little too tight across his broad chest. His jeans were tight, too. I tried to ignore the contours of his body while I reached out a hand, forced a smile, and said, “You must be Harley Donaldson. Welcome to Charlotte.”

Fortunately, the press were nowhere to be found. They had the good sense to avoid hanging around at airports past 11:30 p.m. Harley reached his hand out for the shake and glanced at my handwritten sign. His brow wrinkled in confusion. He said, “Hi to you, too. Did the team send you? Do you work in the front office? I didn’t expect anyone would recognize me here.” He glanced around and grinned. “I guess you’re the only one. Do you know the quickest route to the taxis to downtown?”

There was something endearing about his clueless nature. Apparently, Harley didn’t get the memo about his teammate picking him up at the airport. I released his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. It was solid and muscular. “I am the taxi. You don’t recognize me, do you?”

Harley cringed. “Oh, shit. I bet I should.” He opened his eyes wider. “You look a little young, but are you one of the coaches?”

I chuckled softly. “Me, a coach? Hopefully, not for another fifteen years at least. Aaron’s the only insanely young guy hanging out in the coach’s box. I play center field. The name’s Eric Hinsdale, and I forgive you.”

His head tilted to the right. “Forgive me?”

“For not studying up on the team.” I led him toward the escalator to the baggage claim with a slight push on the shoulder. “I do know about you. I talked to Chase and got the nitty-gritty. He might be a tough act to follow.”

“O’Rourke? Oh man, yeah. There’s nobody quite like him, but I’ll do my best.”

“You’ll be the third man playing right field in the last three weeks. It’s not like there’s any pressure or anything. Do you have some bags to pick up? I doubt you’ll get far with only that little backpack over your shoulder.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a suitcase.” As the escalator descended, Harley brushed a hand down over his T-Shirt like he was readying a fine suit for a meeting with the queen. “You might think it’s strange that I’m wearing this old shirt. Consider yourself lucky I ditched the cap. The shirt is about superstition, buddy. The lucky stuff’s always good for me.”

At least it had an explanation. I suspected I would see a lot more of the T-Shirt in the future. “Did they reserve a room for you at a hotel?”

Harley nodded. “Downtown. I’ve got the address on my phone.”

While we waited for the baggage carousel to kick into gear, Harley tugged a cell phone from his pocket. It was scuffed, and I thought it had to be vintage 2005. He started to poke at the screen. First, they were soft taps, and then he poked harder followed by a whispered, “Damn.”

After shoving the phone back in his pocket, Harley looked at me with a sheepish grin. “I guess I forgot to charge it, and I think I left the charger back in Chattanooga. Damn, I don’t have a clue where I’m spending the night. Is there somebody we can call in the team office?”

“At midnight? And by the looks of it, they probably stopped making new chargers for that phone ten years ago.” I pulled my phone with the custom Yellowjackets case from my pocket. “We can look up your email, and then we’ll know.”

Harley shook his head. “They told me over the phone, and I took a note on my cell.”

I pointed at the carousel as it switched into gear, smiled, and said, “I’ve got a spare couch if you don’t mind the morning sun and a view of downtown Charlotte.”

“Damn, that sounds nice.” I watched as Harley stepped forward and pulled a beat-up old hardshell black suitcase from the carousel.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah, my buddies are shipping the rest. I shared an apartment with three other players. I was still scraping by. You know how it is. It’s poverty level in the minors.”

I asked, “Do you want me to take something? I can pull the suitcase since you’ve got your backpack.”

“I think I’ve got it. Thanks anyway. Are we taking a cab, or do you have your own car?”

I grinned. “I’ve got my own.”

As Harley climbed into my Lexus after tossing his luggage in the trunk, he said, “Wow, this is slick. You weren’t kidding about having a car. I guess that cool half million goes a long way.”

I slipped into the driver’s seat and said, “I need a nice car. I’m not trying to impress anyone. Great cars are a family tradition. I’ve got a legacy to uphold. Is there anything passed down like that in your family?”

As I pulled onto the highway for the quick drive into the city, Harley rubbed his chin. “Damn, I don’t know if there is. Nobody ever asked me that one. We’ve been in the same house for three generations, and the neighbors named the road after us. It’s Donaldson Road. Do you mean something like that?”

I nodded. “That counts. Do you have a big family?”

“Not a big one. I have one brother and one sister, but wait until they invade Charlotte. You’ll know they’re here.”

“Will they be here before the season is out? You’re from up in the Midwest somewhere, aren’t you?”

“Indiana. Yeah, they want to see if they can make it before school starts up. That gives them about three weeks to get here. I’ll be happy to see my family, but they have a way of making life crazy if you know what I mean.”

I pounded my hands on the steering wheel. “Oh man, talk about crazy. That’s been this whole season in Charlotte.” I glanced over at Harley. “Hey, you played with Aaron and Chase, didn’t you? You got to Chattanooga the season after I left. At least that’s what I heard.”

Harley tipped the cap up off his forehead and scratched briefly at his scalp. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing both of them again. It sucks that Chase isn’t on the field anymore. I guess I owe him this call-up, but still, he was awesome to watch on the field. Damn, hadn’t thought of it yet, but I guess I took your position with the Ramblers.”

“You did, and you’re not going to steal it in Charlotte. You’ll have enough on your hands living up to Chase’s legacy.”

The highway was so empty of traffic that I wished I had one of those self-driving cars. I could have driven it with one of my eyes closed. I glanced over at Harley. Even though it was dark, I saw the worry in his expression.

He asked, “They won’t ask me to live up to that right away, will they? You know I’m a journeyman guy. After I passed the five-year mark last year, I thought my chances were over.”

“Can you hit the ball, Harley?”

“Better this year than last.”

I said, “Then you’ll benefit from working with Aaron. He takes the batting coach position seriously. Personally, I think he’s even better at that than managing, but I know he wants to be a manager again someday.”

“Oh, man, yeah, Coach Beck was a great guy. I heard he’s dating Chase? Who would have thought? I mean, you look at guys every day in the locker room, and you never think they might be looking back at you that way. At least I don’t. I suppose they could.”

I glanced over at Harley and saw him looking down inspecting his own body. I asked, “Do you look at other guys in the locker room?’

“Well, hell yeah, don’t you? I mean, I don’t look at them that way, but how are you going to figure out how to do yourself up better if you don’t know what the competition’s got?”

I laughed softly. “I guess I never thought about it in those terms.”

I pulled up to the gate for the underground parking lot of my apartment building. It was the basement of a 22-floor tower of mostly steel and glass. Harley leaned over toward the window on his side craning his neck to look upward. “You live here?”

“Yep, on the 17th floor. The management could be a little more attentive, but it’s not bad. The views are great.”

“It’s amazing.”

Harley followed me into the living room tugging his suitcase on rollers behind. He made a bee-line for the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a few minutes after midnight, and the lights of the city were growing dim. Whole floors were lit up in office towers for the nighttime janitor shifts while most of the building was dark. I watched Harley turn his head from side-to-side as he took in the panorama.

“You can live like this? Does your family have money? I mean, I know we’re making real money, but this, wow.”

I stepped up behind him and put an arm around his shoulders. “They are comfortable, but all of my money is mine. I like to relax when I get home. I don’t invest in bling, and I don’t try and show it off, but I like some creature comforts. If I end up blowing out knees or elbows for the rest of my life, I want to know I enjoyed some luxury in the downtime between games.”

Harley turned around and said, “This is a little bit more than comfortable, and thank you for letting me shack up here for the night, bud. I promise I’ll get my room tomorrow. There’s an empty hotel space out there somewhere waiting for me tonight.”

I pointed down a hallway to my left and said, “If you need the bathroom, it’s right down that hall, second door on the right. There’s a little closet inside the door with towels.”

It was late, and I was tired and ready for bed, but I thought Harley needed something extra to welcome him to Charlotte. He was slightly rough around the edges, but I was charmed by his honesty and openness.

“Yeah, I need the boy’s room, and I can let you go to bed. You’ve got cushions and a couch. That’s all I need.”

I grinned. “I’ve got one more thing when you get back, but yeah, take your time.”

Harley raised an eyebrow. “One more thing?” He saw me nod, and then he turned toward the hallway. “I’ll be right back.”

As he strolled toward the bathroom with his jeans stretched tight across his backside, I shook my head. I hoped he was better in the outfield than Zack and Gretz. It would be a shame to see a guy like Harley get sent back to Chattanooga after a couple of weeks.

When Harley returned to the living room, I had a bottle of champagne in one hand and two flutes in the other. Harley’s eyes opened wide. “Aww man, you didn’t need to do this for me. The last time I had champagne was at a cousin’s wedding.”

Harley reached up and ran his hand across the black, short-cropped hair on his head. It set off Harley’s dark eyes, and, for the first time, I thought he was handsome. The muscles were impressive, but I realized he had something more. He had the good looks of an action hero in a movie. If the stadium were about to cave in, Harley would be the man rescuing his teammates and a couple of hundred fans. I was startled enough by my realization that I took a step back.

Harley watched me move, and he asked, “Did I do something wrong? Is the champagne for me? I don’t want to steal something from someone else’s big day.”

I shook my head. “I’m glad you’re here. That’s all, and yes, I thought we should have a proper celebration of your arrival in the big leagues. All the brass will give you an official welcome tomorrow, but I decided to be bold and represent the team.”

“Damn, they said you’re a nice guy. Now I understand.” Harley smiled as he took a flute from my right hand, and I filled it with champagne from my left.

After filling my glass, I set the bottle on the coffee table and held the glass aloft. “To Harley Donaldson, the newest baseball star, and my partner in outfield crime!”