Tension pulled at Nate’s muscles. Charlotte had only responded to his texts with short answers since she left for home the day before. And now, because of his tight schedule, he was once again having to race to the ball field from the airport after changing on his jet. He wanted nothing more than a chance to talk to Charlotte, but he had a game to coach first.

As he arrived at the park and hurried to the dugout, the thought occurred to him that if things didn’t work out with Charlotte, he would miss being so close to Taylor as well. More than miss, actually. It would tear him up.

Pasting a smile to his face, Nate walked into the dugout, slapping high fives with several of the boys as he walked past. Then he saw Taylor at the far end, sitting up on top of the low concrete wall, leaning back against the chain link fence and talking to one of his teammates. “Hey, there, buddy!”

“Nate!”

Walking over to give him a high five, Nate paused as something caught his eye. The whole side of one of Taylor’s cleats had completely blown out. “What happened to your shoe?”

“Oh, it ripped open during the last game, but Mom says they’ll have to last through one more game. There weren’t any at the store, so she’s going to order some online.”

“Oh yeah?” Nate turned to find Charlotte in the bleachers. She sat higher than her usual spot, isolated from the rest of the parents. There was a tightness to her expression that concerned him, but his first concern was Taylor’s shoes. He whistled, high and sharp. Everyone in the bleachers turned to look for the source of the whistle, including Charlotte, and he was able to motion her over. He hated how reluctantly she moved.

“What’s up?” she asked through the fence.

“Taylor can’t play in these.”

Her lips pressed together. “They’ll be fine for tonight.”

“Charlotte, if he puts any pressure on these at all, his whole foot is going to pop out.”

“Well, I didn’t know about it until he was getting ready for the game. I stopped by the store to get another pair, but they were out.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Her expression darkened still further. “You’ve been waiting for this all season, haven’t you?”

He had, in fact, expected it. If he was honest, he’d even been looking forward to teasing her a bit when the time came, but there was no way he was going to let Charlotte’s pride or their relationship problems get in the way of Taylor having good shoes.

“Let’s just be calm here,” he said. “Luckily, the shoes are still in my truck.”

“I am perfectly calm. And those shoes can stay in your truck until they rot from age.” Before Nate could say another word, she spun around and stormed back up the bleachers.

Nate turned back to Taylor, who was staring at him with big, concerned eyes. “Taylor, buddy?”

“Yeah, Coach?”

“Do you want to wear another pair of shoes?”

“Yeah. I can’t run like a cheetah in these.”

Nate patted his leg. “Okay. Hold on here a second.”

After glancing at his watch, he saw it was time for the game to start. “Hey, Josh. Here’s the batting lineup. Keep things moving. But hold Taylor out until I get back.”

Josh nodded and Nate ran back toward the parking lot, cutting across the outfield and jumping the fence to save time. He dug the shoes out of their spot under the back seat and ran back. Charlotte was going to fight him on this, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let her stubborn pride get in the way of Taylor having a great last game.

He knew Charlotte was watching him as he got back to the dugout. He could feel her eyes on him, but he didn’t dare make eye contact with her. He knew she wouldn’t make a scene in front of all these people, but he was in for it later. With his chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath, Nate pulled off Taylor’s busted shoes, and untied the laces on the new ones. He helped Taylor wiggle his foot inside the first one and left him to tie it while he put the other shoe on. When both cleats were tied, Taylor jumped down from his perch and did an experimental dash across the dugout. Then he grinned. “Wow. These are way better than my old ones. Now I’ll run really fast.”

“You bet,” Nate said.

“My mom is going to be mad at you,” Taylor said, his voice full of concern.

“Probably, but don’t worry about it. We grown-ups can work things out. You get out there and enjoy your game.”

“Taylor?” Josh called out. “Get ready.”

“Yes!” Taylor ran over and grabbed a batting helmet and his bat, bouncing excitedly on his toes. For the first time ever, Nate avoided looking in Charlotte’s direction.

Then there was a commotion in the bleachers, and he turned to see what was going on. A tall man in a Royal’s baseball uniform was climbing up the bleachers toward Charlotte, and everyone was going nuts.

Daniel Mabry. What was he doing here?

Charlotte looked shocked as her ex-husband nodded at her and sat down only a few feet down the bench from her. People flocked over to him to shake his hand and get his autograph. Nate was torn between an uneasy feeling that Charlotte was definitely going to kill him, and a surge of satisfaction that maybe Taylor would finally have his dad in his life more. If only the man had given them some warning. Still, it would be good to make the best out of the situation.

“Hey, Taylor buddy. Look who’s here.”

Taylor followed the direction of Nate’s pointing finger and gasped. “Dad!”

Before Nate could say another word, Taylor was running out of the dugout and up the bleachers to go hug his dad. Nate watched, pushing down the surprising surge of jealousy that came from watching Taylor hugging and talking animatedly to his dad, then sent out the next kid to go bat.

When Taylor came back a few minutes later, it was just in time for his turn at bat. He ran out, and tapped his bat on the dirt before swinging it over his shoulder. Then, before Josh could help him adjust his stance, Taylor swung hard and missed, his momentum carrying him all the way around again so that his bat hit the tee, knocking the ball off. Josh picked it back up, put it back on the tee, and this time, helped Taylor get his stance squared up to the tee better. But once again, Taylor missed.

This was common in t-ball, but Nate knew Taylor was struggling with nerves from having his dad in the stands. Running over, Nate motioned to Josh to change places with him.

“Okay, buddy,” Nate said, raising the tee a couple of inches and putting the ball back on top. He glanced at Taylor’s face and saw the sheen of tears in the boy’s eyes. “Look, don’t be nervous. Shake it off. All the major leaguers miss the ball more than they hit it. Even your dad.”

Taylor sniffed, but nodded and pressed his lips together in determination.

Nate moved around behind him and guided his hands further down the bat, nudged his feet so they were square to the tee, and helped him practice where to swing the bat to hit the ball. “Now, let’s see you blast it.”

Stepping back, Nate held his breath and watched as Taylor swung with all his might. This time he connected and the ball soared out over the infield, past second base, and over the bored boy kicking at the grass in the outfield. “Run, Taylor,” Nate called when Taylor stood there gaping at how far the ball had gone. Half of the other team took off chasing the ball down, then ended in a big pile as they all groped for it in the tangle of limbs. This gave Taylor and the other three boys already on base plenty of time to race to home plate. Nate whooped and high-fived each of the runners, but scooped Taylor up in a big hug and swung him around.

“You did it. Taylor the Phenom! What a hit, buddy.”

Taylor jumped up and down, pumping his fist in the air like he’d won the world series. And in his world, maybe this was even better. He’d just hit the t-ball version of a home run in front of his dad.

When the game was over, Taylor ran straight to his dad after shaking hands with the other team. Nate watched, trying to measure how Charlotte was handling all this. But her expression was closed off and tight except when Taylor looked at her—at which point she would smile and nod at him. But Taylor didn’t get much time with his dad before people were asking for pictures of their sons with Daniel Mabry, the major league baseball player, and Taylor got shuffled out of the way. He stood next to his mom, watching sadly as his dad posed for pictures with all of his teammates.

Nate finished gathering up the equipment and cleaning up the dugout, then walked up to the bleachers, wishing there was something he could do. Finally, they were all gone, and it was just the four of them left. If anything, that made it worse.

Nate felt Charlotte’s aggravation radiating off her, and he wanted nothing more than to make this situation better for her and Taylor. There wasn’t much he could do except support her through it.

He held out his hand to Daniel. “Hello. I’m Nate Haverton, Taylor’s coach.”

Mabry raised his eyebrow. “Yeah? I wondered if that’s who you were.” There was a cold mockery in the man’s voice.

Nate tensed, but stayed determined to keep things civil. “You surprised everyone by coming today, but it meant a lot to Taylor, so thanks for showing up.” He’d intended the words to be polite, but there was a sharp edge to them he couldn’t do anything about.

“Yeah, well, some people seem to think I don’t do enough for my kid.”

Charlotte looked back and forth between the two of them. “What’s going on here? Do you two know each other?”

“Never met him in my life,” Nate said. He clenched his jaw to keep from saying anything further.

Mabry turned to Charlotte. “What’s this guy to you? Your boyfriend?”

She narrowed her eyes. “It’s none of your business.”

“If it affects Taylor, it’s my business. So, I repeat, is he your boyfriend?”

“No,” she said calmly.

Her words were like a dagger to Nate’s gut, even though it was true.

“I’ve got a check for you,” Mabry said to Charlotte, though his eyes bored into Nate’s. “It has come to my attention that I have neglected to pay you the last few months.”

Charlotte didn’t reach for the check he held out to her. “Oh yeah? My repeated texts didn’t bring it to your attention?”

Mabry shrugged. “Let’s just say, someone was very convincing in their argument.” His eyes shifted coldly to Nate, who met his glare unwaveringly.

“Okay,” Charlotte said, her voice going shrill. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” Mabry answered, his voice full of mockery. “Take this please, so I can get out of here.”

Charlotte reached out and snatched the check away, not even looking at it. “You mean you’re just going to show up in your freaking uniform and cause a whole big ruckus at Taylor’s game, then disappear again?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Mabry said. “Taylor come take a picture with me.”

Nate watched with a storm of anger in his gut as Taylor went to his dad with an expression of injured hero-worship, and posed with his dad the same way his teammates had. But Charlotte didn’t move when Mabry tried to hand her his phone.

“Oh Charlotte,” Mabry said in a lilting voice. “Please take a picture for us. It will mean a lot to Taylor.”

Charlotte’s lips pressed tightly, but she took the phone and snapped the picture. When she gave the phone back to him, he immediately pulled up the picture and sent it to someone.

“Who’d you send that to?” Charlotte asked. She pulled out her phone. “Because it sure wasn’t me.”

Mabry shrugged. “My agent. It’ll be great press.”

Nate’s fists curled tight, so he crossed his arms to restrain himself from decking the man. “I’m sure you’re about to send it to Charlotte too, so Taylor can have a copy. Right?”

The man glared at him, then smiled, his teeth flashing. “Of course, Mr. Haverton.”

Once he’d sent the picture, he leaned down to Taylor and said. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but you’re due to come to me at Christmas. Until then, you work on that swing. You obviously got my athleticism, but you’ve got your mom’s lack of control. Keep your eye on that ball. When you get a little older, we’ll have to see about getting you with a good coach.”

And without another word, the man smirked and jogged down the bleachers, striding off towards the parking lot.

“Nate,” Charlotte started.

Nate shook his head. “I know we need to talk, but can we do it later?” He glanced down at the lost expression on Taylor’s face as he stared after his dad. “In private, don’t you think? And after the trophy.”

She nodded. “But don’t think you can get away without telling me what the heck just happened here. And I mean everything.”