Chapter 8
“So, what are we watching exactly?” Sara asked, as she sat down on the towel next to her right around the time when Reese threw off his baseball glove and shook his hand off with a, “Goddamn it!”
“Sorry!” Mikey yelled, biting her lip and shifting nervously on the beach as they watched Reese try to breathe through the pain.
“It’s fine,” he promised her as he pulled his glove back on and gestured for her to throw another ball.
“I’m not really sure, but I think he might have a death wish,” she said with a sad shake of her head, because she could easily think of a hundred less painful ways to go. The only thing that was stopping her from putting an end to this, or cringing in fear every time Mikey threw the ball¸ was the fact that Reese had insisted on using a tennis ball instead of one of the hard baseballs that Mikey preferred.
“I see,” Sara said, gesturing towards Trevor and Jason, who stood a few yards away, glaring at Reese. “And what are they doing?”
She shifted her attention from the incredibly handsome man that had taken it upon himself to teach her precocious daughter how to properly throw a baseball so that she wouldn’t accidentally kill someone one day to the two men glaring at him.
“I think it has something to do with their wives,” she said, gesturing to the two women cheering for Reese and Mikey in between watching their kids play on the beach and discussing which was hotter, a police officer in uniform or one with tattoos.
Both.
Unfortunately, she was too busy cringing every time her daughter threw the ball so she didn’t voice her opinion. Since they seemed to be enjoying the effect that it had on their husbands, Kasey shrugged it off and tried not to think about the woman sitting silently on the other side of them, watching her every move.
“And the chick glaring at you?” Sara asked, stealing her Coke and finished it off as she gestured to the beautiful woman that had been quickly introduced to her as, “Mac.”
“I’m not really sure,” she admitted as she adjusted her bikini top, because she’d been wondering that herself.
Kasey was pretty sure that she hadn’t said anything rude, but then again, she did have a tendency to piss people off without trying. It was one of her many talents, one that usually filled her with such joy, but today it was a bit unnerving.
“Is she with Yummy?” Sara asked, as Kasey shifted her attention back to the man in question.
“Not really sure,” she said with a shrug and not really caring, because she wasn’t interested.
“He’s incredibly hot,” Sara pointed out as though Kasey had somehow missed that fact between dubbing him Yummy and shoving his semi-conscious body into a wheelchair outside the emergency room last night.
“I don’t have time for-”
“Oh, my God. Not this again,” Sara groaned as she shook her head in disgust, but since Kasey obviously needed to remind her friend of the decision that she’d made for the sake of her daughter and career, she finished.
“-a fling.”
“I can’t,” Sara said, shaking her head as she grabbed an overpriced bottle of water out of her bag and took a sip. “I just can’t.”
“It’s just not in the cards right now,” she said, shrugging it off as she swiped her friend’s bottle of water and took a sip, noting that it tasted like tap water.
“It’s never in the cards,” Sara said with a sigh as she gestured towards Mikey, who appeared torn between smiling and cringing as she threw the ball. “She looks happy.”
“Yes, she does,” Kasey said, unable to stop herself from smiling.
Mikey looked more than happy. She looked relaxed, which probably had something to do with the fact that she was playing with someone who wasn’t crying, diving out of the way, praying for God to save them, or yelling at her to be more careful. Kasey wasn’t a hundred percent positive, but it looked like her throws had improved a little bit.
As she sat there, watching her daughter playing catch, she couldn’t help but wonder what Michael would have thought about their daughter having an arm that terrified most grown men. He probably would have bragged, she thought with a wistful smile. The two of them would have been inseparable; watching games, playing catch, and driving her out of her mind by talking about baseball every minute of the day, but she would have loved it because it would have meant that Michael hadn’t died and left her to do this all alone.
God, she missed him.
She missed hearing his laugh, seeing his smile, and feeling his arms around her, but then she just had to look at Mikey and it felt like he was still with her.
“Hey, I thought we were supposed to be working,” Sara said, nudging her with a smile, knowing her better than anyone else.
Returning her smile, she gestured to Mikey. “Let’s give her a few more minutes.”
“Fine,” Sara said, sighing and sounding absolutely bored as she shifted to get more comfortable. “Do you think she’s his wife?” she asked, returning to their previous conversation.
“No clue,” Kasey said with a shrug as she leaned back on her elbows and watched as Reese showed Mikey how to move into the throw.
“Girlfriend maybe?”
“Probably,” she said, not really caring and hoping that Sara dropped the subject, because she wasn’t really in the mood for this.
“Do you want to go change?” Kasey asked, hoping to distract her.
“What are you talking about?” Sara asked with a frown as she looked down at the designer tee shirt and hundred dollar jeans that she was wearing.
“What do you mean, what am I talking about?” Kasey asked with a pointed look at her best friend’s ensemble. “We’re gutting a kitchen.”
“I know,” Sara said, not really looking like she did.
“Umm,” Kasey said, taking in her best friend’s freshly pressed clothes and manicure as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, wondering if she might be better off asking Eric for help instead, but then remembered what he’d done to the kitchen the other night and decided that she wasn’t in a position to be picky.
“What about you?” Sara asked, cocking a brow in question.
Frowning, Kasey looked down at herself and shrugged. She was wearing a black bikini top, cut off jeans and flip-flops. “It’s the equivalent of a guy working shirtless,” she pointed out.
“True,” Sara murmured in agreement, leaning back on her elbows and tilting her face towards the sun while Kasey shifted her attention back to Mikey.
“Okay, kiddo, you’ve got five more minutes before we have to call it a day,” she said, giving her daughter fair warning, something that she’d learned years ago was absolutely necessary when it came to all things baseball related.
Mikey looked like she was going to argue, but then seemed to think better of it, probably realizing that she was in no position to argue and nodded. “Five more minutes.”
“Can she stay for a little longer?” Reese asked, taking her by surprise. “I was hoping to see her fast ball.”
She opened her mouth to answer when the two men glaring at Reese did a double take. “That’s not her fast ball?” Jason demanded, sharing a look with Trevor, one that she had seen too many times and one that would most likely end with someone spending the night in the emergency room or the I.C.U.
“Not even close,” she said, as Mikey admitted with a shrug, “I’m not allowed to throw my fast ball.”
And for good reason.
“Oh, I’ve gotta see this fast ball,” Jason said, grinning hugely.
“Yeah, I really don’t think that would be such a good idea,” she said, coming to her feet.
Jason looked like he was about to argue, but after a sigh he shook his head and gestured to Mikey. “How about her curve ball? I think I can show her how to control it better,” he said, repeating his cousin’s promise from the night before.
“Maybe tomorrow?” she said, not really comfortable with leaving her ten-year-old child alone with a group of people that she barely knew.
“Mom?” Mikey said, worrying her bottom lip and trying not to look too excited, but Kasey knew that this was a treat for her since she was normally regulated to playing catch with Eric, who couldn’t throw or catch to save his life.
Thankfully she was with Sara, who didn’t mince words. She turned her attention to Reese. “You’re a police officer?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Reese said, looking a little surprised, but before Kasey could wonder about that look Sara had already moved on.
Nodding, Sara turned her attention to Jason. “And you?”
“I’m a school teacher,” he said, gesturing to Haley, who was smiling warmly at them. “And so is my wife. Both of us have passed criminal background checks and we love kids. I promise that she’s safe with us.”
“I think she’s in good hands,” Sara said with a reassuring smile, which Kasey took to mean that she’d already ran their license plates and knew exactly who they were and where they lived. It was the kind of thing she expected from her overprotective best friend.
But just in case she was wrong…
“You ran their plates?” she discretely asked, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shot her friend a questioning look.
“Before they had a chance to unload the last bag,” Sara said with a wink.
Hoping she didn’t live to regret this, Kasey looked at Mikey. “You know the rules.”
“I can stay?” Mikey asked, smiling hugely.
“Yes, you can stay, but please don’t make me regret it,” she said with a pointed look as she said, “And no fast ball.”
“No fast ball,” Mikey promised, nodding firmly. “Got it.”
“Okay,” she said after a slight hesitation, reminding herself that she had a kitchen to demolish. With one last look at Mikey and a pointed look at Reese, who seemed to read the silent message clearly, she turned around and headed to the house, eager to get this project started.