Page 24 of Triple Threat
God, please let that be the end of her questions. Just the thought of Jace brought my anxiety flaring back to the surface. I couldn’t handle talking about the circumstances that left me pregnant and alone. When people found out I was a single mom, they either gave me a pitying smile or asked invasive questions.
But Victoria shocked me when she did neither. She marked something on her paper and then returned her attention to me. “And what about allergies? Has anything come up since we last spoke?”
My eyes blinked slowly, unsure if I had heard her correctly. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean?”
“About her dad. People want to know every detail. Find out why he’s not in the picture, even if it’s our first conversation.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “That’s no one else’s business. If you want to tell me, you can, but I get the whole judgment thing.” She spun in her chair, pulling out a photo of a young girl in fourth or fifth grade. Victoria smiled at the frame before handing it over to me. “That’s my daughter, Emilia. I had her when I was only nineteen.” My eyes must have widened, because she chuckled. “Yeah, I get that look a lot. Luckily, her father is very hands-on, but plenty of people thought we were making a mistake.” After she placed the frame back on the shelf, she reached out with her spare hand and placed it on top of mine. “It’s been our mission here to support all families, no matter their circumstances. I have to ask right now, but trust me, this is the last time it’ll ever come up if you decide to enroll Anna at our school.” She grinned at my daughter, who looked at Victoria with a wide, drool-filled grin. “As a fellow mom, I promise, this is a safe place for both of you.”
Her words lifted a heavy weight off my chest. Until she spoke, I didn’t know how much I needed to hear them. Judgment was a familiar friend, and it seemed like it had only gotten worse when I became a mom. Every choice I made, someone thought it was the wrong one, and no matter how hard I tried, I felt like a failure. My eyes stung with the threat of tears, which had been happening too much since Anna was born.Goddamn hormones.I tried to blink them back, to will my vulnerable side away, but it was too late. The bastards slid down my cheeks.
Victoria passed me a box of tissues, sitting in silence with me as I got myself together. She bounced Anna on her lap, making my daughter giggle. It was just what I needed.
“All good?” she asked when I wiped the last of my tears into the tissue.
I forced myself to smile. “Better.”
As Victoria continued to ask me easier questions, I sat back in my chair, letting a small ember of hope build in my chest. It might only be the first visit, but I already had a good feeling about this place, especially with Victoria at the helm. She filled me in about her partner, Hadley, who was out for the week. Apparently, both their partners had jobs that required travel, so they took turns running the place.
For two hours, Anna and I sat in that little room, embraced by the Sunshine Academy community. She’d gotten brave about halfway through, shakily crawling over to the other kids playing. Just the sight of her laughing with other kids made the choice easy when Victoria leaned over and asked, “So, what do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect. It’s going to be a great fit.”
For both of us.
FIFTEEN
“Fucking hell, man. Your arm is lethal. What the fuck did they give you up in Portland?”
I shucked off my glove as we climbed into the dugout, trading it for a sports drink from my cooler. The scoreboard flickered to the next inning as the top of our batting lineup warmed up with the assistant coaches outside the dugout. My name might not be as high as it once was, but it gave me a brief reprieve before I went back out there. As I took a long sip of the ice-cold drink, August stayed at my side, staring at me, waiting for an answer. “Seriously, man. You’ve got to tell me your secrets.”
I groaned, dropping to sit on the bench. “Fuck off with that shit, Auggie. Don’t need Weber getting any more bad ideas about me.”
August’s face paled as he looked over my shoulder to where Benny stood out on the field. He’d been up my ass already, checking in multiple times a day to make sure I was settling in all right. Redness filled August’s cheeks. “Yeah, sorry, Lyons. Didn’t mean it like that. I’m just impressed. I’ve heard a lot about your skills from the other guys, but it’s different to see them in person.”
“No worries, man.”
August cleared his throat as he looked around the dugout, lowering his voice when some of the other guys joined us. “Not trying to make things weird, but I wanted to make sure we’re cool.”
“Cool?”
August cleared his throat. “About me stepping up to your base. It’s not like I asked?—”
I chuckled, shaking my head.Yeah, thanks for getting my ass kicked to the outfield. After a decade of playing in the infield, it rubbed the wrong way, like wearing cleats that were several sizes too small. It didn’t help that the rest of the outfield had been playing together for a season already, having a harmony I couldn’t quite replicate just yet. The only saving grace was that I was doing decently when I got up to bat. My stats weren’t as good as they’d been in the minors, but I was right in the middle of the pack. I wasn’t the guy who got booed when he walked up to the base, which was a plus.
Dr. Walken would be so proud. Despite my move, I’d kept the same therapist I’d found in Portland. While he urged me to find someone closer, especially if my schedule didn’t allow for consistent video-conferences. But after baring my soul to the guy and remembering how painful it had been, it didn’t make me eager to do the same with someone new.
If you want your circumstances to change, you have to be the one to change them.
His words echoed like a mantra, and I exhaled. “Listen, Bancroft. You earned that spot. And from what I’ve seen, you’re the best man for the position.” I clapped him on the arm as I stood to warm my arm up. “Now, get your head together. Tired of hearing Detroit talk shit.”
August nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Another rookie called out his name, and, with one last grin, he darted away from me. When the batters lined up, I slid out oftheir way. The first rushed to our batting coach, nodding his head—some kid they’d picked up from a college out west but who was already making waves in the league. Another new face on the lineup. Shit, I’d only been gone for a season, but so much had changed in a short time. I kept expecting to hear Damien’s bark across the field, monitoring everything, even as he gave the game his all. So many of the guys staring back at me were strangers.
Soon enough, my name echoed through the dugout, and I grabbed my favorite bat, climbing out into the chilled air. I stretched as the batters before me got a hit or two out, nothing too showy, but enough to get us on the board. By the time I approached the mound, we had only one out—almost closed the distance between us and Detroit. My name echoed off the speakers, and my eyes darted in front of me, blocking out the sounds of people in the stands.
Just breathe.
