Command: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by Amélie S. Duncan

  “He’s married,” I pointed out.

  She waggled her brows. “Doesn’t mean I can’t still look.”

  I smirked. “You should focus on the game.”

  “I can multitask and enjoy Grady’s sexy ass.”

  I clenched my jaw. “Whatever.”

  She laughed and ran over to stand next to first base to coach Ellie, who still was quiet, but good at catching.

  As I expected, Grady started Reese to make a big splash. She hit Amy’s fastball and sent it sailing out of the park. Home run. Grady and his team cheered along with the crowd in the stands.

  Amy’s head fell forward.

  “None of that, Amy,” Shana yelled to her. “Keep them coming.”

  I clapped my hands. “You’ve got this.”

  She did. She struck out the next two girls at bat.

  The next pitch was a foul ball.

  Lola ran out and dove for the ball and landed on her side. Shit. I rushed forward to check on her. We had clearance and permission for them to play, but I didn’t want her to get injured.

  “Are you okay?”

  She smiled sheepishly. “I’m fine.” She sprung to her feet and stumbled. Her clothes were covered in sand.

  Amy patted her on the back. “Great catch.”

  I pressed my lips together. I wanted to tell Lola not to give her all to the play, but that wouldn’t help her should she want to go further in the sport.

  Shana poked me in the shoulder. “Baseball is an active sport. A few scrapes won’t hurt.”

  “Yeah, but it’s still a group home. We have to be careful about injuries,” I told her.

  In the next few innings, we managed to stay even with the opposing team, but we suffered every time Grady’s star players came up to bat. By the top of the fifth, we were down by two runs. My eyes focused on our team as Amy’s fastball sailed across the base to Lola’s catcher’s mitt. The two of them worked as a unit. The next batter swung wildly and popped the ball high in the air, and Wendy waved everyone back and caught it. The player on first base took off running, so we could get a double play.

  Wendy screamed and threw the ball to Irene at second.

  The ball flew past Irene and onto the field behind her.

  I cupped my hands. “Hussle, Irene.”

  She rushed to get the ball and picked it up, but not before the runner slid safe.

  I clapped my hands for the team. “We’ll get there.”

  Shana came over and said, “Let’s put Lucy on shortstop. She’s fast and can catch anything. Irene in left field.”

  I had to admit, I put Lucy in left field because she felt most comfortable there, but she had the skill for shortstop. Irene had been good, but she hadn’t been as committed to practice lately. “Okay. You tell Lucy, and I’ll get Irene.”

  I went to the umpire for a timeout and ran over to Irene. “Hey. We’re moving you to left field.”

  “Why? I always play shortstop.” She pouted.

  “I’m placing you there. You can talk to me about my decision later. We still have a game to play,” I said, using my authoritative tone.

  Irene crossed her arms and slunk over to the left field, and Shana walked with Lucy to shortstop. Then she went over to Amy to give her pitching tips and encouragement, before returning to join me.

  “I’m barely working here. You’re all over the place.”

  She grinned. “You like it.”

  I more than liked it.

  “Irene has some attitude,” Shana said.

  “No one likes to lose their spot. She’ll get over it if this works.”

  Reese came up for bat again.

  “What did you tell Amy?” I asked.

  “She can throw a screwball better than I can,” she said.

  “Gave her some confidence,” I said with pleasure in my voice.

  Amy threw the ball, and Reese swung the bat and missed. Strike one.

  Shana and I clapped.

  Reese did a couple of practice swings and stood ready again at bat.

  Amy coiled her hand back and threw the ball.

  Reese let it pass, but it flew straight across the home plate into Lola’s waiting catcher’s mitt. Strike two.

  I clapped with Shana, but I was tense as fuck because I wanted to see Amy succeed.

  Amy wound up and pitched. The ball flew like a streak of light through the air.

  Reese swung, and I held my breath. Lola reached up and caught the ball in her mitt.

  The umpire called the play. “Strike three!”

  The stands cheered. My team jumped up and ran over to Amy, slapping her back in congratulations. She swaggered back to the dugout with her chin held high like she owned the game.

  My heart expanded in my chest. Damn, Jack. If you’re looking down at us, you’d be here laughing with me at mini-Shadow.

  Grady came over. “I see that screwball has shown up.”

  Shana jumped up and down in front of Grady. “We broke your matrix.”

  “You’re not out yet, Neo,” Grady shot back, and his buddy coach, Veego, laughed at her before returning to their team.

  We were closer.

  At the top of the ninth, we were all on edge, calling and cheering on our team. We were only up by one run. The other side had players on first and second, and with their last hit, all our eyes were on Lucy at shortstop.

  “Come on, Lucy,” I called out to her.

  Shana yelled. “Lucy, you can do it.”

  The batter came up to the plate and did a few practice swings and pointed out of the park. She toyed with Amy, but faking out your opponent was part of the game. Come on, Amy, I thought. Don’t let her get into your head. A quick glance at Shana told me she was thinking the same thing. Her eyes were locked steadily on Amy, and she was muttering something under her breath I couldn’t hear.

  Before the pitch, Amy snuck a look at Shana beside me. She threw the ball, and it looked great. A fast-pitch that would be hard to hit. I held my breath as the stands grew quiet, everyone waiting to see what would happen.

  A loud crack broke the silence as the bat connected with the ball. A grounder straight down the middle. We were still in this!

  Amy rushed to the ball and threw it to Lucy. Here’s the moment. Would Lucy pull it off, even though this was her first game at shortstop? Had I made the right call?

  Lucy caught the ball in her mitt, and a look of surprise crossed her face.

  “Tag her,” I shouted.

  Lucy jolted out of her trance and sprinted toward the runner heading for third, catching her just in time.

  The stands erupted into cheers, followed by the giddy clapping and squeals of the girls.

  “We won,” they shouted, shaking Lucy’s shoulders, a huge grin spreading across her face.

  Shana and I danced around Grady.

  “You’re not setting a good example,” he told us, grinning.

  He was right, and after a few more minutes of dancing, we stopped.

  The girls were hugging and screaming and throwing their mitts up in the air.

  “We won. We did it!”

  “Five, six, seven, eight. Who do we appreciate? Schroeder! Schroeder!”

  Shana started the chant. “Amy, MVP.”

  The girls joined in, and my heart swelled, as she had us all caught up in her enthusiasm.

  I went behind Shana and turned her to face me. Her eyes sparkled. “We won, Nathan.”

  She grabbed my neck, and I spun her around playfully.

  I struggled to keep my feelings in check. Shana melted against me, her arms squeezing like she didn’t want to let go, and my chest hurt with how good she felt in my arms. Damn, I missed the feel of her—my Shana. I brushed my lips against the top of her hair. Then I threw her over my shoulder and hit her ass like I’d done dozens of times in our lives.

  The kids sent some, “Woos. Ms. Shana and Officer Donleavy,” our way, which reminded me I might have gone a step too far with my playfulness. We had to move, and I plac
ed her back on her feet, but not without her hitting my arm and laughing wildly, her hair catching the wind.

  I moved the strands of hair covering her face.

  Our eyes caught, and pain engulfed my chest, reminding me how easy this woman could snatch my heart and break me again. How much I wished she’d choose to stay in town with me. But Sunnyville wasn’t enough. At least, it hadn’t been three years ago when Shana fled to LA. And even though she was back, and had to stay for community service, she didn’t have a home, or a way to support herself. Yet. Would she leave when her time here was up?

  I swallowed and walked away, calling out to the girls. “Let’s thank them for the game.”

  We all went and shook hands with the other team and coaches, then we separated to pack the van and follow each other to Salvatore’s Restaurant. They already had the backroom set up with long tables for us to sit together.

  I stopped Shana by the door. “I’m going downtown to pick up Dad’s girlfriend. I called the supervisor, and the evening staff will be here to meet you. Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” she said. “But have a slice of pizza before you go.”

  I laughed. “You sound like Maeve.”

  “Come on, Ms. Shana, let’s sit at the winners’ table,” Lola trilled, motioning her to follow.

  “Shana will sit with us,” Amy told her.

  “We are all winners, and I will sit with you, but first, we need everyone to join us.” Shana went to the back of the line. “Lucy, come on.”

  Lucy didn’t hang back but joined the group and sat at the tables, while I sat at the end. The pizza orders were sent in advance and came out right away, so I ate a slice, but found it hard to stop watching Shana. She folded a slice of pizza in half and stuffed it in her mouth, making them laugh. That was a Jackson move.

  Jackson and Shana had been my best friends. I knew I’d loved her long before I told her in high school. When we were younger, Jackson didn’t want me to date her. He feared our relationship would come between our friendship. When we got older, Jackson told me I was the only guy he trusted to do right by her. He believed I loved her almost as much as he did. He thought the world of her, and so did I.

  As if my thoughts were amplified, Shana turned her head and looked at me. Her beauty stole my breath.

  “Who did we decide would be the winner?” she called over.

  “You,” I called back.

  Her face lit up with mischief. And like a lust-struck idiot, I couldn’t wait to see what she came up with.

  I watched the grin she tried and failed to conceal. Thoughts of her teasing me filled my head, and I had to look away before I went over there, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her full on the lips in front of everyone.

  My phone’s dance ringtone eventually broke my trance.

  Dad: Don’t forget to pick up Jackie at the car service shop. Thanks. I hope you won the game.

  I pocketed my phone and called to everyone. “Good game, all of you. Thank you, Coach Grady and Dorothy Schroeder group home. You all were terrific and should be proud.”

  I stole one more glance at Shana, who waved to me before I walked out.

  Nathan

  After dropping Jackie off at her salon downtown, I stopped to see my mom. She’d volunteered at the daycare across the street since retirement.

  Mom left her Child Protection work soon after she found me in the basement trying to feed my overdosed birth mom. I’d thought she was an angel, with her pale green eyes and long, red curly hair, which she’d passed on to Maeve. I was filthy, but she’d scooped me up and cuddled me, something I’d never felt before. I’d liked it and clung to her, and she took me home that same day.

  Mom never once yelled at me when at five, I hoarded food and slept in shoes. She understood I did it because I’d always had to be ready to move to survive life with an addict. Those first years were hard on her and my dad, but they never gave up on me. They saved me. I owed them my life.

  The second Rebecca, who I always called Mom, saw me, she rushed to the door to give me a hug. “Well, this is a surprise,” she said enthusiastically, as if she didn’t see me every few days. “Are you staying for a while?”

  “No, I just dropped off Jackie,” I said and kept my arm around her.

  Mom didn’t wince or bat an eye at the mention of Jackie, her former best friend, now dating Dad. Mom remarried a retired banker who liked to make model trains. Boring guy, but she loved him. “Since I’m in the neighborhood, I thought I’d see if you needed anything.”

  “Because if you give Jackie something you feel you need to give me something,” she said and smiled. “Did you tell your dad about going to college next semester?”

  I sighed. “Too much going on right now at the precinct.”

  “There will always be more problems. You must trust and believe that others will step in and keep things going. But of course, you’re stubborn like your dad, and you won’t listen to reason.”

  A little girl wandered over, clutching a half-dressed doll. “I can’t find Molly’s dress.”

  “Well, she can’t go to the ball in that one,” Mom told her. “Let’s go find it.”

  The girl beamed with excitement, as Mom took her on a magical adventure. I remembered that same sense of excitement when I was little. That was Mom though. She was such a wonderful, warm woman, and it still surprised me that she and Dad divorced. But they fell out of love with each other, despite their strong and similar values.

  I walked out and realized I still had my dad’s tools in the back of my car and decided to stop at our family home. Dad and Mom agreed he should keep the house when they divorced a few years ago, as he’d built a private garage for his passion: his muscle cars.

  I pulled up to the garage at the end of the family lot and used my spare key to open the warehouse. Dad had all his mechanical equipment organized with his workbenches clear and orderly, his tools hung with care. I placed his box on the floor and texted him as he pulled up in his ’69 Ford Mustang Boss.

  Grandpa had bought a collection of cars off the lot and kept them in pristine condition. He didn’t sell them but instead passed his love onto Dad and me. A few times, his collection made it into movies, a lucrative side business Dad still benefitted from.

  “Hey Dad,” I called.

  “Hey. I didn’t know you were stopping by. I have to go back to work.” He came over and pulled me into a bear hug. He was mostly gray now, and he’d kept the same flattop cut I’d seen most of my life. Something he kept after serving as a Marine for twenty years. He stayed fit, though still a bit thinner than usual due to losing weight after his heart attack.

  “I spent most of my morning overseeing a training course on de-escalation. A few of us went, but the new staff needed more senior input.”

  “Did they really, Dad?” I knew the schedule had a few seniors that were good and could handle the work.

  “Don’t you start. The training worked out well, and the instructor thanked me for joining in. How did Rich do?”

  I shook my head. “He needs work.”

  “That’s what I suspected. The other guys tell me to give him time, but I don’t need a guy with a gun that can’t use his head. I’m sick to death of bad cops ruining our reputation.”

  It was a speech I’d heard my whole life. Dad believed he had to make right any wrongs, even if other people could handle it. Hell, he got me to think that way too.

  “Glad I have you with me,” he said with pride that hit my heart.

  “Me too.”

  “Can you stay for supper, or does Maeve have you sorted?”

  “Yeah, I’ll probably stop by there.”

  “Let me take a look at the car before you go.”

  I grinned. “I’m taking good care of it, Dad.”

  “I know. Just let me look and tell me how you’re doing. I know it’s hard having Shana Callahan back in town.”

  “I’m all right. Shana’s doing good. We won the game too.”

 
; “Yeah,” he sighed, putting the toolbox away. “She’s doing what she has to do. I’m just mentioning that so you’ll be cautious. I love you, son. I don’t want you to go through another heartache. I understand she needs a friend, and there’s no one better than you.”

  “Dad, come on. I don’t need a pep talk.”

  “You do need to take care of yourself.”

  “So do you.”

  “I’m fine. All I’m asking is for you to not think about what you had and who Shana was back then. Ask yourself, who is Shana Callahan now? Does she want what you can give? Don’t shut off your needs and wants just because she passes through Sunnyville.”

  Was that all she was doing here? Passing through? Last I talked to her, she’d seemed untethered. But was she heading straight back out of here when her service was done?

  I let him tweak under the hood, but before he could do any more, I said, “I need to leave.”

  “Sounds good. Jackie and I are going to a car show tomorrow if you want to come along. Just for a look. I have no time for more projects.”

  “Who are you fooling?” I hugged him. I’ll tell him soon, I promised myself.

  When I finally arrived home, I did a round of weight training and cardio on my treadmill in my basement gym. After I took a shower and tried to relax, Dad’s words bugged me. I know he meant well and wanted to protect me from getting hurt again, but was he right? Was I trying to recreate the past? Had I searched for a glimpse of the Shana I’d loved all my life, not who she was now? She hadn’t called or even told me she was returning.

  She didn’t discuss her plans and might go back to LA to start over. I wasn’t sure. She seemed happy here. When we were together, everything felt right. It was like we belonged to each other. At least for me.

  I let my head hang under the spray from the showerhead. That old pain surfaced again and pulled my mood with it.

  Ding Dong.

  I stepped out and dried myself, checking my watch I’d left on the double sink. Maeve was home by now and had a key. My heart wanted it to be Shana at the door, but that would be a fantasy. She wouldn’t come uninvited, but why hadn’t I invited her?