Change Up

by Ann, Natalie

  It was the hardest decision of his life to throw in the towel like that. Five doctors all said the same thing. The team doctors, the specialists. He could try, but he heard what they weren’t voicing to his face. It wasn’t going to happen. He’d get the rest of his contract paid in full, he wasn’t losing money, but he’d lose face if he stayed and flopped when he returned.

  The last thing he wanted was pity. It was bad enough that it took him years to get to where he was on the mound.

  That many sportscasters and reporters said he was a waste of money and talent. That he showed such potential and just didn’t live up to the hype as fast as they thought.

  But the Mets held on, they worked with him and they gave him what he needed. He’d proven it to them that he had what it took.

  What he wanted to do was take them to the World Series. What every baseball player wants to lay claim to.

  Not happening now.

  “So you retire earlier than you thought. But you’re young. You’re healthy. You’ve got a crapload of money that most would never see in their lifetime. You’ve got everything to be happy about.”

  Words that he’d heard from his family. But only his family.

  Friends and teammates were giving him the pitying looks. The jokes to try to cheer him up.

  Family told him to cut the crap and move on.

  Looked like Kaelyn was right there with them.

  “I suppose,” he said.

  “Recovering isn’t just physical, Harris. It’s mental too. I can’t help you there. But maybe someone else can.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “I just need to adjust. You can help me with that.”

  “How is that?” she asked.

  “Just being here with me, back home in this town. I’m slowly starting to blend back into the life I had years ago. It’s a change I probably need. A wakeup call.”

  “You don’t need to change or wake up. You just need to accept and it’s not going to happen overnight so don’t expect it to.”

  “I was right. You are pretty smart.”

  “Glad I could help.”

  6

  Time And Place

  Monday afternoon, Kaelyn walked out to the waiting room to see Harris sitting there, his hat on his head, his head down reading something on his phone. He was the last appointment of the day and she figured he’d done that on purpose to avoid people.

  Rather than call his full name and draw attention to him, she said, “Walker.”

  He turned, grinned at her, the same one he shot her after he’d gotten done kissing the breath right out of her when she was getting ready to leave his house yesterday.

  If her body filled with the same heat, she didn’t let anyone know. She hoped.

  He stopped and walked forward, not stiffly, and no limp. Pretty much perfect if she did say so herself.

  “Ready for me?” he asked.

  “I am.” They walked down the hall to the room they were in last time. It was empty now, she knew, as she’d looked in before she came to get him. “No sling even. That’s good.”

  “The doctor said that if I’m comfortable without it, I could ditch it. No use wearing it when I’d rather not.”

  “I’m sure I’ll get his report by tomorrow. Until then we are just going to focus on your ankle more. By the way, you’re walking much better.”

  “Nicks has been helpful with that. I’m not running, but he wants to pull me.”

  “So you came up with a name?” she asked.

  “It was that or Stevie. I think Nicks is better.”

  “Ah, makes sense. Fleetwood Mac.”

  “Do you like her music? It is way before our time.”

  “It’s classic. There is no time limit on music like that.”

  He smiled at her. “I like the way you think. So what are we doing today?”

  “Have a seat. I’m going to stretch your ankle again like we did on Friday. I know you’ve been walking. Have you been doing the other exercises I gave you?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want to get in trouble.”

  “Are you someone that follows the rules?” she asked as she took his foot and put it on her lap. She was pushing his toes forward and back, his foot side to side. “How does that feel?”

  “Good. Tight. But I’ve been trying to rotate and stretch it myself too.”

  “I’m sure by the looks of things you won’t need me much longer.” She didn’t figure he’d be coming here for the four weeks that the doctors prescribed for him anyway.

  “Not a problem. We’ll just have to see each other a different way.” She looked up from what she was doing. She was being professional here and lifted her eyebrow at him. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

  “Time and place. Didn’t I tell you that yesterday?”

  They’d eaten their lunch together. They’d talked some more but nothing serious. Not even much about their lives or their pasts. More about things going on in the area. The July Fourth holiday coming up, some firework shows and so on.

  When she was getting ready to leave—having stayed three hours and shocked how the time had flown by—she’d told him, “Work and this is separate. We don’t talk about this at work.”

  “But can we talk about work when we’re together?” he asked with a big grin. “Just want to make sure I know all the rules.”

  “If you want to, that is fine. But at my job, it’s work only. It’s your physical health and nothing more. Got it?”

  “I’ve got it,” he said. “And since we aren’t at your job and are in my house, then I don’t feel bad doing this.”

  She’d known right away before he said the words he was going to kiss her. It was right there in his eyes for any fool to see. And since she knew it was foolish to get involved with him when she’d been burned before, she had no problem seeing what was coming at her.

  She lifted her arms up and put them around his neck as his mouth went to town on hers. She was so lost in the taste and feel of his tongue dancing with hers she almost hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  But reason intruded on her thoughts. First off, she’d probably hurt him if she did that since he only had one good arm. Second of all, that might be an open invitation to bring her to his room. That wasn’t happening no matter how much the devil on her shoulder was trying to put a bag over the angel’s head. That stupid devil had caused her to get her heart broken more than it should and he was at it again.

  “You did tell me that,” he said quickly now. Even though they were alone in the room, he was being cautious enough to not be overheard.

  “Glad to know you listened.”

  “I listen and follow directions well. I thought we established that already.”

  “Push against my hand,” she told him. “Let’s see if you can move me.”

  Her hand didn’t move that much, but there was a lot more force behind it this time. “Good. How does it feel?”

  “Not as tight. No muscle spasm in my foot either.”

  “Have you gotten any more since Friday?”

  “Just a few. Hurts like a bitch in heat.” She lifted her eyebrow. “Sorry. Guess I need to watch my mouth too.”

  “Just remember where you are. Some of the older patients might not take kindly to the words. Though I can honestly tell you plenty have a bigger potty mouth than you when they are in pain.”

  “Been there and done that,” he said. “Those first few weeks weren’t anything I want to experience again.”

  “Pain meds?” she asked. “Do you take anything? I noticed you filled out on your forms you were on Percocet after the surgery.”

  “Nothing more than over the counter when I need it now. I’ve never been one to rely on pain pills and I’m not about to. My career has always been too important to me.”

  She figured as much with drug testing and all. He talked about following the rules and if she had her guess he was pretty religious about his health.

  “But that career now...”

/>   “Still not taking them,” he interrupted her. “I’ve seen too many people depend on them. The pain is barely there, and when it is, that is what Motrin or Advil is for. Massages, hot and cold compresses. I’ve done it all at times and it works well enough.”

  She nodded her head. “You mentioned you hated running before. But I’m sure you’ve had to do that as part of your normal training.”

  “There were a lot of things I hated doing, but it was all for the greater good. Though that part of my life is done I’m still not changing who I am at the core of it.”

  She smiled and stood up. “I didn’t expect any differently.” She reached her hands for his. “Stand up. Hold my hands as best you can, we’ll be careful of your right arm. Slowly lift your left leg up and try to balance on your right. Don’t lift it high, I don’t want you hurting your right arm if you lose your balance.”

  “Now you are just insulting me thinking I can’t stand on my right foot.”

  “Prove me wrong then,” she said.

  He lifted his left leg and was steady enough, but his foot wasn’t that far off the ground either and twice he had to tap it back down to steady himself. “Good enough.”

  “Of course. I’ll want you to keep working on that. Let’s go to the wall and get on the small step stool.”

  “Am I facing you or the wall?”

  “The wall. Brace your hands on the wall for support the best you can, then bring your right foot back and let your heel hang off the back. It’s a deeper stretch.”

  “Shit,” he said.

  She held back her laugh. “Everything is still tighter than you think. Go slow. Drop it down and bring it up. Do it a few times at your own pace.”

  He did and by time he was done, his range was significantly more.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  “We’re almost done. I’m going to give you some resistance bands to take along with more exercises. I can show you how to do them if you want.”

  “I’m sure I can figure it out, but since I’ve got five minutes left, I’d like to spend it with you.”

  There went her heart again. This was getting nuts.

  She rolled her eyes and grabbed the band with the least resistance. “We’ll start slow. Sit down on the mat and put this around the pad of your foot, now point and flex your toes.”

  She went through the rest of the exercises on the sheet and then stood there while he put his sneakers back on.

  “I talked to your brother Evan today.”

  She looked around and made sure no one was there. “About the fence?”

  “Yep. That’s not too personal, right?” he asked.

  He was teasing her, but she let it go. “Not really. Nicks needs a place to run free safely. My name didn’t come up, did it?”

  “Why would it?” he asked.

  She started to frown and then caught herself. She’d be ticked if it did so why was she annoyed that he replied like that? “No reason. Just wasn’t sure.”

  The last thing she needed was her older brother lecturing her on men she was interested in. She’d had that happen plenty in her time. But of course they’d seen the end results of her dating life and now wanted to protect her at all costs. No amount of telling them to back off worked.

  “He’s coming over tonight to measure and then get me a quote. I thanked him for keeping it private.”

  “My family is good that way. We understand.”

  “I’m sure you do. No worries about me saying anything tonight either.”

  “Just to give you a heads up. He’s a big fan. He might ask for your autograph.”

  He laughed, not a funny sound either. “It’s not worth much now.”

  “I’m sure it’s worth a lot more than you think, but it has nothing to do with money and everything to do with the fact that he’s a big fan. I know he’d jumped at the opportunity to come out and meet you.”

  “Sorry. I’ve got to get out of my own head at times.”

  “Yes, you do. We are done here. I’ll see you on Wednesday, same time,” she said.

  “That’s it?” he asked. “Nothing more?”

  “Work,” she said back.

  “I’ve got no other way to reach you.”

  She’d forgotten about that. That she didn’t give him her number when she left yesterday. She’d realized it herself last night. She’d been more focused on not staggering out of his front door with dizziness after that kiss.

  She walked over to a desk in the far corner, pulled her business card out of the stack of all the therapists’ cards, and wrote her personal number on the back. “If you want it.”

  He took it out of her hand. “You know I do.”

  And there was a double meaning there if she’d ever seen one.

  7

  Lay The Law Down

  Harris felt like a lovesick fool when he’d never been one in high school let alone as an adult.

  But here he was waiting for Kaelyn to arrive at his house so they could get some dinner and then go watch the fireworks on his parents’ deck. They were close enough to one of the local shows that growing up as a kid they didn’t have far to go to enjoy them.

  And if his parents were in town this weekend, he wouldn’t even consider it, but since they weren’t he knew he was safe to go there.

  Even dinner, they weren’t going out. He ordered food to be delivered soon. They could relax at his house, then drive the few miles to his parents’ house before it got dark out.

  When he heard a car door shut, he went to the front door, followed by Nicks, and opened it up to see her standing there with a box in her hand.

  “What’s that?”

  “Dessert,” she said. “You said you were taking care of dinner so I figured I could supply the sweet part of the night.”

  “I was hoping the sweet part of the night would be getting my mouth on yours again.”

  “Oh, that’s definitely happening.”

  “Really?” he asked, knowing his smile was filling his face.

  “Kissing, bud,” she said. “You sure do kiss well.”

  “Figures you’d lay the law down.”

  “One of us has to,” she said.

  “We are single consenting adults.”

  “Who take things slow,” she told him, her finger poking him in the ribs.

  “If you must.”

  “I must. So tell me about your week,” she said, walking in and sitting on his couch.

  He liked that she felt comfortable enough to do that. That was something at least. “Not much to say. I have this really tough therapist I saw three times this week that worked me hard. Just not the way I wanted to be worked out.”

  She only laughed and wiggled her eyebrows at him. “I thought you were having your yard measured for a fence.”

  “That’s not exciting. But yes, your brother stopped over on Monday night, measured the yard, got me a quote, and it will be done next week. He’s coming back and putting a dog door in for me too.”

  “Smart.”

  “I could do it myself, but the truth is, it’s easier and faster for him to do it. At least I know it’d be right.”

  “You aren’t going to be one of those guys that wants to do it all by himself, are you?”

  “No. I’ve got enough money that I don’t need the headache or frustration to prove I can do something that I know I can. Why bother?”

  “Good to know you aren’t cocky.”

  “I’m cocky. Plenty have told me that in my life.”

  “I was kidding. So how has Nicks been for you? The potty training coming along?”

  “Potty training is. Furniture not so much.”

  “Oops, is he not supposed to be up here?” she asked and went to pick the puppy up and place him on the ground.

  “He’s fine. He’s on the bed at night too. I didn’t realize I was such a sucker, but I can’t stand the crying. It’s just easier to give in than fight it.”

  “Some things in life are that way.”

>   “Yes, they are,” he said, walking over to sit next to her. “Are you going to fight me?”

  “Not for a kiss, I’m not.”

  He pulled her into his lap, his mouth going to hers, her hands around his neck. She’d said he knew how to kiss, but she gave it back just as good.

  He liked having both hands free now, using them to cup her cheeks and hold her head still while he made love to her mouth wishing it were other parts of her body.

  And the one part of his body was growing under her ass. She had to know the effect she was having on him.

  “This is crazy,” he said. “I feel like I’m in high school.”

  “Tell me about it. My body says yes, my brain says slow the hell down.”

  “Your brain is going to win out, isn’t it?” he said, dropping his forehead to hers.

  “For now it has to. Until I know more of what is going on.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Your life is changing. You know it, you admitted it. You’re impulsive. Another thing you admitted. This house, the dog. What is to say I’m not just convenient at the moment?”

  “You aren’t,” he argued.

  “But I don’t know that. And until I do, I won’t go much further.” She moved off his lap. “If that bothers you then maybe it’s just not meant.”

  “It doesn’t bother me. I won’t lie and say I wish you didn’t feel that way, but I get it.”

  “I did some research on you. Figured I’d let you know that. I don’t keep secrets either.”

  He snorted. “Like gossip research?”

  “It could be called that. I Google searched you and women. It doesn’t seem you are seen with the same one more than once.”

  “Not usually. Those times are long gone though.”

  “Words and not actions. I’m looking for actions.”

  “Practical again. Guess I’ve got nothing but time on my hands to show you then.”

  “You’re not mad or annoyed at what I’m saying?” she asked.