Maisy popped back up just as Zoom’s wife, Veronica, settled in the empty seat beside Zoom, a martini glass in hand. “What did I miss?”
“I was just about to ask Maisy and Kevin how long they have known each other,” Zoom said.
Maisy stuffed a cucumber in her mouth and chewed. Memory road was not a place she felt like driving down tonight.
Kevin felt differently. “We met in elementary school and were inseparable.”
Maisy almost choked. Did Kevin just use the word inseparable? Not a great word considering the woman who had separated them was sitting on the other side of him.
Kevin recounted old times as they made their way through the first course. He got several details wrong, like the name of the teacher who gave them detention in tenth grade for passing love notes behind his back and the coach of the varsity baseball team who called Maisy Kevin’s little curve ball.
God, it was mortifying!
“Maisy was so angry she put a cockroach in my coach’s coffee mug.” Kevin laughed so hard a piece of bread came out the side of his mouth.
“It was fake,” Maisy explained to Veronica, who looked like she might not be able to eat otherwise.
“It was?” Kevin was disappointed. He scratched his head and loosened part of his new comb-over. “Uhhh, so how are your…parents?”
Like he’d ever cared. “They’re fine.”
“Your mother’s health?” She was mildly surprised. He’d never brought up mom’s disease. “My mother tells me she is still driving.”
The meaning was implied. Kevin’s mother had asked about nursing homes as soon as Maisy told her the diagnosis. It had taken all of Maisy’s self-control not to throttle the woman.
Without looking up from his salad, Sam commented, “Maisy’s mom outmaneuvered my Cadillac outside of Comeback just last week. She drives better than an Indy driver.”
Kevin screwed up his face. “Mrs. Gray? She drives like my grandma, Hunter. You must have been smoking dope. Or maybe she was.” Kevin slouched back in his chair and laughed at his stupid joke.
Sam glared at Kevin.
Lorraine Waslaske smoothly diverted the conversation from Kevin’s crude comment. “Sam, thank you so much for sending the dining gift card to Fuzzy and me for our fortieth anniversary.”
“Wasn’t that gift card from you, Zoom?” Fuzzy asked.
Zoom shook his head. “Why the hell would I do that? It’s not my anniversary.”
“Joanie is a great secretary,” Sam mumbled, still frowning at Kevin.
Maisy watched him closely. Odd. Sam was the dealmaker. The aggressive young manager with attitude and guts. Not some sort of generous softie who arranged gifts for people’s anniversary. Lorraine must be wrong.
“Joanie is a great secretary. But don’t pretend, Sam. You always take care of the people you work with,” Lorraine said.
Kevin snorted. “Hey, Sam, you never sent me any gift cards.”
Kevin’s poor multimillion-dollar salary must be painful as hell. Maisy wanted to stuff her napkin in his mouth. Since when had Kevin turned into such a social moron? Granted, they had both been young, and most of their conversations revolved around baseball, but she didn’t remember being so annoyed by him.
Alexa flipped her hair and shifted to Sam. As they spoke quietly with their heads together, Maisy didn’t like the way she lowered her upper body so Sam could get a view. No way were those real.
Kevin poked his head in Maisy’s line of vision. “So how was it Sam ended up getting you to the ballpark? He went to Comeback?”
Zoom straightened his ridiculous pink donut bow tie. “Sam was there to issue my official invitation to Maisy. I wanted to let her know that we had a place for her in the owner’s box and a special apartment for her at the Commodore when she came to a game.”
Alexa was smiling, as if Sam was the most charming man in the room. She released a silvery laugh. Alarm bells that hinted of déjà vu went off in Maisy’s head.
Zoom was still talking. “I knew that Maisy would be happy to help Kevin and the city. Never doubted it for a moment.”
Maisy shifted her disgust away from the intimate huddle across the table and set Zoom straight. “Sam couldn’t drive. And you were being so generous with my students.”
Zoom thought that was funny. He had the kind of laugh that sounded like a sneeze. “I hope they’re hungry.”
It was an odd way to put it. “For school supplies? Absolutely. We all are.”
“School supplies? What are you talking about?”
Sam broke off his conversation with Alexa. “Remember? You used money from the Turbos’ community grant to support the kids at Maisy’s school?”
Zoom cranked up the side of his face. “I did?”
Veronica Zumaeta reached over and took Zoom’s intricately folded and unused napkin from the table and put it in his lap. “Don’t you get it? Sam must have taken care of that for you, Charlie.” Then she leaned across him and said to Maisy, “Charlie can be tight with his checkbook. Cheap Charlie, I used to call him. But over the years, I’ve learned how to handle him.” She flashed her bejeweled wrist.
Fuzzy snorted. His wife hushed him. Before Maisy could ask any more questions, Fuzzy was complaining about the food and asking a server if they had hamburgers.
Maisy ran her hand across the silky fabric of her dress and wondered if the gift card had been Sam’s idea, too. Joanie and Tristan had specifically told her not to mention it to Zoom. She’d forgotten. An uneasy feeling sunk in the pit of her stomach. Someone had used a lot of weapons in his arsenal to make her come to the stadium and the gala. That someone had also supplied her with last night’s tequila. That someone was avoiding her gaze at this very moment as he discussed California with Alexa Ventura.
The meal was just as Sam had told her it would be. Each course was an artistic masterpiece with sauces of various colors decorating each plate in fancy swirls and combinations. The meat was tender and perfectly done, the vegetables crisp and hot. The portions were tiny. Through it all, Maisy let Zoom and Kevin dominate the conversation. They talked about everything from the tailoring of their suits to the nightlife in Indianapolis.
Maisy was struck by how superficial Kevin sounded. When he name-dropped two Hollywood stars he had partied with last time the team was in LA, she almost dumped her crème brûlée in his lap.
Growing up, Maisy had hung on every word Kevin had ever said. She’d laughed at his clumsy jokes and told herself that she was the only one who truly understood him. Tonight, not only were his jokes dumb, but the way he smacked as he chewed his food irritated her to no end. It was hard not to compare him to Sam.
Kevin’s nose was too small. His hair too thin. His eyebrows didn’t do the cute lopsided thing the way Sam’s did. Kevin was taller and more broad-shouldered. But at over six feet, Sam was not petite, either. Uh…no. After last night she could definitely say that Sam was not petite.
Maisy smiled at her own joke. She wished Zoom hadn’t forced Sam to sit on the other side of the table tonight. It felt like they were miles apart. He was acting like a different person tonight. She wanted to get to the bottom of it, confront him, find out what was wrong. At least they could talk on the ride home. And then maybe later…
Her eyes drifted to Tristan, who was watching her with a solemn expression. How long had she been making moon eyes at Sam? She dug into the rest of her meal and nodded at appropriate points in the conversation.
The host of the event gave a short speech and then auctioned off a vacation to Europe and a Ford Fusion. Zoom bragged beside her that he could get a better deal than the winning bids. The money was going to charity. He missed the point completely. Zoom missed a lot, as a matter of fact. It was amazing how a man with no tact could get ahead in the world of donuts. Poor Sam. Working for Zoom must be like managing a second team.
With the speeches complete and most of the guests finished with their entrees, the band started its opening notes. Spotlights streaked across the dance floor and the lights dimmed. Maisy was reminded of the balcony last night and the way the lights danced across the horizon. They still had more than half the bottle of tequila left. Could they leave early? She tried to catch Sam’s eye. But Sam was talking to Lorraine now. Short of waving her hands over her head, she didn’t know how to get her message across to him.
Giving up, Maisy folded her napkin and gathered her purse. The restroom beckoned. She needed a break from the two men bragging beside her.
Zoom stopped her. “Hey, Kevin, you two should go out there and dance.”
Kevin jumped on it. “Great idea. Come on, Maisy. Let’s see if you still dance like you used to.”
Maisy pressed her back against the chair. “No. No. I don’t think I—”
Kevin pulled her up. “It’s just for the first dance. Come on. Everyone expects it.”
“You’ll tire yourself out.”
“I am giving myself permission to dance two songs tonight,” he said smugly.
“I promised Sam…” She paused. Sam couldn’t dance with a fractured toe. But he could take her away from all this. More than anything, she wanted to leave.
Kevin wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Sam’s not really your date, Maisy. Zoom just made him take you so you could sit at our table. He’s not offended, right, Sam?”
“Maisy can do whatever she wants to do,” Sam said evenly.
The betrayal felt like a million tiny paper cuts to her heart. How could he do this to her? Sam was offering her up to Kevin like a pig on a platter. As if the two of them hadn’t shared the hottest sex ever just last night.
Maisy gathered her pride, and instead of crawling under the table like she wanted to, she stood up and bestowed a warm smile on Kevin. “Sure.”
She could feel the stir of interest as Kevin led her to the dance floor. The band was playing a mellow song and the two lead singers, a man and a woman, were singing about love “on hold.” The introduction started slowly. Maisy’s muscle memory allowed Kevin to pull her close. Her feet followed Kevin’s lead without thinking.
At first she was stiff. She didn’t want to be part of a rerun. But as more couples joined the dance floor, she relaxed and shifted into automatic pilot. Sam was AWOL. And a little part of her wanted to make him jealous. Besides, she loved to dance. Other than the yearly staff party, dancing was something she only did on her students’ desks these days. If she pretended that Kevin was a faceless man, it would be fine. She let herself enjoy it just like she used to. Just this once.
The tempo slowed, and Kevin took Maisy in his arms, holding her hand to his chest and resting his chin on top of her head. She slipped out from under that duck-butt beard, startled that he thought that kind of intimacy was okay.
He added air between them and apologized, “Aww, Maisy. I forgot for a moment. It’s so easy being around you tonight. Just like old times.”
“Well, it’s not old times.”
He ignored her comment. “It was fun back then, wasn’t it?”
“For you,” she bit back.
He curved his mouth down and sent her the puppy-dog look she was way too familiar with. It was unfair to puppies everywhere and made her feel like an animal abuser for wanting to wipe it off his face. It used to mean he needed something from her. A special home-cooked meal. A back rub. Or a companion for some long tournament where she would be stuck with his mother in the stands.
“You loved it, Maize.”
“I loved baseball.” And you, she didn’t admit.
“I thought it was about us.”
“Only if you spell us with an i.”
He screwed up his face. “I-S…Is? Or eye-us? I don’t get it.”
She stepped back. The song wasn’t finished. But she was. “Never mind.”
He followed her to the table.
“Marvelous!” Zoom and Veronica said, clapping at their performance. Sam was deep in conversation with Fuzzy and didn’t even look her way.
Maisy couldn’t stand how he was ignoring her. She grabbed her purse. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she said to anyone who was listening. Not Sam.
Five minutes later, when she came out of the stall, she was surprised to see Alexa seated in front of the mirror. Maisy put her head down and headed toward the door. The powder room was empty, so no need for fake smiles and small talk.
“I suppose you think he wants you back now that you’re his good-luck charm.”
Maisy pivoted and met Alexa’s gaze in the mirror.
“You really expect me to answer that?”
Alexa reached for her lipstick. Her eyes were red and there was the tiniest discoloration at the top of her ridiculously high cheekbones. She had been crying.
For some irrational reason, Maisy almost felt sorry for the other woman. Until Alexa opened her mouth again.
“Your rubbing and twerking up against Kevin was pathetic. But then again, I guess it’s been a while for you.”
Twerking? Please. She had not twerked. If she had, the room would have known it, because despite what anybody thought, she was a good twerker.
Even though it was beneath her, Maisy went low. “I twerk plenty these days. You? Oops, sorry. I seem to remember that Kevin likes to conserve his energy during the season.”
Alexa’s face turned red. Maisy knew she’d struck a nerve. Alexa lashed back with a fake little titter. “Is that what he used to tell you? Maybe that’s why he left you for me.”
Maisy laughed. “Thanks for confirming it. I always did think it was about the twerking.”
Alexa slapped her lipstick in her purse. “What are you saying? I’m not worthy of Kevin outside the bedroom?”
There were so many ways to answer that question. Maisy jumped back on the high road instead. “Good night, Alexa.”
Alexa wasn’t finished. She blocked Maisy’s exit. “Are you trying to get him back?”
“What?” Maisy was stunned by the desperation in her voice.
Alexa clutched her purse to her chest as if it was a shield. “I know you blame me for everything that happened. But I had no idea that Kevin had a girlfriend when I met him—”
“Fiancée. We were engaged.”
Alexa’s shoulders caved in. She didn’t look like a supermodel now. “I didn’t know. Not until weeks later when he’d broken it off with you.”
Maisy raised her chin. “Am I supposed to feel better about that?”
“Don’t think I haven’t paid the price. Especially this summer.” Her nose was running. It was a bad look for a cover girl. “We’ve been together for more than three years and suddenly I’m the evil girlfriend. His teammates won’t even talk to me. And his mother is a—” She stopped herself.
“Welcome to life with Kevin Halderman.” She said it more gently than she intended.
“At least everyone likes you.”
“If you’re so miserable, why are you still with him?”
Alexa’s wet eyes grew wider as if she couldn’t believe Maisy would ask the question. “Because he loves me.”
“Better than himself?”
The bathroom door opened and Maisy was forced to step aside as a guest passed her. Her last question had been cruel, but she had been surprised by Alexa’s reason for staying with Kevin. It hadn’t been because I love him. It had been because he loves me. What kind of life had Alexa led that made being loved more important than loving back?
Suddenly Maisy felt horrible. Alexa and Kevin were two sorry souls who didn’t understand how to give.
And she was a sorry soul who gave without getting anything back.
Alexa caught herself in the mirror. She desperately wiped her eyes and mascara smeared. She looked like a teenage girl who had gotten dum
ped at prom. There was a lot of growing up that came after moments like that.
Maisy grabbed a tissue and set it in Alexa’s hands. “Here, Alexa. There are more where these came from. You’re going to need them.”
***
Sam pushed his wine away and asked the waiter if they had a Budweiser.
“Sorry. But there’s a great craft beer selection at the bar,” the man said.
Sam shook his head and stared at his glass. He hated this gala more and more each year.
“Maisy is something else, isn’t she?” Kevin asked.
Since there was no one else in hearing range, Sam figured he was talking to him. “Yup.”
“So, what do you think? Should I hook up with her again?”
Shit. Was he in some offbeat horror film or what? He couldn’t figure out whether to laugh at Kevin’s ludicrous suggestion or stab him with the butter knife. How had this dunderhead ever had a chance at someone like Maisy Gray?
Zoom was suddenly in the conversation. “I definitely think you should get back together with her, Halderman.” He moved his chair closer to Kevin. “Don’t get me wrong. Alexa is one beautiful woman. Gorgeous, and that body—”
Both Sam and Kevin, to his diminishing credit, frowned at Zoom.
He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I won’t talk that way. But let’s admit it. Maisy is pretty, especially in that cute little dress she has on tonight. She’s your special charm, Halderman. If you play like that when that girl is in the stadium, you can’t ignore the opportunity. And the fans. They’ll love it.”
Kevin nodded as if he hadn’t considered the angle. Sam stood up. He couldn’t take it anymore. The bar in the lobby might have a Bud and a television with preseason football. He’d tell Maisy to call him when she was ready to leave.
He was halfway across the lobby when he almost ran over Alexa.
“Whoa. Sorry,” he said, gripping her shoulders to steady her.
Her eyes were full of tears and she was gulping in that terrifying way that women did when they were losing control. He had seen that look often from his sisters. It took hours to recover their senses when they were this upset.
Come Back to the Ballpark, Maisy Gray Page 17
