Spring Training

by Stacey Lynn Rhodes

  “Tonight—definitely,” Aaron promised, already anticipating the next time in her arms. He couldn’t wait to spend the night holding her…

  He stopped short as he realized the unexpected direction his thoughts were taking. She wasn’t even from here, only visiting for a couple of days, not to mention he wouldn’t be around for much longer before he rejoined his team. So even if they did hit it off, where could it go?

  Problem was, his brain knew that, but his body already felt the tug of separation as she slipped out of his room to sneak down the hall.

  What the hell was he going to do when she went home?

  Chapter Eight

  Dinner with the Sanduskys had been fun…and not. Teri had laid the foundation for a quick but wholesome meal, and Aaron enjoyed eating well without having to put the time into food prep after a full day of practice. The only thing he’d had to do was grill the steaks, and that was always more of a pleasure than a chore.

  He and Teri had found a lot to chat about, mostly about the prospects in spring training camp so far. She was an incredibly knowledgeable fan and Aaron couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such an enjoyable, in-depth conversation about his sport with anyone, much less a woman he was interested in.

  But sulking off to the side like a dark cloud, all through the prep, meal and cleanup, was her broody son. Aaron rolled his eyes mentally as Emery shrugged off yet another question. Was this what it was like being a parent? Emery wasn’t talking, and Teri let him be—for the most part. But Aaron knew there was a talking-to coming and tried to escape, only to be caught as he excused himself for a walk.

  “Nope. You’re doing this too.”

  “Why me?” Aaron was honestly puzzled by her desire for his participation. Unless, maybe she needed support?

  “I don’t see why Aaron needs to enjoy one of your wonderful lectures.” Emery finally spoke and his sarcasm immediately got Aaron’s back up. “It’s not like he’s my dad or anything.”

  And they’re off.

  Aaron watched Teri take a deep breath, expecting her to cut her son down to size. She was sitting next to Em on the couch, and the young man’s body language was definitely hostile. He braced himself for a cold scolding like the kind his own mother would have dished out, his chest tightening in anticipation.

  “Can you tell me how your practice went today?”

  Aaron let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding. While Teri’s eyes were focused intently on Emery, her expression was far from irritated and her voice was calm.

  He wasn’t the only one caught off guard by her tactic. The calm tone and non-confrontational interest in his day seemed to surprise Emery and finally earned Teri a look in the eyes from her son. She looked steadily back at him, her love and pride shining through, plain to see. Aaron wasn’t even on the receiving end of that look and he was almost choked up. Aaron watched as Emery swallowed convulsively, throat working as he tried to maintain his poise.

  “Ma…” Emery’s voice broke. “Ah shit, Ma, I’m so sorry.” He made as if to reach for her, but she—deliberately it seemed—maintained her distance, not encouraging contact even as she waited for an answer to her question. Aaron could almost see the need in Emery to get a hug and reassurance from his mom.

  Emery gathered himself and continued. “Um, practice. It was good. I mean, I had a good day.” He shrugged.

  Aaron softened a little bit toward him. Cocky was one thing Emery wasn’t, and he had every right to be. “He had a great workout today,” Aaron interjected to clarify, both to give Teri more information and to boost Emery a bit. “He more than holds his own—he really stands out.”

  Teri smiled her thanks at him and Emery colored a bit. Aaron nodded to the other player, giving him the floor back.

  “Coach called me into his office after practice, and he, uh, said I was looking really good, but I was on the verge of fucking it all up.” Em’s jaw clenched as he played with the remote. He looked up at his mom. “I swear, I am done screwing around. I mean it. I’m so stupid. I don’t want to mess this up. God, this is what I’ve always wanted to do, and here it is, sooner than I thought.”

  Teri pressed her lips together, her eyes shiny.

  “Ma”—he knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hands—“you’ve done so much for me. I won’t let you down again. I promise.”

  Tears were rolling down Teri’s cheeks, but she was still smiling at Emery. “I love you, Em. You’ve never let me down, honey. I’m so proud of you.” She reeled him in for the much-awaited hug, stroking her hand over his head, their similar hair blending together as they reconciled.

  Aaron’s chest was tight and his throat thickened just watching them. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and headed to the kitchen, thinking about his own parents.

  He couldn’t ever remember either of them telling him they were proud of him, or even that they loved him. His mom was quiet and reserved, and very religious. She thought that sports led to sinful behavior and refused to come to his games.

  His dad took a more pragmatic approach to his career. He had pushed Aaron to be the best from an early age, but nothing Aaron ever did was good enough to please him or earn his praise. It was because of his dad’s fears of Aaron missing playing time that he’d put off getting corrective surgery when he was younger, and now look at him.

  His dad hadn’t called him once since the accident, and until now, Aaron hadn’t cared. But confronted with the supportive and involved parenting Teri gave to Emery, Aaron found himself aching for what he’d never had. For that unconditional love. He accepted that he’d never get it from his parents, but now that he’d had a taste of it from Teri, he wanted more…

  “Hey there. We’re done.” Teri poked her head around the corner and looked at him closely. “Are you okay?” She walked in and rested a hand on his lower back, just a gentle touch, but it was so like her to always have that hands-on connection.

  “It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.” He pulled her into a hug, marveling at how natural, how right she felt in his arms. He gave her a peck on top of her head. “How about you?”

  “Time will tell. I really think having the coach come down on him helped open his eyes. So in a way, it was good that this all happened sooner rather than later.” She gave a little shrug. “I believe he believes he’s ready to change. He just has to avoid falling back into old habits.” Heaving a cleansing sigh, she pulled away, and he reluctantly let her go. “That’ll be the hard part. Especially when I’m not here as a reminder.”

  Aaron nodded, vowing to do what he could to keep an eye on Emery after Teri left, to remind him of his promise to behave and focus.

  Teri raised an eyebrow at him. “I know what you’re thinking.”

  “Oh really?” he teased back.

  “Yep. And he has to do this on his own. He’s not your responsibility.”

  All of that was true. “Trust me—I know better than anyone that you have to find the drive in yourself in order to succeed in this. It’s like anything else. He’ll have to do it for himself, not to please you or Coach or me.” He shifted to rest back against the edge of the counter. “But it wouldn’t hurt him to get a nudge here and there if I can see him slipping. While I’m here, anyway,” he amended.

  “That’s really nice of you. Thank you. I just don’t want you stressing about it. You have enough on your own plate.” Her gaze went to his shoulder and he rotated it self-consciously, pleased when it didn’t give much of a twinge at all.

  “Don’t worry about me. I don’t do anything that I don’t want to. I’m a big boy.”

  Her smile took on a more sensuous cast at his last words, but before he could react, some rather loud music came on out in the living room. They smiled at each other.

  “He’s making himself at home,” Teri observed unnecessarily. “Sorry about that.”

  “Nah, it’s okay. I tend to listen to a lot of music when I’m by myself.” He hadn’t lately just because it seemed sort
of rude to subject other people to what he felt like listening to without checking if it was okay. Better to just avoid the whole topic, though he had to admit that it had seemed unnaturally quiet.

  They walked back into the other room to discover that Emery wasn’t even in there. No wonder it was loud. He was evidently listening to the music from his bedroom.

  Teri headed over to where Emery’s phone was plugged into the Bose speaker system.

  “Don’t worry about it. Why don’t we go for a walk before it gets dark? There’s a nice trail system that runs along the river and you can get down there a couple of blocks from here. It’s really nice and quiet back there—just a few dog walkers and the occasional jogger.”

  “Is that where you go running?” Teri asked as she reversed direction and went to the front door.

  “Yes, sometimes. That trail leads to a park, then you can actually get to a couple of other parks on trails leading from there—all interconnected.”

  “That sounds really nice. I’d love to. I actually walk every morning. Well,” she continued wryly as she sat right down on the floor and grabbed her shoes, “except for this morning, of course. I was sleeping hard and then wham, had to go into action as Supermom and get Em his stuff.” She finished lacing up her cross trainers and looked at Aaron expectantly.

  He’d been sort of zoning out on her legs and snapped himself back to attention.

  Shoes. Right.

  Teri smirked at him. “Lost ya there for a sec.”

  “Oh, no. I was definitely paying attention to you,” he retorted and watched a blush creep up from her neck to her cheeks as she rose to her feet.

  After he’d donned his own shoes, he glanced back toward the hallway to the bedrooms then looked at Teri. “Should we let him know where we’re going?” As soon as he asked, he shook his head just as she did the same.

  “He’s an adult. And housebroken, for the most part.” Teri winked and led the way out of the front door. Aaron went ahead and locked up behind them from habit, then they started down the stairs.

  One of the reasons he’d loved the condo complex and had decided to buy there rather than just rent somewhere else was the little park in the back. It used to be a municipal park, but when the developers had purchased the land for the complex, there had been a dispute over access. Eventually the city had sold the developers the park with the caveat that there be public access and right of way. The complex maintained the tiny riverfront park, which tended to flood in the late spring, though it hadn’t yet this year. The bonus for the people who lived there was that there was a quiet greenway buffer behind the condos—all you could see was the park and the trees along the river, no other structures or roads.

  Another plus was the unofficial dirt path between their small park and the real, city-maintained trail along the river. Enough people cut through there that it was well-defined and only really got overgrown toward the end of summer when all the vegetation was at its peak.

  Aaron led her through the trees the short distance to the actual trail, then turned and, on a whim, held out his hand.

  Chapter Nine

  Teri looked from Aaron’s outstretched palm to his face, a bit surprised by the romantic gesture. But that didn’t stop her from immediately placing her hand in his as she stepped over the last bit of growth onto the asphalt. He twined his fingers with hers and they began to walk side by side along the river.

  At the pace they were going, this didn’t have any pretense of being exercise, and it had been ages since she’d just strolled with someone, especially a man. She was used to being in high gear, so it was a novel experience soaking in the stillness of the impending evening while the water moved along beside them. The sound of birds and the distant hum of cars on a road a ways off were the only things breaking the quiet, and they didn’t detract from it.

  It was nice.

  Teri began to consider that she’d missed out on some things in life without even being aware of them. She wouldn’t change her circumstance for the world, because that would mean wishing away her two boys, who she loved more than anything, but it was true that it had been an unconventional young adulthood for her. She was used to being in charge…and being alone.

  “Penny for them?” Aaron asked. “Or are you just enjoying the walk, I hope?” He accompanied his question with a squeeze of her hand.

  “Nothing important. Just thinking about whether I’ve ever just gone for a walk like this before,” Teri admitted.

  Aaron looked down at her in surprise. “Well, if you haven’t, I’m doubly glad I suggested it then.”

  “Me too. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re missing something until something big shakes up your routine.”

  “Like having your extremely talented son get his shot at the pros?”

  “Yep.” Teri couldn’t keep the proud smile from her face. “Kind of crazy how quickly it all happened.”

  “It’s lucky that you have a flexible job.”

  Teri smiled wryly. “No luck about it. I put in my time over the years for exactly that reason—so that now I have freedom and I’m not locked in by having to punch a clock.”

  They walked a bit farther and came to a place on the walkway where they had an unobstructed view of the river. Aaron brought them to a stop and slid his arm around her shoulders as they watched the water go by. A few ducks were floating along, occasionally ducking under with their tails up the air, making Teri smile.

  After they resumed their progress, Aaron asked her, “What do you like to do for fun?”

  She raised her eyebrow. “Besides watch baseball? What else is there?”

  They both laughed.

  “I work, work out and watch sports. That’s pretty much it,” she admitted. “I should probably get a life.”

  “Hey, that’s more than a lot of people do,” Aaron protested. “Any other favorite sports…besides the obvious?”

  “I do play tennis and golf sometimes wi—” Teri stopped speaking as Aaron’s phone began to ring with a twangy country song.

  Crap. Aaron let go of her hand as he fumbled in his pocket for it. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay—go ahead and answer it.”

  Aaron finally managed to retrieve the phone and hit answer. “Thanks” he mouthed to her before answering aloud, “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  “Holy fucking crap it’s a girl what the fuck am I gonna do man?” All of the words came tumbling out in a rush, and the high pitch to Deke’s voice perfectly illustrated his panic. In fact, if he hadn’t known it was his friend from the ringtone, he wouldn’t have recognized his voice.

  “Congrats, Deke.”

  “No penis!”

  He burst out laughing, unable to respond to that right away.

  “I’m serious. What the hell? I dunno why, but I really thought it was gonna be a boy.”

  Teri must have been able to hear Deke’s end of the conversation because she offered, “Tell him that sometimes they like to hide their boy parts. Only way to tell for sure is a chromosome test.”

  Aaron dutifully repeated her words to Deke.

  “Naw. Julia ain’t goin’ for that. You know what they have to do for that? Stick a big ole needle in there! That’s fucked up—what if they poke the baby? No fucking way they’re…” Deke paused. “Wait…who’s that?”

  Aaron smiled at Teri. “That’s Teri.”

  “Teri who?”

  “Sandusky.”

  “Sandusky? Huh. Ain’t your hotshot a bit young to be married?”

  “I’m the hotshot’s mom,” Teri called out.

  “Well hell, man. You don’t have me on speaker phone, do ya?” Deke grumbled. “I hate when you do that shit.”

  Aaron shifted the phone to left hand and held the right back out to Teri, who accepted it. They resumed walking down the path. “I’m always telling you, you have a voice like a foghorn. You aren’t on speaker. You’re just fucking loud.”

  “Bite me.”

  Teri giggled, a light, girlis
h sound that made Aaron do a pleased double-take, so different was it than her usual low tone of voice.

  “Hey, while I got ya, why don’t you put the hotshot on? I have some words of wisdom for him, one third-baseman to another.”

  Aaron would have known better than that even if Emery had been there. Deke just wanted to lecture him on not fucking around or giving Aaron a hard time. “No can do. Teri and I are out on a walk. He’s back at the condo.”

  Silence from the other end of the line.

  “You there, Deke?”

  “Moonlight stroll? You’re hot for Mom?” His answer was almost a whisper—for him. He obviously didn’t want to risk Teri overhearing. “Dude, you’d better call me tomorrow. I gotta hear this.”

  Aaron ignored that. “Tell Julia congratulations and give her big hug from me.”

  “Ahh…get your ass back here and give her your own damn hug.”

  He was used to Deke’s bluster and knew Julia would be getting his message as soon as they were off the phone, if she wasn’t right there on his lap listening in anyway. Deke was crazy in love with his wife and didn’t let her get too far away when he wasn’t on the road.

  “Fine. Will do. G’night.”

  “Night.”

  Aaron hung up and pocketed his phone. “Sorry for the interruption.”

  “No problem. Friend of yours from the team?” she mused. “Deke…southern accent…third baseman… Must be Deacon Rawlson.”

  Aaron was impressed. “Wow, great job. You do know your baseball, don’t you?” He nodded. “Yeah, Deke’s probably my best friend.”

  “You two played together in college too, right?”

  “Just for a year before I got called up, but yeah. He went into another team’s system, but we stayed in touch, then a couple of trades later, we’re in the same place again. It happens that way. You can be bitter rivals then get traded and suddenly become teammates with the enemy, or vice versa. At the same time, it doesn’t pay to get super close to anyone because you never know when it’ll be over, either because of a trade or injury.” He shrugged. “Deke sticks like a freaking burr, though. I have to give him credit. Julia jokes that Deke can’t go to sleep at night if he hasn’t at least said hi to me once that day. The ‘bromance’, you know.”