The Matchup

by Laura L. Walker

  Valerie’s heart was on a roller coaster. Really, did he have to break out that killer smile right now when she was feeling so vulnerable? “None for me, thanks.” Her voice sounded flat even to her own ears.

  Gage’s eyes narrowed slightly. He paid for the popcorn and then hailed a guy selling lemonade. “Thirsty?” Gage asked warily as he handed her a cold plastic cup.

  “Yes, thank you.” Hoping to make amends, she accepted it gratefully.

  Then, before she knew what happened, Justin yelped and started wailing loudly. Gage and Valerie both turned to him in alarm. Leaning closer to him, she asked in a calm and steady voice, “What’s wrong, Justin?”

  “That guy hit me!” he cried, turning around and yelling at a man who was moving down the aisle behind them with his beer in hand, oblivious to Justin’s outrage.

  The man and woman seated directly in back of them looked at Valerie sympathetically. “He was bumped in the back of the head while the guy was moving down the aisle,” the woman said.

  Valerie smiled and thanked her. After trying a few diversionary tactics with nothing working, she pulled Justin up by the arm. “I’m just going to take him for a walk,” she told Gage. “That usually calms him down. Do you mind staying with the other two?”

  Gage nodded. “Sure. You have your phone in case you need anything, right?”

  “Yes. We’ll be fine. It’s time for a restroom break, anyway.”

  Once she hustled Justin out of the stands toward the concessions, the incredible-smelling food made Valerie’s stomach growl. She was hungry and the kids probably were too. Not knowing what Gage had planned, she decided that splurging for food would go a long way toward placating some hungry munchkins.

  But first she had to help Justin calm down. She pasted a wooden smile on her face for the people who were sending them strange looks, all the while wishing that Justin would stop crying. As soon as they found the restroom, she led him to a corner and looked him straight in the eyes. “Justin!” she said quietly. “Remember what we talked about? We’re here to have fun and we can’t do that if you are doing this. You’re going to have to be a big boy and stop crying.”

  Her words only made him wail louder. “He’s a mean man! I hate him! I’m gonna hit him back!” he screeched.

  Valerie sucked in her breath and let it out forcefully. “No, you aren’t,” she replied firmly. “Listen, Justin. I know it hurt when that guy bumped you on the head, but it was an accident. He didn’t mean to do it. Crying about it won’t make it feel better.”

  Unfortunately, Justin’s reasoning skills were zilch and Valerie knew it. She could deal with the tantrums in the privacy of their own home when he cried it out in his bedroom. But in public settings such as this, the more Justin lost his control, the more Valerie struggled to hold onto hers. At this point, the only thing she could do was pray. Desperately, she pleaded for Heavenly Father to help Justin calm down. An idea flashed through her mind. “Justin, let’s sing. Which song shall we sing? ‘Popcorn Popping’ or ‘I Am a Child of God’?”

  Justin chose the latter, so they sang the first verse of “I Am A Child of God,” paying no attention to the people who had stopped what they were doing to listen. Instead, Valerie watched as a gradual transformation came over Justin. He loved music, especially Primary songs.

  When his tears had subsided, Valerie took him to a sink to wash his face and dry it with a paper towel. A little girl wearing a pink top and denim ruffled shorts was running her hands under the water faucet next to them. The girl’s mother looked at them curiously, giving her a compassionate smile. When Justin had sufficiently calmed down, Valerie took him to stand in line to use the facilities.

  Emerging from the restroom almost fifteen minutes later, they stood in another long line of people while waiting their turn to buy the expensive hot dogs. Silently, Valerie willed the line of people to move faster, desperately hoping that Justin wouldn’t break out in tears again. Waiting was another of his weaknesses.

  This time, he surprised her when he held up his hand. “Look, Mommy. I can sign my name. J-U-S-T-I-N. That spells Justin.”

  “You’re right. Now can you sign Whitney’s?”

  Moving inch by agonizing inch, they finger-spelled Zach’s name in ASL next, followed by hers and Gage’s. Then they signed the names of objects they saw. By the time they finished, the line had moved up considerably. Valerie breathed a sigh of relief.

  Justin helped her carry their food back to their seats. “Hot dogs, anyone?” she asked brightly as she held out her bounty. Two small pairs of hands reached out and grabbed one.

  Gage looked up from his phone, glancing at Justin. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep.” Valerie hated the overly bright voice she had to use so much of the time. “We’re okay now.”

  Gage eyed her dubiously before seeming to accept her answer. Ignoring his silence, she grabbed a handful of napkins and passed them out, efficiently helping the kids with their hot dogs. Valerie looked up to offer one to Gage only to find him staring at her. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she shoved a chunk of hair behind her ear. “What?”

  A secretive smile graced his face. “Nothing.”

  Gage couldn’t have taken his gaze from Valerie if someone had forced him. She had a natural charm and grace that couldn’t be replicated. Why hadn’t he been able to tell the difference between April’s beauty, which had only been on the surface, and a woman like Valerie who hadn’t been blessed with April’s stunning looks but whose inner beauty transcended that of his ex-wife’s? Her mothering instincts were right on target. Not only did she seem to have it all together, but she didn’t have a deceitful bone in her body. When Gage thought about the way April had laughed and joked with him, making him feel like he was the only one on her radar, his cheeks burned in humiliation. How could he have been so wrong?

  But now, seeing Valerie laughing and joking with their kids, the light in her eyes as she reveled in their excitement of the sights and sounds of the game, he knew without a doubt that Valerie was the real deal. April had only been a cheap substitute.

  “You know, I was planning on buying some food for us soon,” he said, indicating the hot dogs. “Did you know that you can place an order at Chase Field using your smartphone?”

  A faint blush settled in her cheeks. “I don’t own a smartphone. But that’s okay. The diversion of standing in line came in handy.”

  “I meant to pay for them.”

  “I work for you, so in essence, you did.”

  “Not the same thing,” he insisted. “The money I pay you for watching Zach should be used on you and your kids, not Zach and me.”

  A scowl crossed her face. “Drop it, Logan. You already paid for the tickets and the drinks. I can afford to buy lunch.”

  “Valerie, this was my treat.”

  When she arched one brow at him, he knew he was in trouble. Then she inclined her head toward the scoreboard. “Maybe we should buy one of those to keep track of who wins each argument? The way I see it, we’re here to have fun, right?”

  She had a point. But it was fun to see her get riled. However, that saucy glint in her eyes told him that he’d better drop the subject before she became angry.

  “I just want to make sure you have what you need for your upcoming moving expenses.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You know about that?”

  “Yeah,” he answered, failing to see what the big deal was. “Your parents told me.”

  She sat so still that Gage instantly knew he’d said the wrong thing. Fortunately, the couple who were sitting behind them tapped Justin on the shoulder, drawing Valerie’s attention away from Gage.

  “Hi, there. My name’s Joy. What’s yours?”

  Justin immediately scanned the concrete at his feet. He said quietly, “Justin.”

  “Well, Justin, it’s nice to meet you. This is Chad.”

  “Hey, Justin,” her husband chimed in, “it’s a great day for a ball game, isn’t it? It’s t
oo bad our D-Backs are losing, though. Let’s hope they score soon because it’s almost the seventh inning.”

  He nodded even though he was still avoiding eye contact with them.

  “Who’s your favorite player, Justin?”

  Gage doubted that Justin would be able to answer that question. But to his surprise, however, Justin replied, “Brody Renford and Nate Dorman.” Interesting. Had Justin named those players just because they had signed his baseball before the game started?

  Chad and Joy chatted with Justin for several more minutes, not seeming to mind that most of his responses were one word or less.

  “So what do you think the D-Backs should do to win this game, Justin?” Chad asked.

  Amazingly, Zach and Whitney kept quiet, seeming to sense that Justin should be given time to come up with the answer. Gage held his breath, looking at Valerie. Her apprehension over this line of questioning was palpable.

  “Hit a home run.”

  “I think so too. Let’s cheer for our D-Backs together, okay?” Joy said enthusiastically, shaking an oversized plastic red and black rattler’s rattle back and forth before handing it to him. “Here. Would you like to try it out?”

  Justin shook the rattle, repeating the motion with a huge smile on his face. Turning to Valerie, he said, “Look, Mom. I’m cheering for the D-Backs.”

  Valerie ruffled his hair affectionately. “You sure are, little man. Keep it up.”

  When Gage caught Valerie’s attention again, he lifted his eyebrow as if to say, See? I told you he’d be fine. She quickly looked away.

  Now that his recent explosion had subsided, Justin was having the time of his life even though the Diamondbacks were trailing the Rockies by a score of seven to six. It didn’t even seem to matter to him that they were losing.

  Before they knew it, it was time for the seventh inning stretch. Joy and Chad encouraged Justin to sing the classic song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” while teaching him the lyrics. Then a familiar song blasted over the sound system and the crowd immediately launched into performing the actions to “YMCA.”

  “Hey, Justin!” Joy shouted at Justin in an attempt to be heard over the loud music. “Come on up here and do the YMCA song with us. We’ll teach it to you.”

  Justin’s arm motions were a bit uncoordinated, but he got the hang of it before too long. Whitney and Zach got into the rhythm of the song and started dancing. Valerie laughed at their antics. She wasn’t one to go all crazy like that, dancing with gusto in front of complete strangers, but she enjoyed watching the kids having so much fun. Once again, she caught Gage’s eye, but this time, she didn’t look away.

  Three tired children slumped over each other as they drove east on Loop 202 toward Mesa. Gage was pleased with how well the day had turned out, although there had been some tense moments when he wasn’t sure how Valerie or Justin would react, such as the one they endured as they were packing up their stuff to go when the game ended. After shaking hands with Chad and Joy and expressing their appreciation for making the day special for Justin, Joy commented on their beautiful family, further embarrassing Valerie by remarking that Zach looked just like his mother and Justin looked like his dad. Valerie had gasped and quickly looked at Gage before looking away.

  Gage and Valerie each grabbed one of the boy’s hands and walked toward the exit with Whitney in between. The crowds thinned as they made their way up several blocks to Gage’s car. Suddenly, a little girl with ribbons in her ponytails, wearing a pink shirt with ruffled denim shorts, pointed to Justin and said, “Look, Mommy. There’s the boy who was crying in the bathroom.”

  Her mother immediately hushed her, telling her to mind her manners. The woman looked at Gage apologetically. Gage smiled in return to convey the message no harm done when in reality, he didn’t know if that was true or not. Glancing at Valerie, he noticed two red spots on her cheeks, which could be a result from too much sun, but he seriously doubted it. The retractable roof had been closed during the game and she was studiously ignoring the mother and her daughter.

  A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. What had happened in the restroom? He’d smirked at Valerie to let her know that Justin was fine, just as he’d said he would be, and she hadn’t refuted him. Had she deliberately downplayed a more serious situation?

  Now as they drove toward Valerie’s home, Gage made a snap decision. “Hey,” he said, looking at the kids from the mirror, “Zach and I have some ice cream in our freezer. How do you feel about going to our place for sundaes? Maybe we can find a movie to watch.”

  Valerie’s sharp gaze seared him.

  Or not. He almost capitulated, but then a strange thing happened. The same instinct in his gut that told him to take Zach the weekend April died was telling him to not let this go. He knew he needed to do this.

  “The kids are tired, Gage, and we have church tomorrow. I’d really rather have you take us home so that we can shower and get ready for bed.”

  Pouring all the urgency he could into his gaze, he reached for her hand and squeezed it. “We need to talk.” When she hesitated, he added persuasively, “A promise is a promise. I never told you about the tattoo.”

  That did the trick as he’d hoped it would. “All right.”

  He made a quick detour off the freeway. Within minutes, he pulled into the garage of his sprawling white home with red brick trim and rolling green grass. Gage loved the landscaping, which was what had first caught his attention when he’d purchased the house a year and a half ago. Two orange trees and a lemon tree supplied more than enough Vitamin C for him and his neighbors.

  He hadn’t admitted it to Valerie when she and the kids came inside with dirt under their fingernails from tending her garden, but his hobbies weren’t too different than hers. Earlier this spring, at the advice of a fellow gardener, he’d planted a couple of Baja fairy duster shrubs and some bird of paradise plants along the outer edges of the property, hoping they would survive the summer heat. So far, they looked promising.

  Gage led them into the house through the garage, turning lights on as he went. They came directly into the kitchen, which boasted granite countertops and a wraparound bar. After bidding them to have a seat on the stools, he pulled some vanilla ice cream from the freezer to thaw. He noticed Valerie staring at his coffeemaker. His nerves became taut as he waited for her censure.

  Surprisingly, it never came. Instead, she asked, “What can I do to help?”

  Coming closer to tuck an errant strand of hair from her face, he smiled warmly. “Just sit back and relax. It’s your turn to be waited on.”

  To his pleasure, she blushed. “Thanks,” she said softly.

  Gage was about to say something else when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Whitney scowling at him like a mountain lion eyeing its prey.

  Fortunately, Zach broke the mood by finding his second wind. “Hey, guys! Want to see my bedroom?” Gage cringed, wishing that he could find time to paint the dinosaurs he and Zach had talked about. He promised himself he would get around to it on the team’s next road trip. The kids raced through the dining area and adjoining family room before turning a corner that led to the stairs, leaving him and Valerie staring at each other.

  Clearing her throat, she asked, “Kind of a big house for just two people, don’t you think?”

  Shrugging off his discomfort, he replied, “Yeah, but a realtor friend of mine told me about this place after it was foreclosed on and encouraged me to take a look. I’m not even sure why, but it called to me, you know? I can’t explain it, but somehow it seemed familiar.”

  “I felt the same when I met an elderly sister in my ward. She’s wonderful.” As the silence stretched uncomfortably between them, Valerie ventured, “So you said we needed to talk?”

  “Yeah. Can I offer you a drink?” He pulled two glasses from a cupboard and walked over to the refrigerator to fill them with ice from the ice dispenser. “Ice water will be fine.”

  He motioned her into the family
room where they sat diagonally across from one another on a comfortable couch. Gage took another swallow of his water to moisten his dry mouth before changing the subject. “Thanks for coming to the ball game with us today. I love watching the D-Backs play, but it was even better being there with all of you.”

  Her answering smile was fleeting. “I’m glad.”

  He wondered if she was still thinking about Joy’s comment regarding their beautiful family. It kept replaying through his head. Deep down, Gage admitted to himself that he’d never completely forgotten that dream.

  “Valerie, I want to know more about Justin’s autism. You mentioned once that complete strangers have publicly accused you of mishandling your son. What happened?”

  Her jaw tightened as she averted her gaze. He realized that he was entering dangerous territory. But he wanted to understand.

  When she finally spoke, her voice sounded strained. “About a year ago, I took the kids to the grocery store for a few items I needed to make a dinner for a family in our ward. Justin saw a toy that was strategically displayed in the aisle and demanded that I buy it for him. When I told him no, he screamed so loudly that everyone around me began staring at me like I’d been beating my child. I was trying to think of what to do when a woman came up to me and asked me to let her try to calm Justin down. At first, I refused her.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t normally allow random people to interact extensively with my children the way Chad and Joy did today. I prefer to handle Justin’s tantrums myself. I told the woman that we’d be fine. But she persisted, saying that she’d been trained to deal with those kinds of situations. Finally, despite my misgivings, I stepped back to let her try.”

  “So then what happened?” His own voice now sounded strained.

  “She couldn’t calm him down. She tried to pick him up and he twisted around like a snake.” She paused. “She almost dropped him. That’s when she handed Justin to me and ran out of there.” Valerie looked down. “It was so humiliating.”