The Matchup

by Laura L. Walker

  “A break-in?” With an inquisitive look, Nick glanced past Gage and Valerie to the house beyond. “Here? Wow, that’s too bad.”

  “And we’d appreciate it if you’d give us a call in the event that she does. After all, our greatest concern should be for the welfare of our children, right?” Gage leveled his glare at the man who had made Valerie’s life so difficult. If he tried any more tricks like he’d done in the past, Nick would answer to him. And Gage wanted to make sure the jerk knew it.

  When at last Nick’s gaze slid away from Gage’s, followed by a thick swallow, Gage knew his message had been received.

  After continual meetings with Bishop Ames (whom Bishop Gregory referred Gage to as the bishop of Gage’s ward) and with his endorsement of Gage’s renewed commitment to the gospel, the Logan and Levington families came together for Gage and Valerie’s sealing in the Mesa Arizona Temple. For Justin’s sake, they wanted to keep it low-key. When Valerie warned Gage that the stress of planning a large affair would likely push Justin to the limit, Gage agreed. “You won’t hear me complaining,” he said with a grin. “I can hardly wait.”

  Heat crept up her neck. “I feel the same way,” she admitted softly. He was aware that it had taken Valerie this long since the burglary to feel safe enough to venture out alone on her shopping trips and other outings. In fact, her mom finally convinced her just a few days before the wedding to shop for a gown. Luckily, she found one near her size that Brande was able to hem.

  Of course, all those practical reasons for marrying Valerie completely fled Gage’s mind when he knelt before her at the altar. There, in the celestial room, surrounded by family, gazing at the woman he loved, this moment was forever etched in his soul. Looking into Valerie’s eyes, he knew she felt the same way.

  Later, when the wedding guests were gathered at Sarah and Eric’s home, Gage’s father and stepmother approached the happy couple. After Tamara squeezed Gage for all she was worth, he hugged his father awkwardly. “Hey, Dad,” he asked, “would it be okay for Valerie and me to bring the kids for a visit later when baseball season winds down?”

  His dad’s eyes lit up in anticipation. “That would be more than okay.”

  “We’d like to get to know your little bunch,” Tamara added happily.

  “I want them to get to know you too. We’re also planning on taking the kids to Disneyland.”

  They both agreed that a short getaway would be better for their peace of mind and Justin’s well-being than an extended honeymoon. Yet Gage wouldn’t tell Valerie what he’d planned until he’d whisked her away from the crowd. Saying good-bye to Whitney, Justin, and Zach had been difficult, to say the least. “I wanna come with you,” Justin whined.

  “Shh, Justin,” Whitney said. “Don’t be such a bawl baby. Mom and Gage will be back in a few days. And we get to stay with Grandma and Grandpa.”

  Valerie looked at Gage, not sure what to say. Since that day almost three years ago when she and Nick returned home from Tahiti, Valerie had never been away from her son overnight. But the time had come to give him some growing room and enjoy time alone with her new husband.

  “Justin, remember what we talked about.” She bent down to his level. “You’re a big boy and can handle this. When Gage and I get back, we’ll do something fun together as a family.”

  “Hey, buddy.” Gage stretched his arm to Justin for a fist bump. “I need you to be my helper. Zach is gonna be with you in a strange house with a new grandma and grandpa he doesn’t know yet. He might feel lonely at times. Can you help him out?”

  Justin’s brow slashed downward as he pulled his head toward the floor. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Justin,” Gage said, waiting with his fist out. “Look at me.”

  Slowly, Justin raised his head. After another moment, he raised his fist to meet Gage’s. “How many days are your mom and I going to be gone?”

  He held up four fingers. “Four.”

  “All right, son. I knew you could do it. Remember—four days. Be my helper, okay? Make me proud.”

  Justin’s face broke out into a huge grin. “I will.”

  “All right.” After Valerie exchanged big hugs with both boys and Whitney, Gage gently pulled Valerie away.

  Valerie and Gage enjoyed four of the most glorious days of their lives in Sedona. Valerie had never had much of an opportunity to explore the tourist town. They visited an art gallery and watched a pottery-making demonstration. Valerie laughed when the demonstrator invited her to give it a try. Hers turned out looking nothing like his. Early in the morning of their last full day in Sedona, Gage woke Valerie up with a long kiss. “Wake-up call, sleepyhead. We’ve got to get ready.”

  “For what?” she asked, her eyesight coming into focus. Gage was smiling down at her tenderly.

  “It’s a surprise.” He bent down to kiss her again.

  Several moments later, when they were both breathless, Gage broke away. “As tempting as it is to stay here this morning, I really think you’re going to love what I’ve planned. Let’s get up and get going. They’ll be here soon to shuttle out us out to the landing spot.”

  “Landing spot?” she echoed in disbelief.

  “Yeah. I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”

  That made two of them. “Gage Logan, what did you sign us up for?”

  “Oh,” he said with a shrug, “nothing too spectacular. Just a hot air balloon ride with a catered picnic afterward.” His boyish grin was contagious.

  “Wow! Trying to impress your wife, are you?”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “Is it working?”

  With a flirtatious smile, she said, “Sure thing.”

  Gage’s eyes turned to molten chocolate just before he kissed her again and in that moment, Valerie knew she’d never regret marrying this handsome, wonderful guy.

  Gage’s and Valerie’s blissful honeymoon ended all too soon. Upon picking up the kids from her parents’ house, they heard an earful from Whitney about Justin crying the entire first day they were gone. Grandma had come to the rescue, though, when she lassoed three helpers to bake chocolate chip cookies. All in all, Justin’s reaction had been about what Valerie had expected.

  Valerie’s grandparents, who had returned home from their mission before the wedding, reported in their ward. As she sat with her children in sacrament meeting, looking at all the familiar faces, Valerie was saddened to realize this was her last Sunday with them. Valerie had grown to love these good people who had treated them with such kindness and respect.

  Before their wedding, Gage had helped Valerie pack most of her belongings and move them to his house. Now that the task of unpacking lay before her, she was anxious to settle into her new home. Whitney and Justin immediately sorted through their toys to see if another burglary had occurred at their new home while they were gone. “It’s going to take them some time to adjust,” Gage observed.

  Gage and Valerie and the kids began attending their new ward as a family. However, Whitney was now wavering in her desire to attend church, largely due to her father’s penchant for taking off somewhere every weekend with his girlfriend. Nick’s claim that it had been a one-time occurrence had been false. Valerie kept arguing with Nick about it, but it didn’t seem to do any good.

  “We’re finished playing these games with him,” Gage said to Valerie. “Let’s call the attorney and get the ball rolling to end Nick’s visitations, since he isn’t holding up his end of the custody agreement.”

  Perhaps the most strenuous adjustment was the one that Gage was making in living with such a rambunctious crew. In spite of Valerie’s warning, Gage acknowledged that Justin’s disorder was more complicated than his public behavior indicated.

  “Why does Justin do that?” Gage asked Valerie in a low tone one evening as the family sat down to watch a video. He gestured toward Justin, who was flapping his arms like wings and shuffling around the room making the sounds of a crow.

  Valerie looked over to the television screen where an animated
crow was emitting a sign of distress to the evil witch in the Disney movie. She replied, “Justin often becomes so engrossed in what he’s watching that he literally forgets where he is.”

  Gage’s eyes widened in awe. “He immerses himself in the action so completely that he loses his sense of reality?”

  She nodded solemnly. “He has a difficult time distinguishing between fantasy and reality—much more so than the average child. Sometimes it’s difficult to bring him back into the real world.”

  Once the school year began, Gage was in for another shock when he noticed Valerie following Justin around each morning as he got ready for school. She helped him pick out his clothes. Then she made sure he sat down to eat breakfast in a timely manner. She helped him tie his shoes. Then brush his teeth and comb his hair. And finally grab his backpack.

  The third morning he saw her do this, he waylaid her in the hallway. “Sweetheart, surely Justin can do that stuff on his own by now.”

  She shook her head tersely. “Justin has difficulty monitoring himself because he usually gets too distracted. I have to keep him on task in order for him to be ready for school on time.”

  After thinking the problem through, Gage suggested that they install some shelving in Justin’s bedroom to help him organize his stuff. With the help of Justin’s speech teacher, they also implemented a picture chart to help him get ready for school each morning.

  The time had come for the bedrooms to be painted. Dinosaurs for Zach and cars for Justin. Flowers with whimsical fairies dotted Whitney’s room. The project soon took on a life of its own as more paint ended up on each other than on the walls. They were all laughing at how silly each other looked with blue-specked hair and green-streaked cheeks by the time they were finished. Gage shrugged sheepishly. “We may not be the Brady Bunch or the Von Trapp singers, but we are definitely making this blended family real.”

  “Yeah, real something,” Valerie joked. “I’m not sure what, though.”

  “Real. As in genuine. This is the real deal. And I love it.”

  Coming home from work one evening, Gage discovered his extensive baseball card collection lying askew on the floor of Justin’s bedroom. Several cards had been bent or torn. “Justin!” he thundered, growing angrier by the second as he waited for Justin to appear.

  Valerie came running down the hallway instead. “What’s the matter?” The self-explanatory evidence stopped her in her tracks. Her face turned white. “Please tell me Justin didn’t do this.”

  “Who else would have done it?” he exclaimed. “Zach leaves my stuff alone. Whitney would have no interest in them. They’re in his bedroom, for crying out loud!”

  “Gage, I’m so sorry.” She began sorting the cards into stacks that were still in good condition and those that were too far gone to keep. “I unpacked a few more boxes this afternoon. I didn’t see him get into your things. I’ll keep a closer eye on him from now on.”

  “You can’t follow him around every minute of the day, Valerie. He’s going to have to learn that certain things are off-limits.” He knelt to help her. Picking a card up, he growled in frustration. “See this?” He thrust a card before her face. “That’s a Billy Germaine rookie card. He was the star player of the 1989 World Series between the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants. He later admitted to using steroids along with Tim Davis.” At least this one and a few others were in a protective cover. He rattled off more commentary about the players of the past as he picked up more cards.

  Valerie was thoughtful as she handed her pile of cards to him. “Why don’t you go through them and lock the valuable ones away and give some of the less valuable ones to Zach and Justin? Maybe you can help them start their own card collections. They would like that.”

  “Sure, but in the meantime, we need to talk to Justin about leaving my things alone.”

  “We’ll do that,” she said calmly, “and I’ll try my best to keep an eye on him. But you do realize that we’re not going to be able to keep him out of everything, don’t you?”

  Gage wanted to argue the point, but Valerie’s penitent look pierced him. He sighed. “Yeah. I know.”

  “We’ll keep our bedroom door locked and our most valuable possessions out of reach.”

  A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. His family was his most valued possession. “I’m sorry for getting so upset. I’ll take the boys to pick out some cards of their own.”

  “I’m sure that Whitney would like to be included as well.”

  “Baseball cards for Whitney? I can’t see it.”

  She answered with an enigmatic grin. “Maybe not yet, but you will.”

  Valerie woke with a start. The weather was turning cooler with the onset of October. On this particularly chilly night, with the wind howling outside, Valerie entered the kitchen in her nightgown and heated a mug of water in the microwave, yawning. She had fallen asleep but, in following the pattern of the past five nights, had woken upon hearing Gage’s car pull into the garage. Though she’d tried to be supportive, there was no getting around it. Gage’s crazy schedule was getting to her, interrupting her sleep patterns to the point where Valerie often felt so drowsy during the day that she crashed on the couch for thirty minutes each afternoon.

  Valerie was steeping some chamomile tea when Gage entered the house through the kitchen, looking as tired as she.

  Gage walked inside the house, wondering why the kitchen light was on, when he saw his wife sitting on the opposite side of the countertop. Her hair was slightly mussed and dark halfmoons shown beneath her eyes. Still, the sight of Valerie in her nightgown kicked his pulse into an uneven rhythm. “Honey, what’s the matter?”

  She took a sip of what looked like herbal tea from a mug. Valerie yawned. “I’m having a hard time sleeping lately.”

  One look at her sunken eyes and he knew. “It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

  She sighed. “I’m not trying to complain. I know you love your job, but I guess I haven’t gotten used to your schedule yet. How do you do it for six months out of the year?”

  Six months only covered the Diamondbacks’ regular season. Wisely, he refrained from telling her that Spring Training was just as crazy. “It’s a difficult schedule. But for me, it’s never been a big deal because I was able to sleep late every morning. Now that I have a family—”

  “—with rowdy kids who wake up insanely early,” Valerie inserted.

  A brief smile quirked his lips. “I’ll admit I’m getting a little tired.”

  Valerie yawned again. “And without your caffeine fix, you’re getting a little grumpy.”

  It was true. He’d given up coffee quite quickly, which had been a miracle. And energy drinks were not to his liking. So without a pick-me-up each morning, Gage was now struggling to function.

  Gage ran his hand over his face, feeling the beginning of whiskers forming. “The season is almost over, Valerie. Hang in there for a few more weeks, okay? And that’s only if the D-Backs make the playoffs.” Right now they were going head-to-head in a wild pennant race.

  “By the time I get used to your late schedule, it will change,” she predicted. “Is there another position in the organization that would be less demanding of your time?”

  “Yes, but most of the jobs I’m interested in doing entail being at the games. It’s just like you said, Valerie. I love my job. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”

  Valerie lifted one shoulder. “I’m just saying that maybe there’s a job with the Diamondbacks that would be more suitable to family life. And to church life too.”

  “Maybe but I’m not interested in those jobs.” The D-Backs Foundation had, in fact, branched out in many outreach programs, and Gage was quickly moving up in the organization. His boss had been dropping hints concerning a possible promotion in the marketing department. He told her as much, adding, “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

  “And if you don’t get the promotion, will you think about applying for another
job or at least look into transferring into a different department?”

  She was asking a lot of him. They both knew it. If there was a way to satisfy both of them, only the Lord knew. “Let’s pray about it.”

  The Diamondbacks lost the seventh game to the Dodgers in a thrilling series. Gage, along with the entire team and crew, mourned the agonizing defeat. Gage completed his suite rental totals and end-of-the-season reports, looking forward to the vacation in San Diego his family had planned. Whitney and Justin were thrilled to be taken out of school for the occasion.

  Gage sensed Valerie’s nervousness increasing the farther they traveled. There hadn’t been time for much conversing at the wedding and Valerie had only known Gage’s dad as an aloof business tycoon while growing up. “Everything will be all right. My dad has completely changed from the time you knew him.”

  “Has he?” she asked as they pulled up in front of his father’s five-thousand-square-foot mansion.

  “You’ll see.”

  Whitney and Zach exclaimed over the size of the house while Justin stared at it in wonder. Valerie shifted her weight from one hip to the other as they rang the doorbell. Gage threaded his fingers through hers to stop the trembling.

  Jared and Tamara Logan promptly answered. After Tamara smothered Gage and Valerie in a gigantic hug, Valerie leaned over to whisper frantically in Gage’s ear, “I just worry about Justin.”

  Gage whispered back, “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

  Tamara hugged Whitney and Zach quite enthusiastically before her eyes landed on the five-year-old. “Hello, Justin. It’s nice to see you again. How are you?” She carefully modulated her voice, which admittedly, was quite a feat for the older woman.

  A lengthy pause followed. “Fine.” Sure enough, his eyes were focused on the floor again.

  Amazingly enough, Tamara seemed to sense that Justin was finished conversing for the time being and turned her attention back to the group as a whole. “Come on in, y’all. We’re going to have us a good ol’ time.”