It had been both an inspiring and a heavy night, attending the Celebrate Recovery meeting with Karen and Clay. It hadn’t been the first time, but she had gone hoping to see Cory. Hoping that perhaps Karen’s words might get through to him. She wasn’t going to try to talk to him about anything. That wasn’t her place. All she wanted was to be seen there, to show that she supported her friend. To show what family was all about.
She looked in on Tyler and saw his light on, so she slipped into his room to turn it off. She noticed the baseball card resting just next to his opened hand.
It was Cory as a rookie, the future so bright and endless. She read the note on the back again.
Proud of you—Coach Cory
For a moment Emma sat on the edge of Tyler’s bed, thinking about this man she didn’t know, picturing this man that part of her still loved.
Love doesn’t go away. Sometimes it’s put in a wooden box and hidden away like other valuable things belonging to you. Sometimes it’s lost and forgotten about and never to be found again. But it doesn’t go away.
Not when love can create something so beautiful and remarkable and amazing.
Emma smiled as she looked at Tyler, then stood up and kissed the sleeping boy on the forehead.
You’re not a cowboy and you don’t ride on a steel horse and you’re definitely not wanted dead or alive. You’re a guy who plays ball. It’s not heroic. You hit balls and catch them. And yeah, there’s more to it, a lot more in fact, but the world simply sees that. The hitting and catching.
There’s no more drama than that.
The cities and the faces and the moments don’t need a soundtrack, don’t fit into some epic adventure.
You’re just that same stupid kid from Okmulgee and always will be.
Chapter Thirty-three
Safe
When he whipped the pickup truck into the parking space at the baseball field, Cory realized he was moving a bit too fast. He rammed on the brakes. Something underneath his seat hit the back of his foot. When he turned off the motor and got out, he realized it was his phone.
It had been a day since he’d lost it. The last few days had all started to feel the same. One bad nightmare. A blanket of haze. Besides coaching the team, nothing else happened. The same repeats of late nights in his motel room. The same groggy mornings with him vowing to stop this party and get on with his life. The same inspiring moments filled with watching the kids playing ball. The same emptiness as he watched them all leave him behind.
Today was another big game with the Roughnecks. As usual, the parking lot and stands were full. Cory turned on his phone and grabbed his gear, then heard the incoming call.
“Hey, Helene,” he said after seeing her name.
“Why aren’t you in a limo right now? Why aren’t you on your way to Tulsa? Any of this ringing a bell?”
He cursed as he realized what she was talking about. “Listen, I can’t leave now. You’ll just have to reschedule.”
“Cory, I’m gonna blow an artery if you just said what I think you just said.”
“I’m not kidding,” he said. “I’m not missing this game. Reschedule it.”
“You’re not missing this interview. They moved a kid up from the Springs, and this kid is good, Cory. And guess what? He’s not a pain in the butt. You will not say no.”
“No.”
Cory had seen and heard it all from Helene, and he was tired of it. She wasn’t down here shacked up in a dingy motel room. She didn’t know the first thing about putting family first.
“I’m not missing my son’s game.”
“Your son? Is this some kind of party line from Green Acres?”
“I have a son, Helene. He’s on the Little League team. I’m his coach.” Cory could see Emma walking up to him. “Gotta go.”
“Everything okay?” Emma said after he hung up on Helene. She had a look of concern on her face.
She’s coming over here because she’s afraid something bad’s going to happen.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just forgot I had this TV interview scheduled.”
“You should go.”
“No, I already told my agent to forget it. It’s too late. It’s done.”
“Are you sure?” Emma asked. “If you need to go, it’ll be fine. We’ll be okay without you.”
Cory got the bag of bats from the back of the truck and then grabbed his duffel bag. “It’s fine.”
They walked over to the field. As Cory was putting his gear in the dugout, a black limo arrived. It must have been waiting at his motel.
Helene didn’t waste a minute.
A text came through his phone.
GET IN THE CAR.
Helene didn’t like taking no for an answer. That’s exactly why he had her for an agent. That’s why she was one of the best in the business.
Emma still looked worried. “Doesn’t look too late to me. Seriously, just go.”
Her continued efforts to get him off the field only made Cory more adamant about staying.
“It’s your career,” Emma continued. “Go. Believe it or not, we will survive.”
I just love having all these women in my life who believe in me so much.
“I’m not leaving.” He picked up his glove and went out to the field to begin pregame warm-ups with the kids. “We got a game to play.”
Cory glanced back at the limo waiting in the parking lot.
It looked almost as out of place around this field as he did.
The game had an ominous start. A long hit to right field left Wellsey squinting in the sun, trying in vain to hold up his mitt to even attempt a catch. The ball clipped him in the head, sending both Wellsey and his outstretched mitt down.
After Cory ran out to make sure the kid was okay, he couldn’t help thinking that at least this time it wasn’t his fault that someone was laid out on the field.
The Roughnecks took the lead in the first inning, but the Bulldogs came back when Carlos managed to get on base and then made it home after a couple of errors by the cocky Roughnecks.
After Coach Pajersky’s son hit a home run in the fourth, Tyler went up to the plate. His stance was fine, but Cory knew he was trying to blast the ball just like Caleb Pajersky had. Stanton was already at second base. Cory tried to give Tyler a signal to just try to make it on base, then he called time.
“Don’t try to make it over the fence,” Cory told him. “Just get the ball over the second basemen.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There’s a hundred percent chance he won’t catch it. No way. Knock it out there, and you’ll get Stanton home.”
Tyler swung too hard and too fast at the next pitch, then connected with the following one. It didn’t quite go over the second basemen, but it still made it out in right field, bringing home Stanton and tying the game.
As he stood on first base, Tyler glanced over at Cory, who gave him a wink and a grin.
It was the last inning, and Kendricks was up to bat when Cory called for another time to talk to the batter.
The Bulldogs actually looked better than the Roughnecks, and not just because of their new uniforms. Everything was clicking. Cory was trying his best to help them in every way he could, and that included ignoring the waiting limo and Coach Pajersky.
He walked over to Kendricks. He was keeping his eye on Wick, who was on third.
We can actually win this sucker.
“What’s up, Coach?” Kendricks asked.
He was growing to love the sound of that name. “Nice day out, huh?”
“Yeah.” She waited to hear what he wanted.
“Nice breeze,” he said. “How’s your family?”
“Fine?” Now Kendricks was confused. Everybody was watching them while Cory asked these sil
ly questions.
“Pitcher’s nervous, and the second baseman’s got a weak arm. We’re going to shake things up.”
Cory gave her a wink and could see she finally knew what he was talking about.
“Got it,” she said as she returned to bat.
As he walked back over to third base, he noticed the limo pulling away.
Helene was going to be irate. His publicity opportunity was gone.
It didn’t matter. He had a game to win.
Emma found it a bit amusing how freaked out Coach Pajersky looked. Normally he treated games against the Bulldogs as practice sessions. But with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth and a runner on second and two outs to go, the man didn’t just look rattled. He was incensed, his body and face rigid and angry.
“One out,” he yelled at his team. Pajersky never talked without yelling. “Hold the runner. C’mon.”
Emma stood near first base and glanced at the rest of her team. The mood in the dugout was a little different. Stanton made a farting sound with his mouth, making the rest of the kids giggle.
“Stanton,” she called out. “Was that you?”
“I’m trying to fart in a run.”
She didn’t want to laugh, but she couldn’t help the smile spreading on her face. That was like a green light to the kids, who all cracked up.
The levity only seemed to infuriate Pajersky even more.
Emma noticed Cory giving some signals to Wick. The kid gave a slight nod, his eyes wide behind their glasses. Then Kendricks followed suit and gave a nod.
These kids know what to do.
The pitch was solid, and Kendricks edged her bat into the perfect position to fire off the bunt. It seemed to surprise the pitcher, since he didn’t start going for it at first.
“Hold the runner!” Pajersky hollered.
The pitcher turned to Wick, who froze a few steps away from third. Kendricks kept running past Emma and past first, as Caleb suddenly noticed her and heard the shouts of his team to chase her down for the out.
Pajersky’s warning wail was ignored as the pitcher tossed the ball to the second baseman, who began to run toward Kendricks. Wick was sprinting wildly toward home as the second baseman tagged Kendricks.
The second baseman threw the ball toward home. Wick kept running. Then began to slide.
Come on, get in there.
Wick slid right into the catcher, and the umpire’s voice roared across the Little League field.
“Safe.”
For a moment Wick looked unconscious, then he slowly stood up and dusted himself off.
Emma saw Cory raising his fist in celebration as he jogged toward home plate, where the Bulldogs were all surrounding Wick and congratulating him.
Wick tried to shrug it off, but everybody knew better. They were laughing and jumping and showing off for the Roughnecks. Coach Pajersky was already heading off the field, obviously not bothering to congratulate the winners.
Emma stood on one side of the jubilant celebration as Cory stood on the other. Cory gave her that never-changing smile.
This time, she gave one back.
It was a nice moment, and she knew it was because of that grinning grown-up boy staring her down.
Come on home, she says.
I can’t now.
That’s what you always say, she says.
I can’t help it.
Yes, you can. I’m not stupid, you know.
Only stupid thing you’ve ever done was to marry Dad.
Stop it, Cory.
Just sayin’.
I really want to see you.
You will, and when you do you won’t believe how buff I am.
I just want to see you, she says.
Very soon okay I gotta go.
I love you.
Love you too, he says to her.
The last words he ever says to her.
The words he replays in his mind on the ride home after getting the message from Clay that she’s gone.
Just like that.
Chapter Thirty-four
Strike Out
It was the same old story.
It was like he was ten years old again, having a great day and a wonderful celebration and then waking up to find something miserable spilling all over him.
Back then it was Dad showing up drunk and making whatever joy Cory had experienced in the day dry up. It was still the same. Something inevitably happened to drain the joy from Cory’s life.
There had been plenty of high fives and handshakes and shoulder taps and love flowing as the parents and spectators filed off the field. This was the story everybody had hoped for. Coach Brand coming to save the day. The Bulldogs beating their archrival. Pajersky sent off without congratulating any of them.
Cory was following Emma and Tyler to the parking lot when Stanton ran up to them with a face of disbelief.
“Coach. You got robbed. It’s not an all-star team if you’re not on it.”
Cory had forgotten all about the all-stars.
“Whoa, buddy. What are you talking about?”
“How’s the league gonna win without you on the team?”
Stanton’s father called his name and he ran off, leaving Cory to process the news.
Normally this sort of thing came from Helene. But, well, he was ignoring Helene. Just like he was ignoring the Grizzlies and the rest of the league.
But life goes on without you. It always will. Nobody’s gonna wait.
Tyler and Emma waited for him to say something.
“You all right?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said in a casual tone. “Just forgot that was coming out today.”
Maybe I didn’t want to remember.
He didn’t want them to see the surprise and hurt he was feeling. He just wanted to leave this scene and deal with the news on his own.
“Bye, Coach,” Tyler said.
He nodded. “Good game, Tyler.”
Eight consecutive years of making the all-star team, and now this.
He turned, not wanting to see his disappointment reflected in their faces. Not wanting to risk getting an invitation from Emma tonight.
It didn’t matter what good thing might happen in life. Somehow, the Brands had a way of wrecking anything wonderful that might come their way.
“Mom?”
Tyler’s voice had that tone, the one that inevitably meant hard questions were coming.
“Yeah?”
“Do you like Coach Cory?”
She glanced at the red light and wasn’t sure what to say. They were only minutes away from the house. To adequately answer Tyler’s question, she would need a good hour or two.
“Of course I do,” she said in her best mommy voice.
“Then why don’t you like having him around?”
“What do you mean I don’t like having him around?”
“Anytime he wants to hang out you say no. We always have to leave after games. It’s like you don’t like him.”
Oh, Ty.
“It’s not that.”
Emma didn’t know what to say. This was a complicated conversation to have with anybody, including herself. She still didn’t know exactly how she felt about Cory. He’d left over ten years ago, and a lot had happened since.
But love doesn’t necessarily fade, does it?
“Is it ’cause he gets angry?” Tyler asked.
“No,” she said instinctively, then quickly added, “Well, partially. It’s complicated.”
“Why?”
She was never ready for conversations like this. Like when Tyler asked about his father’s death and why God would allow something like that. Parents didn’t always have the
answers, and single parents like Emma certainly didn’t have the answers.
I’m trying to figure this out as I go.
“Do you remember Daddy’s friend Isaac? The one who visited us that time? He served with your father in Afghanistan?”
“The sad guy?”
“He wasn’t sad, Tyler. He was just—he suffered a lot.”
She thought of the army sergeant who had come to pay his respects. She could tell something was not right with him. It wasn’t anything he said or did, but just the way he looked and spoke. She could see the dark shadows of depression in his eyes and hear the sadness in his tone.
“Some people—they have things they have to overcome in life. Some deal with things like war and death in different ways.”
“But Cory’s not like the army man. Cory’s fun.”
Not all the time.
Emma pulled into their neighborhood.
“I’m not talking about Cory not being fun. He just—his father wasn’t a very good man. Cory had a tough time when he was your age.”
“And that’s why you don’t like him?”
“Tyler, I never said I don’t like him.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s complicated.”
Emma knew that losing James had left a gaping hole in Tyler’s life. In both of their lives. It was natural for Tyler to gravitate toward the fun-loving and funny Cory Brand, who just happened to be one of the most popular major-league baseball players out there.
That would be complicated enough.
But, oh yeah, Tyler, by the way, he’s also technically your father.
They arrived home, and Tyler seemed content to forget the conversation and turn on the television. But her son’s words stayed with Emma. She wondered if she had been too harsh with Cory.
God only knows what kind of mess he’s going to get into tonight.
A couple of hours later, Emma found herself back in her truck, heading out to check on Cory. She didn’t want to have to explain it to anybody, including herself. She was worried about a guy she once loved and maybe deep down still loved in some weird way. This was a troubled man who didn’t have many real friends and probably didn’t trust anybody. But she knew there was only one Emma in his life. Regardless of all of the other women who had come across Cory’s path, none of them had their shared history. And none of them had someone like Tyler.
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