The Off-Season

by Megan Green

  I pick up a tool belt that’s sitting among the roofing materials and buckle it around my waist. “Where’s your ladder?”

  Her jaw is clenched tight, her eyes hard as she looks at me. I can tell she doesn’t like being told what to do, but like I said, I’m not going to let her do this on her own. My mother would skin me alive if she knew I let anyone, let alone a single woman, climb up onto a roof by themselves when I was perfectly capable of helping.

  “Ladder, Lexi?” I say, letting her know her pissed off expression isn’t going to intimidate me.

  “In the garage,” she clips, her arm flinging out and pointing toward the detached garage to the side of her house.

  Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

  I know better than to say the words aloud, but it still doesn’t stop me from gloating a little on the inside.

  I walk over to the small garage, sliding open the ancient door and stepping into the dusty space.

  There’s so much shit in here; I know it can’t possibly all be hers. Besides, some of it is covered in dust so thick, it looks as if it hasn’t been touched in decades. I quickly locate the ladder, hoisting it up onto my shoulder and walking back over to where Lexi is standing.

  “The original owners leave you all that crap?” I ask once I reach her.

  She sighs. “Yep. It’s such a mess. But I guess there was nobody to go through it after the old couple who lived here died. They didn’t have any children. So, I sort of inherited it. One of these days, I’ll have to get out there and go through it all.”

  “Some of it looks pretty old. Might find something valuable among all the garbage.”

  She smiles softly. “Hopefully. Antiques are sort of a hobby of mine. I’d love to find something amazing out there that I could restore and use inside.”

  “If anyone can make that junk beautiful again, it’s you, Lex.”

  She blushes at my words. “Did you come here to bullshit me, or did you come here to help?”

  Ah, so we’re back to stubborn, obstinate Lexi.

  It’s going to be a long afternoon.

  LEXI

  I should’ve never said anything about the damn roof last night. I basically opened myself up for this. I should’ve known, the second Ian heard I was going to be working on the roof, he wouldn’t let it go until I let him help.

  That’s what you really wanted all along, isn’t it?

  “Shut up,” I murmur under my breath at my subconscious thought. I wanted no such thing.

  Uh-huh. And the sky is purple.

  I turn my attention back to the task at hand, holding a few shingles in place while Ian reloads the nail gun. I take a look at the areas we’ve already finished. Thanks to Ian, I might actually have this thing done before the storm hits.

  Once again, this man is saving my ass.

  After he secures the shingles in place, he heads back down the ladder to grab another box. I was nervous the first time he insisted doing that alone. Those suckers are heavy, and I had no clue how he’d get back up the ladder with the box in tow. But he simply lifted it up onto one shoulder, holding it in place with the same arm while using the other arm to climb. He made the whole process look entirely too simple, reminding me of the exceptional strength he possessed. He’d denied being Superman, but I’m not so sure he was telling the truth.

  When he heaves the box up onto the roof, quickly following behind it, he gestures back down over his shoulder with his thumb. “We might need a few more boxes if we want to get this done. I can keep working here if you want to head to the hardware store and grab a few. You can take my truck.”

  I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth, his words causing an unease to creep up my spine. “Um, I don’t drive.”

  He turns and looks at me, his surprise evident in his eyes. “Oh,” is all he says.

  I know I should probably expand on that. I don’t want him to think I’m some idiot who doesn’t know how to drive. But then again, is the truth really a better alternative?

  I’m warring with myself on what to say next when he speaks, “Well, we still have a few days until the snow hits. Let’s finish up with what we have here, and then tomorrow, we can head into town to grab the rest.”

  I nod, grateful he doesn’t hound me for the reason I don’t drive. Though, if he’s half as smart as I think he is, he’s surely already connected the dots. A twenty-seven-year-old who doesn’t drink and doesn’t drive? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. The whole situation reeks of a DUI.

  If only that’s all it was.

  Ian opens the box and starts removing the shingles when a car door slams from down below. I turn, finding Ella opening the door to the backseat before unbuckling one of the twins. Drew climbs out of the driver’s seat and goes to get the other.

  “Shit,” I mutter, turning back and closing my eyes as I scramble for an idea.

  Ian’s eyes burn into me as he asks, “What is it?”

  “Uh, well, my sister is here,” I say, opening my eyes to gauge his expression.

  He cranes his neck to look over my head, taking in the two people with tiny bundles in their arms. A white plastic bag is hanging from Drew’s wrist, and even from up here, I can make out the shape of the Styrofoam food containers inside.

  “Looks like she brought lunch,” he says, standing up and wiping his hands on his pants.

  I grab hold of his wrist, pulling him back down. “I haven’t…well, I haven’t exactly told her about you yet.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “What are you planning on telling her?”

  Well, I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to tell her anything. Guess that’s off the table.

  “I’m not sure. It hasn’t come up yet.”

  “So, what you’re saying is, there’s no food for me in those boxes?”

  I sputter out a laugh. Of course, the first thing his mind went to was the food.

  He stands again, pulling me to my feet. “Don’t worry, Lex. I won’t do anything to embarrass you. As far as your sister is concerned, I’m a friendly neighbor helping you out. There can’t be any harm in that.”

  I skeptically look at him. “Were you just a friendly neighbor last night? Is that why it seemed like everyone was in on some inside plot to get me near you?”

  He holds his hands up, feigning innocence. “Hey, I can’t help the actions of others. Maybe they see something in me that you don’t,” he adds with a wink.

  Oh, believe me, I see it. I just don’t want to.

  He holds out his hand, his pinkie extended. “I pinkie swear. I won’t say or do anything to give your sister the wrong idea about us.”

  I look down at his finger and then back up at his face. “You pinkie swear? What are you—a seven-year-old girl?”

  He puts on an air of offense. “Excuse me? There’s nothing more sacred than a pinkie swear. I don’t offer them up to anyone, you know. Consider yourself inside my secret circle of trust.”

  I roll my eyes, linking my pinkie with his. “Okay, Robert De Niro.”

  “I’ve got my eye on you, Focker.”

  He insists on climbing down the ladder first so he’ll be there to catch me if I fall. I wage an internal battle over whether to argue and tell him to stop being a chauvinistic pig or smile and thank him for being so thoughtful of my safety. In the end, I decide silence is the best answer, and I wait for him to climb down the ladder before I follow. When we both reach the bottom, I’m met with the very surprised eyes of my sister.

  “Hey, Ells,” I say, heading over to give her a half-hug around the baby.

  I still can’t tell my nieces apart, especially considering Ella is one of those obnoxious mothers who dresses them exactly the same.

  I once asked her how she could tell them apart herself.

  Her response was, “A mother knows.”

  I call bullshit. I don’t think she knows which is which either. When they get old enough to understand, she’ll have to decide which one is Ava and which one is Amelia. Until then, the
y’re “the twins.”

  “Hi, Lex. We thought we’d swing by and bring lunch, see if you needed any help. But I can see now you’ve got it covered,” she adds, her tone pointed.

  Ian takes a step forward, extending his hand to my sister and then her husband. “Hi there. I’m Ian, Lexi’s neighbor. I saw her out here this morning and couldn’t let her do this all on her own. My mother raised me better.”

  Ella smiles as she studies him. “Well, I’m glad my stubborn sister actually allowed you to help. Since she moved in, I’ve been trying to come out to give her a hand, but she always keeps me away. Now, I see why.”

  I choke on a breath. “Ells, he’s just helping me for the day. That’s it.”

  “Mmhmm,” she says, studying Ian once again.

  “Who’s hungry?” Drew asks. “There’s plenty here for everyone.”

  I want to lunge over and hug my brother-in-law for breaking some of the tension in the air.

  Ian grins, raising his hand. “I’m always up for food. Especially when it smells as good as that. What is it?”

  “Chinese. Lexi has always had a soft spot for Chinese, ever since we were kids,” Ella responds, turning to walk inside the house. She ushers Ian along with her, linking her arm through his. “So, Ian, tell me about yourself.”

  I turn to Drew for help, but he just smiles. “Don’t look at me. You know how she is.”

  That’s the problem. I have a feeling Ella is going to know a hell of a lot more about Ian than I do by the time she leaves here.

  Chapter 14

  Tag

  I’ve often wondered how weathermen are consistently so wrong yet somehow able to maintain their jobs. In any other career field, if you failed so spectacularly at your job over and over again, you’d be out on your ass without so much as a, Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. But, if you’re a weatherman…well, you can predict the blizzard of a lifetime, telling everyone to batten down the hatches and prepare for the next ice age, and when only a few flurries fly, you can shrug and say, Whoops. Guess Mother Nature had other plans.

  I mean, by now, the technology must surely be there. I think these assholes like seeing the mass hysteria of a big storm. Or the mad scramble to get things done when a small snowstorm expected at the end of the week suddenly turns into Snowpocalypse and will be here before the day is through.

  That is exactly what Lexi and I are doing out here, in the blistering cold. My hands and face are so numb, I’m not entirely sure they’re even still attached to my body.

  When we went into town yesterday to grab the rest of the supplies, there was chatter about the fast-approaching storm. Where we’d thought we had at least two or three more days before the snow hit, it turned out we had less than twenty-four hours. We worked well into the dark last night and have been back at it since the crack of dawn this morning.

  Lexi’s roof ended up needing almost a total re-shingling. Luckily, the deck of the roof was in pretty decent shape; otherwise, this two-day job would’ve turned out to be a lot longer, and Lexi would’ve been out of a place to stay.

  I had a feeling, now that her sister knew I lived next door, she wouldn’t be so quick to offer Lexi her couch.

  I smile as I pound in another nail—Lexi has the nail gun on the other end of the roof, so I’m back to doing it the old-fashioned way—and recall the conversation I had with Ella the day before yesterday.

  She certainly didn’t suffer from the same reservations her sister did.

  “Have you lived in Maple Lake long, Ian?” she asked before I even had a chance to shovel my first forkful of food into my mouth.

  “’Bout the same amount of time as Lexi actually. I got here a few weeks ago.”

  “Interesting,” she said, pursing her lips together as she eyed me. “And you own the house next door?”

  I shook my head. “No, ma’am. That monstrosity belongs to my buddy Brandon. He’s letting me borrow it for a bit.”

  “So, what brings you all the way out to this small town?”

  I cleared my throat. “Well, I guess I needed a break. And B has been trying to get me to come up here for years. I figured now was as good a time as any.”

  “And what do you do back in…where did you say you were from?”

  I didn’t, I thought sarcastically.

  The woman was starting to get a bit too pushy for my liking.

  “Washington.”

  “State? Which part?”

  “Ella!” Lexi interrupted. “Knock it off. The man was kind enough to offer to help me with my roof today. That doesn’t mean he’s required to subject himself to your third degree.”

  Ella looked at her sister, her eyes narrowed slightly, as if thinking. “You’re right. I apologize, Ian.”

  I waved off her apology, telling her not to worry about it.

  And, after that, we all fell into a comfortable companionship. Ella stopped asking me personal questions, instead changing the topic to the approaching storm.

  Once she dropped the fierce-protector act, I decided I actually really liked Ella. She had a wonderful sense of humor, much like Lexi. Very dry and sarcastic but sweet underneath the surface. She laughed easily, and it was evident how much she and Drew cared for each other in the way they interacted. Drew seemed to know what she needed before even she did, handing her a glass of water just as she went to reach for it, shifting in his seat so that she’d have more room to move her arms as she animatedly mocked something her boss had done to her during the week.

  It was also clear how much he hated that she was stuck in a job she so clearly despised, their two girls spending their days with a sitter because she needed the job in order for them to make ends meet.

  My eyes flashed to Lexi. I was glad to know that, no matter what happened with my career, I’d always be able to support her if the need ever arose. She’d never have to feel stuck.

  And then I all but needed the Heimlich maneuver as I tried not to choke to death on the food in my mouth.

  Where in the hell did that thought come from?

  I filed it away for later, not wanting to have a nervous breakdown in front of Lexi and her family. But, before Ella and Drew left, Ella only further solidified that there was something between Lexi and me despite how hard she might be trying to fight it.

  Ella pulled me aside in the kitchen, Lexi and Drew preoccupied with the twins in the living room.

  “I know she’s difficult. She’s going to try her damnedest to push you away. But I also know she’s worth it,” Ella said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  I leaned down, my eyes briefly darting over to where Lexi sat on the floor of the living room with one of the babies in her arms.

  “I think you know that, too,” Ella added, as if reading something in my eyes.

  I gave her a stiff nod. “But why? Why does she want to keep me out?”

  Ella’s eyes softened. “That’s her story to tell. Just…don’t give up on her. Not yet. She’s different with you.”

  I’d taken Margie’s words the other day at face value. She’d said the only time she saw Lexi smile were the times she was with me. But Margie didn’t know Lexi, so it was hard to put much stock in her observations.

  But Ella…Ella knew Lexi better than anyone. And, if she was able to detect a change in Lexi in only a half hour of her being in my company…well, it made me pretty damn happy, to say the least.

  I wasn’t sure where my sudden feelings had come from. But there was no longer any doubt in my mind. I was falling for this woman.

  This stubborn, frustrating, soul-consuming woman.

  She laughed at something her niece had done then, drawing my attention back to her. And I had my answer.

  I’d said I wasn’t sure where my feelings had come from. But that wasn’t true.

  They were sitting cross-legged on a wood floor desperately in need of refinishing, smiling at a tiny baby.

  I hadn’t suddenly developed some weird need to settle down and fi
nd the one, mistakenly falling for the first woman I’d found after Angela in search of trying to fix something she’d broken.

  No, the changes I felt were all Lexi.

  She makes me want things I haven’t wanted before. She makes me feel things I haven’t felt before. And she makes me be someone I’ve been scared to be before.

  Me.

  I’m no longer all about baseball. I’m not Tag Taggart, shortstop for the Washington Rampage. I’m Ian, part-time handyman and full-time average Joe. There’s no pressure to always be at my very best, constantly improving and finding new ways to impress fans and sponsors. It’s not about making next year’s all-star team or winning a World Series. Though let’s be real; I’ll always want that last one. But it suddenly isn’t my entire reason for existing.

  Breaking through to Lexi, getting her to open up to me, has become my primary goal in life.

  That’s hard though with her currently on the opposite end of the roof, doing her best to ignore me.

  Since the day with her sister, she’s been different. Not exactly back to her usual standoffish self, but not the Lexi I’ve caught glimpses of here and there over the past few weeks. The Lexi I know I’m falling for. No, she’s been…contemplative. I’ve caught her staring off into space several times in the past few days, her thoughts clearly taking her somewhere far away from here. And, instead of giving me her typical spitfire response when I’ve asked her about it, she smiles and shrugs, telling me she’s thinking.

  Yeah, I got that, Lex. Care to fill me in on what you’re thinking about? I’m dying over here.

  But I’ve been so happy she hasn’t immediately shut me out whenever I’ve called her on her zone-outs that I’ve dropped it, letting her have her time to get lost in her thoughts and hoping, if I stick around long enough, maybe she’ll eventually give me a break.