by Alice Ward
She shook her head. “You go ahead. I have to finish the plans for the day.”
Shot down. Again.
As I walked away, I wondered if she was looking at me, checking me out. I quickly turned back, looking over my shoulder. Her eyes dropped hastily toward the paper in front of her once I caught them on me. Yeah, she was still interested.
I needed to work double time to make all this right. No more trouble from me. From any of us if I could help it. It was obvious that when Katrina’s job was hard, she avoided me like the plague, but when it was easy, she flocked to me like a tourist to Disney World.
The kids were already on the field when we arrived. Katrina was rounding them up, assigning them players to work, that Lana bitch right by her side. The sight of her made me cringe. Her bright red hair, stiff stature, but mostly, the way she hovered over Kat.
The guys were all amazing, letting the kids take turns pitching, swinging the bat, and even running by their side as they made their way around the bases.
Katrina was beautiful, more so than usual as she seemed to be in her element with the kids on the field. She snapped pictures, talked to the press, and interacted like a true professional. Even Rhett seemed to take notice. In my mind, a little too much so.
Lana glared at them as they posed for press photos together with the kids. My thoughts ran wild, thinking about everything she’d said that day. Was Rhett trying to fuck Katrina?
The way he touched her made me wonder if there was merit to Lana’s accusations. His hand rested softly on her arm, slowly caressing the sleeve of her blouse as they spoke. No. Kat is a good girl. There’s no way anything is going on between them. Is there?
“Kyle would like a picture with his favorite player,” Katrina said cheerfully as she approached me for the first time that day.
The boy standing beside her was tall, wore thick glasses, and looked much older than the other kids in the group. His smile was crooked, and his eyes unfocused, but he spoke without hesitation. “Todd Morris. That’s my favorite player. That’s you. I want to be a catcher,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Well, today’s your lucky day. We need another catcher,” I said, wrapping my arm around him for a quick picture.
“Now, this stuff’s heavy. Can you handle it?” I asked, pulling off my gear.
He laughed. His eyes widened, and the smile he gave me sent a squeeze directly to my heart.
Katrina’s eyes were soft and warm as she helped me dress Kyle in my gear. He squatted behind home plate, with me behind him while Blake tossed a few pitches his way.
After we got him unloaded from the gear, he never once complained about its weight. “Thank you. I’m a catcher now. I’m a Beast,” he said proudly.
“Yes, you are, Kyle.” I patted him on the back.
Lana showed up, tapping her wristwatch to warn Katrina that she’d gone over time. “We have to get the bus back to the school,” she said.
What could have been a moment between Kat and me quickly turned back to work. My phone buzzed in my pocket, vibrating against my leg. I turned away from Kat and Lana while I checked to see who was calling me during practice.
Teresa’s name flashed across the screen. I swiped to answer and held the phone to my ear, fearing the worst as I said hello to my sister.
“I’m sorry to bother you. Are you free for a moment?”
She didn’t sound too anxious, so my heart slowed its racing. “Yes. Is everything okay?” I asked, still wondering why she was calling.
“It’s Mom,” she said, sounding exhausted. “She’s fallen again.”
Shit.
We’d put Mom in an independent living facility to ensure her needs were taken care of and to also ease the burden from both of us. It had been a difficult decision and one of us kids visited her nearly every day. When I was out of town, the burden fell on Teresa’s shoulders alone. Marcus, our younger brother, couldn’t take care of himself, let alone anyone else. So it was me and Teresa doing the best we could.
“Did she break anything?” I asked.
“No. Luckily, nothing is broken. Her hip is bruised pretty badly though. The independent living coordinator has insisted that she be moved to an Alzheimer’s unit.” I cringed at her words.
“No way.”
“Todd, it may be for the best at this point,” she said softly.
“You know what those places are like,” I snapped and immediately regretted my harsh tone.
“Yes. Safe.”
I kicked the dirt under my feet as I paced back and forth in a small square. “When?” I asked, not thinking I wanted to hear the answer.
“Right away. They have her in a rehabilitation unit now. Since nothing is broken, they don’t see the point in keeping her. The nursing home doesn’t want the liability of putting her back into her room. She’s fallen four times in the last six months. I can see their point.” She sighed as she spoke.
This wasn’t a decision I wanted to make, not now. Not ever. This was my mother. I didn’t want to see her fade away. In the last few years, I found I couldn’t control that. She had faded far away. She didn’t even know who I was anymore. Most times, she called me Marcus.
“I can handle the move. I just wanted you to know what was happening,” she insisted.
“No. I’ll be there,” I said sternly.
My sister, the do-it-all-yourselfer. She was the chief of surgery, a mother of three, a wife, the lead in the church choir, and our mother’s caretaker, well, co-caretaker. I couldn’t leave all of this on her. I had to get home. This was my responsibility, just as much as it was hers.
“Have you heard from Marcus?” I asked, knowing it was a topic neither of us enjoyed.
Teresa and I were only eighteen months apart. We’d grown up together, always had each other’s backs. Marcus was born when I was eight, and Teresa barely ten. He was the baby, the brat actually.
He'd always screamed that no one loved him, that Mom didn’t even love him enough to give him a "T" name. He was ridiculous, and even so, our mother always babied him. She even tried to change his name to Terrance, and he went by that through most of middle school until changing back to Marcus in a fit of rage.
She sighed into the phone. “He came by the hospital last week.”
“How much?” I asked, knowing exactly why he’d shown his face.
There was only one thing you could count on from Marcus. If he showed up, ever, it was for money.
“I gave him a fifty,” she said.
“A fifty?”
“I didn’t have change.”
Years ago, we’d made a vow to never give Marcus more than twenty dollars at a time. He was an addict. The boy was smoking pot and drinking at thirteen and on heavier drugs by fifteen. Both Teresa and I had already moved out, me just making the majors while she was still knee deep in medical books trying to make something of herself. Mom couldn’t handle Marcus. I shouldn’t have left him with her alone.
“I know. I get it,” I assured her.
“I went by your house, just to make sure he hadn’t broken in again,” she said. “Everything looked fine.”
I’d paid for treatment six times, and each time he came out promising to do better. The first time lasted a week. The third was almost six months. The last time, he’d come out of rehab higher than a kite.
“Okay. I’ll be out there tomorrow. We’ll move Mom, then I’ll deal with Marcus.”
I hung up the phone, pushed it into my pocket, and walked over to Rhett. He was finishing up a photo with the kids’ teachers as I approached. I nodded in his direction, pulling him away from any further marketing bullshit.
“I need to fly out to New York immediately,” I said.
Don’t ask. Tell. That’s what my eleventh-grade teacher, Mr. Simms, taught me. “Be assertive, boy,” he would say. “You won’t get anything by asking. Tell them what you’re taking.”
Rhett didn’t flinch. “Okay. Can I ask why?”
I explained as q
uickly as I could that my mother was being moved, and why. His eyes lit up, his lips curving into a smile that seemed pretty inappropriate given the topic of our discussion. “That’s a great idea,” he said, motioning toward Katrina.
She stepped over, standing next to Rhett and glancing nervously from him to me. I abstained from laughing at the idea that she thought Rhett had found out about our fling and was calling her over to reprimand us.
“Todd is flying out to New York this evening. I want you to go with him,” he said sternly.
Her eyes filled with as much surprise as mine. “I don’t need a babysitter,” I insisted.
“Of course not. Your mother going into the Alzheimer’s unit is a dreadful thing, and for that, I’m truly sorry. But we need to find a charity to make a large donation to, and since a Beast is tied to the disease, it would be a wonderful choice. I hear they are making great progress in their research, so the funds would be very helpful,” Rhett said, professional as always.
I hated the thought of having my mother pulled into the media in any way, but I knew the donation would go to a great cause. I’d given quite a bit myself already, and my sister was in for just as much. “Okay, but why does Katrina need to go?”
“She will be delivering the check while you’re there. I need her to take a few pictures of you and your mother.”
The thought of being alone with Kat was thrilling. Even though she wasn’t given a choice by Rhett on the matter, the fact that she couldn’t look me in the eye without blushing told me she was excited as well.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Katrina
I barely had time to pack my bags before a private car whisked Todd and me to the airport. Todd was quieter than I’d expected, but I didn’t push him. Even with all that was on his mind, he still managed to comfort me throughout the flight. He closed the window shade, held my hand at takeoff, and rested his hand on my knee throughout most of the flight.
“Is your mother still at home?” I asked as we climbed into the backseat of a black SUV outside the airport.
“No. She’s in an independent living facility, or she was. I guess she’s in rehab now after the fall.”
“Will she go back to her place after she heals?”
I wasn’t exactly clear on all the details. I knew his mother had Alzheimer’s and that she had fallen, but that was it. Was she hurt badly? Why the sudden rush to New York to see her?
“The facility said she’s fallen too many times. They want to put her in the nursing home section. That’s why I’m here, to stop them.”
Todd to the rescue. My heart fluttered thinking about how sweet and loyal a son he was. I settled back into the leather seat of the SUV and tried imagining Todd Morris as a child. His beautiful blue eyes must have melted his mother’s heart when he was small.
“We’re here,” Todd announced, opening the backseat door. He extended his hand, helped me from the back of the car, and turned to stare at the entrance of the white brick building.
I reached out, slipped my hand into his. He squeezed my fingers together, pulled me close to him, and headed to the doors. A keypad on the entrance required him to enter a few digits before we were able to open the heavy wooden door. Inside, a cozy area was situated like a home living room, complete with a television and fireplace. It was nice here, nicer than I'd imagined. A woman greeted us with a smile at the small window near another set of large glass doors. “Can I help you?”
“Tamara Morris,” Todd said to the woman. Tamara, that’s Todd’s mother’s name. Pretty.
“Of course. I should’ve recognized you, Mr. Morris.” The woman stammered over her words as she pushed a button that opened the large doors.
“Down the hall, last door on the right.”
He gripped my hand tightly as we walked down the long hallway. The coziness of the entrance was replaced with cold, hard tiled floors, white walls lined with gray doors, and small plaques that offered each residents’ name beside a room number. We stopped at the last door on the right. There was no plaque with her name, just a sign that said "rehab" on the door.
Todd pushed open the door to a large room with one bed, a wide window that overlooked the parking lot, and a small elderly woman sitting in a wooden rocking chair.
“Mom,” Todd said, rushing to her side. The slip of his hand from mine was quick, leaving me standing alone at the doorway.
“Marcus?” she asked, her voice shaky and soft. “Where have you been?” Tears formed in her eyes as her arms opened wide to hug her son, the wrong son.
Todd didn’t flinch. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s frail body and smiled toward me. “No, Mom. It’s me, Todd.”
Her eyes moved in my direction, filled with confusion. “Who’s this?” she asked.
“This is Katrina Delaney. She’s going to take some pictures,” Todd explained to his mother.
She welcomed me into the room, allowed me to take the pictures I needed for the social media pages, and still continued to call Todd by his brother’s name even though he explained who he was to her several times.
It felt invasive taking the photos of Todd and his mother. His hand was clasped over hers gently, his eyes locked onto her as if he were afraid she’d disappear if he looked away.
“Todd!” A pretty woman with long, dark hair and the same eyes as Todd rushed into the room. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, squeezing like she hadn’t seen him in years.
“Katrina, this is my big sister, Teresa,” Todd introduced us with a proud smile I’d never seen before.
It was obvious he and his sister were close, but as she answered Todd’s questions about their younger brother, it was obvious neither was close to him.
Teresa spoke to the director of the home and secured their mother’s spot in a private room. “She’ll be moved back today,” she said proudly as Todd pulled her in for another tight squeeze.
“I guess it pays to have a big shot chief of surgery in the family,” he boasted.
“Let’s get some dinner,” Teresa suggested, kissing her mother on the forehead to say her goodbyes.
Todd leaned in, whispered something in his mother’s ear that made her smile before giving her the same gentle kiss on her head.
“I hear the team is donating quite a pretty penny to Alzheimer’s research,” Teresa said as we walked out the doors.
I wasn’t sure where she’d heard that, but her excitement took away the guilty feeling I had from taking pictures and exploiting their mother’s illness for the good of the team’s image.
It was impressive, listening to Teresa talk about her job at dinner. She was so young, so beautiful, and so successful. It was no wonder Todd was so proud. “She was asking about Marcus,” Todd said, skipping over the part of her mistaken identity.
“I tried to find him. I just hope he’s okay this time,” Teresa said, slowly pushing her food around the plate with her fork.
“I’ll find him,” Todd offered.
The offer made Teresa’s eyes light up. It was obvious that Marcus meant the world to them. I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d turned out the way he did, especially being raised in the same family, and with two very successful siblings.
Todd paid the bill, even though Teresa protested over and over. She was very friendly, making me comfortable and included throughout the entire meal. Her eyes glanced over at me several times, catching me looking at Todd as he talked. I watched her lean in, whisper something in his ear before she wrapped her arms around me for a hug goodbye. It took me off guard to have someone I’d only just met be so welcoming.
“Careful with this one’s heart,” she whispered in my ear, then pulled away with a smile and a wink.
Her words shook me up a bit. How did she know? Was it written all over my face? Did other people know?
“I’ll take you back to your apartment,” Todd said as the driver opened the back door of the SUV.
I stopped and gave him my toughest glare. “No, I’ll go with you.”
/> He rolled his eyes, and his dimple reappeared. “That’s cute, but where I’m going, it isn’t exactly a great place.”
“I’m aware of that,” I argued. “I don’t want you going alone. If something happens to you, Rhett will have my head.”
I squeezed into the backseat, sliding over to give Todd room. He instructed the driver to deliver us to his penthouse, ignoring my arguments. He talked about his sister, his mother, but nothing about Marcus as we made the short drive to his large condominium building.
He stepped out of the SUV, reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He pushed the button, and a beep alerted my attention to the silver Porsche parked in the garage next to us. “That your car?” I asked.
He smiled and headed toward the sports car. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll take you home.”
He held the passenger door open for me as I followed. That smile was more than I could handle. Shit. That man turned me on. “I’m going with you,” I insisted.
“It’s not safe,” he said, closing me into the car.
“Then I can’t let you go,” I said with a smirk when he slid behind the wheel.
“Let me?”
The chuckle that escaped his lips was deep and delicious. I wanted to slide down his throat and feel those vibrations wrapping around my body. “I’m in charge,” I stated with a wide smile. I was still thinking about Todd’s mouth, those beautiful lips, that skillful tongue, and…
“I believe we discovered that I’m in charge on our first date,” he teased, his voice low and sensual, stirring my insides.
“Date?” As far as I was concerned, we hadn’t been on any dates. Not real dates anyway.
“At the toy store.” That delicious smile appeared again, this time more wicked than ever.
I blushed, my cheeks warmed, not just the ones on my face. I leaned back in the seat, took a deep breath, and worked to calm my body from the sensations that memory gave me. “You’ll keep me safe then. I’m going.”
He smiled, put the car in reverse, and whipped it out of the garage and onto the road with ease. “Okay, but you need to stick with me. Marcus never hangs out anywhere good. It’s basically crack town where we’re headed.”
