Fair Catch (6 page)

Cade came to the bathroom door and let out a big sigh. “I’m hungry. When can we go to Betsy’s?”

She quickly tried to think of more delay tactics. Maybe she could feign a headache and just send Cade over. It might work. Her stomach growled loudly in protest. “I just need to get my shoes.”

After slipping on her flip-flops, she noticed the Legos were still spread out everywhere. She should probably clean this up. Bending down, she scooped up a handful and loaded them into the container.

“
Mommy
,” Cade whined, having just run out of patience. “I’m hungry!”

She sighed deeply. There was no getting out of this one. “Okay, let’s go, kiddo.”

Once out the door, Ellie had hoped for a nice leisurely walk next door. Cade had other ideas and raced to the Stewarts’ house. She bolted after him, relieved when he waited for her on the doorstep.

Although she knew she could just walk in, she knocked, trying to set an example for her son. Owen opened up the door and Ellie wondered if she needed to confess to her pastor about wearing a towel outside. Had Nick said anything about what had happened an hour ago?

“Hey, guys. We’re eating out back.”

Surely if he were going to reprimand her, Owen would do it now. He just laughed when Cade sprinted toward the kitchen, shooting out the back door before Ellie could even take one step. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of energy?”

You have no idea
, Ellie thought cynically.

She couldn’t stop herself from scanning the yard for the football player. Her face felt hot and she cursed how easily she blushed when she spotted him next to the grill talking with Betsy. Their eyes met and the corner of his mouth lifted into that maddening crooked smile of his.

Did her heart just lurch? What was wrong with her anyway? So he was nice looking and had great biceps. That didn’t mean she had to be affected by him. Straightening her shoulders, she decided to play his game and gave him a perfect smile, showing off her straight, white teeth—years of wearing braces hadn’t been for nothing.

“Ellie, I was just about to send someone over to get you,” Betsy said, mildly scolding her.

By now Ellie was sure her smile probably looked more like a grimace. “Sorry, I was… um…detained.”

Chapter Five

Nick
held Ellie’s gaze as she drew closer. At least she was smiling at him. Sort of. She still seemed pretty uptight.

Cade raced ahead of his mother and wrapped his arms around Nick’s legs. “Hey, can I come over to play in your house again?”

Ellie gave a nervous laugh and clasped her hands together. It looked like she wanted to pull her son back to her side and possibly clap her hand over the little boy’s mouth. “Cade, Mr. Coulter is too busy to have you playing over at his house.”

“Who’s Mr. Coulter?” Cade asked innocently. “I just wanna play with Nick.”

Ellie looked like she wanted to avoid the topic of Cade’s visit. Nick chuckled and crouched down to Cade’s level. “If you ever want to come to my house to play, you need to remember to ask your mom first.” He slanted Ellie an
I-won’t-tell-if-you-don’t
look. It was clear she hadn’t told Betsy about Cade’s escapade.

Or hers.

Betsy grinned, spreading a floral tablecloth over the patio table. “Did you get a surprise visit today?”

Nick straightened up and couldn’t hide his smile. “Yeah, I was surprised all right.” Ellie’s face paled. Teasing her probably wouldn’t be the best way to let her know he liked her. He hadn’t used that tactic since the fourth grade.

Needing a diversion, he retrieved the Nerf football from the ground. “Hey, Cade, do you wanna play catch?”

The kid’s eyes brightened. “Yeah.” Then he turned to his mom. “Can I play with him now?”

Ellie looked relieved. “Sure, honey.” Her eyes darted up and met his gaze. Her lips curved up ever so slightly. “Thanks.”

Was she thanking him for playing catch with her son or was it something else? “No problem.”

Patiently, he taught Cade how to toss and catch the football. He felt passionate about the game—something his dad had passed on to him. It was something he hoped to pass on to a son of his own. If Cade had been his, he would have been so proud of him. He certainly never would have abandoned him. Then there was Cade’s mother.

He covertly watched Ellie help with the dinner preparation and wondered how a man could have ever walked out on her. She was beautiful. But unlike most of the women he’d been around, she seemed unaware of her beauty. Her husband must have been crazy to dump her for somebody else. Betsy had hinted about the lasting effects her ex had left in his wake. Of course Ellie would be wary of trusting a man again. It made him feel better about her earlier rebuff.

He tossed the ball to Cade and allowed his eyes to stray back to Ellie. Her hair hung over her shoulder as she stirred a pitcher of lemonade. She looked up and caught him staring at her. This time her lips tipped up into a full smile. Nick grinned. Then the football hit him in the chest.

“Hey, how come you missed?” Cade asked him.

Ellie’s blush deepened and she giggled softly. Nick’s grin broadened before he tore his eyes away from her to look down at the little boy. “Sorry. I was momentarily distracted.”

Cade’s eyebrows furrowed. “Mom, what does distracted mean?”

Ellie stopped mixing the lemonade and the smile fell from her face. She looked like she didn’t know how to answer her son. It probably didn’t help to have all the other adults watching her, waiting for an answer.

“Um, it means…” The definition seemed to elude her.

Nick knelt down in front of Cade. “It means I wasn’t paying attention to you or the football.”

Pastor Owen stood next to the grill and removed the cooked hamburger patties. He laughed and added under his breath, “It also means you had your mind on something other than catching the football.”

Nick gave the pastor a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders. “Just remember, Cade,” he said, tossing the football up and then catching it again, “always keep your eye on the ball.” He was looking at Ellie again and winked at her before she dropped her eyes.

* * *

Ellie let out the breath she had been holding and finished mixing the lemonade. She couldn’t define what
distracted
meant, but she certainly knew what it felt like.

And what is with Mr. MVP?
Every time she tried to sneak a peek at him, he was staring at her. Then he winked. Was he flirting with her? She almost wanted to look behind her to see if someone else stood there.

“Almost done with the lemonade?” Betsy asked as she opened a bag of potato chips.

Ellie let go of the spoon. If the lemonade had been cream, they’d have butter by now. “Yes.” She wiped her hands down the front of her jeans and tried to ignore the smug look on Betsy’s face. “Do you need me to do anything else?”

“Nope,” Betsy said as Owen brought over a plate of steaming burgers. “Looks like we’re ready to eat.”

When they stood around the table, Owen put his hands on Cade’s shoulders. “Nick, would you mind offering a prayer on the food?”

Ellie bowed her head, telling herself to get a grip on her emotions. Since Thomas’s deception, she honestly had not felt any kind of attraction for a man. So why did she have to pick somebody who was totally unattainable to have her first crush on? Maybe that’s why she felt this way—nothing could ever come from it.

As Nick said the prayer, the timbre of his voice made her stomach tighten. It figured he would offer a nice prayer. It was one more thing to break down her resolve.

After the prayer, Ellie helped Cade get his food and was dismayed when he insisted on sitting by Nick. When she approached the patio table, she took the only seat available. Across from Nick. She tried to avoid looking at him but since Cade sat beside the football player, she found her eyes drifting in Nick’s direction. More than once, their gazes connected, and for a few seconds she almost couldn’t breathe. It made her dinner difficult to ingest, what with her labored breathing. It was frustrating—she liked to eat.

The Stewarts were excellent hosts and asked Nick questions about his humanitarian work. The ice around Ellie’s heart melted a little more as she listened to Nick talk about the kids whose lives had been altered for the good. By the time everyone was finished with dinner, Ellie felt confused. She was actually beginning to like the guy.

She didn’t like that one bit.

When Betsy started to clean up, Ellie wanted to help. Owen had already taken a load into the house. If Betsy left, she would be alone with Nick. Cade was busy playing with the ice-cubes in his water glass.

Ignoring the look Betsy threw her way, Ellie grabbed a few items on the table. “Here, let me do that. You made the dinner so just sit here and relax.”

Betsy wouldn’t have it, her matchmaking mind undoubtedly in motion. “Nonsense, Owen and I can do this.” She grabbed the dishes out of Ellie’s hands. “Go on, sit down and visit with Nick.”

Visit?
Not likely. Saying something stupid was more like it.

She pulled Cade onto her lap, making him a barrier between her and the gorgeous man who smiled a lot. He currently watched her with an amused expression.

“Cade, do you want to help with the dishes?” Betsy asked.

What? No!
Betsy knew Cade wouldn’t be able to resist the invitation, because everyone knows that to a four-year-old, doing the dishes meant playing with water and bubbles, not work.

“Yeah!” He raced in the kitchen, leaving Ellie alone with the man wreaking havoc on her emotions.

She either had to talk to Nick or go home. Shyly, she turned to see if she could read what he thought about all of this. He still watched her, a small smile playing at his lips.

He is just a man,
she reminded herself. A really good-looking man. Those eyes of his had her mesmerized and now
she
was the one doing all the staring. She blinked and forced herself to speak. “Thanks for playing catch with Cade.” She wondered if he knew how much it really had meant to her.

“It was fun. He’s a cute little guy.” He moved closer, sitting in the chair next to her. “I like kids, so I really didn’t mind his visit today.”

Why did he have to bring
that
up? “Uh, thanks for not saying anything about the…” She couldn’t say towel. “Um, he tends to escape at the most inopportune times.”

He chuckled. “You’re a good mom.”

That’s all he was going to say? Good—he recognized her exposure as that of a devoted mother. “Yeah, it’s amazing what you would do for your child when you think they’re in danger.”

She was in danger. The way he looked at her made her feel…attractive. He must have sensed the terror she felt at his nearness because he drew back and stretched out his long legs. “So, your parents are in England?”

She grabbed onto the safe topic. “Yes, Cambridge. My dad is a professor of ancient history at CU. He couldn’t resist the opportunity to teach at Cambridge for a couple of years. They love it there, especially on the weekends when they can explore all of England.” Then she told him about her two older brothers and tried not to grin—Weston and Nathan would die if they knew who she was talking to right now.

Oddly enough, they found common ground. They both lived without family around and each had two siblings. As she listened to him talk about his parents and two sisters, it was obvious how much he loved his family. Funny, she even got the feeling that Nick Coulter felt a little alone at times. Go figure.

There really did seem to be more to this man than just a pretty face and a lucrative football career. She found herself warming up to him. Then he dropped a big, wet blanket on her.

“So, does Cade get to see his dad often?”

Twice a year was too frequent. “Not really. Thomas lives in Australia and only makes it out a couple of times a year.”

Twisting her hands in her lap, she wished Cade or the Stewarts would come back outside. She could hear her little boy’s laughter and wanted to go watch him having fun. Anything to avoid this uncomfortable subject.

Shifting her weight, she thought about just leaving anyway. Either that or change the tide of this conversation. She wasn’t quick enough, though.

Nick leaned forward, his indigo eyes studying her carefully. “Is it hard raising a child all by yourself?”

Hard, wonderful, scary, amazing
…She shrugged. “I’m used to it. My parents have been a great help, especially when Cade was so little. I really miss them.”

“I’ll bet. How old was Cade when his dad left?”

She looked into his deep blue eyes and saw pity. No, it was more like compassion. She felt vulnerable revealing that her husband had found someone else and didn’t want her or the child they had created. “Cade was three weeks old.”

She heard his sharp intake of breath. What must he be thinking? Abruptly, she stood up. “Well, I need to get ready for church tomorrow. I better get Cade home.” She rushed into the kitchen, eager to escape. She could feel Nick on her heels.

“Cade, we need to go.” Her voice was fraught with emotion.

“But, Mom…”

She cast a desperate look Betsy’s way.
Please understand and don’t make me stay
. “I have a lot of ironing to do and need to round up Cade’s Sunday clothes.” She rambled off stupid excuses, but she didn’t care. She just needed to leave.

Again, she looked at her son. “Cade. Please.” She could feel the tears threatening. She had already made a big enough fool of herself today. Sobbing uncontrollably would make her certifiable.

Betsy must have sensed the dam was about to break. “Ellie, why don’t you go on home and get started on your ironing. I’ll bring Cade over in a little while.”

Ellie gave her a grateful smile. “Okay. Thanks for dinner.” Without meeting any other eyes in the room, she bolted out the door just as the tears started to fall.

How embarrassing to divulge she wasn’t good enough to keep her husband from leaving her. She hated Thomas for what he had done to her. Hated him for breaking his promise to her—making her a skeptical, bitter and insecure woman.