Texas Gold (21 page)

They made their way through the crowd and sat by her brothers and Celinda and Julie.

It didn’t surprise her at all that her father wasn’t there. Even though the game was light activity, it probably would stress him out. Still she wanted to make sure he was okay.

“Dad stay home?” She directed the question to Tim but Celinda answered.
 

“Shoot no. He wouldn’t miss a summer league game now. He said God had given him a reprieve, and he was going to use it. It’s Ella’s Bakery against Kelso Grocery. Ought to be a good one.”

So where was he? She was waiting for Celinda to tell her when Tim pointed at the same time she spotted him.

It couldn’t be.

Impossible.

Obviously Carolyn saw him at the same time since she grabbed her arm and whispered furiously, “Mal, your daddy's over there sitting with that, that...”

Mallory cut off whatever her friend was ready to say. “Brenton. He’s sitting by Brenton.”

It didn’t make sense. Not a bit.
 

Sure enough, her daddy was sitting by the enemy, looking like a man on top of the world instead of one who’d just been fired and almost died. He was pointing toward something in the outfield.

And Brenton was listening intently as if he weren’t the one who’d destroyed everything.

Looking wonderful.

She fought the hurt that battled with her anger. She shouldn’t be upset that her daddy was sitting by Brenton. She should be grateful.
 

But dammit all, she wasn’t grateful. Not a bit.

It didn’t help when the girls took the field and her father simply smacked Brenton on the back like one of the good ol boys. One proud father to another.

All while everyone in town sat looking at her like she was supposed to do something.

What exactly did they expect?

For her to stand up and yell, “Hey Daddy, look over here. Look at me, the one who gave up her life on principle after that, that, that man you’re sitting with convinced the board to leave you jobless.” Or maybe, “Daddy move away from that millionaire mogul. He almost killed you.”
 

If that’s what they expected, they were out of luck. She wasn’t going to do it. Hell, she wasn’t going to do anything but sit back and watch her girls play ball.

Still she was seething when Tim leaned over and whispered at the same time Nina hit a double into left field. “Daddy’s so mad at you he could spit.”

Mad at her? She split time watching the pitcher and her father. If Nina played this right she could steal third. “Mad at me? Well, I gotta tell you, Tim, I’m a little flabbergasted myself right now.”

She pointedly looked at where their father sat all chummy-chum-chum with Brenton.

And doing so, she missed Nina’s steal.
 

“Well, he’s not happy with you quitting like that. He’s been going on about you being stubborn just like Momma. Says it’s a wonder his heart waited so long to give out.”

Tears puddled in her eyes as the pain hit her in the gut. Damn straight she was stubborn like their mother. And she was not going to cry.

“And I gotta tell you, Sis, it all seems pretty pointless. What can you do now? You going to open up a gym or something? Move?”

The idea of moving had never seemed more pleasant. For the first time, she really understood why her other brothers lived elsewhere.

“I’ll figure it out.”
 

Like she couldn’t find something to do other than coach. Life did not have to evolve around a field or court or gym. She’d gone to college. Had a degree. Hell, she graduated with honors from the biggest university in Texas. She’d figure something out. But she wasn’t going to sit and talk about it with her brother. Because if she said a word to him she was going to spill the tears she felt building up.

Instead she turned away and focused on the game, ignoring everything else.

She predicted plays, watched errors unfold and spotted potential injury problems.

She tucked away the information for future reference and watched the referees hold numerous conferences.

When Nina and Jen took the field, she mentally clocked pitches and movements. Pitcher to first was the pivotal point. Their friendship was a godsend for the team. The way they read each other was almost spooky.

Next year was going to be golden...

As she envisioned the teams’ success, she felt her father’s presence.

“They look good.”

For someone supposedly so mad, he sounded just fine. And he looked good, too. Even if he was still a little pale from the heart attack.
 

“They do.”

As she agreed, she heard him spit just as he had a million times before after saying those words. About either of their teams.

“Kind of surprised to see you out here.”

She turned away from the game. “I could say the same about you. You should be home recuperating.”

He nodded. A grunt the only proof of Tim’s words.

“I can recuperate watching ball just as easy as sitting at home. I’ve been coming out here for years. Wasn’t goin’ to stop now.”

She turned back to the game. “I understand that.”

What she wanted to do was ask why he’d spent all that time talking to the man who’d broken her heart. Treating him like one of his boys. Like he’d never treated her.

But she couldn’t very well do that here, and she wouldn’t even if they were back at the house all alone. Because she never asked that question. Even though she’d thought it a million times, she’d never risk hurting him.
 

He didn’t intentionally leave her out. Now that she’d given up coaching, she didn't know what they’d talk about.

“Sure is hot.”

His words brought tears to her eyes again. Great. She was reduced to talking about the weather with her own father.

She just nodded and watched her niece bag the last out on third. Three up, three down. Just like she’d taught them.

“That young man of yours is donating the money for a new complex. I was telling him the best way to go about building it.”

Shock ran through her. A new complex. In Serendipity? She’d been asking for new equipment for years, and Brenton was gong to donate a whole damn new complex?

“He’s not my young man.”

Her daddy had never talked to her about relationships of any sort before. Mallory wasn’t so sure she wanted him to now.

“That’s what he was saying.”

Well, good.

“Actually he was saying quite a bit. Sharing some war stories we single dads like to talk about.”

Good grief. Her usually gruff father was sounding a bit like the grandfather in the AT&T commercials.

What was she supposed to say to something like that? Carolyn wasn’t helping, and her family was focusing on the game, all except Celinda who was down on the front row holding a new baby and talking about breast feeding and sore nipples like she was some sort of an expert, childless as she was and all.

“He asked me what to say to you, and I told him he’d have to figure that out on his own.”

So far, she’d heard nothing from Brenton. Even if she wouldn’t listen anyway, the least he could do was talk to her himself. She’d heard from Nina and her father, but she’d yet to hear a word from Brenton. She’d expected something, but so far, nothing.
 

“Good advice, Dad.”

She returned her focus to the game and watched Jen hit a home run to move the score to 7-0.

 
As Mallory watched her niece cross the home plate, she heard her father clear his voice. As much as she told herself she wished he’d go back to the silent parent he’d been for so many years, a secret part of her heart rejoiced that he was actually going to talk to her about something other than Serendipity athletics, the national college football championships or why some yankee thought Texas needed a hockey team.

But that secret part of her heart had the good sense to wish J.D. Baber had chosen another time to break a tradition years in the making.

“You know, hon, my heart attack might have been the medicine you’ve been needing.”

Mallory held back the smart alleck retort going through her mind, and pretended to make light of his comment instead. “Thanks Daddy. I’ll try to interpret that later. You know, after the game,” she pointedly finished, hinting that now was not the time for this discussion.

J.D. didn’t take the hint. “I’ll save you the trouble of interpretation. You’ve bent over backwards trying to protect me. You’ve used this town as a security blanket. Now that everything’s all blown to hell, you don’t like it. Not a bit. But sweetie, change is just a part of life. It keeps things running.”

Mallory tried to watch the game. Tried to chalk J.D.’s words up to him being tired and cranky. And if he hadn’t continued talking, it might have worked.

“You’ve spent the last few years standing in place, dog paddling through life, taking care of me and your brothers. It’s time for you to get off the bench and explore your own life.”

His words should have pleased her, but they didn’t. Not a bit. Instead they hurt her to the very core of her being. The only reason she’d stayed in town was him. She’d devoted her life to his dream, and she’d accomplished it, too. Now he was criticizing her? She wasn’t going to bother with a response.

But her daddy wasn’t done.

“One thing though. Running away won’t help. If you leave because you’re afraid you don’t stand a chance of truly living. Trust me here. I’ve spent years living in the shadow of your momma’s death. So have you. It’s time to let it go. Time to stop being afraid of change.”

At the mention of her mother, Mallory felt the tears start to fall. He thought she was afraid? She wasn’t. She was the least afraid person she knew.

She was a state champ dammit! She’d been living her life! But what was she supposed to say to make him realize that? The words were there, all bubbled up in her throat, and she realized they’d been there for years, just waiting for a chance to come out. But they weren’t words about her or her life. “You’re not afraid of anything, Daddy. You’re my hero.” Her words were whispers in the background of cheers and calls of “batter, batter”. And she wasn’t quite sure if he heard them or not. Or at least, she wasn’t until his arm slowly wrapped around her shoulder and he hugged her close just like he had when her puppy died when she was a little girl.

She swiped the tears away from her cheeks with the back of her hand, half expecting her father to continue. The secret part of her heart waiting to hear him say something more, something to make the hurt that was so overwhelming go away.
 

But J.D. Baber’s moment of heart to heart conversation had drawn to an end. Still as she settled next to him and watched the umpire call another out, she felt a little bit safer than she had only moments before.

Across the complex, she saw Brenton watching her, and she wondered if he’d seen her tears, if he’d mistakenly thought they were over him.
 

That didn’t matter either.
 

Her time with him was over.
 

With deep resolve, she turned back to the game, where she could ignore the desires in her heart. All of them.

Brenton watched her across the stands. She looked wonderful in the black shorts and tee shirt. Her hair practically glowed in the near dark, and he wanted more than anything to go up, gather her in his arms and tell her it would all be okay.

But first he had to wait. It wasn’t his style at all, but he knew he had no choice.

He’d planned a flashy display for the game. A low flying plane with a sign fluttering behind begging forgiveness. But then he’d chickened out.

That wasn’t the way to Mallory’s heart.

He’d gone a long way to that by offering her father a job helping him build state of the art sports complexes for the new schools springing up all over the area.

With J.D. Baber by his side, he’d succeed beyond his dreams.

The man truly was legend.

But success wasn’t worth a dime if he couldn’t have Mallory. The night he’d left her at the hospital, he’d known his life would never be the same without her. He’d resolved that night to somehow win her back.

But first he had to talk to her.

Her father had been no help there, only saying if he was intent on pursuing the matter he might want to borrow some gear from the locker room, pads and guards and such. Especially since he’d never known anyone as hard headed as his baby girl, well other than her momma.

Brenton could still hear the admiration in the man’s voice as he sat and watched Nina walk to the plate.

She turned and sent him a saucy grin and his heart squeezed practically out of his chest.

When had she grown up?

Mallory’s father felt the same way about her. After talking to him, Brenton knew that for certain.

How had he ever mistaken the man for a cold hearted son of a bitch?

When Nina swung at a low ball, Brenton felt her pain. The lights here were pitiful. He’d take care of the problem before next season.

He watched her loosen up and ready for the next pitch.

He heard the laughter as she swung a second time, catching nothing but air, and he wanted to commit murder. Especially when the smothered laughs were accompanied by rude taunts of “Go home, city girl.”

No way was she missing what was being said, but she’d die of mortification if he did anything.
 

Come on, he prayed silently. Shut ‘em up with your swing. Come on, Nina.

He heard the bat connect with the ball and watched it go foul.

At least the taunters were quiet. Or if they weren’t, their words were covered by the loud cheers from both teams’ fans.

The fourth pitch went wide. The fifth, low.

Full count.

He wanted her to prove this. Prove she belonged. Make a mockery of the fools in the stands.

He’d finally spied them. Football players, judging by their looks. Sitting with cute girls who would have been pretty if they hadn’t been sneering at his daughter.

Nina stepped out of the batter’s box an wiped her hands on her pants.

It wasn’t like this mattered. Her team was ahead, and she was a pivotal reason for that lead. Brenton knew that, knew Nina knew. Still, he wanted her to hit the damn ball over the fence.