Page 18 of Silver Lining Love

A few silent seconds passed before he asked. “So, do you ever talk to him? To JJ?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother. Do you want to call him?” I glanced over at him.

His jaw dropped. “Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.” He bounced in the seat.

I scrolled through my contacts on my dashboard screen and pressed JJ’s number.

It rang a few times and went to his voicemail. “Hey this is JJ. You know what to do.”

“Hey, man. Give me a call when you get a chance.” I disconnected the call.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

It didn’t seem to diminish Michael’s excitement. He was smiling from ear to ear as he asked, “Do you think he’ll call back?”

I nodded. “Hey, what would you think about starting to play Little League again? Here.”

His smile dropped and he shrugged.

Damn.

I started to second-guess myself. Had I gotten this all wrong? Maybe the kid didn’t want to play. There was one way to find out.

“You don’t want to play?” I followed up.

“No, I do it’s just…there’s practice and games and…I don’t think Aunt Whitney…” his voice trailed off.

Whitney had done her best, but Michael had been late for school quite a few times and she’d been late to pick him up from school a lot. It didn’t surprise me that he would be worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the schedule.

“If you want to play, I’ll talk to your aunt. And if she says it’s okay, I’ll take you to practice and be at your games.”

The light in his face returned. “Really?!”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to her tonight,” I promised as I pulled up in front of his school.

He took off his seatbelt but before he got out, he threw his arms around me. It was the first time he’d ever initiated a hug with me. I wrapped one arm around him and held him until he scooted back.

“Do you need help with your dome?”

“No, I got it,” he beamed.

As I watched him walk up to the school, I felt my chest fill with undeserved pride. All I’d done was take the kid to school and tell him that I’d sign him up for baseball. Still, knowing that I had a part in making his day better, easier, had me feeling like a hero.

Speaking of heroes, my dashboard lit up JJ’s name popped up on the screen. I answered the call as I pulled away from the curb.“Your timing sucks.”

“Timing for what?”

“I told Michael that you were my brother and he wanted to talk to you, but I just dropped him off at school.”

“Wow, so you finally let the cat out of the bag that you’re related to the best pitcher in the world.”

“No, I told himyouwere my brother.”

As my brother and I gave each other a hard time, I started to get the same niggling feeling I’d been having a lot lately. I missed my family.

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