Page 25 of Mom Ball

We enter shaded territory, and I’m no longer haunted by our shadows in perfect sync. I shake off the idea that this could be my family as soon as my feet cross the threshold of my personal training facility.

Brooke and Timothy are here for one reason. Baseball. Nothing more, nothing less.

I offered to help him, and they took me up on it. He’s doing a great job, and I want to see him succeed, as I would any young kid with a passion for the game.

“Come on, Timothy.” I lift the net for him and bend under it. Brooke stares at me from the other side like she’s done hundreds of times before when I played. She remembers it too. I can tell by her eyes.

I give her a half smile before forcing my focus on Timothy and the batting tee.

The. ONLY. Reason. I’m. With. Them.

Focus.

“All right, King of Swing, you ready?”

“King of Swing?” Timothy laughs.

“Yeah, every good baller needs a nickname.”

He laughs and so does Brooke. The air lightens a little and I can feel the tension leaving me slowly. I put a ball on the tee and resume my spot on the bucket.

Then I make a silent pact with myself to stay there. No getting close to Brooke in any way. No more wondering if there’s a dad in Timothy’s life. Even though I suspect whoever his dad is, he has at least some natural athletic ability.

I’ll be the bucket man and nothing else, even if it kills me.

CHAPTER 6

Brooke

“I want to thank all y’all for coming tonight.” Jeffrey twists a large bedazzled ring around his finger while he talks.

I can’t get a good look at it, but my gut feeling is he didn’t get it from college. It complements his jersey and baseball pants, which are more suited for a player than a grown man running a parent information meeting.

“Me and Coach Bubba have a predicament with the eight-and-under boys this year.” He scans the small crowd spread across the gym bleachers.

Jeffrey turns to a man sitting nearby who’s dressed in gym shorts and a fishing shirt with a few too many buttons undone. I assume he’s Coach Bubba.

“We have enough for a solid team, but not two.”

“What are you implying, Coach?” Morgan shouts from the bleachers.

I drop my head as every eye turns our way. You’d think by now I’d know better than to sit with her at a school function.

“All I’m saying is we can’t have a team with fifteen kids. Wouldn’t give everyone fair playing time.”

Morgan opens her mouth, but Jeffrey holds up his hand to stop her. She grunts, and I swear a small stream of smoke comes from her nostrils.

“We have several on the wait list right now.” He makes a grabbing motion toward Bubba.

Bubba unfolds his arms and reaches for a sheet of paper on the table in front of him. Jeffrey takes it and clears his throat. “These people signed up last and are on a wait list. Timothy Marshall.”

“That son of a...” Morgan whispers.

I elbow her. “It’s okay. I wasn’t exactly sold on this anyway.”

She grunts louder.

“Jack Daniels and Charlie Daniels.” He turns to Bubba. “Are those real kids?”

---