Page 29 of If We Never Met

"I was. I don't know what I am anymore." A somber feeling ran through him.

She gave him a searching look. "Because of your injury?"

"Yes. I don't know if I'll be able to come back. Even if I can come back, I don't know if I'll be able to regain the form I had."

"That must be scary."

"I don't like to admit that."

"Is that part of being a pitcher? Never let them see you sweat?"

"It is, but I learned to keep my feelings to myself when I was a kid. My dad didn't like whiners."

"Being in pain from an injury is not whining. Being worried about the end of your career doesn't make you weak."

"It would in his book. My dad always told my brothers and me that unless there was a broken bone or blood gushing from a wound, we were expected to pull ourselves together and get over it."

Her lips turned down in a frown, her gaze narrowing. "Okay, I'm not liking the sound of your dad."

"He's not a bad guy." He didn't know why the automatic defense sprang to his lips.

"Then what was he?"

"Distant and unemotional. He didn't know what to do with us after my mom died. She was in charge of the kids. He went to work. That was the way it was divided up. He didn't know how to be a father or a parent without her."

"I'm sorry. I don't think it excuses him, though. You were a kid. You needed a father to support you, not to tell you to toughen up or get over yourself."

He appreciated her fierce words. "I did, but it was what it was. My grandmother stepped in after my mom passed, and she helped balance things out. But my brothers and I basically raised ourselves."

"Are you close in age?"

"Within seven years. Danny is the oldest. He's thirty-three now. He's a builder and works for a construction firm in San Francisco, where I grew up. I'm thirty-two, Micah is thirty. He runs a food truck. Paul is the youngest. He's twenty-seven and works in finance. He's a numbers guy."

"Did any of them play sports like you?"

"Paul did not. Danny was a football player. Micah played some soccer. No one else was that serious about their sport."

"Interesting that you picked different sports."

"My dad was into football. I think Danny wanted to get close to him by playing the same sport."

"Did it work?"

"Not really."

"Are your brothers married?"

"All single and all in San Francisco."

"Is that where you think you'll end up?"

"I have no idea. I go where baseball takes me."

Keira sipped her margarita. "Tell me about your mom. What was she like?"

He couldn't remember the last time anyone had asked him about his mother. "She was…amazing. She always had a lot to say. She was very opinionated, but also kind and nurturing. She was a chef before she married. Micah says she taught him how to cook. I guess I was hitting baseballs during those lessons."

"What does your dad do?"

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