Page 315 of Well Played

Gracie bounded over like a happy puppy. “Ready.”

He smiled and took another sip of his coffee before getting up. He waved to Jimmy as he escorted Grace from the coffee shop.

“What have you got now?” Kaylee asked as she wiped off tables. The coffee shop did a banging business in the morning and after lunch, but today it was slow. She didn’t mind an occasional slow day. It gave her a chance to get a few things done she rarely had time to do. Owning the coffee shop had been a dream of hers, but there was a lot to owning a business. Kay was thankful to have her family’s help. Since her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis, she’d retired from teaching and joined her at the coffee shop. Jimmy was a good worker unless he got distracted.

“A tablet,” Jimmy muttered his reply.

“Well, yeah, I can tell it’s a tablet. Did one of the guys let you play with it?” The tablet was not one she recognized.

He shook his head.

“Jimmy, where did you get it?” She had a bad feeling. Putting her hands on her hips, she waited for an answer.

“He apologized.”

She frowned in confusion until it dawned on her, which he her brother was talking about. Walker Jackson, the prince of baseball. Anger sparked. He’d bought Jimmy’s forgiveness with a tablet. “You can’t accept it.”

“I already have.” Jimmy didn’t look up.

“Jimmy, he’s trying to buy your forgiveness.”

“No, he’s not. I’d already forgiven him when he gave me the tablet.”

“You can forgive him so easily after what he did and said?” She was incredulous. “I can’t believe that after ten years of hating this guy, you can just pretend he didn’t hurt us.”

“I wasn’t the one who hated him,” Jimmy muttered.

“What?”

“You were the one who was so angry, and I didn’t want to make you madder, but when I learned his sister had died…” he said and shrugged. “He was upset. I would have been too.”

For someone who didn’t understand social niceties, Jimmy had just nailed it. “But what he said about special needs kids…”

“He was scared.”

Kaylee rolled her eyes. “Yeah, of what it would cost him. He didn’t want the burden of a kid.”

“Would you?” Jimmy looked up.

Kaylee turned on her heel and stomped away. She would just give Walker Jackson a piece of her mind. How dare he bribe her brother…

“Hey Jim, what did you think of that game?” Walker asked as Gracie rushed towards the bocce court.

Jimmy slowed to wait for him. “I like the way it plays, but there’s a bit of a lag time.” He started talking about statistics and comparing the game to another one he liked to play.

Walker listened, but didn’t know half of what he was talking about. “I’ll need to introduce you to my friend who designed the game. He’d be very interested in what you’re saying, but I don’t understand it all.”

Jimmy bobbed his head several times. “I better go. They’re waiting for me.” He lumbered off towards the court.

“You and I need to talk,” Kay said as she came up beside him.

“Yes, I owe you an apology, too.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I’m not concerned about an apology. What does concern me is you trying to buy my brother.”

“What?” He stopped, turning to face her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Shh, keep your voice down. People have enough to gossip about without adding our quarrel.”

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