Page 43 of Sometimes You Fall

Is he saying what I think he is? That he wants more with me?

I know I’ve dreamt of it, wondered and longed for another night with this man, especially after the last. But it’s just like I told my mom and Gigi—I can’t go down this path again. My heart has to stay out of this.

“Now we’re friends who are having a baby together,” I reply, watching the expression on his face morph from playfulness to confusion and then acceptance. “Friends who support each other, friends who have agreed to give my son a chance to right his wrongs and learn from his mistakes.”

He clears his throat, drops my hand, and leans back in his chair. His stoic demeanor is unnerving, but there’s too much at stake to cross that line again. My son needs to be my focus right now, and this baby growing inside of me.

Grady clears his throat before a knowing smile crosses his lips, and it makes me even more uneasy. “Okay then. Friends it is.”

Not wanting to watch his jaw tick from the boundary I just erected between us, I stand from my chair and head into the kitchen, grabbing a ginger ale from the fridge and popping the top, sipping on it to ease the churning in my stomach. When I was pregnant with Chase, ginger ale was always in my house because it helped with the nausea, but I also just really love the taste of it. And I can’t drink wine right now, which is what I would normally reach for given the tension-filled atmosphere.

The screech of a chair across the tile floor has me spinning around. Grady pushes in his seat, taking his take-out box to the trash andmoving back to the counter to collect his books. “I guess I’ll leave you to the rest of your night, then.”

“Okay.”

“Text me the details of your doctor’s appointment, please, so I know when to be there.”

“Sounds good.”

“And maybe next week we can talk about living arrangements.”

My stomach drops. Oh God, I didn’t even think about that. I lived with Andrew after Chase was born. We were married. Does this mean that Grady wants us to live together?

“Uh…”

When his eyes finally meet mine again, he flashes me a smile that is almost placating. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure that out too.” He kisses me on the temple and then moves for the door. “Have a good night, Scottie. Get some rest and keep growing our baby.”

And then he leaves without saying goodbye, acting like he didn’t just scramble my brain with unanswered questions.

This is going to be way more complicated than I thought.

Chapter nine

Grady

“All right, boys. Line it up,” commands Ryan Carter, the new head coach of the baseball team, as a group of teenage boys all make their way over to us. Once the chatter dies down, he continues. “We’re gonna set up the 1-2-3 drill, but pitchers, you’re going to be working with Coach Reynolds today.”

My eyes meet Chase’s with laser focus.

I’m not going to let our unorthodox meeting deter me from teaching the kid something about the game. That won’t even be the last of our challenging interactions. Eventually, we’ll have to discuss how I’m going to be in his life beyond this season and long after he’s worked off his punishment with me. But I can’t focus on that right now. I’m eager to see what he can do on the field.

To his side, Trent and Jared snicker, so I shift my focus in their direction, instantly extinguishing their cockiness. Ryan and I already discussed the incident at the garage, and those two boys are doing their own community service through the sheriff’s department and running extra drills after practice. Their punishment starts today, so I’m suretheir amusement with the situation will diminish considerably by tomorrow.

“You ready for this?” Ryan asks as the boys disperse and Chase and two other pitchers head to the mound with a bucket of balls. The team’s catcher, Franklin, takes his place at home plate, doing a few stretches before he crouches low.

“As ready as I’m going to be.” I’ve pitched in front of millions of people, but the pressure I feel right now is nothing compared to that. This is why I’ve been avoiding coaching.

What if I’m horrible? What if I don’t live up to everyone’s expectations? What if these kids only see a washed-up old man who had his shot at playing professionally and ruined it out of stubbornness?

“You’ve got this. Don’t stress about being a teacher. Just do what feels natural, and they will learn. You know the game, so let that speak for itself.” Patting me on the shoulder, Ryan heads to the other side of the field where the boys are grabbing equipment for their drill. I take a deep breath before striding to the mound where Chase, Nathan, and Max are waiting.

“All right. Since we haven’t worked together yet, I want to see what you guys have got.” Technically, this week is Chase’s tryout for the team as well, so I definitely need to assess whether he has the talent to play with varsity or JV. He’s only a freshman, but we spoke to his former coaches down in Georgia and they praised his talents. If he can take a starting spot from one of our juniors, it’s going to make his chances of fitting in on the team even harder.

I know from personal experience.

But once they see him play, the boys will shut up quickly if he helps them win.

I know that from personal experience as well.

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