Page 229 of Waiting Game

Pursing my lips, I pull out the first page of cards from their slots.

Not all of them are doubled up, but a few are.

Some even have notes on the back.

Asshole.

Stinks of wet rags.

Got his wife to screw the coach so he’d be pitcher.

He beat my record.

Apparently, that deserves the same condemnation as the rest.

Though the messages aren’t exactlynice, my fingers smooth over the words.

My great-granddaddy’s scrawl...

Maybe the OG Chuck hijacked his kid’s trading cards, or maybe theydidbelong to my great-granddaddy and not his son?

A soft smile curves my lips as I turn them over. I don’t recognize the names, but then, baseball isn’t my sport. It was my family’s, and what little I know, I picked up by osmosis or by accident as it’s never been intentional.

I’ve no idea why Honus Wagner’s card was hidden, especially when he played in a bygone era, but who am I to question why?

Hell knows if he was an inveterate gambler—maybe he was trying to hide it from his bookies?

Heavy footsteps sound down the corridor and when Cole spies what I’m doing, he gasps. “MIA! Why aren’t you wearing gloves?”

My smile deepens at his horror. “Come and look at the messages on the back.”

His outraged scowl comes along for the ride as he stands beside me, then it lessens as he barks out a laugh. “Your great-granddaddy was as sassy as you.” He studies the faces. “I know my cards, Mia. Trust me when I say you’ve got over ten million bucks’ worth of trading cards here, baby, because your provenance is solid platinum.”

“In my dreams.”

A growl escapes him as he drags out his cell phone, then after a couple minutes, he shoves it under my nose. “Look at that. It’s the exact same card. I’d know because I tried to buy it last time one was on sale.”

My heart almost freezes in my chest as I stare at the confirmation of a bid on a lot by an auction house. “You were going to spend five million on a piece of paper?!”

“Colt loves baseball. He deserved it.” Sniffing, he wiggles his cell. “But see what I mean? You don’t have to worry about money anymore, baby. Your great-granddaddy has you all set up.”

My hands shake as I back away from the priceless card collection. “That won’t help convince the police that I didn’t start the fire.”

“CCTV will do that. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll lie about when we found these cards.”

“We can’t do that!”

“Sure we can.” He tugs me into a hug. “But that’s a worst-case scenario. We’ll deal with that as it comes.

“Tomorrow, I’ll get a lawyer in if they can’t use their eyes to see it for what it was—arson.”

His hand smoothes over my hair, stroking it as he draws me ever deeper into his hold. “What did Gracie say? She’d better have been nice to you.”

“She was candid,” I mumble, still trying to get over the album plunked on his counter being so valuable. “Did she… Will she…”

“Is she holding a grudge against me? Hell, yeah. I’ve got one massive dose of payback incoming. But it’s worth it.Youare worth it.”

“Am I?” I breathe.

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