Page 54 of Honeysuckle
“You’re a goddess,” I whispered to her, taking the envelope with a smile.
Ella was waiting on the steps in her hoodie and jeans when I returned, and it didn’t take me long to fill her in on the plan as we drove into Lorette. It was still early, but we stopped at the grocery store and loaded up a cart with food that I put on my credit card without remorse. I would deal with those consequences later.
I could feel her get nervous as we drove into the rougher area of town, but the streets were pretty quiet as I pulled up to the apartment building. “You can stay here, if you want,” I told her, but she shook her head, leaning over the seat to grab a few of the bags from the back.
Balancing a few more with the bag from the Hornets gift shop, I pressed the buzzer with my elbow and hoped that someone was home. The old man's grumpy voice came over the staticky intercom.
“I told you kids to stop pressing that button,” he grumbled.
“Uh, Mark,” I said, “it’s… Dean Tucker. I was here the other day with Josh,” I said, turning to Ella with a nervous expression, unsure if he’d remember me, but the door buzzed loudly and clicked open for us.
I led Ella down the hallway to where Mark was waiting with his door open.
“Where’s Josh?” He asked, looking at me and then Ella.
“He had morning practice, but I wanted to bring over something from him,” I answered, holding up the bags.
“It’s from Josh?” He eyed me and I nodded. I couldn’t tell if he could see through my lie or not but, either way, I would try.
“He picked it all out himself. It was very cute.” Ella smiled and peeked her head out from behind my shoulder. “I’m Ella, the team's physical therapist.”
She tried to extend a hand but fumbled with the bags, making Mark chuckle. “You let this angel carry all those bags herself? Shame on you,” Mark scolded me playfully and took a few of the bags from Ella, who shrugged and grinned at me.
“Hear that? I’m an angel.” She winked in passing as Mark allowed us into his small apartment. The space was much cleaner and organized. It was warm and full of little things that Mark had obviously collected over the years. Weird art, a mix of mismatched furniture, but it felt like a home.
“There’s a lot more than just a jersey here, Mr. Tucker.” Mark set the bags on the cracked vinyl counter and turned to me.
“There is.” I nodded at him. "I also have…” I dug out the envelope from my back pocket and handed it to him. “Tickets for today's game, above the dugout, if you want—”
“For me?” He cut me off and took the envelope with shaky hands. All of his knuckles were swollen and scarred from what was, without doubt, a hard life. He carefully removed the tickets from the paper and smiled down at them. “You know Josh used to hit balls off the roof when his Mom wasn’t around? Broke a few windows that had to be explained away, but he’s always had a knack for the game.”
“He’s a damn good pitcher,” I agreed.
“I’ve listened to every Lorette game on that radio, but I’ve never seen him play,” he said, looking down at the tickets.
“Today’s your chance.” Ella smiled. “But you can’t be seen wearing red; Hornets’ law,” she teased, pointing to the gift shop bag.
Mark set down the tickets, eyeing the two of us, and pulled out a jersey stitched with Logan across the back in the perfect size. He then retrieved a beanie, a pair of socks, a few magnets, a signed baseball, and a navy blue sweater.
“You weren’t kidding about getting me out of the red!” Mark barked, his grin stretching wide. He tugged the jersey on, and it fit like a glove as he buttoned it up and straightened himself out.
“The navy is handsome,” Ella cooed and crossed her arms.
“This was very kind of you,” he said to me with a fading smile, but the sentiment was still there. “Most folks say they’ll do something and then forget—or just don’t make the time.”
“It was all Josh,” I said. "I’m just the messenger, and you didn’t hear it from me, but any game you want to be at, you’ve got a seat at the Hornet stadium, you just call me.”
Mark studied my expression, and I know he saw through the lie, but he didn’t say anything else on the matter. Ella stood by, proudly staring at me with a smile on her face and, even though Josh’s voice was in the back of my mind, telling me that I was wrong, or overstepping, I knew that I had extended what I could and done it in a way that helped everyone.
“Alright, back to Harbor. Coach is going to be pissed that I’m running errands instead of being at practice.” I clapped Mark on the shoulder and shooed Ella from the apartment.
LOGAN
Istaredatthedonationbox and cursed Dean Tucker under my breath. The large crates were positioned by each gate into the stadium, with signs asking for food donations. After spotting the first one, I walked the whole damn stadium loop until I was back at the start. I should have known that he would take what I said about being a spoiled rich kid to heart and try to rewrite the situation with kindness.
God, I hated how soft and unaware he was.
I hated that it made me want to be protective.
