Page 20 of Rescue Renovations

Chapter Eleven

Cash

“So,thisiswhatold man baseball looks like? Not too bad. I was afraid they wouldn’t be wearing baseball pants, but man am I glad that they all seem to take this seriously enough to rock those magnificent full uniforms.” Landon is basically drooling as he takes a minute to check all of the guys out on the field. I have a feeling he and Reid are going to hit it off the minute they meet. If Chayse and I aren’t careful, we may both lose our best friends.

“Yep, they actually have tryouts and everything. There’re two leagues. One is for people that may have never played, or only played for the fun of it, and a league for guys that played competitively in high school, college, or even the minors. They didn’t want anyone getting hurt or have any fighting over some people making the games more competitive, rather than just being there for a good time. The other league is more lax and just has t-shirts for their uniforms.”

“So, Reid’s pretty good then?”

“Uncle Reid is the bestest!” Penny shouts as she almost bounces off the bench in her excitement to be at the game. Her leg is feeling much better so she’s happy to get out and do more. Plus, she’s Reid’s biggest fan. He even got her a team jersey with her name, and his number, so that she wouldn’t miss out. If the guys didn’t swear as much as they did, he’d probably have her down in the dugout with him.

“She’s not wrong. Reid is definitely one of the best in the league and probably would’ve made it to the majors if he hadn’t gotten injured in college. He’s still a fucking awesome baseball player, but he tore his rotator cuff our senior year. It’s not an end all injury normally, but for a pitcher, it’s a tough injury to recover from. Not to mention it was the worst time. He probably could’ve been drafted into the minors, but the work he’d need to do to go pro would cause even more strain on his shoulder. He’s a damn good contractor and the thought of not being able to use that shoulder to its fullest and work with his hands was something he wasn’t willing to risk. Selfishly, I’m glad he made that decision because there’s no way in hell I’d be able to run this business without him.”

“So, if he was a pitcher who injured his shoulder, what position does he play now? Or is it okay for him to pitch since this is a more relaxed setting and they don’t play games like they do in the pros?”

“He’ll pitch a few innings here and there, but he mostly plays third base. Even though he’s not in the pros, he’s still a damn good pitcher. If he pitches a whole game, it’s pretty boring because not many of the guys can hit off him, and he usually pays for it the next few days. Not worth it to hurt and it’s more fun for everyone when he’s on third. His arm really helps stop plays when the balls hit on his side of the field.”

“That’s pretty cool. I never played baseball, I was a swimmer, but I did date a guy who did, so I know the basics of how the game is played. Do they do 9 innings?”

“No, they only do 7. They are older and a lot of them work manual labor jobs. None of them want to be hurting the next day.”

“Ah, the joys of being older. I suppose I’m lucky that my chosen sport was not nearly as hard on my body.”

“Do you still swim?”

“Yep, I usually try to get in the pool at least three days a week. It’s surprisingly helpful with how fast-paced work is and a great stress reliever after a long day.”

“Lando, when my cast is gone, can you teach me to swim?”

“You don’t know how to swim princess?” Penny’s eyes get big as she shakes her head back and forth, all the while her riotous curls bounce back and forth.

“She started taking lessons at the end of spring last year at preschool, but then it was done for the summer and my schedule has been so crazy that I didn’t want to make the commitment if I couldn’t take her.”

“Hey, no shade from me. She’s still young. A lot of kids don’t know how to swim at her age. So Princess, if it’s good with your dad, I would love nothing more than to teach you how to swim once the cast comes off. That will also be a great way to build the muscles in your legs back up!”

“Yayyy! Oh look, Daddy. There’s Uncle Reid. He’s going to hit a slam grand just for me today. I just know it!”

“Daaaayyyuuummm! That beefcake is the infamous Reid Dalton? From my understanding, I owe the guy a drink for not ratting me out for pushing you and Chayse together.”

“Yeah, and I owe you both an ass kicking. How did you manage to get Chayse to call?”

“Well, I crumpled up the business card and put a few coffee spots on it. I told her a patient gave it to me a while ago and that I’d been hanging onto it until I thought she was ready to admit she might need a little help. Then she met with Reid, and they hit it off and she hired them.”

“Yeah, and Reid called me CJ and forgot to mention to me that the new client was named Chayse and was a smoking hot redhead with purple hair that was also a nurse.” I glare at Landon but see the only effect it has is to make him smirk.

“I see you feel no guilt just like my best friend. But let me ask, is that why you’re avoiding YOUR best friend?”

“Avoidis such a strong word. I wasn’t avoiding her so much as letting her calm down. And Emerson let me know they were having a girl’s day on Wednesday, so I knew she’d be able to rant about my slight lie by omission and forgive me. She’s actually supposed to meet us here tonight.”

“Really? And what did you tell her to get her here?”

“Oh, I didn’t invite her. Reid invited her the other day when he was working at the house. When I finally called her back today to see if she wanted to hang out, she told me she was coming to Reid’s game after her shift. I imagine she’ll be here any minute.”

“Oh, so she knows you were meeting me and Penny here, then?”

“Nope. You asked me to come after she told me she would be here. It will be a pleasant surprise for her to see all of our smiling faces.”

“Wow, she really doesn’t scare you at all, because that’s a bold move, man. One look from her and I instantly regretted acting like an ass at the hospital.”

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