“I’m sorry about Erma,” Hayden said, jerking her out of her thoughts.
“How is she really?” Riley knew her grandmother downplayed things sometimes.
“Ornery as ever, but she is in pain.”
She grimaced. “When I find the idiot who didn’t hold her up at second base, I’m going to lay into him.”
“Um,” he said, his voice quiet. “That idiot was me.”
Forgetting she was supposed to be aloof, she turned to face him. “What were you thinking, letting an old woman run the bases like that?”
“I know, I know. I guess I forgot how old she was. She’s athletic for her age and has a competitive spirit. If she’d made it home, we would have won our first game. I lost my head for a minute.” He threaded his hand through his hair.
The gesture caught her attention and cooled her anger a bit. Which made her even more irritated—this time with herself. She faced forward again.
“I’m going to make it up to her,” he said.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that why you picked me up tonight?”
“She asked me to. And yes, that’s why. I don’t pick up people late at night at the airport on a whim, but I’d do anything for Erma, even if I hadn’t made the tragic decision to send her to third.”
What a Hayden thing to say, and of course Riley believed him. She doubted he had a mean bone in his body.
After a long pause, he asked, “How was your flight?”
“Long.” She hadn’t been on a plane since she’d left Mimi’s, and she spent the first half hour gripping the arms of her seat when they encountered some turbulence shortly after takeoff. Once she realized the plane wasn’t going to crash, she’d been able to relax a little. It was hard to fully settle down when her nerves were already stretched thin.
“When was the last time you were in Maple Falls?”
She hesitated. “Nine years ago.”
“You haven’t visited since you left for New York?”
Riley shook her head but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t want to go there with Hayden of all people.
Fortunately he changed the subject. “Do you like living in a big city?”
“I love New York.”
“Seems like I’ve heard that somewhere before. I lived in a few when I was with different minor league teams.” As he drove past the southern suburbs of Little Rock, the lights dimmed, and the interstate became pitch-black except for the red taillights of the few cars on the road with them. “Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami.” He chuckled. “I found out real fast that I’m not a city boy. Give me a small town like Maple Falls anytime.” He laughed again, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Mind if I turn on the radio?” he asked.
She nodded, and soon country music filtered through the speakers. He left the volume low but loud enough that she could hear the twang.
“Do you like Country?” he asked after a few minutes.
“A little.” She’d avoided the music as much as she could, especially during her first few years in New York. Aside from Southern Gospel, it was Mimi’s favorite. She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. The steady hum of the engine, the lilt of a country ballad, and the cool air blowing through the vents all settled her nerves.
“Hey,” Hayden said, touching her arm. “We’re here.”
Riley opened her eyes, shocked to see that they were in Mimi’s driveway. The 1940s brick ranch house was in front of her, the porch light on. “I fell asleep?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “A few bars into ‘She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.’”
She turned to him, and her breath caught. Mimi had a streetlight at the end of her driveway, and Riley could see Hayden clearly in the light. A thick lock of his blond hair hung over his brow, his mouth forming a half grin. He was beyond handsome, and so darn nice. She needed to get out of this car. “What do I owe you?”
“Nothing.” His smile faded. “I’m not an Uber, you know.”
