“I showed up unannounced. I don’t know how long I’ll be this time. Besides, last time I spent the night Adam threw a bit of a fit, didn’t he?”
Lara’s expression was stubborn. Mary Lou’s disapproving. Ty had a sneaking suspicion the disapproval wasn’t forhim, but for Adam.
“You’ll stay here, and if I hear another word of argument, you won’t get a cookie,” Mary Lou said, keeping the plate of warm cookies just out of reach.
So he grinned at her. “Well then, consider the topic settled.”
With a smile of her own, Mary Lou took a seat at the little kitchen table, so the three of them were huddled around a plate of cookies just like old times.
They didn’t ask him about his tryout. He was home. Everyone knew the answer.
Ty Wagner was a washed-up failure.
But he didn’t feel like one with Mary Lou and Lara. They wouldn’t let him. He’d never been a meal ticket to them, never been defined by his baseball success or failure. They were the only uncomplicated people in his life, because they’d always been there forhim. Not the baseball player.
Maybe he didn’t know quite who that guy was or could be, but he was ready to find out. So he listened intently while they chatted about all the new exhibits at the history center, filled him in on all the town gossip since the last time he’d been home, and ate a few too many cookies in the process.
He could have gone anywhere. He didn’t have to come back here. He could have started a new lifeanywhere.
But when a man had very little to show for his life, he didn’t turn his back on the things he did have. Like friendship and care.
“Now, you’re probably exhausted and still on east coast time,” Mary Lou said when he failed at stifling a yawn. “Lara will get the couch made up for you, and we’ll all hit the hay a little early.”
Lara popped up to do as she was told, and Ty got up too. He moved to the living room and worked with Mary Lou to clear the cushions, then he pulled out the old couch bed.
“You’ll find yourself this go around,” Mary Lou said, her hand squeezing his arm. “Have faith.”
He blew out a slow breath, emotion clogging his throat. Faith. He wasn’t sure he had any of that left in him. Certainly not enough to believe he’dfind himself. He wasn’t altogether certain there was ahimselfto find.
But he wasn’t going to get all bitter and morose about it. He’d keep those concerns to himself and get on with his life, one way or another.
“Have a good sleep, Ty.”
“You too, Mary Lou.”
She disappeared into the hall. A few minutes later, Lara returned with a pile of sheets and pillows in her arms. He moved forward to take some of the items from her, and they worked in companionable silence to make the bed.
Just like always.
“I can smooth it over for you if you want to go stay with Keane or somebody else,” Lara said, spreading the sheets out while he put cases on the pillows. “She won’t hold it against you. She can’t hold anything against you.”
He’d considered it. There’d be a lot fewer questions from his old friend who lived on a ranch outside of town, but he’d wantedto be closer to the center of things, to the Townsends. And truth be told, he had some concerns about his friend’s drinking, and he hadn’t yet figured out how to get through to Keane about that.
Lara took the pillows from him, one by one, making the bed look like it belonged in a hotel room instead of this kitschy, cozy living room. Mary Lou Townsend hadstandardsas she liked to tell people, and her granddaughter took those standards seriously.
Definitely a better option to stay here than with Keane or Dad. Besides… “We all know I don’t want to go,” he said, with maybe a little bit too much sincerity leaking into his voice if the way she stilled was anything to go by.
But then she smoothed out the sheets again. Once she was satisfied with the state of his bed, she turned to face him.
She hadn’t looked happy this evening when he’d first found her taking photos on her favorite rock. Usually, her art made her happy, but there had been something especially sad in her eyes when he’d walked the beach access path hoping to find her.
That sadness was gone now as she crossed to him. As she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. “I’m glad you’re home,” she said, and he knew she meant it. She always meant it.
So he hugged her back, curling around her enough he could rest his chin on her shoulder. She felt like she always did. Warm and sturdy. Smelled like she always did. Vanilla and something fruity. If there was an anchor in his life, it was Lara Townsend, and he figured that made him a lucky enough man…despite thatfat lot of nothingthe rest of his life had turned out to be.
But he’d made a choice. That tryout was it, regardless of the outcome. He was too old to be chasing a boy’s dreams.
Too old to keep trying to make his father proud.
