Page 37
“We’d have been here sooner but Jett had a blowout of epic proportions,” Brass announces from beside Rhett. I feel my body flush with heat and take a step back from the trance Rhett has me in.
I chuckle remembering how Ryder did that to me at the worst times. A woman close to my age steps around a tall bearded man with a baby in her arms. Another woman does the same with a smaller baby swaddled to her chest.
“You must be Remi. I’m Sutton and this is Raegan,” she greets with the sincerest smile. “This little guy is Rocco, but we all call him Little Rocky. And the little boy being chased is Zane.”
My eyes soften and I’m transported back to the days of Ryder as a baby. In all the craziness of moving around and trying to make ends meet I still cherish all of those small precious moments I had with him.
“And this little trouble maker is Jett,” Raegan introduces.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I say. “I didn’t realize that there’d be so many of you.”
“This group never does anything small,” Raegan waves off. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Well, welcome,” I say and see several of the guys with coolers. “If you want to put the food in that pavilion, we can use those grills and tables.” I point over to the covered awning and picnic tables.
“Thanks Darlin’. I’m Havoc by the way, Sutton’s my Ol’ Lady,” the large man with the beard says. He sticks out his large hand and shakes mine after introductions.
Melissa, the medical professional who checked me out at my job, comes over and introduces her husband, Crusher, to me. She also introduces several other large hulky men but I don’t think I’ll remember all of their names so easily.
A large chunk of the men veer off to put the coolers and food in the covered area as the women and a few men stay close by.
“You came,” I hear my son’s hopeful voice, like he didn’t believe that Rhett would show up. Guilt pangs in my stomach because I was having those same worries.
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Rhett says, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. I think it’s the first physical contact that they’ve had and I can see the worry and tension leave Ryder’s body. “Did you already warm up?”
“Nah, Coach said we’d wait for everyone to show up first. Want to come meet my friends?” Ryder asks and I suck in a breath, tears welling in my eyes. This is what I’ve wanted for years. I just can’t believe it’s finally happening.
“Sure,” Rhett nods, then he follows his son to the dugout.
“Are we gettin’ pictures of this?” Brass pipes up from beside us as we watch the two of them head over towards the dugout.
“Got the camera ready for when Reaper strikes out,” I hear Hawk say. We greet each other and I get a look at all the men here to support the game, and Ryder.
“Thanks again for coming. It’s usually just me at his game. Sometimes Cole is able to come,” I tell the group standing by me.
“You and Ryder are family now. We’ll always show up for you,” Stone states.
Unsure of how to respond to that I keep quiet but give a small nod in acknowledgement. I haven’t had any family in a very long time, or people to rely on for extended periods of time. Ever since I fled my grandparents’ house the only person I could count on was myself.
The game starts and the entire middle section is filled with Rhett’s club. They cheer so loud when Ryder gets up to bat or when he strikes a dad out, and boo every time Rhett comes up to hit. Watching Rhett laugh and mess around with Ryder makes me realize how much of our youth was stolen from us. How one selfish and horrible act of someone else ruined the lives and childhood of two kids.
I’ll never forget that night. Even though I didn’t witness Beau murdering my mom and then coming for me, I remember how Rhett put my safety and wellbeing above his own. When he shoved me into the closet and faced Beau by himself, I can’t imagine how scared he must have been. I heard the scuffle through the door and kept praying that it was all a dream and wasn’t really happening. That my mom was alive and those shots were pots and pans clinking together, that the sounds right outside the wooden door wrestling around weren’t from a delusional husband and father who was verbally and physically abusive to his family and didn’t snap when he was served divorce papers.
The moment I heard two shots ring out my heart stopped. All movement ceased around me. I remember that I was holding my phone and I could hear someone talking to me, asking questions, but it was like my body was captured in a tank of water. Everything was happening around me but it felt like I was having an out of body experience, taking everything in but not able to take any action, like a frozen body. The world was still moving but I was stuck staring at everything. Worst of all I was mute.
I sit in between Raegan and Sutton with the babies fast asleep in their strollers. Both women fill me in on the club and how it runs. They tell me about themselves and I do the same. I’ve never been ashamed of what I had to do to get to this point. Learning about Sutton’s family history made mine not seem as crazy. And when Raegan told me about her psycho stepdad and mother, I felt almost normal in a weird way.
Kimmy, who is in charge of the speaker and proclaimed herself as the official play-by-play announcer, calls out that the bases are loaded in the last inning. There are two outs and the dads are winning by one run.
“And now to the plate is Ryder Miller,” she announces and plays his walk-up song. Everyone from the club goes nuts and the smile my son’s wearing has my heart squeezing.
“Let’s go Ryder!” one of the guys yells out.
“Show your dad what a real ballplayer is!” Brass hollers.
Rhett has been the pitcher all game and even though he hasn’t been actively playing he’s doing pretty well. I can tell he hasn’t been throwing his best but I’m sure he’s really rusty after throwing for the first time in fourteen years last night. His arm probably feels like it’s gonna fall off after all of this.
The first pitch, Ryder swings and fouls it off. It was a little high but he tends to like them that way. He takes a few practice swings before entering the batter’s box and gets into his stance. The next pitch comes from Rhett and it’s too low.
