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“Really? So you heard the news?”
“The Harrisburg Senators drafted you.” Lying helped him hide his smile until Coury could tell him.
“What?” He shook his head and waved his hand in front of Liam’s face. “They didn’t draft me. They can’t. Besides, the draft is next month.”
Liam frowned. Hopefully Coury was too amped up to recognize his faked confusion. “But he said the Senators?”
“Remember how he kept asking if I was sure I didn’t want to enter the draft?”
“How could I forget?” Liam said.
Helen joined them and stood next to Pop.
“Stop it. I told you I’m not leaving.” He quickly kissed Liam’s cheek. “Coach kept asking because he was trying to set something up, and he wanted to be sure I was serious.”
“What did he offer you?” Pop asked.
Liam almost elbowed his grandfather. “What did he say?”
“Coach offered me a job. Two actually—he wants to hire me to be the assistant pitching coach for the Harrison team. Coach Wagner, our pitching coach, is planning to retire in the next year or two, and Coach wants me to work with him.”
“That’s . . . wait. You’re going to be a coach for Harrison?” Liam glanced at his grandfather, who just smiled.
“Assistant Coach, but I guess that makes me Coach Henderson now.” Coury did that bouncing thing he always did when he was excited.
“But he was talking about the Senators? Didn’t you get a job with them?”
“Smooth,” Pop muttered.
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Well you said two jobs and you mentioned the Senators . . .” Oops. Hopefully Coury was too excited to notice.
Coury stared at Liam for a few seconds, then shifted his gaze to Pop. “What’s going on? How did you know I got a job in the Senators’ front office?”
“I didn’t. Really. I might have hoped?”
“Don’t tell this one a secret if you don’t want the whole world to know.” Pop nudged Liam. “I own a small minority interest in the Senators. When I was doing scouting, I didn’t need the money, so I invested it in the team.”
“You bought me a job?” Coury’s energy deflated in an instant.
“Nope. I talked to the majority owner and asked if they were hiring. When he said yes, I asked him to consider hiring you. I told him to talk to Coach Brophy and if he felt you’d be a fit to give you an interview. He said he’d talk to Brophy.”
“But I didn’t interview.”
Pop shrugged. “I did not ask him to hire you. In twenty-five years of being a part owner, I never asked for so much as a free ticket. This was no different.”
“What about Coach?”
“I can’t speak for him, but I suspect he put in a very good recommendation.”
“No, I meant, did you ask him for a favor, too?”
Pop pointed to the chairs set around the table. “Let’s sit and talk.”
For a few seconds Coury looked unsure, but when Helen followed Pop, he relented. Liam followed quietly, afraid to draw attention to himself.
“First, I did not get you any job, Coury. You have my word on it. Any position you have, you earned on your own. I did talk to your Coach about you, but only to ask if he knew of any positions in the area.”
“Why would you do that?” Coury sounded more surprised than angry.
Pop glanced at Liam and smiled. “Do you really need an answer to that?”
“You asked Pop to help me?” Coury directed this to Liam.
“I wanted to help you find a way to enjoy the game in a different way.”
Coury’s hard edge dulled.
“You’re always there to help everyone but yourself. I only asked if he had any suggestions. I didn’t know he owned part of the team.”
“There is nothing wrong with letting someone who cares about you help you,” Helen said. “Albert loves you like another grandson.”
“Helen’s right, Coury. I never regretted my decision to walk away to start a family, but I know what it’s like to miss the game. Believe it or not, I did this for Liam more than you.”
“Me?” Liam shook his head. “No way I’m working for a baseball team.”
Everyone laughed except Pop. “You helped me get back to living. I know you think I was helping you, but you did so much more for me. I want you to be happy, Liam. You and Coury are good for each other. This gives him a future doing something he loves and keeps him close to you.”
Liam swallowed the lump in his throat. Before he could speak, Coury stood and walked around Helen.
“Thank you.” He knelt beside Pop and hugged him.
Liam got up and bookended his grandfather. “Thanks, Pop. I love you, too.”
Pop pulled them both in and squeezed.
“Yo! Yo! Yo! Beckett’s in . . . the . . .”
Liam looked up and laughed at his brother’s expression. He found Coury’s gaze and shrugged. “He has the weirdest timing.”
