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“You’ll never know if you’re not in the stands with me tomorrow night.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Did I mention baseball happens to be the great American pastime?”
He was entirely too charming. And even when she saw it a mile away, she couldn’t resist the chance for an outing. An opportunity to learn more about him.
“In that case, I accept your invitation.” She hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to a night out with Cal.
Chapter Six
“So your brotherplays in Triple-A?” Josie asked from the passenger seat of his convertible.
The trip to the ballpark was over an hour’s drive, and the conversation on the way into San Antonio had been pleasant. She’d talked to him about the things she enjoyed around the farmhouse and shared some anecdotes about his mom’s dogs. He’d filled her in on his dad’s refusal to work Everett’s farm, and the pressure he’d applied to his sons to chase the baseball dream. Cal had figured he needed to bring her up to speed a bit on that dynamic given that Clint Ramsey would make himself plenty visible around the ballpark tonight.
His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Better to focus on the question she’d asked him. Especially since he wanted her to have a good time tonight.
“Both of my brothers are in Triple-A.” He glanced over at her while she snapped a photo out the passenger window. “Although Nate has been back and forth between Double-A and Triple-A a good bit over the last two seasons. Tonight we’ll see Nate’s team.”
Josie set her phone back in her lap and he wondered what she’d seen that had been photo-worthy. It looked like dry fields on either side of the road to him.
“Nate’s the next oldest?” She pulled off her sunglasses and tucked them in the sack she used like a handbag.
She’d worn a denim skirt and a purple T-shirt with the cover art for a Jane Austen novel on it. He’d noticed that any time she took a break from work, she had a book in her hands. Her hair was in a braid again, something he guessed was her nod to the heat. A few pieces curled around her face.
“Yes. He’s a year and a half younger than me, and Wes is three years younger than I am.” They’d been close growing up, but once they’d started playing ball professionally, it had been next to impossible to see each other during the season.
A problem Cal didn’t have anymore now that he had nowhere to report. The knowledge still ate at him.
“And you think your father will be at the game too?”
“I know he will.” The old man couldn’t stay away from baseball. Cal knew that losing his spot on a major league roster this year was killing his father. “Whenever Wes or Nate have had games in the vicinity, Dad will hire a big van to take friends to the ballpark for the night. What seats he doesn’t fill with friends, he’ll offer to local bars to give away as happy-hour prizes.”
“That seems supportive.” She picked at a frayed piece of the unhemmed denim skirt.
“Yes and no.” Cal remembered plenty of his own games where his father had been in the crowd. “My dad mostly enjoys basking in his own glory, but if Nate has a good game, he’ll be glad to have some friends and family around afterward.”
“What if he doesn’t have a good game?” She retrieved her phone to take another photo out her window, and this time, Cal could see she was lining up a shot of a farm stand advertising pick-your-own peaches.
“Then Nate will have to decide if it’s worth dealing with the old man’s breakdown of everything he did wrong before he can enjoy the pleasure of anyone else’s company.” Cal steered into the passing lane as traffic started picking up.
“Really?” She sounded surprised. “I can’t picture your mother married to someone like that. She’s so mellow.”
“She might be making up for all the years she dealt with him.” He hadn’t considered that before. Another reminder of how focused he’d been on his career. “She never used to do things like mission trips or beekeeping when they were together.”
“Then good for her. She seems happy.”
“She deserves to be,” he said a little more fiercely than he’d intended. “I could forgive my father for how he treats me, but I can’t overlook how he disrespected my mom. For that matter, it ticks me off how little he does for Everett.”
“That’s where your buffer comes in, right?” Josie shifted in her seat, crossing her legs in the opposite direction in a move that pulled his attention from the road for a split second. “Any tips for how I should do my job tonight?”
He refocused his eyes on the road, but memories of her curves filled his head anyway. He flipped on his blinker to move to the right lane for their next exit.
“Just having you next to me will keep me from feeling any need to talk to him. No need to do anything special.” And, really, he hadn’t been totally honest with her about his motives for wanting her at the game. Because while having her there would give him distance from his dad, what he needed from her even more was the sexy distraction she would provide as he sat through the first game he had to watch now that he wasn’t a player any longer.
She was silent for a long moment. When he looked her way, she was biting her lip, tension obvious in the downward angle of her brows.
“You think I’m a first-class spoiled brat for not wanting to talk to my own father, don’t you?” He hadn’t meant to come off like an entitled jock who thought the world revolved around him.
“Far from it.” Her voice sounded faraway. Thoughtful. “I was just thinking how useful it would be to have a buffer around my own difficult parent.”
