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“Ah. You’ve heard about Baylee.”
“baking bombshell, I thought her name was.”
Drew shook his head. It wasn’t a derogatory nickname, in truth, but it still ground against his gut like sand when someone else said it. Especially another man.
“Sorry. I like Baylee better too.” Fred picked up his water glass and took a sip, set it back down again. “I wish I could tell you there was some big secret to it. I know that it takes a special kind of woman though to put up with lug nuts like us. I mean, we get to play in the dirt for a living like kids, paid a crap ton to do it, and have the world, and women, at our feet just because of it.”
The waitress brought their drinks and took their order. When she left, Fred continued. “But I know this. Mary keeps me grounded. When I go home at night, she reminds me I’m human. Not some god the rest of the world wants to believe of me, of any of us. And that might sound like a bad thing to some of the other knuckleheads we play with, but not to me. Baseball? That’s what I get to do for a living. But Mary and the kids? They’re my life. My real world.”
Drew nodded, taking in all his friend was saying. That was how he’d felt in Silver Bay. Every moment with Baylee and Casey was real life. What mattered most. But he’d loved baseball all his life. Was he ready to give that up for good?
*
Baylee slammed herfist into the mound of dough in front of her on the island in the kitchen of Baylee’s Bakery. She did it a few more times for good measure, then rolled it with her hands, folding over and over again until it formed another ball.
“What’s that dough ever done to you?” Eva asked as she breezed past to put a tray of cookie dough in the massive refrigerator.
Baylee continued to roll the dough over and over, pushing it with the heel of her hand with each turn.
“You wanna talk about it, boss?”
Baylee said nothing.
“Trouble in paradise?”
She stopped at that and quirked an eyebrow at her friend. “You’re gonna keep pushing until I talk, aren’t you?”
The attempt Eva gave at an innocent look fell flat.
Baylee sighed and wiped her hands on her apron. “Things are fine. Really.”
“You are aware that when we women say the word fine, that means all hell is breaking loose in our head or our heart or both and we are anything but fine.”
Baylee rolled her eyes, but had to concede. She wasn’t fine. Her conversation with Drew a few days ago had stayed with her. Sure, they’d talked since then, but nothing special, just. “How was your day?” and checking up on Casey.
When she’d gotten the call from school that he’d been hurt at recess, her heart had risen in her throat so hard she could have sworn she could swallow it back down. But he was truly fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. When she’d picked him up from school, he’d faced it like he did anything else. Factual and without drama.
Hearing Drew’s concern about the situation and that he’d even thought of flying back just to be with her and Casey warmed her heart like nothing else. The knowledge alone of him even considering it showed how much he loved them. But if they wanted this to work, to be together, they’d have to learn to get through bumps and bruises without him rushing back every time. She was a single mom before she met Drew, she could be a single mom with him not in town.
And there was the rub. Being with Drew had its rough spots. But being without him? She couldn’t even think about it without tearing up. She’d tried to get out of Drew how things were going, how his pitching was, but he was cryptic about it and changed the subject back to her and Casey.
She looked at Eva. “You’re right. Saying I’m fine isn’t the whole truth. But it’s the best it’s going to be for the situation it is.”
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
Baylee laughed. “It sounded better in my head. I just mean that, Drew’s life is complicated. Our relationship is complicated. So, it’s as fine as it’s gonna be, for what it is.”
“Still talking some nonsense, but all I want is to make sure you’re good.”
“I’m good.”
Baylee’s cell phone buzzed in her apron pocket. She looked at the screen. An unfamiliar number stared back at her.
With a frown, she answered. “This is Baylee.”
“Hi, Baylee. My name is Tyler. I’m Drew’s trainer.”
“Oh, yes. He told me all about you.”
