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“All right.”
“But, in case I get delayed, or her flight does, the door will be unlocked.”
“It will?”
“Don’t tell anyone, but I never lock the door.”
“Really?” She thought of all the books in the library, and she couldn’t even begin to put a number on how much they would be worth. But someone could hardly go in and steal enough books to make it worthwhile. Could they?
“Really. So, if I’m not there, go on in. Make yourself at home.”
“I will.”
“Owen, too.”
“Of course. Everything will be fine.”
She got the feeling that he was talking just to prolong their conversation, but there didn’t seem to be anything else to say. So, he started to turn, and as he did so, his hand came out and touched hers. He took her fingers in his and squeezed. She had thought that maybe he wanted to raise them to his lips and kiss her, but he didn’t. Just having him squeeze her hand made her breathless.
Then he walked away without saying anything more.
She was over thirty and way too mature to do it, but she watched him go. Admiring. Not just the way he looked when he walked, although she did admire that, but also the courage it had taken him to come.
The way he was absolutely right, because those women had talked about him. Had made fun of him and derided him for the things that had happened in his past, and yet he stayed. Had handled it graciously.
He had been kind. He’d stood beside her and, just with his presence, gave her the courage to do what she knew she was supposed to do, to be kind as well.
He hadn’t given a lot of commentary on baseball, which kind of surprised her. Being that he loved the game so much. He hadn’t given her a blow-by-blow or told her what all the kids were doing wrong or right.
He hadn’t even given her any tips for Owen.
Maybe he didn’t want to be one of those people who shoved his nose where it wasn’t welcome. Or maybe he didn’t want to sound like a know-it-all.
Or maybe he just didn’t want to talk about baseball anymore, perhaps because baseball had scarred the inside of him just as much as his accident had scarred the outside.
She considered that and figured she wouldn’t know until she asked.
When Owen walked over, his shoulders were slumped, and he looked dejected.
“Hey, bud,” she said softly, with a little smile, but nothing exciting. She knew he wasn’t very happy with himself.
“Hey, Mom. I’m sorry you wasted your time today.”
“I didn’t waste my time. I had a really good time. I did feel a little bad for you though. It looked like you were nervous since this was your first game.”
“I suck.”
She took a breath, blowing it out just a little. What did she say to that?
“The worse you do, the more room there is for improvement. I’m guessing, because you’re determined and you persevere, that at your next game, you’re going to do better. And every game is going to be improvement from that.”
“I’m quitting.”
“At the end of the season, you certainly may.”
“No. Right now.”
They had reached the car, and she dug in her purse for her key.
