Every Breaking Wave (6 page)

Six

As I laced up my sneakers, I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into.  Why had I agreed to play a sport I hadn’t played in nearly ten years in front of a group of strangers?  But then when I stood up and looked in the mirror, straightening my t-shirt and pulling my hair up into a ponytail, I knew why I’d agreed.  I’d agreed because it sounded like fun and I needed to have fun.  It’d been too long since I’d had any fun and I hoped tonight would change that.

Noah thought hanging out at the softball field with Jeremy was a great idea.  All day long he’d asked me if it was time to go, even when we were at the beach, which was saying something because nothing was more important to Noah than playing in the sand, so when Jeremy knocked on the door, Noah was the first to jump up and answer it. I had just finished packing Noah’s dinner, a cheese sandwich and sweet pickles, of course.  I assumed there was probably a concession stand at the field, but with Noah’s picky appetite, I wasn’t going to take any chances of a mealtime melt down, especially if Jeremy’s sister, who I hadn’t even met yet, would be watching him while I was on the field. 

I grabbed the little cooler I’d put everything in and walked into the living room. I found Jeremy in a pair of long black shorts and a t-shirt. His hair was tucked under his Red Sox hat and Noah was beside him, holding a baseball glove and ball, which Noah held up excitedly to me.

“I hope you don’t mind.  I thought he might like to play catch at the field. And don’t worry, it’s just a wiffle ball.”

“That was really sweet of you, Jeremy.  Thank you,” I said just as Noah threw the ball to me. 

Due to the fact my hands were full and I wasn’t expecting a plastic ball launched in my direction, I wasn’t able to catch it and it proceeded to bounce right off my left boob, which hurt like crazy.  I winced and I saw Jeremy trying to stifle his laugh. I’d have to encourage Noah to throw a ball at his nuts sometime just so I could laugh at him.

“Sorry, Mommy,” Noah apologized.

“Perhaps I should rescind my invitation to play with us tonight, if you can’t even catch a wiffle ball,” Jeremy grinned as Noah rushed over to get the ball and I shot him a glare.

“Let’s go before I change my mind,” I said, hearing Jeremy chuckle as I walked past him.

I insisted on taking separate cars, even though Jeremy wanted to ride together. I didn’t want him tied to us the rest of the evening in case he wanted to go out after the game.  He eventually agreed and after Noah was buckled in, I followed Jeremy for a few minutes until we reached the softball field. 

The parking lot was already filling up and as I stepped out of the car, I couldn’t help but feel nervous, like a little kid on her first day at a new school, hoping my new classmates would like me.

“So, who’s all on this team?” I asked.

“A few of the guys from my uncle’s crew and the rest are just people we’ve picked up.  Mutual friends of everyone.”

“And they’re okay with me coming?”

“They’re ecstatic. We’d have to forfeit otherwise and we’re pretty sure we’re gonna go undefeated this year.”

“I guess I can assume slow pitch softball is pretty serious in these neck of the woods.”

“You don’t even know the half of it. It’s cutthroat,” he said with a grin, sliding his finger across this neck as if he were slitting his throat.

We were approaching a group of people outside of a dugout.  They were laughing and joking, their thick Maine accents cutting through the air. 

“Hey!” an older man with a deep, throaty voice called out, waving at Jeremy when he saw us. “The savior is here!”

He promptly wrapped Jeremy in a bear hug and then looked at me once they’d let go.

“Uncle Bill, this is Beth and her son Noah.”

“Good to know ya, Beth, and you too, Noah,” he said, holding out his hand to Noah who slapped it hard as he smiled. “Thanks for fillin’ in tonight.  We cannot lose.  Not tonight.” Bill looked serious.  I thought Jeremy had been teasing about how cutthroat this league was.  Perhaps I’d been wrong.

“We’re playing the crew of Chester’s Hazard.  My uncle hates Chester,” Jeremy whispered in my ear, a half-smile on his face. “You’d better not make any mistakes tonight.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said sarcastically.

Jeremy went around introducing me to the rest of the team.  They were all just as happy to see me as Bill had been.  Jeremy and I were about to start warming up when a couple walked up to us. They looked to be around my age. The man was tall with a shaved head and the woman was pretty with dark brown hair and eyes just like Jeremy’s. I immediately assumed she was his sister.  There was a little girl beside them.  She looked a couple of years older than Noah with brown pigtails and glasses.

“Hey,” Jeremy said when he saw them, walking over and giving the woman a hug and then flipping one of the little girl’s pigtails. “Aubrey, Kevin, this is Beth and her son Noah.”

Aubrey’s smile was a warm one and I got a good feeling about her. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Beth.  Thanks for saving the day.  You should’ve heard my brother and my husband carrying on and on about what they were going to do once they learned Stewart’s wife had gone into labor.  They even tried to rope me into playing, but I just got a manicure two days ago.  I’m not risking that.”

Her last comment didn’t surprise me.  Aubrey didn’t look like the kind of woman who’d spent a lot of time playing in the dirt.

“I’m just hoping to not make a fool of myself out there. I haven’t played since high school.”

“You’ll do fine.  You’re a warm body and that’s all we need,” Jeremy said, tossing a softball forcefully into his mitt a few times. 

I saw Aubrey roll her eyes.

“We weren’t that bad, Aubrey,” Kevin chimed in, sticking his hand out to shake mine. “Nice to meet you, Beth.”

“You were that bad. You guys were whining like a couple of five-year-olds,” she said and then she turned her attention back to us, kneeling down so she was at Noah’s level.

“You must be Noah,” she said with a smile.  Noah inched closer to me and I put my arm around his shoulder. “This is Sophie. She’s five.” The little girl smiled widely and waved to Noah.  She didn’t appear to suffer from shyness as my son did. “I hear we’re gonna be hanging out while your mommy plays some softball.” Noah continued to squish against me, but then Sophie approached him, taking his hand.

“C’mon, Noah.”

He looked up at me with nervous brown eyes and I smiled encouragingly at him.

“Go on.  You’ll have fun and I’ll be right here if you need me.”

He remained hesitant for a few more seconds, but then Sophie tugged his arm gently, saying, “We’ll go get a snow cone.”

His shyness seemed to vanish at those words and he and Sophie started walking away. I couldn’t help but feel my own trepidation when he left, but then I felt Aubrey’s hand on my arm.

“Don’t worry.  We’ll look after him.  It’ll be fun.  You just concentrate on winning.  I don’t need a bitchy husband and brother to deal with.”

She laughed and Jeremy just shoved her playfully.

“Yeah, yeah.  Get outta here,” he said and Aubrey left, but not before shoving him back and they turned and left.  

“I like your sister,” I said once they were gone.

“She’s alright.” His grin told me that while he was trying to be cool, he actually thought the world of her. “Now, let’s warm up, Sawyer,” he said, tossing the ball to me. 

~~~

The game was going surprisingly well.  The team included me immediately, making me feel as if I’d known them for years, not just minutes.  I hadn’t had many plays to make, but the few I’d been involved in had been okay.  It was coming back to me and I wasn’t making a complete fool of myself.  I even had two hits, a line drive single into left field and a fly ball that fell into a gap between center and right.  Noah was having fun too. While our team was batting, I’d go and check on him.  He and Sophie had hit it off and they were playing catch with the ball Jeremy had given him while Aubrey looked on.  He seemed annoyed that I was interrupting him, which made me happy.  As I watched him with Sophie and also how he’d warmed to Jeremy, I felt even better about my decision to spend our summer in Travers Cove.  Noah hadn’t seemed this at ease since before Darren left.

We laughed and joked on the field and in the dugout and the banter between Bill and Chester was hysterical.  It had started getting tense though.  By the last inning, the score was tied.  We had last bats and I had been the first one up during that inning.  I ended up getting walked and then made it to third base on a double hit over the right fielder’s head by Bill.  I couldn’t help but laugh as he stood triumphantly on second base, his hands over his head, fists pumping excitedly in the air.  My eyes moved to Chester, who was playing third base only a few feet from where I stood, and I could tell by the bird he was flipping Bill that he did not find the situation amusing. Bill gave him the finger back before the umpire stepped in and the antics stopped. 

Jeremy stepped into the batter’s box then.  He dug his leg into the dirt, drawing my eyes to the way his calves flexed.  He tapped home plate with his bat and then squared up, concentrating hard on the pitcher.  The ball lobbed through the air and by the way Jeremy swung, you would’ve thought he was Babe Ruth about to launch it over the fence.  His over-exaggerated swing only resulted in a dribble down the first base line.  Regardless, once contact was made, I started charging towards home plate.  Out of my peripheral vision, I could see the first baseman had scooped up the ball and tagged Jeremy out as he ran towards the base and was now preparing to throw it to the catcher in an attempt to turn Jeremy’s lackluster hit into a double play.  I was almost there though and I focused on the plate, pushing myself harder as the catcher blocked the plate.  I ran into the man, who had to have weighed at least 250 pounds, at full speed.  I began tumbling to the ground while my foot touched the base and the catcher began stumbling backwards.  I heard the umpire shout, “Safe!” as I crashed to the ground, a searing pain rushing up my arm just as I heard a crunch on my wrist.  The giant whale of a catcher had stepped directly on it and I grabbed it to my chest, yelling out in agony.  Our team came rushing out of the dugout, yelling and cheering at our victory.  They started to surround me, wanting to congratulate me for scoring the winning run, but I couldn’t get up.  I remained on the ground, clutching my wrist to my chest, trying not to cry even though it hurt like hell. 

“Beth!” I barely heard Jeremy’s voice over the yelling from my team and when I looked up, he was pushing his way through the crowd to get to me. “Beth!” He was kneeling before me a second later. “Are you okay?” His voice was frantic and worried and when I met his eyes, I felt a tear finally run down my cheek, shaking my head.

“It’s my wrist,” I said, my voice shaking. 

By this time, the team was finally realizing something was wrong.  I was surprised it’d taken them so long, but then again, I wasn’t.  Jeremy had said they were cut throat.  The victory was all that had mattered, but now that they knew I was hurt, their shouting started to quiet and they huddled around me.

Jeremy rested one hand on my shoulder while carefully taking my injured hand with his free one.  He was being as tender as he could, but I winced when he touched it and when I looked down at it, I could see it was already bruising, the skin turning shades of purple and black.

“I think it’s broken,” he said and I appreciated how gentle his voice was because I was on the verge of panic. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

I couldn’t think of what to say so I just nodded and I felt Jeremy lifting me effortlessly to my feet.  He kept his arm around me as we made our way off the field.  Aubrey was standing with Noah and Sophie by the bleachers.  Noah looked worried, but Sophie held his hand.

“Oh my gosh, Beth.  Are you okay?” Aubrey asked.

“I think my wrist is broken,” I winced.

“I need to get Beth to a hospital, Aubrey.  Would you mind taking Noah back to your place?”

“Of course not,” she said and then looked at me. “Don’t worry about anything.  Noah will be fine with us.”

I barely knew this woman, but I trusted her completely for some reason.  I looked down at Noah then. He still looked confused and frightened and I knew I had to suck up the pain so he wouldn’t be scared.

“Noah, baby, I hurt my hand. Jeremy’s taking me to the doctor, but I’ll be home soon.  You go with Ms. Aubrey and Sophie, okay?”

“I wanna go with you!” he called out and started to cry. 

It was times like these I felt most helpless and most like a failure.  If Darren hadn’t destroyed everything, then Noah would have two parents here and his father could work on comforting him while I focused on myself. 

“Noah, honey,” I pleaded with him. “You can’t come with me.  It’ll be okay.”

He didn’t stop crying though.  He grabbed onto my leg instead and I didn’t know what to do.  The pain was searing now.  I felt Jeremy’s arm leave my shoulder and I watched as he squatted down so he was eye to eye with my son. 

“Listen, buddy,” he said, using that same gentle voice he’d used with me that had calmed me so much. “I need you to be brave right now.  Your mommy’s hurt and I need to get her better.”