The Changeup (Men of the Show) (11 page)

As he reached up to tug on his hat at the end of the anthem, he watched her lean down and say something to Bree. She looked up at her mom and they both smiled. It was then he felt a click and it was as if his world had shifted. He couldn’t explain what it was or where it came from, but he felt nothing but calm, his previous nervousness a distant memory. He suddenly knew everything he’d ever wanted was right where it was supposed to be, solidifying and grounding him, and giving him the strength and the courage to face anything—on or off the field. He definitely hadn’t set out to find a family, but he’d stumbled upon one and it felt nothing but right. It was what he wanted, more than anything he could remember, and he couldn’t imagine his life without Maddie and Bree in it. It made him happy, but at the same time terrified him. He vowed at that point he would do whatever it took to make them his, but first he had a game to win.

* * *

Maddie and Bree cheered with the rest of the crowd as Chase trotted onto the field with his teammates and stepped onto the mound. He kicked the dirt around at his feet and dug some out on the side of the rubber pitcher’s plate before standing tall and facing his catcher. As he warmed up, throwing a few pitches before facing the first batter, Maddie looked on in admiration. It was like watching a dance, she thought. His motions were so fluid, one seamlessly flowing into the next, it was hard to tell where one started and one finished. All you knew was that the ball started quietly seated in Chase’s glove before quickly landing with a soft thud in the catcher’s large mitt. Again and again, she marveled at how the ball left his hand and was caught behind the plate before she could even catch sight of it. It was truly breathtaking.

“Wow! He can sure throw fast,” Bree said in awe.

“You’re telling me,” she agreed.

“Do you think I’ll be able to throw like him?”

“Well, he’s got some height and a few pounds on you, so I don’t think it will be quite as fast, but I do believe he’ll be able to teach you the basics.”

Bree looked back at Chase, who was taking another walk around the mound as he waited for the first batter to step into the batter’s box. “I hope so.”

Maddie smiled and settled back in her seat. She was going to enjoy watching the game tonight. She just hoped she could take her eyes off the pitcher long enough to see the rest of the game.

Chapter Eleven

“He’s actually has a no-hitter going.”

Overhearing this, Maddie turned to her neighbor. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but hear what you said. That’s a rare thing, right? A hard thing to do, a no-hitter?”

“Exactly. Especially since he’s also going for the record of most wins as a rookie, to get that record on a no-hitter would be awesome.” The man leaned in close. “Watch him when he goes into the dugout. He’ll sit down at the end of the bench all alone. No one will talk to him or disturb him, and no one will dare mention it either because they don’t want to jinx it. But believe me, it’s in the back of his mind, in the back of all their minds.”

* * *

Sure enough, when Chase returned to the dugout after getting the last batter out, he sat at the vacant end of the bench as his teammates left him alone. He pulled his right arm through his jacket to keep it warm and loose, took his hat off and sat back closing his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Chase tried to empty his head. He couldn’t think about the no-hitter, since that was the sure way to lose it; he wanted to keep focused on his game plan. It was working and he didn’t want to deviate from it. He didn’t want to try to force things which is what he knew would happen if he thought about how he hadn’t allowed any hits so far. He’d given up a couple of walks, but thankfully they’d remained stranded on base, never coming around to score and keeping the Rockets’s three-run lead intact.

Opening his eyes, he noticed his teammates were giving him space and he appreciated it. He knew if he caught the eye of any of them, their excitement would be obvious and he’d get caught up in it with them. Chase stood up and looked at the ground as he walked over to the cooler to snag a cup of water. As he took a drink, he looked out onto the field, past the game going on in front of him. There was movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t turn when his head coach came to a stop next to him.

“You all right?” Coach Brooklyn asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Arm feels okay?”

At Chase’s nod, Coach Brooklyn said, “That’s all I need to know,” and shuffled back down to the opposite end of the bench.

Soon the Rockets’s hitters were out and it was time for Chase to take the field again. He pulled his arm out of his jacket and carefully folded it before placing it on the bench. Tugging on his cap, he took a deep breath, pounded his fist in his glove and set out to work.

He could feel the tension in the crowd. It was the top of the ninth and he only had three more batters to go before he sealed his fate. When the first hitter grounded out to the third baseman, the crowd started stirring. The second batter gave him a bit of a battle and eventually won the fight with a walk.

As the batter trotted down the baseline toward first base, Chase took his time strolling around the mound, rolling his shoulders, adjusting his belt and kicking at the dirt. He had to forget about the runner and move on to the next batter. Even though it was one of the opposing team’s best hitters, he had so far bested him that night with a strikeout and two pop-ups. He had to throw outside and hope he chased a low breaking ball or changeup. He wouldn’t be able to throw a fastball by him and he didn’t want to try it. His arm still felt good, but he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get the heat behind it if called on.

Chase stepped back onto the mound and set himself. Turning slightly to the right, he saw the runner on first base in his peripheral vision. He was hoping to hold him, but he would let him steal second base without a throw over to first base since he wanted to keep his focus completely on the batter.

Staring down at the signs from the catcher, Matt called for the fastball, but he shook it off. Matt repeated the signs calling for the fastball and once again, Chase shook him off.

Calling for a time-out, Matt ran out to the mound.

“What’s up, Patty?”

“Anything but the fastball, Buck, I don’t have the heat,” he said into his glove, which he held over his mouth in case anyone on the opposing bench had taken up lipreading.

“You’ve got it,” Matt assured him.

“We got him out before with the breaker, let’s do that.”

“Fastball, Patty, you’ve got it. I know you do.”

Chase watched as Matt ran back to his perch behind home plate. He was going to have to reach back if he was going to throw anything by this guy. Taking a deep breath, he stood and stared down the batter. By now, he was expecting a fastball, so Chase had to do everything he could to throw it by him. He knew the crowd was roaring and on its feet, but he suddenly had tunnel vision. Reaching back, he hurled the ball with as much force he could muster and watched as the batter swung hard but missed the ball completely.

The crowd went wild. He shook his head slightly at Matt, letting him know he wasn’t going to do that again, and he knew his catcher was smiling behind his mask. A slight ache was building in his shoulder, a clear indication that it was tiring. He was well over one hundred pitches, more than Coach had let him throw all year, but he knew Coach wanted him to get the win if he could. He would finish it. Chase wouldn’t get this opportunity again anytime soon, if ever.

Matt called for the breaking ball and Chase nodded. If he was lucky, the batter would hit the ball into a double play and the game would be over. But he couldn’t put the control in someone else’s hands; he had to make his own luck. If he could place the ball so the batter would make contact with it, but only as a roller to the shortstop, it would be an easy double play to turn.

With a quick glance at the runner on first, Chase squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and threw. He heard the crack of the ball meeting the bat and cringed as it hurtled toward his head. Sticking his glove out more in reaction than with purpose, he felt the ball hit the seat of his glove and he quickly spun, throwing to the second baseman. The second baseman snagged it while he touched the base with his foot, getting the runner out at second, before swiftly throwing to the first baseman. Standing on the bag with his arm outstretched, the first baseman caught the ball and held it high for all to see as the runner ran past the base behind him. When the umpire’s hand went up, calling the runner out, Chase jumped in the air, pumping his fist.

All of his teammates ran over to him, rushing in from their positions around the field, unloading from the dugout and sprinting in from the bull pen. They lifted him up as they all whooped and hollered. Everything was going a mile a minute. Chase couldn’t keep anything straight, and all he could do was yell and grin like a fool as his teammates passed him around. He felt all their hugs and congratulatory slaps on his back and shoulders, and his hat was knocked off by someone’s hands rubbing his head, but he had no idea who was who.

The crowd was so loud he couldn’t hear his own thoughts and when he finally looked up to take it all in, he was mesmerized by the giant sea of yelling and smiling faces, everyone standing and jumping up and down in their seats. The roar of the crowd was deafening and unbelievably, they were all cheering for him. The team had won, and they’d won because not only were they able to score three runs, but he’d managed to shut down the entire line-up without letting them so much as threaten to score, even with the four he’d walked. He tried to let it all sink in, to savor the moment before they had to put this game behind them and focus on the next one.

* * *

Maddie and Bree jumped up and down in their seats, clapping and yelling themselves hoarse as they watched Chase celebrate on the field with his teammates. It was an amazing scene, watching the men jump around like little boys, yelling and screaming in delight. At the same time, to witness the whole stadium erupt in an elated roar was something Maddie would never forget, and that they were all screaming for Chase made it all the more surreal.

“Mom! I can’t see!”

She quickly swept Bree up into her arms and settled her on her hip. They watched with big smiles as Chase, settled on the shoulders of some of his teammates, bounced around like a beach ball as they slowly paraded him toward the dugout. His head suddenly turned toward them and he yelled for his teammate to put him down.

Sprinting over to where they were sitting, Chase waved to them. “Maddie! Bree! Come here.”

Maddie stood in shock for a moment. Go down on the field? They couldn’t do that.

“Mom! Let’s go!” Bree reached out trying to break free from her mother’s tight hold.

The fans around them, upon realizing Chase was talking to them, started to push them down the stairs toward the low wall separating the seats from the field.

“Come on!” he called again.

Maddie gave a small look of embarrassment to those around her as she reached down to grab her purse. “Excuse me, sorry.”

She held Bree’s hand tightly as they scrambled down the stairs. Chase stood waiting for them as his teammates continued to celebrate behind him. When they reached the bottom, Chase reached out to grab Bree and perched her on his shoulders. The crowd and his teammates once again went nuts, cheering as Bree sat on his shoulder as if she was the queen, smiling broadly and basking in the attention.

He turned back to Maddie and grabbed her arms. “Hop over!” he yelled.

Gripping his arm, she threw her legs over the low wall and landed on the field. He quickly passed Bree off his shoulder to the nearest teammate and Maddie threw her arms around his neck. “Congratulations!”

He pulled back and the look on his face was pure joy. “Oh, man! This is awesome!”

“Mommy! Chase!” Turning back, Chase grabbed Bree back from his teammate and sat her on his hip as she threw her arms around his neck. “Yeah, Chase! You won!”

He laughed. “You bet your ass I did!”

“We’re so glad we were here!” Maddie yelled to him.

He looked at her and pulled her close to him. “So am I.”

His lips came down on hers and she locked her arms tightly around his neck as the crowd once again went wild, responding to the kiss. He smiled as he pulled back. “We’ve got quite an audience.”

She giggled. “I should be embarrassed, but I’m too happy to be.”

Chase leaned close to her ear. “I’m so glad you’re here. It means so much more to me with you here.”

Maddie felt her heart catch in her throat as she looked at him. There seemed to be so much more his eyes were saying to her, but she didn’t want to misinterpret anything since he was riding an emotional high.

“Come on,” he said as he tugged her hand and guided her in the direction of the dugout.

As he left the field with Bree still in his arms, he lifted his hat and acknowledged the crowd. Bree, caught in the moment, waved alongside him basking in all of the attention. He gave one last wave before ducking under the low ceiling of the dugout. He put Bree down and turned as Maddie stepped in behind him.

“Why don’t you hang out here for a bit and wait for the crowd to file out,” he said.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” He motioned over his shoulder. “You might want to keep Bree away from that doorway. You don’t want her to see or hear anything she isn’t ready for.”

She laughed. “Got it.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said before kissing her quickly.

Maddie watched his back as he went down the stairs that led into the locker room. When she turned around, Bree was looking at her speculatively. She didn’t even want to know what was going on in her daughter’s mind.

“Pretty exciting, huh?” Maddie asked, hoping to distract her.

“It was so much fun! I’m so happy for Chase.”

“Hey, Bree!”

She spun around and a huge smile broke out on her face when she spotted Jerry.

“Smutty!” she cried, using the nickname that Chase had taught her. She bounded over to him and launched herself into his arms.

“Hey, girl!” he said as he caught her. “What a game, huh?”

“Chase won!”

Maddie walked over to them. “How are you, Jerry? Great game tonight.”

“Patty pitched an amazing game. I know he was looking forward to you guys coming tonight. He wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

“That’s sweet.”

He smirked as he shrugged. “You could call it that or you could call it like it is—a guy who’s got it bad.”

Maddie gave a start. She started to say he was being ridiculous, but Chase interrupted as he stepped back into the dugout. Without his hat, his hair stood up in sweaty spikes on top of his head and he’d unbuttoned a couple of the top buttons of his jersey, displaying the gray T-shirt with red trim he wore underneath. Even in his state of dishevelment, she thought he’d never looked more edible. “What are you doing with my girl, Smut?”

“Bree and I are just talking about how awesome the game was, weren’t we?”

“Yep and he was saying you were really happy Mommy and I were here.”

Chase chuckled. “He’s right.”

“Hey, Bree. Let’s take a quick walk. I want to show you something out on the field,” Jerry said as he stepped away with Bree, knowing Chase would want a few moments alone with Maddie.

Chase watched as Jerry led Bree out of the dugout before he put his hand under Maddie’s elbow and guided her into a corner darkened by shadows. Tucking her into the crook, he stood before her, blocking her from the view of anyone looking in. She looked at him questioningly. “What is it?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. I just wanted a moment alone with you.”

“Ah,” Maddie linked her arms around his neck as he leaned down.

His mouth covered hers gently as he kissed her lightly, savoring the moment before the familiar heat rushed through them and the kiss became greedy and searing. Her head was spinning and she was breathless, unable to find any air since all she could feel and taste was Chase, but it didn’t feel suffocating. Rather it only added fuel to her already spreading fire. Maddie felt off balance, but instead of stepping back to steady herself, she clung tighter to him.

She couldn’t seem to temper her reaction even though they were in public and Bree was somewhere nearby. She pressed herself tighter against him, wanting to feel overwhelmed by him, so the only thoughts in her mind were about him and being with him. When her hands fell to his chest and wandered underneath his jersey, starting to explore further, Chase grabbed them in his and pulled away.