The Changeup (Men of the Show) (3 page)

After seeing Bree to bed, she settled down on the couch to call Karen.

“Hey, what’s up?” Karen said answering on the second ring.

“I just got back from Lenore’s.”

“Oh, that’s right. How did
that
go?” Karen asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, but I did meet my niece’s new boyfriend.”

“He’s probably annoying, just like Sandy.” Karen never bothered to hide her dislike of Lenore and her family.

“He’s a pitcher for the Detroit Rockets.”

That brought Karen back to full attention. “Get out of here! Who?”

“Uh, his name is Chase. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I got his last name.”

“Patton? Chase Patton?” Karen exclaimed, her voice rising with excitement.

“Yeah, that must be him. How many Chases can there be?”

“Ohmigod! How the hell did she land him? He’s a cutie and he’s really good. Not as good as Smutty, but still good.”

“Smutty?” Maddie asked. “Who or what the hell is a Smutty?”

Karen sighed impatiently. “Jerry Smutton. He’s the ace pitcher for the Rockets and my absolute favorite. But forget about that and tell me about Chase and Sandy.”

“Apparently, she met him at Shooters. He lives in the same complex as me, I guess.”

“Are you kidding me?” Karen cried. “How did you not notice a hottie like that lived in same complex as you? No, wait, how did
I
not notice?”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Like I would have even known who he was. But anyway, none of that matters. What matters is that he promised Bree he would play catch with her.”

“Okay. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Maddie repeated in disbelief. “Like some hotshot, young pitcher is going to want to spend time with Bree. He’s going to end up breaking her heart. She’s already looking forward to when he’s supposedly going to come over and get her.” She stopped and let out heavy sigh. “I don’t know what to do.”

“How do you know he won’t follow through on it?” Karen asked, clearly not following.

“Oh please! He’s young, good-looking, an athlete, newly famous, and probably making a boatload of money. That doesn’t exactly spell upstanding citizen who rescues cats from trees, helps grandmas across the street and plays with kids he doesn’t know.”

“You have no idea what kind of person he is. Maybe he is Superman, as you’ve described.”

Maddie took a tight breath through her nose. Why was she the only one who could see reality for what it was? “Now you sound like Lenore. Apparently I’m the only one who knows how young boys really are.”

“First of all, take that back,” she said hotly. “I’m nothing like bitchy Lenore. Secondly, you talk like he’s a teenager. He isn’t
that
young. Thirdly, what would he gain by making promises to Bree? It isn’t like he is trying to impress you or anything.” All of a sudden, there was a lot of shuffling noises coming through the phone. Maddie imagined Karen quickly sitting up as her voice took a very deliberate tone. “Unless that was exactly it.”

“What are you talking about?” Maddie asked with a frown.

“Maybe he
was
trying to impress you.”

“Why would
he
be trying to impress
me
?”

“Why not?”

“Karen, you’re not making any sense.” She thought her friend was off the deep end now, but she couldn’t deny her heart skipping a beat at the thought as she recalled the tingles that had shot throughout her when she’d misread the look on his face or when his gaze had lingered longer than necessary. “I’m like old enough to be his mo...older sister.”

“I know, I know,” Karen murmured, mostly to herself. “We’ll have to see what happens. So, tell me everything. You said he was good-looking. How good-looking is good-looking? He looks completely yummy in his uniform.”

Maddie thought back on the night and Chase. He was handsome, she could admit that, but he was still so young, and therefore, irresponsible. It was too bad because Bree had certainly taken an immediate liking to him and, on the surface, he appeared to get along well with her. But, it only proved her point. You can’t have it all in one package when it came to men. You could have one thing or another, but not everything and she refused to settle.

Chapter Three

“Come on, Bree! Let’s go.”

Maddie stood at the front door waiting. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly and not a single wisp of a cloud showed against the bright blue sky. The temperature had finally dropped back down to the tolerable range, just as she’d gotten the air conditioning fixed in her car. She was convinced that if she hadn’t broken down and scrounged from her savings, her hair would still be a frizzy mess and sweat would be a constant on her skin.

Whatever the reasons, with the humidity gone and the temperatures at a delightful eighty degrees, they made plans to head down to the community park that was behind their condominium. It was a good place for Bree to run around and expend some of her energy.

They strolled down the sidewalk that lined the street in front of their red brick complex, a single-story building with two-story units capping each end. A line of white front doors faced the street, each with a small dirt plot to the right. Some owners did nothing with theirs while others, like her, planted bright flowers in order to add color and life. Some hung planters spilling over with rainbows of flowers under their front picture windows, doing what they could to make their unit unique and homey.

Outside the end unit, the one where Chase had said he lived, she noticed a big white SUV parked in the spot on the street and wondered if it was his. They hadn’t seen him or heard from him in the two weeks since they’d met at Lenore’s house. It really didn’t surprise her. She’d known he wasn’t ever going to teach Bree how to play catch, nor had she expected him to show up with tickets. He was only being polite in front of his girlfriend’s family. Her heart was heavy for Bree, though—even though she hadn’t said anything, Maddie knew it was on the forefront of her daughter’s mind. She was sure he was busy with his schedule, that he hadn’t intentionally meant to hurt her, but she hoped that he learned he couldn’t make promises he didn’t intend to keep. Especially to his young fans.

Turning the corner, Bree picked up her step as the park came into view. A giant cedar structure sat in the middle, a dark green enclosed spiral slide at one end and monkey bars at the other. Maddie was more than happy to sit on one of the surrounding wood benches and take in the fresh air as she watched her daughter run around climbing over and on everything. There were a bunch of kids playing on the set already and she was sure in no time Bree would be making new friends.

She settled on one of the empty benches nearby, smiling politely at some of the other moms but keeping her distance, not wanting to engage in mindless small talk. When Bree started to swing on the tire, Maddie tilted her head back and closed her eyes, basking in the feel of the warm sun while thankful she’d taken the time to lather both herself and Bree in sunscreen. It felt wonderful and she was tempted to sprawl out when a shadow fell over her. She frowned in frustration and waited a few seconds, assuming it was a cloud or plane passing. When it didn’t disappear, she squinted and found herself staring right up at Chase.

“Hey,” he said with a big smile.

She scooted up and shaded her eyes. “Hi, yourself. You’re blocking my sun.”

“Oh, sorry, wouldn’t want to do that.” He smirked as he walked around the bench and sat down next to her, looking very cute in a dark green polo shirt and khaki cargo shorts. His skin was a nice golden brown and it didn’t escape her attention that his arms and calves were both very muscular. A worn tan cap sat low on his head, shading his angular face and Maddie noticed the slight scruff of a beard that he had yet to shave. He looked around and spotted Bree swinging on the tire. “How are you guys?”

“We’re good. We haven’t been down here as much as she would have liked this summer, since it’s been so hot.”

“It was brutal.” He sat back and turned to face her. “I just got back from a road trip. I saw you guys walking down here so I thought I’d come over and say hi.”

“Bree will like that,” she said and tried not to notice how he glanced down, taking in her yellow V-neck T-shirt, which was suddenly feeling very snug across her breasts. She hadn’t thought twice about putting it on, along with her short jean shorts, but now she felt overexposed. She could feel the heat from his gaze on her skin, causing butterflies to take flight in her stomach.

Maddie knew she was being ridiculous and reading it all wrong. He was probably thinking someone her age shouldn’t be wearing something so tight. Well, he was just going to have live with the embarrassment of being seen with her. She hadn’t asked him to sit next to her. Granted, she didn’t have the body of a twenty-year-old, but she was still slim and fit enough to be able to pull off wearing an outfit like this if she wanted to.

“I still owe you tickets,” he finally said as he leaned forward on his knees, watching Bree hop over to the sandbox. “I didn’t forget about that.”

“You don’t need to get us any tickets.”

He looked back at her. “I want to.”

She couldn’t stop her audible sigh.

“What?” he asked.

“I don’t know how to say this, but I’ll give it my best.” She paused as she tried to choose her words carefully. “I believe that you really want to do these things for Bree, but I think that perhaps maybe you’re taking on too much. I mean, I don’t think that you would intentionally break your promise, but I just don’t see how you’re going to be able to follow through on everything.” When he continued studying her without saying anything, Maddie pressed on. “I’m just playing mom here. Sorry. I don’t want to see Bree get hurt, that’s all.”

Chase looked down at his hands replaying her words in his head before he sat back. “I’m not going to pretend that you didn’t just insult my character, but I’m going to give you a break because you don’t know me,” he said with a crooked grin. “I know what I’m promising, what I can deliver on and what I can’t. You’re right, I probably should have explained I was going to be heading out on the road and wouldn’t be around for a while, but it slipped my mind. I’m sorry. But,” he said as he reached down into one of the side pockets of his shorts and withdrew a baseball. He arched his brow. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Maddie couldn’t help herself and smiled back at him, his enthusiasm and charm breaking right through her irritation. He was right. He was here and she really hadn’t given him a chance. His only failure had been not following some timeline she’d devised in her head as acceptable.

“Okay, okay. You’re right. I’m being a little overprotective, sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll let you off the hook this time, but three strikes and you’re out,” he teased.

He turned his gaze back to where Bree was running around the jungle gym, chasing her new friends. He was silent for a few moments before turning back to her.

“What’s the story with her dad?”

“There isn’t one.” When he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue, she blew out a breath. “He isn’t in the picture for the most part. He sees her about once or twice a year, whenever his family asks to see her.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, it does, but we deal with it.”

“Is that the reason you got divorced?”

Maddie nodded as she stared out across the park, amazed at how easy it was to talk to him but more surprised that she wanted to. “The day I told him I was pregnant he was pretty much out the door. I didn’t try to stop him.”

“I’m sorry,” Chase said, truly looking so.

“You hardly had anything to do with it. Besides, I try to tell myself it’s his issue and not mine. He’s got a great daughter and he’s missing out on everything.”

“Damn right he is.” He watched Bree run around some more and chuckled when she stumbled over her own feet but got up unfazed. “It must suck, marrying someone thinking you want the same things and then finding out at the worst time it isn’t true.”

She was amazed that he had immediately cut straight to the heart of the issue. So many people hadn’t understood how she could leave Kyle when she was pregnant, effectively choosing to be a single mother over staying with him. Even Karen had expressed some reservations about her decision initially, assuming there had been some sort of misunderstanding. “Thank you. I think you’re the first person who’s seen it from my side.”

“It seems obvious. I mean, I would think that if you both knew you wanted different things before you got married, you wouldn’t have.”

“Exactly.”

“Honesty. It’s all about honesty, that’s what I always say.”

“I wish it was that easy.” She glanced at his profile out of the corner of her eye.

“It is. People just make it more complicated than it needs to be. I figured if everyone just laid it straight all the time, sure you might not like what they have to say, but you don’t end up making decisions based on false pretenses or lies.”

“It would be nice if everyone thought like you. I know it would make my life easier,” she added with a laugh.

“Well, how about this? I promise I’ll always be straight with you, Maddie.”

She frowned as the jitters in her stomach struck up again. “I hardly see why you would have to make a promise to me.”

Chase shrugged as he stood up. “You just never know.”

She watched as he trotted over to the sandbox where Bree was digging with some friends. Her mind was going a mile a minute as she puzzled over what he could have meant by “you just never know.” There was no reason he should feel like he owed her anything.

When Bree spotted him approaching, she jumped up with a squeal. Maddie couldn’t hear what he was saying to her, but she was beaming from ear to ear as she looked up at him with stars in her eyes. Oh, Lord! Her daughter was definitely having her first crush.

Maddie watched as he said something and placed the baseball in Bree’s hand. She looked it over as if it was a foreign object, her small hand just big enough to hold on to it. Chase grinned at her reaction as he steered them away from the jungle gym and into a small clearing. He patiently relayed instructions as he demonstrated a throwing motion with his arm before taking a couple of steps back, kneeling down and holding his hands out.

Bree stuck her tongue between her teeth in concentration, planted her legs apart to steady herself, and gave it all she had, but the ball dropped dead at her feet. Maddie’s heart gave a sharp thud at the look of disappointment on her daughter’s face and she was quickly on her feet. As she approached the clearing, Chase was gently repeating his instructions.

“You need to bring your arm all the way back like this,” he said, stretching his arm back in demonstration and slowly pulling it forward. “Take a step with this foot and that way you can reach way back.”

Bree tried again, without moving her feet, and ended up with the same result.

“Come on, Bree, work with me here. You’re throwing like a girl,” he teased.

“I am a girl!” she complained.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you need to throw like one,” he said with a glint in his eye.

“Forget it! I can’t throw!” She crossed her arms with a sulk.

“Aw, come on. Do you think I gave up whenever something was hard?”

“But you’re a boy!” she protested.

“So? That doesn’t have anything to do with it. You can throw just like I can,” Chase told her patiently.

“You’re like ten times bigger and stronger than me!”

“I didn’t say you’d be able to throw as far or as hard as me, but you can throw
like
me, we have the same mechanics.” He demonstrated slowly again.

Bree eyed him skeptically. “I can’t do that.”

Maddie was about to encourage her daughter to try again, but Chase wasn’t giving up.

He stood behind her and walked her through the motions, making her shift her weight to her left foot with her right arm stretched out past her shoulder. “You see how that feels there? That’s where you want it. That’s all you have to do, shift your weight like that. I saw you do it when you were playing around over there, so I know you can,” he encouraged gently. He placed the ball back in Bree’s hand. “Give it another shot.”

Circling around to stand in front of her, he knelt down and held out his hands. Sticking her tongue in her teeth again, Bree tried to repeat what he’d showed her and while it wasn’t quite the same, she did succeed in throwing the ball a short distance as he reached forward and snagged it from the air. “See! I knew you could do it!” he said with pride.

Her face glowed with triumph. “Mommy! Did you see that?”

“Yep, I sure did. Great job!”

Chase stood and gave Maddie a sly look. “How about you? You throw like a girl too?”

She backed up a bit. “Oh no! You’re not getting me to do that. I definitely throw like a girl, and proud of it.”

He walked steadily toward her. “Come on. If I can teach Bree, I can teach you.”

“Yeah, Mommy! Come on!”

Maddie gave him a steely cold stare, but he ignored it. Smiling, he gently pulled her to where Bree was standing and plopped the ball in her hand. “Your turn. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

She took a deep breath and waited for him to walk a few feet away from them, but he didn’t go much farther than where he’d stopped with Bree. She wished she could heave it past him to prove him wrong, but she knew deep down it wasn’t going to happen. At least he hadn’t knelt down. If he’d done that, she would have definitely aimed directly for his head. As it was, she hoped she had it in her to launch it far enough so he would have to run after it or hard enough to hit him where it would hurt. He was enjoying her embarrassment too much.

Trying to replay in her mind what she’d seen him demonstrate, Maddie took a step with her left foot and did a little jump as she threw the ball in his direction. It went far enough for Chase to catch even though he had to bend down to get it, but he also fell to the ground on his butt, laughing. “What the hell was that?”

Her cheeks immediately flamed. “What? I got it to you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but what was with the hop?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” She scowled at Bree, who was giggling right along with him.

He stood up and brushed off his shorts before trotting back over to where she was standing. He put the ball back in her hand and she promptly dropped it on the ground, disappointed that it didn’t fall on any of the toes sticking out of his flip-flops. “I don’t think so. I’m not doing that again if you’re going to laugh at me.”