Hometown Hero by Liza Kendall

Author:Liza Kendall [Kendall, Liza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Ace found his attention wandering from the game, where the Orioles were soundly thrashing the opposing team, outstrategizing and outplaying them. He found himself analyzing some weird things, such as the defeated and resigned set of Mia’s shoulders and the quick, I-don’t-care tuck of her hair behind her ears before she hustled out Stetson and his little attitude problem, as if she needed him for comfort of some kind.

He even pondered the way she’d shut the door: It wasn’t as angry as a slam, but it wasn’t a calm, normal click of the latch, either. It was the firm placement of a barrier between her, outside, and them, inside.

He tossed around these signals in the primitive-lizard part of his brain while he also examined Coach’s demeanor and his craggy, weary face. Coach’s shoulders were a bit hunched, in a defensive sort of way. He kept tugging on his left earlobe as if it held the key to an inner voice that would respond with wisdom of some kind. And every once in a while, he’d gaze over at a picture of Mia at about age ten, stuffed into a pink ballerina tutu and looking sullen—which was terrifically hard for a freckled, sunny little redhead to do. She’d always been cute as a button, bright and funny. But in this photo, she looked a little as though she’d like to bite the photographer. She made no effort to suck in her tummy, and Ace could tell that the wobbly smile she wore had been very recently teased out of a scowl.

The picture made Ace want to laugh. But Coach’s mouth worked a little as he looked at it, as if it troubled him.

“Cute snapshot,” Ace said.

“She hated ballet. But both of her grandmothers . . .” Coach sighed. “I thought they knew best. What did I know about raising a little girl?”

Ace found himself wondering what Declan had known about raising kids at all. And yet he’d stepped up to the plate. Swung and missed sometimes. Hit foul balls. And they’d all sneered at Deck for trying to take Pop’s place. Resented him for it. Pretty unfair of them.

“Coach. I’ve never asked you this. It’s none of my business. But why did, ah, Mrs. Adams—I mean, why does she travel so much?”

He half expected Coach to bite his head off.

But his mouth only twisted.

They sat in silence for a moment, and Ace wondered if Coach’d answer at all.

“We had one helluva fight about it one time,” Coach confessed. “About how she could leave us to go take care of strangers. But Moira is a force of nature. It was like trying to stop a tornado with my bare hands. I’ll never forget what she said to me that day: There are no strangers. That we are all connected, we are all bound by love that we cannot allow to curdle into hatred.”

Coach’s face was curiously, carefully blank. As if he was willing himself not to feel.

After another long pause, he said, “She’s right.

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