a wry grin. His pain-in-the-neck younger brother had remained his usual difficult self through it all, scoffing when Sam pitied himself, knocking him back into reality when he needed it. Sometimes literally.
“Grown-ups are weird,” Chase muttered, smacking the ball into his own glove with a scowl.
“Got that right,” Sam agreed wholeheartedly, wishing he had some other form of wisdom to offer. But since he didn’t, he opted to change the subject to something less depressing. “So, did you play on a team when you were in Boston?”
The boy’s expression brightened like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. “T-ball, and then baseball.”
“Nice. What position did you play?”
“I usually got stuck in the outfield ’cause I was the youngest.”
His disgusted tone made it clear what he thought of that, and Sam chuckled. “What would you rather play?”
“Catcher. They’re in the action all the time. The outfield’s boring.”
Sam couldn’t agree more. Being in on every play was why he’d enjoyed the position so much when he was growing up. Chase’s comments took him back to his own Little League days, and he chuckled. “Unless you get some gorilla up there who can hit the ball a mile. Then it’s over your head and he’s trotting around the bases like a big shot.”
“Yeah, I hate that. If I ever hit a home run, I’ll be cool about it.”
“Whattya mean ‘if’?” Sam demanded in mock horror. “Don’t you mean ‘when I hit a home run’?”
“It’s pretty hard to do.”
“Nothing worth doing comes easy.” To Sam’s astonishment, one of his dad’s trademark sayings came tumbling out of his mouth. Even more surprising, it struck him as a very fatherly thing to say, and to his knowledge, he didn’t have a paternal bone in his body. He liked kids well enough, but having his own was a faint dream, possibly in the distant future.
But somehow, he’d connected with this friendly boy in a way he’d never done with the rug rats in his own extended family. He wasn’t at all sure that was good for either him or Chase, but now didn’t seem like the time to examine it too closely.
Chase had been dropped into a new town, surrounded by strangers. For some reason, he seemed to enjoy spending time with Sam, and there was no point denying that the feeling was mutual. Out of respect for a fellow soldier who’d died too young, Sam decided that the least he could do was be around when his young neighbor needed someone to listen.
Or simply throw the ball back.
* * *
Holly was digging through a suitcase searching for some dry sneakers when she heard an odd sound out in the overgrown backyard.
Thwack, pause. Thwack, pause. The rhythm was steady, and she couldn’t figure out what might be causing it. Then the sound of a deep voice, followed by Chase’s unmistakable shout, “Awesome!”
Opening her bedroom door farther, she confirmed that he wasn’t in his room but had somehow gone downstairs without her noticing. It wasn’t smart for him to be wandering around on his own, and she made a note to remind him of the simple rules she’d established for him in Boston. Granted, Liberty Creek was a far cry from the city neighborhood they’d lived in before, but in her mind you couldn’t be too careful when it came to your kid’s safety.
Hurrying down the unfinished wooden stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks when she got a glimpse of what was happening outside the kitchen’s bay window. Chase stood on one side of the ragged hedge, tossing a ball to someone on the other side. Technically, he’d stayed in the yard and was still managing to have some fun, and now that she knew he was okay, she admired his creativity with a grin.
Unfortunately, her humor was short-lived when she peered through another window and saw that his throwing partner was Sam Calhoun. Until now, she’d had no idea that he was one of Daphne’s two neighbors, and she berated herself for not asking him where he lived.
Then again, she amended as she made her way to the porch, what were the chances that the former Ranger lived next door? She wasn’t concerned about Sam harming Chase—he struck her as too compassionate for that—but she was very worried that her son might grow too fond of their troubled neighbor and suffer greatly for it later on.
So, when she reached the screen door, she summoned her most casual mom tone before saying, “Morning, boys. I didn’t realize workouts started so early around here.”
“Hey, Mom!” Chase greeted her, waving before lobbing the ball to Sam. “We’re getting warmed up for the game tonight. Boston’s playing the Yankees at Fenway, and we wanna be ready in case the Red Sox need us.”
“His idea,” Sam explained with a sheepish grin that was oddly endearing on such a large man. “I’m sure they’d be happy to get Chase in the lineup, but I don’t imagine they’ll need me unless someone breaks a leg going down the dugout steps.”
In spite of her earlier concern, Holly couldn’t keep back a laugh. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, then. Are you two hungry?”
Typical boy, Chase whooped a reply, spinning his glove in the air before catching it and racing inside. She stepped back to avoid being run over and waited while Sam took a little slower route. His long strides crossed the yard quickly, and he set his battered glove on the top porch step before coming into the kitchen.
“You really don’t have to feed me,” he said. “I’ve got food at my place.”
Just a few yards away, she noted silently, still a bit stunned by the way she’d uncovered that detail. But that wasn’t his fault, and she decided to let it go. “You never charged us for those great cookies yesterday, so the least I can do is return the favor. How do you like your eggs?”
“However you’re makin’ ’em. When someone else is doing the cooking, I’m not picky.”
“Scrambled it is.” Considering his size, she added, “And some of that fresh local sausage I got yesterday, too. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” he replied in a cautiously polite tone. “That’s more than enough.”
She tried not to take the stiff response personally, but it wasn’t easy. She was going out of her way to put her own misgivings aside and be friendly to him, but he seemed determined to shrink away from her efforts. It was probably for the best, she mused. From what she’d been able to discern, Sam needed a lot more than she could give him, anyway. “Okay, then. Grab some coffee and have a seat while I get everything ready.”
He did as she asked, and she focused on putting their meal together. She could sense him watching her, and a quick peek showed her that he was following her movements with a thoughtful expression. Not creepy, she realized, but curious. She couldn’t imagine what he found so fascinating about her cracking open eggs and flipping sausages, then decided that what he might be thinking was absolutely none of her business.
An old door sat across a cobbled-together base that wasn’t much in the beauty department but was clearly standing in for an island to be built later. Leaning across the top, she called in to the den, “Chase, breakfast!”
“Coming!”
