Olivia’s muscles seem to ease a bit and I’m grateful for it.
I can’t imagine the pain it causes a mother when she realizes she’s let her child down. Just thinking about doing wrong by Bailey makes my heart ache.
“He loves you and to be honest, I’m not sure he holds any of this against you,” I tell her before cautiously adding, “He just wants to feel like you’re proud, and maybe not of what he’s doing as a pitcher, but of the man he’s trying to be. Someone who works hard and doesn’t give up. Who is there for his friends and teammates when they need him, who goes out of his way for a girl he hardly knows.”
Secretly walking me home in the dark to make sure I was safe when he didn’t know more than my name and hair color. How, once he did, he started to pick me up without my asking. Suggesting he bring dinner to me when he sees my fridge empty while making sure not to acknowledge that fact as he does it, because he was raised better than that.
I smile at Olivia and a long sigh leaves her.
“Maybe I was wrong about that man,” she says softly, allowing Bailey to take her hands and using hers to help hold her up. “I just thought he was trying to take advantage of my son, but maybe he really did save him.”
My brows pull in and I tip my head slightly, but then realization dawns on me.
My son was lucky enough to get a second chance, got into a school with a push from that man ...
Olivia’s words from our last conversation come back to me, followed by what Tobias said to me today.
There’s only one other person in this fucking world I allow to get in my head ...
“Coach Reid.”
Olivia nods. “Tobias came home one day with all these ideas in his head, and to be honest, we didn’t believe any of it. I was so angry. He was a senior, his grades were up and down, and he had just been kicked off the baseball team.”
He was kicked off his team?
“Then here came this man in a blue polo, putting the fire we’d come to miss right back into his blue eyes, and I was terrified the man would disappear, making the fall ten times harder the second time around. One day, he packed all his things, and off he went the next. He called us from school, showed us his room, and introduced us to some of his new teammates. You know, on video call?” She lifts Bailey to her shoulder, patting her butt and bouncing her lightly as her cloudy eyes come to mine. “He was happy and smiling and ... he is happy, isn’t he?”
I nod. “He is … and it doesn’t hurt that the school paints him as a god.”
A loud laugh spurts from Olivia.
“I’m serious, there’re giant posters of him in the halls, and this banner the size of a billboard outside of the athletic department. I mean, talk about giving someone a big head, right?” I tease, and her laughter continues.
“I bet he loves it.”
“Oh yeah.”
She sighs, a thankful smile on her lips. “He’s lucky to have you, Meyer.” She tips her head. “You’re not just his tutor, are you?”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, and I look to my lap with a chuckle.
When my eyes meet hers, I find a knowing gleam within them.
“He’s ... I like being around him and when I’m not I ... want to be.”
Olivia fights a grin. Not well either. “But?”
My lips twitch and I look to Bailey. “But ... things are a lot more complicated. My life and his ...” I shake my head, unsure of what else to say.
“My husband was a butcher when I met him. Want to know what I was?” She raises a brow, answering before I have time to say a word, “A vegetarian.”
A laugh leaves me, and she winks.
Touché.
Olivia looks to the water fountain beside us, smiling when a dove comes down to sit on a rock, as if a new sense of calm has settled over her. “Man, first-round pick, huh?” Her lips curl even higher. “My baby boy.”
My nose burns as my emotions get the best of me and when Olivia looks to me, both our laughs crack.
Setting my mug down on the table, I lean across it. “Will you do something for me?”
Olivia tips her head, and to my surprise, she says, “name it.”
CHAPTER 23
Tobias
Echo pops to his feet, holding a hand out to the umpire as he jogs over to me on the mound.
I wipe my brow on my sleeve, staring down the next batter as he makes his way toward the plate, but I shift my attention to E when he puts himself in front of me.