Better Than Perfect (18 page)

“You think hanging around Johnny Scottsdale is going to help you catch the eye of college scouts?” Again, his tone made it sound like he didn’t like Johnny. Or baseball. Or even Zach.

“He’s already helping me. I can tell I’ve made improvement in only a week.” And he had. He could feel it when he threw the ball. He could hear it when it hit the glove. He just needed to face a couple of batters to know for sure.

“Boy, are you blind.” Ty picked up a gaming magazine and flipped through it. “Didn’t he go out with your mom tonight? You know he was only using you to get into her pants.”

“Don’t talk about my mom like that.” Zach balled his fist. He punched his glove, since he was still holding it. Like some sort of security blanket. “She’s not like that.”

“Sure, she is.” Ty rolled up the magazine. If Zach tossed him the ball, he could have used it as a bat. “All women are. And all men are only after one thing. Then once they get it, they take off.”

“Does your mom have a new boyfriend?” Zach knew how much it bothered his friend that his mother couldn’t keep a steady boyfriend. She’d dated lots of guys after the divorce and none of them stuck around too long.

“Yeah. This one’s a real loser. He tries to be all buddy-buddy with me. Like it makes up for him sleeping with my mom if he takes me to a ballgame or something.”

Was that why Johnny was being so nice to him? Because he wanted to sleep with his mom? Or was it because he felt guilty? Before he could dwell on it too much, Ty’s mom poked her head in the door.

“Oh, you two are still up.” She sounded kind of disappointed, but not really surprised.

“If you want to have Doug come over, don’t wait for us to fall asleep.” Ty glared at his mom. “I know he comes over after you think I’m in bed. Don’t let me get in the way of your booty call.”

“Tyler James!” Her face got all red. She was either really embarrassed or really mad. Or both. Then her face twisted like she was sad all of a sudden and she shook her head. “God, you look just like your father right now.”

She turned and shut the door.

“Yeah? Maybe I should go live him full time then. So you won’t have to look at me.” Ty yelled at the closed door.

“You really want to do that?”

“No. My dad’s a prick.” Ty grabbed Zach’s baseball. Turned it over in his hands. “But at least I wouldn’t make her cry every time she looks at me.”

Zach didn’t know what to say about that.

“If she hates him so much, why did she ever marry him?” Ty wondered out loud. “I mean, why did she get together with him in the first place? I know why she married him. She had to.”

“Sorry. My parents got married because of me, too.” Zach kind of felt sorry for Ty right now. At least Zach’s mom wasn’t angry all the time.

“You’re lucky your dad died.” Ty flopped on his bed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, you know, better than having two parents who hate each other. But they have to deal with each other. Because of me.”

Zach wished he could go home. But he had a feeling his mom wasn’t alone. That would be too weird.

“I gotta take a leak.” Zach excused himself to the bathroom. He washed his hands and splashed water on his face. He stared into the mirror. He wondered what his mom thought when she saw him. No one ever said he looked like his dad. In fact, they often commented on how different he was. Maybe it was because his dad wasn’t really his dad.

He studied himself more closely. Could he be Johnny’s son? They both had brown eyes. Big deal. Lots of people had brown eyes. But not his mom. Or his so-called dad. His eyes had been hazel. Like Nannie’s. But Grandpa Mel had brown eyes. Only they were much lighter than Zach’s.

He used to practice Johnny’s on-the-mound scowl. The intense stare-down of the batter. He had it down pretty good. Was it because he worked at it, or did it come naturally?

He wished he could just ask his mom to tell him the truth. But if she’d lied to him, she must have had a good reason. Like maybe Johnny had left them. Maybe he didn’t want to get married and end up like Ty’s parents, hating each other.

Maybe he should be glad.

But he still needed to know. He was a big kid. Almost grown up in a lot of ways. He could handle the truth.

* * * *

Johnny woke to find Ali getting dressed. Was she planning on sneaking out?

“I need to get going,” she whispered. Like they weren’t the only two people in the apartment. “Zach is an early riser. Always has been. He could call and if I’m not home...”

Zach. He’d forgotten all about her son. The reason she’d married Mel after their rebound encounter.

“I’ll drive you. Give me a minute.” Johnny sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was normally an early riser, too. But last night had been incredible.

“I can call a cab.” She pulled on those strappy sandals of hers that sparkled and shined and made her legs look amazing.

“Like hell, you will.” Johnny dropped his feet to the floor. He knew better than to expect that everything was going to be perfect between them. But he certainly didn’t expect this. Her trying to sneak out like some…some groupie. “I’ll take you home. Come on, Ali. You can’t take a cab from my house in the dress you wore last night. You know there were reporters at the party last night. I’m not that famous, but still…”

He grabbed a pair of jeans, slipped them on and pulled a t-shirt over his head.

Ali leaned against the wall, waiting for him to get dressed so he could take her home.

“I saw you talking to Rachel Parker. She seems quite taken with you.” She was teasing him, pretending to be jealous.

“I’m the new guy. Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll find someone else to pick on once the season starts.”

“I think she already has. I saw her talking to one of your teammates. The guy with the hair. The pretty boy.”

“Bryce Baxter.” Johnny hoped he would be the kind of guy to distract the reporter. “He’s the shortstop.”

“Right. He seems like the kind of guy who enjoys attention.” She flashed him a teasing smile, knowing how much he hated being in the spotlight.

“He’s a good guy, though. We’ve sort of become friends.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

She had no idea how hard it was for him to call another man his friend after what Mel had done to him.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed his keys and led her to the elevators that would take them to the parking garage.

“You don’t still have your old Jeep, do you?” she asked as they descended to the underground lot.

“No.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. A lot of sweet memories had been made in the back of that Jeep. “I’ve traded it in for a new one. Twice.”

“Oh. No Escalade or Hummer?”

“You know me.” Johnny led her to a shiny black Wrangler Unlimited.

“Yeah. I do. I did.” Her voice contained enough regret to damn near break his heart.

He opened the passenger door to reveal leather interior, a state-of-the-art sound system. A far cry from the old clunker that didn’t even have a stereo. Nothing but an AM/FM radio and an old ice chest he’d used for a center console.

“This is nice.” She hopped up into the seat, revealing one long, lean thigh. The same thigh she’d had wrapped around his waist not too long ago. “It suits you. Not too fancy, yet quite an improvement over that old rust bucket.”

“Except more often than not, you were riding shotgun in that old rust bucket.” Johnny let the memories flow over him. He tried to appreciate what he’d had instead of dwelling on what he’d lost.

“That was a long time ago.” She had wistfulness in her voice. “But I guess we can’t quite move beyond our past.”

Johnny pulled out of the parking garage and they made their way through the city to her house. Neither spoke; perhaps they were both considering everything they needed to put behind them.

He couldn’t get over the fact she’d chosen another man over him. He understood a little better why she’d married him. But he still felt betrayed. How many times would he have to make love to her to feel like she was truly his?

They pulled up in front of the house. The one Mel bought for her. Just two doors down from his parents. “It’s funny, most women barely tolerate their mother-in-laws when they’re married. How often do you have lunch with Frannie? Twice a month?”

“Every week.” She almost squeaked when she answered him.

Johnny turned off the ignition and turned to her. “And you have dinner with them, what, every week?”

“Twice a month.” She folded her arms across her chest. “So I get along with my in-laws. They’re nice people. They made me feel right at home during a difficult time.”

“Didn’t they think it was a little suspicious that you married their son so soon after I left for the minor leagues? I mean, they knew we were together. They knew how long we’d been together.”

“I don’t know what they thought about it, I only know they accepted me into their family. And they love Zach.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Johnny unhooked his seatbelt. “He’s a great kid.”

“Yes, he is.” Her hand shook a little as she reached for the door.

“I’ll walk you in.” He wasn’t quite finished with her.

“Sure. Come on in.” She flashed him a smile. The kind that went straight to his heart. “I’ll make some coffee.”

“Why don’t I make the coffee? While you change.” Not that he minded what she was wearing right now. That was one fine dress.

“Thanks.” She gathered up her skirt as he helped her climb down from his Jeep.

“I’m sorry, Ali. I guess I can’t still be mad at Mel.” He needed to tell her how he felt. He couldn’t keep it inside any longer. “I guess I’m trying to be mad at the Harrisons instead.”

“They’ve been very good to me.” She stood on the front porch glancing up the street toward their house.

“I know. And I’m glad you had their support.”

“More than I got from my own family.” She reached into her purse for her keys.

“They’re lucky to have you.” Johnny placed his hand on the small of her back. “I hope they realize that. I hope they don’t take you for granted.”

“They don’t.” She slid the key into the lock.

“Good. Because you’re amazing. The work you’ve done with the foundation…”

“Last night was a success only because I have so many good people working for me.” She deflected the praise. They were two of kind that way.

“Last night was amazing.” He dropped his voice so she’d know he wasn’t talking about the party. “But you did an even better job with those kids. If you don’t go back to school, maybe you should think about expanding the baseball camp.”

She blushed. From the tips of her pink ears to the top of her low-cut gown.

“I’ll think about it.” She turned the key. “If you’ll think about coaching when you retire.”

10

Alice unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Johnny followed close on her heels. She felt like a teenager sneaking in after an all-night date. Not that she’d ever done that sort of thing.“I’m just going to change. Then I’ll make some coffee and—”

“Mom? Mom, why didn’t you answer the—” Zach had come in through the back door at the same time she’d entered through the front. He stopped when he saw her in her evening gown and Johnny in jeans right behind her. “Oh.”

His face turned about fifty shades of red.

“Zach, I…uh.”

“You spent the night with him.” Zach wouldn’t look at Johnny. The man he’d practically worshipped for years. The man he’d become even more fond of after they’d worked the minicamp together.

“Yes. I did. I’m sorry if you were worried.” Alice regained her composure. She’d worried this very thing would happen, and now it had. So she’d have to deal with it. “It won’t happen again.”

“So it was, like, a one-nighter?” He glanced up at her. Like he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. He turned toward Johnny. “So that’s it? You were just using her? Just using me to get into her bed?”

“No.” Johnny’s jaw held firm. “Not at all.”

“I can’t believe this.” Zach sounded hurt. Crushed. “I mean, I know other people’s moms are, like…like they don’t care how many guys they bring home or how embarrassing it is. But damn it.”