Dare to Dream: The Maxwell Series (16 page)

“I want this win. You want this win. Pitch the ball like you have been. In and tight. Got it?”

I hadn’t expected any of those words out of his mouth. I was waiting for
I’ll break your arm if you don’t win this game
. “Yeah.”

He jogged back to third base.

I did want this win, and letting my team down because of my problems wasn’t an option. With all the energy left in me, I gripped the ball and let it fly. I didn’t hear the umpire. All I saw was the batter swing at air, and the next thing I knew, I was in someone’s arms and they were lifting me up. The way the guy was squeezing me, I thought it was Kelton until I went to smack him and locked eyes with Aaron. Oh, my word. Aaron Seever was holding me like he hadn’t seen me in ages and wanted to kiss me.

Shock rocked my body. I immediately squashed it. I wanted to savor this moment for all kinds of reasons. I’d pitched my first complete game. I’d reached my all-time best. We won the game. Aaron was lifting me high in the air, and I was on top of the world. For all the bad that had happened, the game and the win gave me hope that I was back. The last time I’d felt that elated had been when the coach at Crestview, my old school in California, had put me in to close a game with one out. The first batter I’d pitched to had popped out, and the second kept fouling the ball until he swung at one of my curveballs and struck out. That game had clinched the playoffs for us.

But within seconds of Aaron picking me up, Kelton snatched me from him with unease flashing in his blue eyes. I almost told him to chill. Then I remembered Chloe’s words of wisdom: you can’t tame a protector. And Kelton was just as protective as Kade.

After we celebrated as a team on the field, Coach came up to me. “You did good, Robinson.” He proceeded to pat my head.

The last person to bump fists with me was Renee. “Awesome, Lacey.” Her lips curled with one side of her mouth turned upward, reminding me of my sister, Julie. The resemblance was so uncanny that it had caused me to black out when I first pitched to Renee at tryouts last fall. Now I felt as though Julie was with me in spirit.

“You were awesome, too, girl.” She’d batted in a run and hit a home run, giving us two of our three runs to win the game.

I searched for Dad. He was standing with the Maxwells. He said something to Kade, who had been talking to his mom. Dad touched the tip of his ball cap, and Kade waved with a somewhat cheerful smile. When he said something to his mom, I tore my gaze away. My anger over his deceit had transformed into despair, and I was close to tears. I didn’t want to ruin the high I had over the win.

Renee and I walked off the field. The media barricaded us, firing off a barrage of questions.
How does it feel to win your first game, Lacey? Renee, how does it feel to be responsible for two RBIs? Ladies, how did it feel to show the boys on the other team you could play like them?

Before I could answer, Aaron came up alongside me, mumbling under his breath. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I was certain that he didn’t like us getting all the attention. After all, he’d hated when the media had paid attention to the last girl on the team, Mandy Shear.

“The win feels great,” I said. “The real credit goes to my teammates, though. I couldn’t have pitched a good game without them.” I wrapped one arm around Renee and the other around Aaron. He tensed. “These two are great ball players, especially our captain.” I flicked my head at Aaron. It was the truth. The guy could field a ball every which way, and he could hit. He was responsible for the other home run.

“So, how does it feel to be playing with two girls?” an attractive brunette reporter asked, shoving the microphone in Aaron’s face.

This I had to hear.

He moved away from me, flipped off his ball cap, then combed his fingers through his sweaty hair. “I see them as just one of the players on the team. Gender doesn’t play a role on the field.” He jutted out his chin.

Renee had a wildly surprised look, and I imagined I did as well. What the hell? Given the confidence in his tone, I couldn’t decipher if he was telling the media what they wanted to hear, or if he was sincere. Whatever. I wasn’t going to complain, at least not right now.

When the reporter asked Aaron about college, I tuned them out and lifted my gaze back to Dad. It landed on Kade instead. He waved again, only this time with a wider smile. I went to return the gesture when out of nowhere Tyler came running onto the field. He lifted me up in his arms like Aaron had, squeezing me.

“Is that your boyfriend, Lacey?” a reporter asked. “Star pitcher dates star quarterback. Great headline.”

“Give me a break,” Aaron murmured, brushing past me.

“Tyler, you’re embarrassing me,” I said. “Please put me down.” I didn’t mind a hug from Tyler. When I’d told him that Kade and I were on a break, he’d given me a hug, telling me that Kade and I would work things out. I didn’t want to draw attention away from the win and the team to become a reporter’s headline, though.

He grinned, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “I love your slider. You’ve gotten so much better.”

At that moment, Kade appeared. “Put her down, Langley.” His voice was rough as he emphasized each word.

“You’re dating a Maxwell, too?” the reporter crooned.

Renee rolled her eyes. “Seriously?” she said to the reporter before she followed Aaron off the field. “See ya, Lacey.”

The reporter was worse than the gossip mill at school. As Tyler slowly released me, he planted a kiss on my lips. Next thing I knew, someone had pulled me away from Tyler, and Kade’s fist was flying into Tyler’s face. Tyler returned a punch to Kade’s chin.

“I told you to stay away from her,” Kade growled.

“You’re not dating her anymore. I told you you’d screw things up with her.” Tyler kept his hands clenched at his sides.

“Are you getting this, Frank?” the female reporter asked in a jaunty voice.

The cameraman was filming the scene playing out like it was a soap opera. Our great win was squashed by two guys fighting over me. The headline wouldn’t be about how Lacey Robinson pitched a great game or how a girl shut down an entire team of boys. It would read that two men had vied for the attention of the star pitcher. No one would take girls seriously in the game.

Heat clawed its way up my neck to settle in my face. If I yelled at either one of them, I’d only add more substance to the juicy story the reporter was developing.

Kelton and Kross came over. Kelton pulled Kade away, and Kross stepped in between Kade and Tyler.

“Bro, not here. Dad has eyes on you, and he’s not happy. And let’s not forget Mom,” Kelton said.

Kade tore his arm from Kelton and stalked off the field. I sought out my dad. This wasn’t the place to give Kade and Tyler a piece of my mind. So I gathered my gear and met Dad at the base of the stairs to the parking lot.

When we were alone in the car I blurted out, “Men.”

“Sweet Pea, Kade loves you. It’s my fault he didn’t tell you about Chloe sooner.”

“Don’t take the blame for him. He could’ve told me everything, and when it came to who Chloe is, he could’ve just said he’d let you tell that part. Then I would’ve bugged you and you would’ve told me. I’ve been upset with you, but not as mad as I am at him. I want to make my own decisions. I want to feel like I’m his partner and not his daughter or a fragile person who can’t handle anything.”

“You’re right. I always viewed your mom as my partner, asking for her advice and including her in my decisions. A relationship is about being partners, no matter what. I’ll do my part to include you in family matters.”

Finally, a breakthrough. “Thank you.”

Another mission ahead of me was to get Kade to come to the same conclusion, only as my boyfriend. But I wasn’t sure he could.

I
paced
in long furious strides inside my garage. I couldn’t go into the house knowing my father wanted to tear me a new one. I’d shamed the family in public. I’d acted out in front of my mom. A searing pain shot through every limb in my body. I couldn’t face her at the moment. I would crumble into nothing if I’d upset her.

Tyler was right. I’d pushed Lacey right into his arms. I didn’t know how to fix our relationship. We couldn’t pick up where we’d left off. I’d dug a hole so deep that crawling out of it wasn’t enough. Not this time. The only good thing was that she was safe. I’d been calling Hunt every night to check in with him. Part of me was jealous of my best friend. He was spending time with her, eating dinner and watching movies.

I rubbed the back of my neck. The side door opened, and my father came in on a gust of wind. His expression was blank, which was never a good sign.

“Should we suit up and get in the ring?” I asked, nodding to the ring Dad had put in so Kross could work out.

“Is that what you want? You want to feel pain, son?” He pinched his chin.

“It’s better than the pain inside here.” I tapped on my chest.

“Hitting someone isn’t the answer, Kade. Not even in a jealous rage. I’ve taught you better than that.”

“Well, I’ve never been in love before.” I smoothed a hand over my hair, fighting the urge to pull it out.

He wandered up to the boxing ring. “You remind me a lot of myself. I hated when men looked at your mother when we were dating. I wanted to wipe every last suggestion of lust off their faces. But that wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”

“How did you handle it?”
Give me something to take away the pain clawing in my chest.

“I tried not to show your mother any outward signs of jealousy. It was extremely hard. When you’re in love with someone, it’s hard not to display your feelings. You have to trust your relationship. You have to communicate with one another about how you feel. Men are going to gawk at Lacey. Women will do the same to you. Talk about how it makes you both feel.”

“Tyler is in love with Lacey.”

“So?” He shrugged. “She’s not in love with him.”

“She confides in him.” I joined my father as we both sat on the edge of the padded floor of the ring.

“Maybe because he listens. Or maybe she feels like he gets her. I don’t have the answer. Son, open up to her more about your feelings, and I don’t just mean love. Tell her what makes you mad, sad, happy, what you’re afraid of. You get my drift.”

He had a point. I knew Lacey was happiest on a baseball field. I knew what made her mad. But aside from her PTSD triggers, I didn’t know what else frightened her. For me, spiders were high on the list. I’d wrestle a bear over a spider. I hated the feeling of a spider crawling on me.

He patted my leg. “There’s a lot going on. It’s time to relax a little and enjoy your senior year. You only get to live this time in your life once. Why don’t you boys have a party down by the lake?”

“How can we? We’re still watching over Lacey. Until we know what Lorenzino is up to, relaxing’s hard.” And I certainly hadn’t done anything to help the situation. She didn’t want to talk to me. I wasn’t sure what I could do. Maybe a party would be a way of breaking the ice with Lacey.

“Let law enforcement do their job. Shake off your anger then march into the house and apologize to your mother. She’s a little shaken up that Tyler hit you. She’s in the formal living room with the triplets.”

Fuck.
If I’d ruined any of her progress toward coming home permanently, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. My pulse beat rapidly as I went in search of my mom.

A lamp glowed on the table near the bay window in the living room, and a fire crackled in the stone fireplace along the back wall. The triplets were scattered around Mom, who was sitting on the couch. All heads turned when I walked in.

“Are you hurt?” Mom’s voice was soft and delicate, her blue gaze drifting down to my jaw.

“I’m not. I’m sorry you had to see that.” I grasped one of her hands gently as I settled next to her.

Water filled her eyes.

“Guys, can you give us a minute alone?” I asked.

“Sure thing, bro,” Kody said.

One by one they kissed Mom on the forehead before leaving.

“I can’t handle seeing any of you boys hurt. Karen can’t either.” She brushed a strand of hair off my forehead, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

“I promise. I’m not hurt. I love you and Karen. Will you tell Karen that for me?” My own eyes clouded with tears. My entire body should burn for upsetting my mother.

She blinked, a tear catching on her eyelashes.

I had to get my jealousy and anger—and everything else in my world—under control or else I was about to screw up my family circle and hurt those I loved the most.

I
barely had
enough time when I got home after the game to change and freshen up before our guests would arrive—let alone think about Kade and Tyler’s feud. Apparently, they’d had words prior to today. I buried that for now. I didn’t want to dwell on anything that would sour my mood in front of Dad’s adoptive family.

An enticing aroma floated through the house. Dad had prepared beef stew in a crockpot with the help of one of Mary’s recipes. It would’ve been nice to have Mary here to cook one of her amazing lasagna dishes along with her famous red velvet cake, but the stew smelled delicious. My stomach grumbled.

The doorbell rang just as I was brushing out my hair. I was curious how Dad would handle himself given he hadn’t seen Gloria in ages. I was also interested in meeting the infamous man of Boston. I checked myself one last time in the mirror then started downstairs.

Chloe bounced in as beautiful as ever. Behind her was a petite lady who wore her blond hair up in an artfully messy style, and on her heels was a tall man with dark eyes and dark hair with graying sideburns. He wore an open collar shirt underneath a black blazer.

“James,” Gloria said. “It’s so good to see you, and I’m so happy you called.” She hugged Dad as her husband closed the door.

“Smells amazing,” Chloe said as she waved at me. “Lacey, did you win?”

Her bubbly personality was the medicine I needed to take away my sour mood. “First game, first win.” I beamed from ear to ear.

Dad appeared relaxed as he shook Jeremy’s hand. Chloe hugged Dad then me. The girl had a touch fetish. When she’d touched Kade’s hand in the emergency room, a pang of jealousy had whipped through me. I guessed touching people was in her nature.

Gloria wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she said. “Sometimes I wish Chloe had taken up a sport. It would’ve toughened her up.”

“Mom.” Chloe rolled her eyes.

Their interaction reminded me of my mom. She had always said just the opposite.
I wish Lacey had a little more interest in girly things.

“Lacey.” Jeremy and I exchanged a loose hug, his suit jacket smelling like cigars.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way, we made ourselves comfortable around the dining table just off the kitchen. Dad had everything prepared so that we could serve up the bowls of stew ourselves, making the atmosphere casual. Jeremy and Gloria sat on one side of the table, and Chloe and I were on the other. Dad sat at the head of the table.

“A girl pitcher, huh?” Jeremy said as he placed his napkin on his lap. He raised an eyebrow. “And how fast is your fastball?”

“Seventy-five miles per hour.”

“No kidding? I’d like to see you pitch.”

Dad swallowed a bite of stew quickly and said, “Then come to a game. She did so well today. She’s worked really hard despite what we’ve been through. I’m extremely proud of her.”

Warmth radiated through me to hear Dad’s declaration. I had worked my butt off. I couldn’t have gotten to this juncture without him.

“One of the reasons for my call”—he glanced at Gloria—“was to reconnect. I also wanted to share with you that Lorenzino could be my father.”

Now I was proud of Dad. He dove right in, not mincing words or wasting time.

“Wes told me,” Jeremy said with no sign of emotion.

Chloe and Gloria sat regally, postures straight, left hands in their laps as though they’d been to a Miss Manner’s school of proper etiquette. I graded my own posture. My left elbow was on the table, and I was hunched over my bowl. Not wanting them to think I hadn’t been taught properly, I straightened my spine and placed my hand in my lap. Mom and Dad weren’t strict on perfect table manners. Mom’s pet peeve had been talking with food in your mouth. Apart from that, we ate, talked, laughed, and fought over the last piece of bread or the last of the mashed potatoes.

“And you’re okay with that?” I asked. Dad was related to two mob families. I didn’t know much about the mob. Mostly what I’d learned was from movies or TV shows, but I didn’t think mob families aligned with each other, especially if one was Russian and the other Italian.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jeremy asked. “You’re family. I’m not sure what you’re implying.”

Dad glared at me.

“Well, can two mafia families get along?” I took a bite out of my bread.

Jeremy laughed heartily. “The bigger issue here, Lacey, is finding that ledger Lorenzino is after and stopping him from harming anyone in the process.”

“What is so important in a ledger that someone would kill over?” I chased down my mouthful of bread with iced tea.

Jeremy wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Names, dates, burial grounds, money laundering information, tax evasion. Could be anything.”

“Information like that is old news,” Dad said. “The ledger has to be at least forty years old.”

“True. And the statute of limitations has probably expired on most of the criminal activity associated with whatever is in the ledger. However, burial grounds are not just for bodies. Harrison Lorenzino’s great-grandfather was tied to several bank robberies. He was known to bury money to hide it from the Feds. That ledger may list the places where some of that money is still buried.”

“We’ve looked everywhere for that ledger.” Dad swiped his fingers across his forehead.

“Do you think you missed something when you sent my dad the package from his mom?” I asked Gloria.

“Sorry, sweetie. We don’t have anything else and neither does my mom. I went through all her belongings after her funeral a couple of years ago. If we had anything of your father’s, I would’ve put it in the package. And our father passed away four years ago.”

Wow! Dad’s past slowly unfolds. “How did he die?”

Dad grasped his spoon. His knuckles became white.

Gloria regarded Dad before she said, “My parents weren’t the healthiest. My mom died of heart disease, and my dad had a bad liver.”

“Gramps drank a lot,” Chloe said. “I always try to get my dad to cut down on his whiskey.”

My dad was about to bend his spoon in half.

“Here’s how I see it,” Jeremy said. “Lorenzino is waiting and watching. The LAPD have been questioning him, so he’s being cautious. If he is your father, I don’t think that matters one way or the other. Greed can drive some men over family.”

“I’m not his family, and I want nothing to do with him,” Dad stated firmly. “If he did kill my family, then I want to see him pay dearly for it.”

Dad couldn’t catch a break. I had the urge to hug him. We were talking about one father who was dead and another who might’ve killed Mom and Julie.

“Can we talk about something else?” Chloe asked. “Better yet, can Lacey and I be excused?”

Maybe it was a good idea to talk about something else and give Dad a chance to breathe before he converted that spoon into a piece of art.

“Take your dishes to the sink first,” Gloria said.

Chloe shot off the chair with her bowl in her hand, her ankle boots scuffing the wood floor.

“I have one of my men looking into Dennis Weeks’s background. Kade mentioned him to me the other day,” Jeremy said to Dad. “Do you know that name?”

Jeremy sounded like he and Kade were old friends. Kade had told me everything they’d discussed. Hearing it from Jeremy, though, made the deliciousness of the stew turn sour in my stomach.

“No.” Dad released the spoon. “The LAPD apparently has a confidential informant. I guess Weeks’s name was brought up. Detective Fisher has been silent about what type of lead he has.”

“I’ll let you know what I find.” Jeremy sat back and draped his arm on the back of his wife’s chair. “I have feelers out on Lorenzino, too.”

Dad smoothed his fingers across his mouth. “Mmm. When I stopped my research on my mother, the detective I’d hired had given me a report with names of people my mother was associated with. I could reach out to them.”

Another avenue to investigate.

“Not a bad idea. Just be careful those people aren’t connected to Lorenzino,” Jeremy warned.

Chloe returned. “I’m sorry to hear that you and Kade broke up.”

“Chloe,” Gloria said. “Don’t pry. Where are your manners, young lady?”

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s true. How do you know?” I took my bowl to the sink with Chloe on my heels.

“I called him to tell him I passed my math test. I was supposed to have another tutoring session with him, but his mother came home and he wanted to postpone.”

“And he told you we broke up?” I filled my bowl with water as I tried to imagine a conversation where Kade told someone other than his brothers or Hunt that we’d broken up.

“I asked about you.” She twirled her hair in both her hands. “He said he messed up. I don’t know what’s going on. I do know my daddy is a very demanding man. He wanted to feel Kade out and see how well Kade knew your family. Like I said, my mom was worried about both of you. Your dad didn’t want to talk to my mom, and I desperately needed a tutor. That was Daddy’s way in.”

“Young lady.” Jeremy’s deep voice reached us from the table.

“She needs to know. You could be responsible for their breakup.” She frowned at her father.

It still wouldn’t change anything. Our problems went deeper than Jeremy and his scheming ways.

“Anywho,” Chloe whispered. “Is Kelton dating anyone?”

“Kelton?” I didn’t know how to answer that one.
Do I warn her away since Kelton is a playboy? Do I play matchmaker so she doesn’t set her sights on Kade? Or do I stay completely out of it?

“He’s yummy.” She tucked strands of her hair behind her ear.

The triplets were definitely handsome. I shut off the water. “I’m not a good matchmaker. I suggest you talk to Kelton yourself.” Kelton’s playboy ways or who he was dating wasn’t any of my business, and I barely got anywhere with him when I tried to talk to him about love. The Maxwell boys didn’t kiss and tell either.

“I already left him a message,” she said.

Wow. She works fast.

Gloria brought her dishes to the sink. “Chloe’s right. My husband can be overpowering,” she whispered. “You and Kade will work it out.”

“Does Jeremy keep things from you?” I asked.

“When we first met he did. It drove me crazy. But beneath his tough exterior is a man who loves and cares deeply for his family. He’d do anything to protect us.”

“How did you handle it? I mean, Jeremy keeping things from you?” I rested my hip against the counter. I could use all the advice I could get.

Chloe was texting. The men were in their world talking about the statute of limitations.

She swept my hair over my shoulder, her brown eyes searching my face. “At first, I had to walk away. But I realized that wasn’t the answer. We both loved each other. He isn’t perfect, and neither am I. Look, sweetie. You can’t get mad every time Kade keeps something from you. Understand his reasons. You have to meet each other halfway. Decide what you can and can’t handle and communicate with him.”

I hadn’t even given Kade a chance to explain, and I certainly didn’t understand his reasons, except the part about Dad’s adoptive family not being his story to tell. I’d assumed he didn’t tell me because he didn’t want to worry me.

“Gloria,” Jeremy called. “We should get going. I have an early meeting.”

“Daddy, I barely got to spend time with Lacey.”

“There’ll be time for that later,” Gloria said.

Chloe huffed.

It had been a long day. I was tired both mentally and physically.

Jeremy and Dad agreed to swap information if they had anything of substance regarding the ledger, Lorenzino, and Weeks.

After they finally drove away, I asked Dad, “Are you okay?”

“I am,” he said as we cleaned up the kitchen. “I never had a problem with Gloria. Now, my father was a different story. He and I never got along. He always treated me like I was a male Cinderella. Over the years, he drank more and more to the point where he took out his drunken frustrations on me. He was very abusive. One night when I was seventeen, I came home past curfew. He was waiting up for me. We had words, then it got out of hand. We both ended up in the emergency room. After that I took off.” He loaded bowls into the dishwasher.

“I’m so sorry, Dad.” I stopped wiping down the table. “I know that had to be hard for you to tell me.” I wasn’t about to ask for details. The fact that he’d told me that much was a win in my book. Frankly, that was all I needed to know. The details would only serve to anger me more, and I couldn’t take out my anger on a dead man.

“I don’t like talking about him. I don’t even like thinking about that time in my life, though it did feel good to say it. But let’s concentrate on the future.”

Great idea.
“So when are you going to call those people your mom was associated with?”

“I want to talk to the private investigator I hired first. Jeremy’s right. We need to make sure the names in that report are not associated with Lorenzino.”

“I can do an internet search while you talk to the PI. Better yet, I can have Kody help. He’s good with finding things on the internet.” Kade had once told me Kody was a whiz with Google searches and computers in general.

“Tell you what,” Dad said. “Let me read through the report and talk to the PI, and then we can put our heads together on a plan of action. Deal?”

I smiled so wide, my cheeks hurt. It was the first time I’d felt like an adult with Dad, and I was excited that we had another avenue to search.