Fair Catch (7 page)

* * *

Nick watched helplessly as Ellie fled from his presence. He didn’t know if he should go after her. Why had he asked her something so personal? He was still so baffled at how any man could have walked out on this beautiful woman, but on top of that his baby son? He wanted to stop her and apologize, but she was gone before he could open his mouth.

Pastor Stewart was a smart man and knew when to leave things to his wife. “Cade, do you want me to push you on the swing?”

Cade grinned and flew out the back door. “Yeah!”

Once they were out of earshot, Betsy sighed. “What happened?”

Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m an idiot.”

Betsy actually smiled. “No you’re not. Our girl just has a few things to work through.”

In spite of the situation, Nick couldn’t help smiling at the reference
, our girl
. “I asked a personal question without thinking.” Betsy’s face remained impassive when he repeated the thoughtless words. “I feel so bad. Do you think she’ll accept my apology?”

Betsy gave him a motherly pat on his arm. “Sure she will. When I walk Cade home, I’ll see how she’s doing. Then tomorrow after church you can talk with her.”

I have to wait that long?
“I won’t be in church tomorrow. I’m taking a late flight for California to tie up some last-minute business deals.” He shrugged. “Besides, I didn’t want to go to church here until after my agent releases a statement about my move to Colorado.”

“Hmm.” Betsy tapped her finger against her mouth. “Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll have a chance to talk to her. She’s a little emotional right now because Thomas called earlier and canceled a trip to take Cade to Disneyland. Ordinarily I don’t think Ellie would have been bothered by the question.”

Nick had some connections with Disneyland and was tempted to blurt out his offer to take Cade. But he wasn’t Cade’s father and he wasn’t Ellie’s husband.

The thought made him angry. His jaw clenched tightly as he tried to keep his voice low. “Here I would give anything to have a wife and family and yet this guy just threw them away like they were yesterday’s garbage.”

Nobody knew how painful it was for Nick to be thirty-four and not married. He’d heard the different rumors circulating about him. The most popular: He was a player and had commitment issues. The whole mess with Roxanne had only added fuel to that theory. The other rumor was that he didn’t really like women. All of the lies hurt, but over the past couple of years his skin had thickened so that most of the rumors didn’t cut as deep.

Betsy clicked her tongue against her teeth, shaking her head. “I think Ellie sometimes feels like she was just trash. Knowing her, she probably blames herself for Thomas’s infidelity.” She offered him a bright smile. “When you get back in town, I’ll plan another dinner. Ellie hates cooking and they eat here a lot anyway.”

Nick still felt bad, but knew he couldn’t do anything about it now. He thanked the Stewarts for dinner and went home to pack a duffle bag. Ellie Garrett was a mystery to him. She was not like any other woman he had ever met. None of his charm seemed to work with her. After this evening, he doubted she would warm up to him any time soon.

Why did that bug him so much? Yeah, he was looking for a wife, but he’d only been in Colorado a couple of days now. He had yet to even start looking. He pulled at the collar of his shirt as he drove to the airport. What if the girl he was looking for was just across the street?

* * *

After a whirlwind weekend, Nick arrived home late Tuesday afternoon. He’d been stuck in traffic caused by a multiple-car accident, making the drive home another hour longer. The flight home had been crowded, even in first class. He had signed the typical amount of autographs all the way to parking. Thankfully, no one questioned why he was in Colorado. If they were true fans they all knew about Jared and his wife’s death, and Nick’s campaign against alcohol and drunk driving.

So far his anonymity had remained. He wondered how much longer it would last. If he made it to the press release date, he’d consider it a great victory. When Alec did make his relocation public, Nick hoped it wouldn’t spark the interest of too many people, especially since he had opted for settling down in the suburbs of Denver. With his player-reputation, the more logical place would have been L.A.

At one time, L.A. seemed like the place he would live after retiring. His parents were close by and he knew Roxanne wouldn’t have lived anywhere else. But that was then. Even though Roxanne had long since left the West Coast, he still felt like Colorado was the right place.

Alec had sent him the latest gossip about Roxanne and all the partying she was doing. When her modeling contract had been canceled last year, Roxanne had gone off the deep end. Even Alec thought she was too wild—and that was saying something. She currently lived in New York, taking bit parts in a few soap operas and doing a small number of commercials. Her big break never came and the publicity she’d hoped to gain from being involved with Nick had rebounded on her.

Making his way through Pleasant Wood, he couldn’t believe how different it was compared to the fast pace of L.A. It was calmer here, like he could slow down and enjoy the scenery.

His cell phone buzzed. At a stop sign, he glanced at the caller-ID. It was Betsy Stewart. “Are you back in town?” she questioned after identifying herself. He could hear a mixer in the background. His mouth watered at the thought of one of her baked goods.

“Yeah, I just passed by Safeway.”

“Great. You still interested in having dinner tonight?”

Was that a trick question? “If I’m still invited.”

The mixer turned off and Betsy laughed. “You sure are. Cade and Ellie should be here around six. Does that work for you?”

The clock in his car read five forty, but he was a guy and could be ready in less than five minutes. “I’ll be there. Can I bring anything?”

“Just your charm.”

After the last dinner get-together, he would definitely need charm. When he mentioned this to Betsy, she assured him Ellie wasn’t mad at him, just embarrassed, and that she didn’t want any apologies.

“So I should just let it go?” he asked, tapping on his brakes as he approached an intersection not far from home.

“I knew you were a smart man. See ya soon.”

He ended the call and waited as a Honda Accord passed by. The car looked familiar—so did the driver. Their eyes met briefly then the blonde head whipped back around, her mouth open wide. Nick grinned and lifted a hand to wave.

Chapter Six

Ellie
forced her eyes back on the road, narrowly missing a trashcan. Her cheeks felt hot and her mouth went dry. She swallowed back a mixture of excitement and dread. Looks like the new guy on the block was back in town.

Her face felt even hotter when she thought about the emotional breakdown a couple of days before. After she had run home from the Stewarts’, she had let herself cry over what should have been. When she’d married Thomas, they had been the perfect couple. At least that’s what she had thought at the time. Thomas worked hard, went to church with her every week and was excited about starting their family.

Then he had changed, and had become increasingly unhappy, mainly with Ellie. From the way she did her hair to her homemaking skills, nothing she did pleased him. Finally, he had stopped going to church with her, and frequently wouldn’t come home at nights, claiming he had work to do. Little did she know, Thomas had started living a double life.

The question that haunted her the most was wondering if she could have done something to prevent it. No matter how many times people tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault and that Thomas had made his own choices, she wondered how she could keep from blaming herself? When Nick had asked how old Cade had been, it had brought back all those insecure and devastating feelings she thought she had dealt with.

She just wanted to forget the whole thing and hoped Nick would too. Betsy said he’d gone to California for business, but part of her wondered if she had scared him off. Reviewing her past week, she wasn’t happy about the fact that she’d embarrassed herself on several occasions. Oh well, that meant it could only go up from here, right?

“Mommy, I’m hungry.” Cade tapped the back of her seat with his foot. They’d spent the afternoon at the park where she had indulged in reading while Cade played nonstop. She believed her son didn’t sleep at night—it was more like he recharged his batteries. Suffice it to say, he had boundless energy.

It was tempting to buy a couple of cheeseburger meals from a drive-through, but Betsy had invited them to dinner and Ellie promised to be there. “We’re almost home, honey. Then we can go next door to the Stewarts’ for dinner.”

“Can I play football with Nick again?”

Hearing the man’s name made her stomach flutter with emotion. “I don’t know.”

The next question made her stomach roll. “Does Daddy know how to play football?”

“I think so.” She knew Thomas had played in high school and was obsessed with the sport, but she couldn’t see him having the patience to play catch with a four-year-old.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel at the thought of her ex. She needed a diversion. If Cade started asking questions about his dad, then his next question would be about his trip. She still hadn’t been able to tell him that his father wasn’t coming.

Thomas had actually followed through and mailed both passes to Ellie. She had been surprised he hadn’t tried selling them on the Internet. Still, gas, hotel and food would be her responsibility. She would have to dip into her savings in order to pay for everything.

“Hey, when we get home, I’ll race you to Betsy’s house.”

The diversion worked. Cade squealed with excitement. “Okay, but I’m really fast.”

She glanced in the rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of her little boy, babbling with excitement about how fast his shoes made him run. They were the cheap Transformer shoes from
Payless
, but Cade loved them.

She grimaced at her reflection. Yikes! She needed to do a little repair work to her hair and face. Once at the house, Cade nearly jumped out of the moving car, eager to win the race.

If she had to see Nick again, she wanted to look a little better. “Cade, Mommy can’t race just yet. I need to…” Her voice trailed off. The white SUV pulled into Nick’s driveway. Why hadn’t she replaced the battery for the garage door opener so she could park inside?

Smoothing down her hair, she cut a sideways glance across the street. The driver’s side door opened. A long leg, clad in a pair of khaki dress pants, appeared. Adrenaline kicked in and she grabbed Cade’s hand. “Let’s run inside for just a second and then we can race.”

She didn’t give her son time to answer and practically dragged him toward the house. When he started to protest, she resorted to bribery. “You know, you’ve been so good today I think you can choose a prize from the Surprise Basket.”

The Surprise Basket contained little things she’d picked up at the dollar store. Sometimes a four-year-old needed an extra incentive to obey his mother. So it wasn’t really bribing her child—it was more like
motivation
. Sort of the same concept as a bag of chocolate Kisses for a single mother.

That did the trick. Cade burst forward, excited to claim his prize. They were inside the house before she heard the car door across the street close. Seeing Nick Coulter face to face again was inevitable. Still, there was nothing wrong with prolonging the meeting.

The basket was kept in Ellie’s room, high up in the closet. The clock radio read fifteen minutes ‘til six. If she didn’t wash her hair, she could take a quick shower and still have a few minutes left to dress in something fresh, repair her makeup and style her hair.

She pulled the basket down and spoke to Cade, who bounced up and down in anticipation. “You can have one right now and if you let mommy take a very fast shower, I’ll let you choose another prize.”

His blue eyes widened in delight. “Okay!”

Before she showered, she made sure Cade knew not to leave. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of what she had labeled “the towel incident.” Plus, she reminded him about the second prize.

Five minutes later, she picked out one of her new shirts from the mall. Yes, she had gone shopping to update her wardrobe. She had some birthday money from her parents that she had promised to spend on herself. The light green shirt looked good on her, hugging her curves, but not too tight. Some of the styles these days were either very tight or looked like maternity clothes. The stuff she’d found fell somewhere in between.

Cade didn’t forget the promise to race next door. Betsy told her to come to the backyard so they made a beeline to the back of the Stewarts’ house. They charged into the yard, both laughing and Cade doing a little victory dance, pumping his arms up above his head. “I won. I won.”

Ellie suddenly became aware of their audience that consisted of one person: Nick Coulter. He was manning the grill. Alone. Did Betsy have some kind of radar? She and Owen must have just gone back inside the house.

Nick’s mouth lifted in a half grin. “Hi.” His blue eyes remained focused solely on her.

“Hi.” Her voice squeaked and she felt breathless—and it wasn’t because of the race she’d just run. Her heart rate increased even more as Nick slid his eyes over her with approval. A thin bead of perspiration formed above her lip and her face felt hot. Where in the heck were the Stewarts?

Cade didn’t seem to care and ran toward Nick with enthusiasm, hugging the man’s legs. “Can you play football with me again?”

Nick didn’t hesitate. “Sure. Let me turn over the chicken first, okay?” His eyes flickered up to meet her gaze again, like he sought permission.

She felt her mouth tilt up at the corners and his mouth did the same. Owen came outside, holding a large salad bowl. “Hey, there you two are.” Ellie noticed a smirk on the pastor’s face as his eyes moved from Nick back to her.