Out of Her League (40 page)

Hoyt
snored on
the
bed
. Danny slowly shut the
door. Without a word, he and his brother held hands and sat in the pretend closet across from the sink. It was pretend because there wasn
’
t any door—only a hanger bar and some hangers attached so you couldn
’
t steal
‘
em or somethin
’
.

Danny had never figured out why anyone would steal hangers. Mom always said the thing
s multi
plied in the closet dark. Maybe that was why they had to put a lock on
‘
em here. There was no closet dark without a closet door, so the hangers didn
’
t make babies.

Danny sighed. Makin
’
babies seemed to be a big problem lately.

“
Did you hear what Mom said?
” Benji whis
pered, though Danny doubted Hoyt would wake up just from them ta
lki
n
’
, since he hadn
’
t even turned over while the pillow fight was goin
’
on. Mom would have a kitten if she found out Hoyt had been sleeping all afternoon while Benji and Danny watched cable television.

Danny nodded.
“
I heard.
”

He
had
heard, and he was real confused. Mom always
seemed
to love them. She fed them, and hugged them, and punished them when they were bad—which she said was because she loved them so much, though Danny had doubts about the
“get
ting grounded for your own good
”
rule. And she
never, ever did anything terrible to them like he heard about on the news.

“
She didn
’
t want us.
”
Benji
’
s voice trembled, and Danny held his broth
er’s hand tighter. Some
times Benji was a baby, even though Danny had come out last—whatever that meant.
“
Do you think if she didn
’
t have us, she might marry Joe?
”

That
was
what Danny had been thinking, so he didn
’
t bother to answer. Mostly he and Benji thought the same
thoughts. People said it was be
cause they were twins, but Danny just thought it was because they were seven. He had a lot of the same thoughts as his friends, too, but no one ever got all excited about it.

“
Maybe,
”
Danny allowed.

“
What should we do?
”

Danny knew what they
had
to do.
“
If we were gone, Mom wouldn
’
t mind having a baby for Joe. Then she
’
d be happy, and Joe would be happy, and Adam could go to any college he wants
‘
cause Joe
’
s rich.
”

“
But I love Joe. I want him to be our daddy.
”

“
Me, too, stupid. But I love Mom more.
”

“
Even if she doesn
’
t love us?
”

“
Even if.
”

Benji sighed.
“
Me, too.
”

“
Mom always says if you love someone, you have to sack-the-face for them.
”

“
Huh?
”

“
That means givin
’
up somethin
’
important so they can be happy.
”

“
Like givin
’
up Mom for Joe, and givin
’
up Joe for Mom?
”

“
Yeah, like that.
”

“
So what are we going to do?
”

“
We
’
re going to go live somewhere else so Mom can have Joe.
”

“
All right. Wh-where we gonna go?
”
Sniff, sniff
.

Benji was on the verge of bawling. Danny had to think fast—and it had to be somethin
’
good.
“
To Disney World.
”

That perked Benji right up.
“
Really?
”

“
Sure. The place is huge. And it
’
s full of kids.
”

“
When we leavin
’
?
”

“
Tomorrow. During the game. They
’
ll never even notice we left.
”

* * *

The
day
of
the big game
dawned bright, clear and hot. Evie made sure all the kids had hats, sunscreen and full water bottles. Their game would be from eleven to one—peak sun time. She didn
’
t plan to send any of her kids home to Oak Grove after a hospital stay for heat exhaustion. When these kids were with her, she treated them as she would her own. Up to and including punishments for pillow fights.

Unfortunately, she had been unable to get anyone to squeal on whoever had started the revolt. She had a feeling her culprits were Adam and Toni, who didn
’
t seem to be speaking to each other. She only hoped that whatever had got them in a snit didn
’
t affect their game, but ordering them to make nice wouldn
’
t work, so she left well enough alone.

She
’
d tossed and turned all night long, her blessed stay in a solitary room becoming a curse, just as
she
’
d feared. Joe
’
s kiss had made her think of their night together, and
their talk had made her contem
plate all she was giving up by turning him away.

But that wasn
’
t the only reason she couldn
’
t sleep. She felt bad that she
’
d said the twins
’
babyhood was a nightmare. Now that she could look back on those
years with the eyes of a calmer, saner woman, she was able to recall wonderful times, when before she
’
d only been able to remember the pain.

Sometimes when one or the other, and not both for a change, woke up in the middle of the night, she could remember
sitting in a rocker by the win
dow, watching the moon and the stars, holding a child to her breast and feeling the love wash over her in waves of
warmth. Babies trusted you com
pletely. When they fell asleep in your arms with their breath soft upon you, they took hold of your soul, and you became lost to them forever.

By the time dawn lit the sky, Evie had fallen into a fitful sleep filled with dreams of a little girl in a pink sleeper—warm, sweet smelling, compact and trusting, just as Joe had said.

Luckily, once Evie arrived at the ballpark the game captured her attention. The Big League World Series was a big deal in Cedar City. The hotels were filled, the restaurants busy, the stands at the park packed and the concessions doing brisk business. Because of this, the games had a festival atmosphere that was hard to ignore. Not just for her, but for the kids.

While her team warmed up, Evie went over the rules with the twins.
“
You stay on the bench, out of the way. Do
not
go near the on-deck circle. If you get your brains bashed in, I will kill you. Are we clear?
”

“
Yep,
”
said Danny.

“
Uh-huh,
”
said Benji.

“
One soda and one candy is your limit. Here
’
s some money. If you need anything else, ask Hoyt.
”

They looked sad for some reason, and she couldn
’
t figure out why. Usually they bounced all over the place, so excited for Adam that they could barely stand still. But today they sat on the bench and eyed each other expectantly. Now that she thought about it, they
’
d been whispering together all morning. Not an uncommon occurrence, considering who she was talking about, but she
’
d also had enough experience
with them to know that whisper
ing followed by uncommon silence meant they were up to something.

“
Anything you guys want to share with me?
”

“
Nope.
”
Danny answered too quickly, and he
grabbed Benji
’
s hand as if to keep him quiet.

Evie frowned.

“
We just love you, Mom.
”

“
That
’
s nice to know.
”

“
And we
’
ll always love you, forever and ever and ever. No matter where we go, no matter what we do.
”

U
h-oh
, Evie thought.
“
You guys in trouble?
”
she asked.

Identical expressions of innocence turned toward her, and they shook
their heads, wide blue eyes hid
ing ... something. But what?

“
Hey, Coach, need your starting lineup,
”
called the announcer.

Evie glanced t
hat way and raised a hand in ac
knowledgment. She
’
d have to get to the bottom of things with the twins after the game.

“
Remember what I said.
”
She raised a finger in warning before kissing the top of one nodding red head, then the other.

The game passed like a whirlwind. Evie and Joe shook hands. She tried not to glance at him, but she couldn
’
t help herself. Hi
s tight lips and unhappy ex
pression scored her heart.

Her kids were nervous, but once into the game they settled down. Better than she did, anyway. They played like the champions they were.

Because this game was between two teams of equal stature, the score went neck and neck, with first one team ahead and then the other. The talents of the kids were so evenly matched that the game would come down to a mistake, or a gift, or a coach
’
s decision. Neither Evie nor Joe had time for anything but notes on their clipboards and consul
tations with their assistants or players, as they used everything they knew to coach the kids they
’
d spent the entire summer teaching. This game was what teamwork was all about.

Evie had stressed throughout the season that her bet with Coach Scalotta was a fun thing, and not really as serious a
s everyone made out. More a pub
licity stunt than anything else. She did not want her team worrying that her future rested on their per
formance in a single game.

Maybe it did, but that wasn
’
t their problem or what was important here. What was important was
that her team had a good experience, played their best and remembered this game forever as one of the many good things about this particular summer.

Of course, when the ninth inning arrived and Evie
’
s team was down by one run, with Adam on second, two outs, and Toni coming up to bat, Evie got so nervous she felt ill.

This was it. The whole summer, and her future, lay in Toni
’
s hands—and Evie suddenly wanted to call the whole thing off.

Toni came over for last-second instructions, took one look at Evie
’
s face and hugged her.
“
Hey, Coach, relax. This is supposed to be fun.
”

Then Toni winked and walked off whistling. Evie
’
s nervousness evaporated on the summer breeze as joy filled her heart. She had never been happier with a kid she
’
d coached. Toni had gotten the essence of Little League—have fun out there. The world slipped back into place for Evie, and all was right once more.