Playing For Keeps (11 page)

“Mike, I—”

“Thanks, bro. I feel better.”

Logan laughed and stood. “You’re something
else, Coach.” He clapped his hand on Mike’s back. “Now, don’t you
have to change for tonight’s shindig?”

“Yeah. Come up and keep me company.”

“Like old times.”

“You can tell me about your
wife.”

As he listened to Logan’s story about his new
wife, Mike experienced the stirrings of jealousy. It was unfamiliar
and unwanted. He never felt
like
this. He hated the
feeling. Damn that woman. It was her fault.

o0o

Kyle stared at the man who Kay had teased was
quickly becoming his idol. The night was warm and the air crackled
with excitement. “Jeez, Coach, this is mad-cool.”

“That mean you like it, kid?” Coach’s tone
was dry. He sat with Kyle and Tyler on the top of the convertible;
in front of them were cars carrying the head and assistant coaches.
Before them came a high-school marching band, which sounded pretty
good. Behind Coach Kingston’s vehicle were more convertibles
carrying the players; bringing up the rear was a volunteer fire
truck. The whole parade was headed down Main Street in the suburb
of Rockford, where Beckett was located.

Kyle grinned at him. “You kidding? I never
thought I’d be part of something like this.”

Tyler leaned into Kyle. “Me, too, Daddy.”

Coach waved to a group of college girls
trying to get his attention. They yelled hello to Kyle, too. Coach
ignored a few older women who held a sign saying,
King me.
“Lotta people here.”

“There sure are. This is a big thing.” Kyle
scanned the crowd and listened to the clapping and cheering. “Hey,
there’s Mom.”

Coach stared over and his jaw got tight.

“What’s wrong, Coach?”

“Nothin’.” He didn’t acknowledge Kyle’s
mother, though.

Tyler did. “Hey, Dr. Ross.” The boy waved
enthusiastically. “Who’s your mama with, Kyle?”

“That’s my uncle Eric on the left, but the
other guy’s a teacher from school. He picked her up.”

Kyle thought he heard Coach mumble something
under his breath.

He saw Kay with a group of kids from school,
and Tyler spotted his grandparents and uncle. The whole trip
couldn’t have been more fun, except that Coach didn’t look too
happy.

When it was over, Kyle met his mom and Kay
and uncle Eric by the Hicks and McCarthy drugstore, as arranged.
Coach came along since Kyle was taking Tyler home with him, but he
stood back stiffly for some reason.

Kyle nodded to his mom. “Hey, Mom, Uncle
Eric.”

Uncle Eric greeted him and the Kingstons.

“Hi, sweetie.” His mom looked at Coach, said
a curt hello, then peered down at Tyler and gave his hair a tousle.
“Hello, Ty.”

Tyler moved in toward Kyle’s mother, so she
put her arm around him. “You guys have a good time?”

Kyle grinned. “It was awesome.”

His uncle Eric turned to Coach. “Nice of you
to take Kyle in the car.”

“No problem. We still gotta have that beer,
Eric.”

“Anytime.”

Professor Harrington cleared his throat.
“Quite a production here.”

“I know.” Kyle was still flying over it.
“What’d you think, Mom?”

She didn’t look at Coach at all. Kyle noticed
her face was tense. “I thought it was great.”

“Just like conquering heroes returning from
war.” Professor Harrington’s tone wasn’t nice.

Uncle Eric frowned at the comment. So did
Kyle’s mom. After some small talk, his uncle left.

Coach said, “I gotta go, too, and meet my
brother and parents. You sure you want to stay with Kyle, Ty?”

His mother raised her brows in surprise.

“I told Coach to go have a drink with his
family and Kay and I would take Tyler home for a while.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“I wanna go to Kyle’s house, Daddy.” Tyler
leaned his head against Jacelyn’s leg. “You coming, too?”

“I—” His mom stared down at the little boy.
“Sure.” She turned to Hal. “I’ll just ride back to the house with
Kyle.”

“Jacelyn, we’re meeting Craig and his wife
for drinks.”

“Oh, I forgot.”

Tyler’s eyes got really wide. She looked
down, then knelt in front of him. “Did you really want me to come
home with you, Ty?”

“Uh-huh.”

“All right. How about if I go with Professor
Harrington for a half hour? You go back to our house with Kyle and
I’ll meet you there.”

“Can we play Scrabble?”

“Of course. Get the game set up.”

Coach leaned over and swung Ty up to his
chest. “No need to disrupt your plans, Dr. Ross.”

“I’d like to spend time with Tyler,” Jacelyn
said coolly. She turned to Professor Harrington. “Let’s go, Hal.
See you in a bit,” she told the boys.

The three of them walked to the parking lot.
Coach settled Ty into the car, then faced Kyle. “Thanks for doing
this. It wasn’t part of the job description, you know. To watch Ty
at night so I could
socialize.
Just when I had to
work.”

“I want to. Go have fun with your
family.”

“I don’t get to see much of Logan, so I’ll do
that. But I won’t be late.”

“No problem. If Ty gets tired, he can go to
sleep in the spare bed in my room.”

“He has trouble sleepin’ sometimes. But you
can try it. Promise to call my cell if you have any problems?”

“I will.”

Coach clasped him on the shoulder. “We hit
pay dirt, getting you in our lives, Kyle.”

“Thanks, Coach.” The comment felt great. “My
mom, too?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and her seemed mad at each other.”

“Nah. Nothing to be mad about. See you in a
while.” With one last kiss for Tyler, Coach left.

Kyle hummed all the way home. Man, he was
happy. What good luck to have gotten in with Tyler and Coach. He
wondered if his mom felt the same. She seemed upset tonight. He
hoped his father hadn’t done anything to her. This was how she
usually got when she was having man trouble.

o0o

Jacelyn slipped into a peach-colored tank top
and flowered pajama bottoms and sank onto her bed. She was
exhausted, not having slept much last night. She’d tossed and
turned over a kiss that she couldn’t get out of her mind—very
different from the one that Hal had given her at the door just an
hour ago....

“I don’t like this, Jacelyn. You’re spending
a lot of time with those people.”

“Let’s not get into all that now, Hal. I’ve
got to go inside. Good night.” She’d tried for a quick exit before
she said something she’d regret.

“Not so fast.” Without warning he’d grabbed
her and kissed her. It wasn’t pleasant. In the past she’d enjoyed
his affection, even if it was somewhat lukewarm. Now, with the hot
memory of Mike’s mouth on her, his hands on her, Hal’s attentions
were unwelcome milquetoast. She’d wound down the encounter
quickly…

Afterward she’d had a good time with Tyler
and Kyle and Kay. Instead of Scrabble, they’d played a junior
version of Wheel of Fortune that Kyle had bought for Tyler. The
young boy and Jacelyn had challenged the other two kids and they’d
all had fun. When Tyler had begun to yawn, Kay left and Kyle took
Ty to his room to watch a video. Jacelyn had peeked in on them, and
found Ty asleep in one bed, and Kyle dozing in the other.

It was only ten o’clock and she wasn’t ready
for sleep. She picked up a book from her nightstand—one of the
business texts Mike had returned via messenger. He was mad at her,
and she didn’t blame him. Dropping the book to the floor, she got
up and crossed to the wall of oak shelves she’d had a carpenter put
in when she bought this small house after her divorce. They sported
several different kinds of reading material. Some had been gifts
from Kyle and Millie and Eric. She smiled at Millie’s taste.
After the Fire, Someone to Believe In, A Price Worth
Paying
. That was Millie, always the romantic.

Thinking about Millie, Jacelyn picked up the
middle one. She wondered how her friend’s date with Gage was going.
She wondered what the players and coaches routinely did during
their spare time, where they went who they dated.

Oh, hell, truthfully, she wondered what Mike
did, where
he
went who
he
dated. Damn it. She
opened the book. She was into the first chapter when she heard
Tyler cry out. In seconds Kyle came to the door holding the boy;
his legs were wrapped around Kyle’s waist and his arms headlocked
her son. “Mom, I don’t know what to do.”

“What’s wrong?”

“He won’t stop crying. He woke up
calling—”

“Mom-my.” Tyler’s tone broke Jacelyn’s
heart.

Kyle came fully into the room and walked back
and forth, soothing the boy’s back. “Should I call Coach’s
cell?”

“Yes.” Jacelyn pushed away the book. “Here,
give him to me.”

Kyle handed Tyler to Jacelyn and went for her
phone. Tyler was small for his age. She took him onto her lap; he
nuzzled into her chest and locked his arms around her, too. She
soothed down his hair, whispering, “That’s it, little guy. Shh.
It’s okay.”

She heard Kyle in the background. “He’s
crying for his mother, Coach. Okay...sorry to cut your visit
short...” He hung up and came to sit on the edge of the bed.

Jacelyn continued to croon to Tyler and in
minutes, he quieted.

Kyle nodded to the small boy. “That’s
scary.”

“Kids have nightmares, honey.”

“Did I?”

“When your dad left.”

Her grown son sat back and braced his arms
behind him. “I was eleven, Mom.”

“I know. You had them, though.” She smiled
when Tyler nosed into her more. Gently she rubbed his neck. Though
small, he felt solid. “Abandonment issues, I’d guess. Just like
with Ty here.”

“Yeah, well, Dad sure abandoned us.”

“You haven’t heard from him since the other
night?”

“No. He probably won’t come to my concert
Thursday.”

“Want me to call him?”

“Nope. I’m sick of begging for his
attention.” He stretched out at the foot of the bed and nodded to
Tyler. “Coach is so close to Ty.” Kyle picked at the Southwestern
print quilt. “I’m jealous sometimes.”

“Oh, Kyle...”

“Mom, you did a great job. You and me are
cool, so don’t sweat it.”

“I hope so. I love you, buddy.”

“I love you, too.”

He seemed so old lounging there, a dark lock
of hair falling over his forehead. She remembered how, as a child,
they always lazed on her bed like this, talked, read books and
sometimes watched a video. He couldn’t get enough of her time,
then. Now she couldn’t get enough of his.

Looking around the room, he shrugged. “Um,
there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Girls?”

“No. Kay and I are doing great. I like her a
lot.”

“I can tell. She seems to like you, too.”

“I—” The doorbell rang downstairs. Kyle shook
his head and rolled to his feet. “We can talk tomorrow.” He left
Jacelyn wondering what he’d been going to say.

She heard male voices on the first floor,
rumbling on the steps. Then Kyle and Mike appeared in her
doorway.

“Jacelyn, jeez, is Tyler okay?” Mike crossed
immediately to the bed.

“Now he is. He woke up calling for his
mother, Mike.”

He ran a hand through his short hair. “Oh,
hell.” He scowled. “It’s been tough for him. He had a lot of
problems when he first came to live with me, but in the last month,
he seemed to be acclimatin’ better. Poor little guy.” He glanced
around. “Sorry to inconvenience y’all with this.”

“I’m glad I was here to help.”

“I’ll take him now.” Reaching down, Mike
tried to draw Tyler up. But the boy’s arms clenched around Jacelyn.
She lifted him from her end, but he only clutched on to her
tighter. And began to cry again, this time in his sleep. Mike let
go. “Hell.”

“Why don’t I hold him for a while longer?
We’ll wait till he’s in a deeper sleep.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Sit down.”

She was surprised when he dropped onto the
edge of the bed. Kyle took the chair in the corner. They made small
talk about the parade and the team. After nearly five minutes, Mike
tried again to pick up Kyle, but he cried out even harder.

The phone rang—it was Kay. Jacelyn smiled as
Kyle left to take the call in his bedroom. “He’ll be on a
while.”

Mike stared after him. “I remember those
days.”

“Me, too. They were more carefree than I ever
realized.”

He stared hard at her. He seemed about to say
something, but instead nodded to his son. “What’s the game plan
here, do you think?”

“Let’s give him a little more time-out.”

Smiling at her use of sports terminology, he
shrugged off his dark-gray sports coat and tossed it aside. “Mind
if I stretch out, then? I can’t sit too long in one position.”

She shook her head. “No, of course not”

He slid over to the other side and sprawled
on her bed, crooking his elbow and resting his head on his
hand.

She kissed Tyler’s hair. “What was his mother
like?”

Mike’s forehead furrowed in thought. “She was
real pretty.” He reached out and traced Tyler’s brow, his nose, the
curve of his jaw. “He looks like her.”

Jacelyn didn’t say anything.

“She was a...fan of athletes. Picked them to
have flings with, I think. I was a first-round draft choice.”

Chuckling at
his
term, Jacelyn
waited for him to say more.

“She was a pistol and I enjoyed her while it
lasted.”

“What happened?

“The season ended, and she moved to
Cincinnati. I think she traded me for a Red Skin.”

Jacelyn frowned.

“I know what you’re thinkin’.” He nodded to
Ty. “Is he mine?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s okay. I wondered the same thing. He
is. I had DNA tests done. I paid all her expenses through the
pregnancy and birth before I knew for sure, but after he was born,
we did the test.”