Summer Swing (14 page)

“Did, uh,
Gage
go to bed?”

“He’s asleep on the couch
in the front room
.”

“You go to work
pretty
early. Where do you work?”

“At one-oh-
one
four
.” When he
tipped
his head with question I added, “It’s a radio station.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re
a radio deejay?”

“No,” I smiled. “Maybe someday. For now I do most of the behind-the-scenes stuff. You know, I do all the work and the broadcasters get the fun of delivering it on air,” I
joked
. “But I just started getting a little bit of on-air time in the mornings, so we’ll see where it leads.”

“Hmm,” he nodded his head. “So that’s why Gage is always listening to the radio in the mornings?”

With a smile I replied, “So he’s not just trying to make me feel good by claiming that?”

“No, I’m pretty sure he listens every morning.”

“I’m not on there for
more than
five
minutes, though. It’s just kind of a trial thing right now.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah, I do. For the past year I’ve been doing most of the research on the social scenes, and doing restaurant and other business reviews, but
one of these days
I’d
mostly
just like to stick to
the
music.
”

“Do you go to a lot of concerts and stuff? You guys get perks and stuff like that, right?”

“Yeah, it’s fun. I love live music. We have different artists that buzz through the studio on occasion, and others that we get to meet before shows and stuff.”

“Sounds cool. What kind of music do you listen to? Or who are your favorite artists?”

We talked about music for another
ten
minutes, and I even learned a few of Tyse’s favorite artists. I wasn’t surprised with some of them, but I
was
surprised that he also listened to stuff like
Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Bob Dylan was actually
one of
his favorite
musician
s
.

“Have you seen ‘No Direction Home’?” I asked him.

He slowly shook his head. “I don’t think so. What is it?”

“It’s a Dylan documentary. The most recent one, but it’s from a few years ago. I’ll bring it by sometime if you want. It’s
interesting
.”

“Hmm, sounds cool. I’ve seen a couple of his other documentaries, but not that one I guess.”

I looked at my watch again. “Sheesh, I really need to get home. Uh… Well, I’ll see you around I guess…”

He nodded. “Yep, I’ll be around. Either here or at the ballpark.”

“Do you, uh, know if you’re going to be pitching anytime soon? I heard that you were waiting on some kind of clearance to play or something.”

He eyed me for a second. Maybe he was wondering how or where I
’d
heard that. But eventually he replied, “Actually I’m pitching tomorrow. Got the okay,” he added, opening and closing his hand.

“Tomorrow, huh? I’d like to say I’d come
,
but I might be asleep on my desk at the end of the workday,” I joked. I couldn’t help it when I yawned for real.

He smiled and shook his head. “Nah, don’t waste your time. It’s kind of a trial outing to see how I do for my first game in a while. It m
ight even be just for an inning,
I don’t know.”

“Well I’d like to be there, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Tyse.”

He only nodded his head as I left the kitchen, and I realized that was the first time I’d even said his name
out loud
.

I found my jacket and purse in the front entry, and I glance
d
at Gage still sleeping on the couch. I wanted to cover him with a blanket or something, but I was afraid I’d wake him up. For some reason I was embarrassed to still be at his house an hour-and-a-half after he’d fallen asleep.

Wes was just pulling in as I got into my car. He told me goodnight and waved, but I felt obligated to warn him that Gage was asleep on the couch, and I didn’t want him to be woken up. He was planning on going through the back entrance anyway, so I was glad for that.

On my drive home I felt a little pleased. I felt like I’d accomplished a lot just by getting to know Tyse a little, and I hoped that he didn’t feel so excluded from his housemates anymore. Maybe he just needed a friend after all.

Chapter Eight

Gage was pretty surprised to see me on Monday evening when I showed up for the game at six o’clock.
Occasionally I showed up to games he wasn’t expecting me at, but this time I had specifically told him I wouldn’t be there because I had extra work to take care of.

He kissed me hello when he saw me arrive, and he even stood and talked with me for a
few
minute
s
. On days that he didn’t pitch he claimed that he sure didn’t do much.

“So Wes said you were jus
t leaving the house when he came
home last night,” Gage mentioned. “He said it was after midnight. Did you fall asleep on the couch, too?”

I was wondering if Wes’s sighting of me would come up, so I wasn’t exactly surprised. “Uh, no. I watched the news for a little bit, and then I cleaned up the kitchen. I also talked to Tyse for a few minutes before I left,” I added. I figured Gage could possibly already know that if Tyse mentioned it to him.

“Tyse
actually talked to you?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, a little.”

“About what? The best ways to avoid being around people?”

I smiled. “No, but I don’t think he hears you guys knock on his door because he’s always got headphones on,” I informed him. “Maybe you should find a different way to get his attention when you want to.”

“Why? He seriously
doesn’t talk at all, Ellie. H
e’s just not a social guy. He doesn’t want to be around any of us. He just comes to play baseball, and when he’s done, he returns to his own little world—whatever
that
is.”

“Probably his music. But I have to disagree with you, Gage. I think he just needs friends or something. I don’t know, I’m no expert, but maybe he just doesn’t
realize
he could use some friends. He’s away from home, playing ball with a bunch of guys he doesn’t know—just like you. You’ve made friends easily, but you’re kind of from the area, so maybe that helps. And maybe he just has a different background that makes him feel like he doesn’t fit in.”

“Well you’ve got that right,” he kind of murmured.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “I should join my team, Elle. I’m glad you’re here. I wish you could sit with me, though,” he smiled.

I returned the smile. “Me too.” 

He kissed m
e and said, “Enjoy the game. It’ll be a good
one.” His look suddenly changed and he studied me for a moment.

“What’s the matter?”
I asked.

“Is that why you’re here? Because Tyse is pitching?”

I didn’t answer at first. It was, but I loved being at the ballpark
because
Gage
was there.

“
Kind of,” I answered honestly. “I mean he said he was going to pitch today—like his trial outing or something like that—and I said that I’d like to see him pitch.”

His mouth sort of twitched funny and I decided he
probably
wasn’t happy to hear that
.

“I love being here because
you’re
here, Gage. That’s the main reason I
come
.”

“But you just said you told Tyse you wanted to see him pitch. You’re here to see him pitch.”

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?
And there’s no way I’d even be here if
you
weren’t here, too.
”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“I’m sorry if that bothers you,” I told him. “Maybe I should just leave. I’m sorry, Gage—”

“No, don’t leav
e, Ellie,” he said, lightly taking
my
hand
. He sighed. “I’m not opposed to being friends with the guy—he’s my teammate and it
’s good to get along with your
teammates—but I don’t really want
you
being friends with him.”

“But I’m just trying to—”

“I know you’re just trying to be nice to him and make him feel accepted—and that’s fine because you care about people
in
that
way
—but I’d rather you not spend any time around him, Ellie.”

“Gage that’s sweet that you’re jealous, but there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

He smiled
b
ut said, “I’m not jealous, Ellie.”

Oh, so it was a
sympathetic
smile because I’d totally jumped to conclusions. I felt like an idiot.
“Oh, um…sorry, I just thought…”

“Ellie,” he said softly with a smile. “Yeah, under normal circumstances I would be jealous, but Tyse isn’t the type of guy I need to be jealous about. I don’t want you around him because I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I don
’t know what that means, Gage. –B
ecause he looks a little rough around the edges? I was really judgmental the first time I saw him, too. I was unfair and automatically deemed him to be an ex-con or something,” I chuckled. “I feel bad I was that mean
,
but now that I—”

“He
is
an ex-con,” he said quietly. He gave me a long stare to make sure I’d heard him.

“What?”
I said anyway.

Gage sighed. “Please
don’t let this get out, okay? –B
ecause we were told not to spread it around and stuff. Before Tyse arrived on the team, one guy made mention of it, everyone started talking, and coach put a gag order on us. It’s true, though. He’s served time, Ellie.”

I was a little speechless. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d heard that twenty-four hours ago, but now that I’d spent time talking to Tyse…

“Time for what?” I asked softly.

Gage shrugged. “I really don’t know, but all I he
ard is that he served two years
. That can’t be good. Now I know that everyone deserves a second chance, but I just want to make sure that you’re safe, okay?” He put his hand against my face and looked me in the eye. “Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

I sighed and slightly nodded. “Yes, I do. But—”

“But
you still want to befriend him
anyway,” he stated. He sighed and looked away for a
few seconds. Then he returned his eyes to me and, surprisingly, said, “Yeah, w
e can do that
. B
ut I don’t want you alone with him, okay? Please?” I nodded and he gave me a kiss on the lips. “I really need to join my team, okay? And you look really tired, by the way,” he said with a tiny smile. “Maybe you should go home and get some sleep.”

H
e kissed me once more and then returned to the dugout. I’ll admit that
my happy mood crumbled apart. I ha
d felt terrible that I’d judged Tyse like that, and then it ended up being true? I couldn’t help but reflect on my conversation with him the night before. The things he had said about his family wanting to forget him, or “mistakes are made and lessons are learned.” Maybe Tyse really did have a rough upbringing—we can’t choose the
life we’re born into, can we?
But it sounded like he wanted to do the right things
now
, and I felt like those were the efforts I needed to appreciate.

Because
Tyse
had warned me his first “outing” might not be so gr
eat,
I wasn’t expecting what a
ctually happened that evening. But f
rom the start I could tell that Tyse was doing well
, and I had to conclude that his own predicti
on of the game was a bit humble
and Gage’s assessment that it was going to be a good one was probably more accurate
.

He struck out the first three batters pretty quickly, and then he did the same the next inning. We had two runs going into the third
,
and
then
Tyse wrung up
the next
three batters just as fast as
the
first six. I think the crowd began feeling an energy that they hadn’t felt before, especially because we were actually getting on base and advancing runners. The offense felt a spark of
adrenaline,
and they began producing
hits
they hadn’t been able to produce
so far
.