The Changeup (Men of the Show) (16 page)

“Do you watch a lot of baseball, Maddie?” Rick surprised her by asking the question unexpectedly.

“To be honest, I didn’t watch it much before we met Chase. He’s sparked interest in the house.”

“So you don’t know much about his stats or anything?”

She felt herself flush when she recognized this was the beginning of his cross-examination. If she didn’t get the answers right, she would fail. “No, I can’t say I do. Jerry explained some to me and Chase said he would answer any question I had, but we haven’t had much time for lessons.”

“What did Jerry tell you?”

“He explained to me how talented Chase is and that what he’s been able to accomplish this year as a rookie is truly amazing.”

“You didn’t know this before you met him?” Rick glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Maddie heard the silent accusation in his words and it immediately put her on the defense. “I didn’t know the name Chase Patton at all, and even after that, I didn’t care. He made my daughter happy and that was all that mattered at that point.”

“And what about now?”

“What about now?” she asked not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.

He turned in his seat to face her. “Now what do you know about Chase Patton?”

She took a deep breath and struggled for control. She could feel her eyes watering up as they did when she was frustrated or angry. Now would not be the time to start crying, since he would just think she was a crazy, overemotional female. “I know that he’s a great man. He’s kind, generous and very dedicated. I think that’s what makes him successful on the field, but it also makes him a wonderful person, which is more important to me, even if people don’t believe it.”

Rick didn’t say anything else, but his gaze lingered on her for a second before turning his attention back to the field. She couldn’t be certain, but in that split second before he turned away, she could have sworn she saw something that she hadn’t expected—progress. She knew for certain, though, when a few seconds later he handed her his jacket without saying a word.

Chapter Sixteen

At the end of the game, with the Rockets’s win, Maddie stood with the rest of the Detroit fans clapping in appreciation. Chase had thrown an excellent game, succeeding in striking out twelve batters in all before his coach took him out in the eighth inning. Rick had explained to her that the coaches still wanted to limit the number of pitches Chase threw in a game and once he got around the one-hundred-pitch mark, they didn’t hesitate to pull him in order to rest his arm. There was still so much to learn, but she felt as if she was beginning to understand how things worked and why things happened when they did.

She started to round up Bree so they could head back to the hotel when Rick stopped her. “We’re going to head over to the visitor’s dugout. He’ll come out before he heads to the shower.”

Following him, they wound their way through the stands.

“Just give him a few minutes.” Rick looked back at the visitor’s dugout. “He’ll wait a few minutes so a lot of the crowd can file out.”

Maddie nodded and stood with Bree in front of her as his parents stood together waiting patiently. There was some shuffling behind her and she turned, thinking she needed to get out of the way of a cleaning crew or something, and was startled when she found a microphone and a camera in her face instead.

“Hi, Keith Sharp, Everything Detroit Sports,” a fresh-faced, young reporter said. “You’re waiting for Chase, right?”

“Um...” Her face flushed with heat as she looked to his parents for help. She was definitely unprepared for this. It was one thing to have to contend with the media happening behind-the-scenes without her direct involvement, as much as she didn’t like it, but she had absolutely no idea what to do with it right in her face.

“You’re the one he brought onto the field the night of his no-hitter, correct?”

“Uh...” She shoved Bree toward his mom, trying to make sure she was out of the picture.

“Are you his girlfriend?” Keith pressed, his perfect white teeth displayed in a shameless grin.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant to anything here,” Maddie finally managed to stammer.

“After that kiss, people want to know. They’re interested.” He flashed that bright, perfect smile again.

“Well, I doubt that’s the case, but I’ll leave it to Chase to give any specifics about his personal life. I don’t really think that’s my place.” She moved to get out of the sight of the camera’s eye and away from the microphone, but the reporter only followed her and blocked her escape.

“Now come on,” Rick said from behind them. “The lady doesn’t want to talk to you and I think you should respect her privacy.”

The reporter spun around and shoved the microphone in Rick’s face. “I just want some answers. It’s as simple as that. I see that she’s here with you, and I know you’re his parents, so I can make my own assumptions, which may be wrong, or I can get the information right. What can you tell me? Everybody wants to know who managed to capture the heart of the possible Rookie of the Year.”

“Come on, Keith. Leave them alone.”

Everyone turned at Chase’s voice and saw him standing on the other side of the low wall. Keith turned to the camera to give the cut sign and the lights went out.

“I just want the scoop, Chase. Come on.”

Chase reached over the railing and hoisted Bree up into his arms. “There’s no scoop, Keith. I told you this before. It’s my private life. Let’s leave it at that. If you want to talk baseball, I have no problem with that.”

“You know people are going to start digging. They already have. Pretty soon you guys will be out in the open,” Keith insisted.

“Then we’ll deal with that when we come to it.”

Keith sighed. “Fine, man. Off the record?”

“Off the record, this is Bree and that’s Maddie, but that’s all you know,” Chase said as he pointed at them.

Keith grinned at Maddie. “Sorry about that. I’m just trying to do my job.”

She raised her brow, but didn’t say anything more. She thought the guy was rude and pushy, even if he was trying to do his job. After he’d walked away, she turned back to Chase.

“Why did you tell him our names?”

“Because he’s going to find out anyway.” When she didn’t say anything, Chase gave her a knowing look. “You knew this was a possibility. We’ve talked about this.”

“I know, I know. It’s just one thing to talk about it and something totally different to experience it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said and looked guilty knowing he was the cause of it.

“No, no. It’s not your fault.” Maddie gave him a bright smile, pushing away her irritation and wanting nothing more than to kiss him, but she didn’t feel comfortable doing that in front of his parents or anyone else who might be watching. She’d learned her lesson. “Great game.”

“Thanks.” Chase, on the other hand, didn’t care who was around and pulled her in for a kiss with his free hand. He smirked at her when she backed away and blushed before turning to Bree. “And I love your jersey. Where did you get that?”

“Your dad gave it to me. It’s pink!”

“I know and I’m shocked they’re allowed to make pink jerseys with my name on them. I’m going to have to talk to someone about that.” He laughed as she giggled and then looked at his dad. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You did a great job out there. Twelve strikeouts.”

“Thanks. I felt good. Everything felt good tonight.”

“What’d you say we’ll head back to the hotel and meet you in the lobby? We’ll go get you something to eat,” his dad suggested.

After finalizing the plans with Chase, they made their way out of the stadium and started the walk back to the hotel. Halfway there, Maddie could tell Bree was tired after a long day and a lot of walking.

“Bree, honey, do you want me to carry you?”

She started to nod and turn to her mother when Rick stepped between them. “Let me. It’ll be easier for me to carry her.”

She looked at Bree, waiting for her reaction, but she apparently didn’t care who carried her. She was so tired, she was just happy to be off her feet. She let Rick pull her into his arms and tucked her head against his shoulder as she closed her eyes.

“Thank you,” Maddie said to him.

He nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything more as he walked ahead with Bree securely tucked in his arms.

“He always wanted a little girl,” Anne said quietly as they looked at her husband’s back. “He wanted to carry them like little princesses and protect them from the world, and now he’s got the chance.”

“You both are too kind. I can’t thank you enough for accepting Bree like you have.”

“It’s important to Chase and so it’s important to us.” Anne looked at Maddie. “And what about your family? Are they accepting of Chase?”

Maddie thought about her recent encounter with Sandy and the one that was sure to follow with Lenore. “Um, I can’t say that they’re tremendously happy with the situation, but not because of Chase.”

“What then?”

She sighed and thought back on what Chase had said to Sandy about being happy for her aunt. “I think my family has a hard time with me being happy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, me too.”

They stepped into the lobby and walked over to one of the muted green floral couches. Maddie noticed that Bree was dead asleep in Rick’s arms. Sitting down on a couch, she held out her arms. “I can take her.”

He gently deposited her slumbering daughter in her arms and she held her tightly against her chest. She kissed the top of her head enjoying the rare moment of closeness since she hadn’t held Bree like this in a long time. It made her long for another baby.

They waited quietly for Chase, watching all the people come and go in the lobby. Maddie spotted a group of women wearing short, tight dresses and lots of makeup and wondered why they were all hanging out by the front door. She realized a moment later that she was looking at the infamous groupies when the team bus pulled up and the players started making their way into the hotel. She watched as the girls posed and flirted, hoping to catch a player’s eye. A few players glanced in their direction, but continued past them to the elevators. When Chase entered through the doors, she noticed a tall blonde stand up straighter and saunter in his direction. To his credit, he walked right by her without so much as a peek as he headed in their direction.

“Hey guys, sorry it took so long.” He looked down at Bree in Maddie’s arms. “She conked out, huh?”

Maddie suppressed the urge to snicker when the tall blonde gave a huff before stomping away. “Yeah, it’s been a long day for her. She made it as long as she could, but don’t let us stop you. You go ahead with your parents and get something to eat. I’ll take her up to the room.”

“I want to spend some time with you guys, though. We’ll get a booth and she can lay down in it.” He reached down and pulled Bree into his arms without disturbing her. “Come on.”

Maddie followed Chase and Bree into the hotel restaurant and sat down in the booth next to his parents. Chase took the other side with Bree so she could lay with her feet in his lap and her head pillowed by his father’s jacket. She slept all through dinner, but woke up as they were finishing.

Chase grinned down at her as she awoke. “Hey! Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up and join us.”

She sat up, rubbing her eyes against the glare of the lights, but smiled sleepily as she nuzzled into his side. He put his arm around her and held her against him. “Are you thirsty or hungry or anything? Do you want some ice cream?” He asked with a devious arch of his brow.

She nodded against his side, but still kept her face hidden. He chuckled and signaled for the waiter. After he ordered a hot fudge sundae, he looked at Maddie and shrugged. “I think we can spoil her tonight.”

She laughed. “Who am I to say otherwise?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll help her eat it.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that. I’ll just make sure to send her to your room when she’s bouncing off the wall from the sugar in the middle of the night.”

“I wouldn’t mind it, but Smutty might since he has to pitch tomorrow night,” he said with a grin.

After dinner, everyone walked to the elevators. Chase stepped out when it stopped on his parents’ floor and Maddie and Bree said good-night to Anne and Rick.

“Thanks for coming today and spending time with Bree and Maddie,” he said to his parents.

“It was our pleasure,” Rick said, to Maddie’s surprise.

“Can you do breakfast in the morning, honey?” Anne asked.

“Yeah. Why don’t we meet in the lobby and we’ll go to breakfast before I have to be back here for the bus.”

Chase gave his parents a hug before stepping back into the elevator. He walked with Maddie and Bree to their room and closed the door behind him.

“Tell Chase good night, Bree, brush your teeth and then go into the other room and get ready for bed. I’ll come and tuck you in.”

“I want both of you to tuck me in.”

“Oh.” Maddie looked at him questioningly. “It’s okay with me if he wants to.”

“Definitely.”

Bree beamed as she skipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Chase sat down on the couch and motioned for her to sit next to him.

“How bad was it today?” he asked as he put his arms around her.

She snuggled into his side. “It wasn’t too bad. Your father is still on the fence about us, but I think I made some progress there.”

“You definitely did. I was very surprised to see how quickly he took to Bree. My mom, that didn’t surprise me at all, but he did.”

“You of all people should know it doesn’t take her long to make people succumb to her will.”

“She’s an evil little girl.” He smirked before leaning in to kiss her. “They like you. I can tell they do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said. “They’re just worried about everyone else.”

She leaned back and closed her eyes. “Join the club.”

He started to ask what she meant, but Bree bounded back into the room clad in her pajamas. “I’m ready for bed.”

Maddie stood up with a groan. “Okay. Let’s get into bed.”

Chase followed her into the adjoining bedroom and sat on the opposite side of the bed as Maddie tucked the blankets around Bree. She leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I love you, baby. Sleep tight.”

“I love you too, Mommy.”

Chase reached out and pinched her nose. “Thanks for coming to my game today and wearing my jersey.”

Bree reached out for a hug. He leaned in and her arms went around his neck giving him a light squeeze. “I love you, Chase.”

He froze in place and Maddie’s eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t at all surprised that Bree would feel this way and she wasn’t even very surprised that she would voice it to him, but she wasn’t sure what he was going to say. She hoped Bree hadn’t put him in a position where he would have to let her down gently. He closed his eyes for a second before leaning back and smiling down at her, his face filled with warm affection.

“I love you too, kiddo.”

Maddie stood up abruptly and turned off the light by the bed. “Get some sleep, Bree. It’s very late.”

She walked quickly out the bedroom and waited for him to follow before leaving the door open a crack behind them. When he turned to face her, she was quick to voice her concern. “Please don’t say things to her that you don’t mean,” she said in a low, pleading tone.

He frowned. “Do you think I would just say what I thought she wanted to hear?”

“I don’t know, but I’m asking you not to do that.”

“You don’t know? You don’t know?” There was an icy edge to his voice and anger sparked in his eyes. “I would hope you know by now that I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“And you think I’m going to hurt her?” When she didn’t answer, Chase swore and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how else to convince you that I’m not out to hurt you or Bree. I’m crazy about her. You should realize that by now. I know you’re worried about her getting hurt, but I promise you, I’m not here to do that. I want her happiness just as much as you do.”

Maddie’s eyes welled up at his words. “Promise me, Chase. Promise me you won’t hurt her. She can’t take another man turning his back on her.”