Page 18

18

Chase

Gage and I sat together on our deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was our favorite way to relax after a long day at work or whatever else we had going on.

“Should I grill tomorrow night?” my husband asked, taking a long sip from his beer.

“You know the kids will be starving when they get here and will eat whatever you put in front of them.” I chuckled.

Our “kids” weren’t kids anymore. Tyler was married and lived in Boston with his husband, Hayden. Jase and Dylan were about to start their third year at UCLA, and Cammie was thinking about colleges and would be leaving us the following fall. But no matter how old they got, I assumed we’d always refer to them as the kids.

“True. It’s going to be nice having all of them home for a night. I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

Tyler and Hayden visited the West Coast occasionally due to their jobs at The Hub, a media corporation Hayden’s family owned. Tyler worked in their entertainment department, while Hayden was a sports photographer who happened to be in town to cover the Padres and Red Sox series.

Since they were visiting, Jase and Dylan decided to drive down from LA. Even though it was summer, the two of them lived in an apartment near campus year-round.

“Ahh. Look at you being sentimental.” I nudged him with my knee.

He rolled his eyes. “Like you don’t miss the boys as much as I do.”

It was true. When I retired from baseball a decade ago, the thing I looked forward to the most was spending more time with Jase and Cammie. Not long after, I got together with Gage and we blended our families. Watching them grow into young adults had been the happiest time in my life, but it also passed in a blur.

“Yeah, yeah,” I teased, but my phone buzzing on the small table in front of us stopped me from saying anything else.

My agent’s name flashed on the screen. “This might be about my contract negotiation.”

I’d been working for Padres Live as a sports analyst, and my contract was expiring at the end of the current season. I was hopeful they wanted to keep me on.

I swiped the screen to answer and put the phone to my ear. “Hey, Toby. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, man. I’ve got some news for you.”

I leaned back in my seat. “Did the network send over an offer?”

“Actually, I just got off a call with Anthony Lanning, the GM for the Portland Seawolves,” he explained. “They’ve hired Aron Parker as their manager, and your name was mentioned when they began discussing who to hire as the bench coach.”

“Are you serious?” I sat up straighter. The MLB adding two new teams to the league had created a lot of buzz, and I’d been keeping up on the news, but hearing that my name had come up in discussions was surprising.

“Sure am.”

I let out a sharp breath. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”

“They’ll want to conduct an interview, but the front office assured me they want you on their staff.”

Besides coaching our sons’ travel ball team when they were younger, I didn’t have any experience with the job, but the possibility of working in the MLB again had crossed my mind over the years. I’d always assumed I would have to make the first move instead of a team reaching out to me if it was something I wanted to pursue. And to coach with a former teammate who I considered to be a close friend felt almost too good to be true.

“I need to talk to Gage before I agree to anything.”

“Of course,” Toby replied.

“Wait. What about my job with the network?”

“Well, the timing couldn’t be better since you haven’t signed a contract extension,” he replied. “You just focus on your family and call me as soon as you make a decision.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

We hung up, and I turned to Gage.

“So you need to talk to me about something?” He smirked.

“Uh, yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair. “It sounds like the Seawolves are interested in offering me a job.”

His eyes widened. “Portland? Really?”

I nodded. “Aron’s managing, and they want me to be his bench coach.”

Gage laced his fingers with mine. “This is exciting news. Why do you look so worried?”

A part of me wanted to jump for joy and tell Toby to set up the interview as soon as possible, but I also didn’t want to be selfish. A decision like this meant lots of things to consider.

“I am excited, but it’s a huge decision. We’ve got a life here, and what about your teaching job?”

He snorted. “They do have schools in Portland.”

“Okay. What about the kids?”

“You mean the ones who already moved out or the one who’s leaving in a year?”

I sighed. “She still lives here right now.”

He nodded. “Well, I assume you won’t have to leave until spring training. Then, it’s only a couple of months before Cammie graduates. I’m sure we can work something out with Jamie.”

My ex-wife and I co-parented better than anyone else I knew, and I was positive she’d help in any way possible to make things easy if I accepted the job.

“Do you really think we can do this?”

“If it’s what you want, we can figure everything else out.”

I let out another long breath and looked out at the waves crashing against the sand below. “I think I want to do it.”

The smell of steak hit me as I carried a bowl of fruit to the deck. Gage manned the grill while Jase and Dylan told Tyler and Hayden about a party they’d thrown the night before.

Cammie was curled up in a chair nearby scrolling through her phone and glancing up occasionally to playfully insult one of her older brothers. Teasing them was one of her favorite pastimes.

“Anyone want a beer?” Gage asked, opening the mini-fridge under the counter of our outdoor kitchen.

“I do,” all the guys said at the same time.

“Me too,” Cammie added, reaching out like she expected Gage to hand her one.

“Nice try.” He laughed. “You can have one in a few years.”

“You guys never let me have any fun,” she huffed, taking the soda I offered instead.

“That’s what happens when you’re the youngest in the family,” Jase joked.

“Whatever. I’ll be at college next year and then I can do whatever I want.”

“Excuse me?” I lifted a brow.

“You never said anything when my brothers talked about what they got up to at college. All the frat parties Jase and Dylan attended, and you got over Tyler dating his professor pretty quickly.” She stuck her tongue out at her brothers. “It shouldn’t be different for me.”

Tyler barked out a laugh. “She’s got you there.”

Cammie grinned at her oldest brother and I grumbled, “I guess not.” Damn, I hated when my kids outsmarted me.

“Time to eat,” Gage announced, placing a platter of delicious-looking rib eyes in the middle of the table.

Once everyone had dished up their food, I cleared my throat. “Since you’re all here, I have some news to share.”

Five sets of eyes turned to me, and for just a moment, I second-guessed my decision. Moving to Portland would affect everyone, and I didn’t want to do anything that might upset our family life.

Perhaps sensing my hesitancy, Gage squeezed my leg under the table, encouraging me to continue. “I got a call from my agent yesterday, and I have an interview with the Portland Seawolves for a coaching job.”

Jase was the first to respond. “That’s awesome.”

Dylan, Tyler, and Hayden all joined in, offering their congratulations.

“Did you say Portland? Like, as in Oregon?” Cammie asked.

“That’s where Portland’s located, duh.” Dylan smirked.

She smacked his arm. “There’s another one in Maine.”

Dylan’s arrogant grin fell. At least I wasn’t the only one Cammie outsmarted regularly.

Cammie looked at me. “Do I have to move too?”

“I won’t have to leave until spring training, and even then, I’ll be in Arizona. We’re going to work out something with your mom so you can finish high school here. Then you can visit us in Oregon as much as you want until you leave for college.”

“I can live with that,” she said with a small smile before cutting into her steak.

We chatted a little longer about the new team before the kids went back to roasting each other. As I looked around the table, it hit me. No one had been upset or angry about my announcement. They were just happy for me.

With their support, the decision to pursue the coaching job suddenly felt like the easiest thing in the world. And suddenly, I couldn’t wait to join a team again.