Page 10 of Knox (Comeback Duet #2)

CREW

Grabbing my bag, I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where Grady and Knox were sitting at the table.

Usually, I would’ve already been on the road, but since my personal life had taken a different turn this season, I had decided to wait until my son was awake before driving to Arizona for spring training.

“All right, I’m heading out.” I set my bag down so I could hug my guys goodbye.

The drive would take almost twenty-four hours, and I was planning to break it up into two days.

Normally I wouldn’t care, but things were different now.

I wanted more time with Grady, but I also knew this was the life I’d signed up for.

I always chose to drive so I could have my truck with me during the two-month stretch of spring training.

Once the regular season started, my assistant would coordinate with a company to get it back to Portland, since I wouldn’t have two free days to make the trip myself.

What came next was baseball, and long stretches away from Grady, and the kind of schedule that didn’t leave much room for anything else.

“Do you really have to go?” Grady frowned.

“Yeah, bud, I do.”

He slid off his chair and threw himself at me. I crouched and his arms went around my neck. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“I know, but we talked about this. Remember?”

“But you said you were going to be gone a long time.”

Two months. Two long months.

“It will go by super-fast and we’ll video chat every night, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely, and Archer knows to put all of our games on the TV for you to watch.” I’d made sure to pay for all the subscriptions so they could catch every game that was televised.

Things were going really well with Archer too.

We’d hired him right away, but since Mallory was still in the hospital at the time, he hadn’t moved into her house.

I’d started bringing Grady over to her place every day so he could get used to Archer without it feeling forced. They clicked fast, which was nice.

Archer would read books, they built LEGO towers, and Archer would help with lunch and snack time. He got along with everyone, which I figured was part of what made him so good at the job. Even Knox had taken to him.

Now that I was heading to Arizona and Mallory was recovering at home, Archer had officially moved in with her and Grady. Debra was there too, helping out when she could, but she couldn’t keep up with a four-year-old the way Archer could.

“But it’s not the same.” Grady pulled back and looked into my eyes. His little lip wobbled.

I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him against my chest again. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

I glanced at Knox, and he gave me a sad smile. He knew how hard this was for Grady and me. While he and I could look forward to seeing each other when Knox flew down in a few days for spring training, it would be a while before I’d see Grady in person again.

Grady clung to me tighter, his little fists balled in my shirt and his face buried in my neck. I didn’t move, didn’t say anything. I just held him because I wasn’t ready to let him go.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered again.

“Me either, bud, but I have to.”

I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t going to lie to him because two months was forever when you were four, but at the same time, it did pass quickly.

His head lifted, tears running down his cheeks. “Then don’t go.”

If I stayed a second longer, I wasn’t going to make it out of there without breaking down. I forced a smile and wiped under his eye with my thumb. “Spring’s coming. You’ll be at all of the home games, and maybe even some on the road. We’ll make it work.”

He nodded slowly, like maybe he could hold on to that part. “Can I call you before bed tonight?”

“Always. Every night.”

I kissed his forehead and then stood. Knox rose too. He’d kept his distance, letting me have that moment with my son, and I appreciated it more than I could say.

Grady stepped back, wiping his eyes. “Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, G. Be good for Mommy and Archer, okay?”

He nodded again. I grabbed my bag and followed Knox toward the door, but I looked back one more time. Grady hadn’t moved. He just stood there in the kitchen, arms at his sides, watching me walk away. That hit me right in the gut. My throat tightened, and I swallowed hard.

“Text me when you get to the hotel,” Knox said.

I nodded. “Okay.”

His hand brushed my arm. “Drive safe.”

It was something people said all the time, but after what happened to Mallory, it meant so much more. “I will.”

I leaned in and kissed him goodbye.

I dropped my gear bag by the door and rolled my shoulders before kicking off my shoes. Day one of training was done. It wasn’t a hard day, it was just long, and I already felt it in my legs.

The apartment the team had set me up in was fine. It was clean, with basic furniture and a TV mounted too high on the wall. It still smelled faintly like the bacon I’d cooked that morning.

I sat on the couch, grabbed my phone, and video called Knox. It was early evening back home, and Grady would be outside if the weather had held.

Knox answered on the third ring. “Hey. Hang on. G’s up at bat.”

He turned the camera, and there was my son in the backyard with his plastic bat, bundled in a hoodie, sneakers half-tied.

Archer stood a few feet away with a whiffle ball, tossing it underhanded.

Grady swung and made contact. As the ball bounced through the grass, he took off running toward one of the flat plastic bases I’d bought last month.

“Atta boy, G,” Knox cheered.

Archer chased down the ball, laughing.

“You’re gonna wear him out before dinner,” Knox called out.

I leaned forward a little. “He’s getting good.”

Knox adjusted the camera back to Grady. “Yeah. Archer’s been working with him a lot.”

“We all have too,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, and it’s showing,” he agreed.

Archer tossed another pitch. Grady missed it, but Archer gave him a high five anyway, and it stung to watch my guys without me, but I told myself it was okay because I loved seeing Knox with Grady.

Knox was my person and that meant putting him first, even when it hurt.

Even when it meant being on the phone and watching someone else catch for my son.

If Knox was smiling, if Grady was laughing, then I could live with the bruise.

“Well, can I talk to him for a bit before I need to shower and go to bed?”

“Yes, of course. Grady, Daddy’s on the phone!”

Grady ran over, breathless, cheeks flushed. He leaned into the frame, eyes lighting up when he saw me. “Hi, Daddy!”

“Hey, bud. You crushed that ball.”

He beamed. “Did you see it go all the way past the grass?”

“I did. Looked like a double to me.”

He giggled and leaned his head against Knox’s arm. “Archie said if I hit three in a row tomorrow, I get hot cocoa.”

“High stakes.” I smiled. “Think you’re up for it?”

“Yeah, I’m the best like you.” He grinned, then turned away to shout something at Archer. Knox adjusted the camera again, but I didn’t see either of them. Just Grady, swinging the bat in the air like he didn’t want the game to be over.

“You doing okay?” Knox asked me.

“Yeah. Just tired.”

He nodded. “He misses you.”

“I know. I miss him too.”

The words stuck more than I expected. I cleared my throat and looked away from the screen for a second. When I looked back, Grady was still playing, and Knox was still holding the phone.

“I should let you go,” I said.

“You sure?”

No. “Yeah. I need to shower.”

Knox didn’t respond right away. He just watched me for a second, then nodded. “I’ll call you later.”

“Okay.”

He shouted for Grady to say goodbye.

“Bye, Daddy! I love you!”

“Love you too, G.”

The screen went black.

I set the phone face down on the couch cushion beside me and didn’t move for a while.

The apartment was too quiet, and I hated that my son’s laughter was happening over a thousand miles away without me there with him.

I told myself that he was happy and surrounded by people who loved him.

But it didn’t alleviate the ache in my chest.