Page 38 of Harley

“I watched it on the cameras. It was pretty damn funny. I thought Vivie was going to strangle Dad,” I admitted.

Rudy led over a reindeer, “this is Donner.”

“He’s adorable,” Oakley squealed as she reached out to stroke Donner’s velvet nose. Donner snickered, and I smiled. Oakley was in her element as she greeted the reindeer Rudy brought over. She fed them handfuls of leaves and moss and stroked them all.

An hour later, Rudy said he needed to put them into their stables, and Oakley said a sad goodbye.

“How about a walk? The grotto will be lit up,” I suggested.

“That would be wonderful. I’ve heard about the decorations but not seen them,” Oakley answered.

“Well, there’ll be no orgies in the penguin field,” I replied, and Oakley giggled.

“That’s a shame!”

???

Oakley liked seeing the grounds all lit up. For several hours, we wandered around, me pushing the toboggan and Oakley relaxing in it. I took pleasure in seeing Oakley’s enjoyment. Until we hit the baseball diamond.

“What’s that?” Oakley asked.

“A baseball diamond.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, Carmine used to play in it,” I answered stiffly.

“Can I see? I love baseball,” Oakley demanded.

“Sure,” I replied.

Oakley stared at me, puzzled. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Come, I’ll show you it.” I pushed Oakley towards it.

“Something’s off. Let’s go elsewhere,” she suggested.

I sighed. “I played baseball, and I was going to play pro. No lie, I was good. Then, when I was sixteen, some seventeen years olds were picking on Christian about Carmine. Christian wasthirteen, and I went to intervene. I got Christian away safely, but when I turned my back, one of them bashed my brains in.”

“Oh my God,” Oakley gasped.

“I spent a year in a coma. When I came out, I had to learn to walk and talk again. My ball career was over. If you feel the back of my skull, you can feel where doctors removed part of it to let the swelling in my brain out.” The anguish rose inside me. It’d been my companion for a while and slowly faded as my blacksmithing skills grew. I still played, but I didn’t speak about it. Baseball had been my first love, and those assholes had brutally snatched it from me.

“Harley,” Oakley gasped and reached up and grabbed my hand.

“It’s fine. I don’t come here with people. I play against the machine. And I’ve got smithing. It gave me a new joy to replace the one I lost,” I muttered.

“No, it is not okay. I hope those boys were punished,” Oakley hissed.

I laughed. Yeah, they were certainly punished. Mom made sure of that. “Yup, karma got them.”

“Good. You still play, you said.”

“Against the pitching machine. I’ve not played in front of anyone since I woke up and was told I would never be one hundred per cent again,” I replied.

“I understand. Let’s go elsewhere. I’d never want to cause you pain, Harley.”

“Thanks. How about the rose garden?” I suggested, pushing her away. I glanced over my shoulder at the dark diamond and straightened my shoulders.

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