Page 9 of Home Safe

Danae’s smile warms, and I’m inexplicably compelled to keep that smile on her face as much as possible.

“Promise,” she replies to Sam, then turns back to me. “Thanks again for being so kind to Jason and taking time to tell me about your conversation. And for not making me feel evenmorelike an idiot than I already do from not knowing who you were.”

I give her my most genuine smile. “I’m glad I got to trulymeetyou.”

As she follows Sam back out to the lobby to find Jason, I mull over our interaction. Combing through if I did anything to give off weird vibes. I hope I didn’t.

Because I amextremelyglad I got to meet Danae Collins.

Chapter five

Danae

Getting ready for the second day of camp goes much more smoothly. Jason is awake bright and early, dressed and eager to go half an hour before we need to leave. He spends the extra time spouting off every stat about Griffin West that he can remember.

“Did you know that Griffin West’s nickname is the ‘Wizard of Defense’ because his fielding is out of this world? Hey! I bet that’s why the camp is called ‘Camp Wizard,’ don’t you think?

“You wanna know when Griffin West got drafted? He was only a junior in college—he didn’t even finish college before they wanted him to play! Isn’t that cool?!

“Can you believe that Griffin West only played on the farm team for four years before the Crowns called him up to the big leagues?”

I try to sound like I’m listening by adding in, “Oh wow,” or “How interesting” each time he takes a breath. But really, I’m tuning out all the baseball talk and thinking about what it was like to meet Griffin West in the flesh yesterday.

And making a total fool out of myself by not knowing who he was.

I’ll admit, when Samantha led me down the hallway and I first caught sight of him, I was drawn to the attractive, smiling man standing in front of me. His athletic build—not overly muscular but very fit, with firm-looking biceps and sturdy quads—should have been my first clue that he was, in fact, an athlete. But it’s not like he was wearing hisjersey.Are they called jerseys in baseball? Uniform?He was wearing a blue Camp Wizard shirt and a baseball cap, giving no indication that he was anything more than a regular volunteer.

As we'd walked toward him, his smile widened in a way that can only be described as “charming.” In fact, he oozed charm, but not in an artificial way—everything about his smile and interactions seemed genuine. Then, he shared the story about his heartfelt moment with Jason, as though he somehow understood how much I wouldneedto hear that information.

I was definitely drawn to him.

And then I opened my mouth and sounded like an ignorant idiot. I wish I could go back and shake my past self. Or cover her mouth with duct tape.

“Did you know that Griffin West had a batting average of .311 when he got injured? He had just come into his power when—poof—it looked like it might be over for good.”

Jason’s latest fact pulls my attention out of my reverie.

“Wait, what? Griffin West was injured?” I ask.

Jason nods solemnly. “Last spring. Only a month into the season, he hurt his shoulder. Real bad. The replay videos were—” he breaks off speaking and shudders. “I’m glad he’s all right and back on the team again this season.”

I mull this information over in my mind.This professional athlete apparently came within sight of his career ending, yet he’s still here holding this camp? Surely the upcoming season must be looming over his head. I know that’s all I would be able to think about if I was in his position. Fixating on every possible negative outcome. Obsessing over every possible preparation. It’s impressive that he wouldn’t abandon the camp for a year to focus on getting ready for the season.

I’m suddenly very curious to know the “why” behind Camp Wizard. What drove Griffin to create this experience for foster kids? But just as suddenly, I shut down my curiosity. I amnotinterested in getting sucked into the world of baseball.

Not even by an attractive, charming, thoughtful man. Not if he’s a professional baseball player.

“We’ve gotta go if we want to get there on time,” I tell Jason, shooing him toward the front door.

Twenty minutes later, Jason and several other kids follow a volunteer down the hallway to the practice facility. While I was checking him in, Samantha motioned for me to stick around until she was done.

She turns to me. “So? Do you have your book to go sit and read at a coffee shop all day?”

Laughing, I pull the book out of my bag to show her. “Sure do! I’ll actually get to read my book club book this month. Even if I won’t be able togoto book club to discuss it, at least I’ll get to enjoy the story.”

“Why won’t you be able to go to book club?” Samantha asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh, I don’t really have a lot of babysitting options,” I say. “I mean, Jason’s only been with me for about a month, so I haven’t looked into it a lot yet. But most of my closest friends are also teachers at our school, so I’m afraid it might put them in a little bit of an awkward position to watch Jason when they’re school authority figures.” I sigh. “I’m still figuring things out, I guess.”

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