Page 7 of The Perfect Catch

Studying those two, I just hoped my best friend would be able to keep my secret.

Chapter 5

Dax

The drive home took a few extra minutes as I got stuck behind a passing train. I pulled into the small lot of trailers, parking behind my grandmother’s old paint-peeling van. I blew out a breath, steeling myself for whatever I would find when I got in there. At least my dad wasn’t home yet.

With two hands, I had to jerk the door open to get inside, making sure it didn’t swing back to hit the trailer and ding it up any more than it already had. I hadn’t had time to fix the door since school started. All my dad wanted to do when he got home was eat, drink, and watch TV, meaning all the little things that needed fixing were relegated to me.

“Dax! Dax! He’s got my doll!” wailed Bree, my eight-year-old sister. She waved down at the other end of the hall where Karsten, my thirteen-year-old brother, stood waving the doll back and forth. I usually didn’t care about their fights, but I saw the familiar brown hair and flowered dress and strode toward him.

“Karst, give it back. You know Mom made that.”

He ducked out of sight, and I found him huddled behind the door to my grandma’s room. She was asleep on the bed, her heavy breathing turning into little snores. I grabbed the doll from him and pulled him out of the room, closing the door softly behind me.

In a harsh whisper, I said, “Can’t you just leave her alone for two minutes?”

He glanced down, his jaw tense and the vein in his neck popping out a bit. “You’re not Dad.”

“I know, but use your head.” I relaxed some and pulled him toward me, blowing out a breath so I could calm down. “How was school today? Do you have any homework?” I handed the doll to Bree.

“What happened to your face?” Karston asked, pointing to my jaw. Bree stepped closer to take a look too.

I opened my mouth, flinching as the pain from the bruise shot through the area. After only a few hours, I’d already forgotten about it. “I, uh, punched some kid at school.” I glared at him and said, “But you better not do that. I’m already in more trouble than I can deal with.”

After the fascination of the injury subsided, Bree shook her head and danced around with her doll in the air. “I don’t have homework. We finished it all in class today.”

I had to look away, the doll still bringing back a flood of memories of the time a year ago when Mom had made it for her, right before she died of breast cancer. If only things could have turned out differently. I wished she could have been there to mother us all instead of leaving me to be big brother and semi-parent during the times when my dad was on the road.

“I’ve got a little reading to do, but other than that, I’m all caught up,” Karsten said, toeing the ripple in the carpet floor.

“Sounds good. Your grades are all good, right?” My words caught in my throat, and I tried not to worry about how weird it was to be asking the brother five years younger than me about his schoolwork.

He nodded, and Bree joined in. “Yup. We’re good. I just need a signature on this one paper from Dad.”

I took a step over to the cabinets and opened them, finding just a few packaged goods. “I have to head to work tonight, but can you make this for you and Bree, Karsten?” I held up a box of macaroni and cheese. “I think there’s still some soup in the fridge you can warm up for Noni. Make sure she gets her medicine on time.”

Karsten’s nose scrunched in disgust. “Again?”

His response brought on the anxiety I’d felt over the last year, where I wasn’t sure if we’d make it through another week together. There was so much pressure on my shoulders, and I didn’t really have anyone I could vent to. Jake knew a little about my situation, but sharing it with any of the other guys was out of the question.

“Dad should be home tomorrow, and I promise I’ll take you to the store and let you pick out what you want when he gives us the food money. Sound good?” I raised an eyebrow and waited for his answer.

“I’m getting cereal,” Bree shouted, holding her doll up high in the air as she spun around in a circle.

I walked down to the small area where I had some drawers and changed into a shirt that I wouldn’t worry about getting grease stains on. I grabbed my work hat and walked back to the door.

“Okay, get your homework done, and then you can watch a movie. Get to bed by eight thirty, and we’ll do something fun tomorrow night, got it?” I pointed at each of them. “Mind Noni. Don’t cause problems and help each other out, all right?”

When they both nodded, I headed out of the trailer and got back into my car. I sighed once inside, feeling the exhaustion creep into my upper body. There had to be more to life than just working and school. Just another reason I couldn’t let Mr. McKee suspend me—baseball was an escape from real life.

I’d never been one to think about going to college, but I needed some way to escape this life, the constant lack of money and trying to keep my head above water. I needed to make some plans for my future because I wasn’t going to stay in a trailer park for the rest of it.

Chapter 6

Kate

“You want to ask who to the dance?” Brynn asked over the phone.

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