Page 51 of Go Away, Darling

I wrote her a goddamned love note.

A love note.The fuck? But that’s where we were and it was what needed doing.

Liv,

I miss you. I want to grow old with you. I want to coach all of Linc’s fall ball games and kiss you goodnight. I want to drink whiskey as we watch the sunset each night and then take you to bed. It’s an adventure I can’t have with anyone but you.

Love,

Chris

It took me two hours and almost an entire notebook of paper to get that simple little note right. And maybe a few of the guys helped. I left it tucked in with the chocolates.

Then Summer handed Linc off to me for adventure club. This week they were collecting and identifying shells on the beach. It was the perfect day for this activity since there had just been a tropical depression that moved through. It churned up the Gulf and brought ashore items that wouldn’t normally wash up on the beach. It was also why we were having to supervise the kids more than normal. They were all islanders, so they knew their jellyfish from their plastic, but some kids just can’t help putting their fingers in light sockets, if you know what I mean.

“Julian!” Isaac Anson yelled at the nine year old ten feet away. “Donottouch that crab again. Let it go!”

The crab was very much alive and just trying to get back in its hidey hole. We’d chased Julian off three times already. The kid just wouldn’t quit. “I think we’re going to have to redirect.” Isaac started teaching me parenting words like “redirect” when I helped him coach fall ball.

He found this hilarious. “You’re doing well young padawan.” He patted my shoulder. “Julian! Go help Rosalinda carry the buckets.”

Julian gave one last forlorn look at his prize crab and finally ran the thirty yards down the beach to where a group of kids were lining up the buckets we’d given them for group inspection. We had to keep the kids out of the water today because the weather was still fairly windy which was causing the rip currents to be stronger than usual and giving the stingrays a playground just a few meters offshore. We could see their wings popping out of the waves every few seconds as they swarmed.

The last thing either of us wanted or needed was to perform a water rescue in these conditions.

Linc squatted in front of the dead horseshoe crab we flipped over so the kids could inspect the body hidden under the hard outer shell. He pointed at something and looked up at Isaac’s daughter, Rosie.

“You ever miss it?” I asked. I didn’t need to say what “it” was. Isaac Anson played baseball before me and he wasgood.Could have been legendary good. He lasted about a second in the minors before getting called up to St. Pete. He played one magical season, breaking records and probably hearts, and then he suddenly retired, never playing another professional game.

His brother Everett had a similar story. He lasted two very promising seasons in the minors and then also retired.

The mystery of the Anson brothers was one of those that came up in locker rooms every so often. Usually deep into the season when everyone was tired of traveling and worried about the future.Remember that guy that just...quit? What’s he doing now?

Now I knew. Isaac became a father. I didn’t have the details or even the full circumstances, but between what Isaac mentioned and Trent’s gossiping, the gist I got was that he was an instant single dad and needed to come home to run the family business. It didn’t make sense to me. He had a very lucrative career at his feet. He just needed another year, maybe two, to reap the full benefits. With that kind of money he could set himself and his daughter up for life.

But instead he quit and came home. It was the kind of story I wanted to fix, even though it wasn’t mine to touch, mostly because I could see it in his eyes when we were coaching. Isaac missed baseball.

Not that his life wasn’t good. He seemed happy and they didn’t hurt for money at all.

Isaac became very quiet and still at my question, his eyes trained on Rosie. “It’s in the bones. When I turn on a game they ache. I don’t usually miss that life, but every once in a while it actually hurts to think about.”

“You’re not too old to take a second swing at it.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow and shook his head. “I don’t have the same wear and tear the other guys my age have now, but I’ll never be the ballplayer I was.”

I glanced at our kids giggling together and wondered if I would drop everything for Linc. It was easier for me to say yes. I’d already accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. Walking away wouldn’t leave me with regret. I honestly didn’t know what I would have done in his shoes, but it made me respect Isaac one hell of a lot.

“Well, we have a workout at the end of the month where we get to bring guests. If you and Everett want to join me…”

“Yes. We want.” Then he smiled. “Thank you, Chris.”

“No problem. I think we better start the lesson or we’re going to lose Julian.”

Isaac jogged over to the line of buckets and began his lecture on the different types of shells that made our beaches so inviting to tourists. I was in charge of the jellyfish, horseshoe crab, and sea urchin.

“The horseshoe crab has very special blue blood because it contains copper,” I recited from the article I read earlier today. The kids all made various noises of wonder and disgust. I turned the large creature over to show off the hard, protective outer layer, and then flipped it back over to point out the body parts. “Scientists use this very special blood to test medicines and vaccines. They’ve been around for 450 million years, so they’re like our local dinosaurs.”

Linc’s arm shot up. “We have a lot of living fossils here Chris. Alligators, starfish, orange roughy—”

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