Page 14 of The Ex Next Door
The thought suddenly conjured Declan in his baseball uniform, those tight biceps and muscular thighs. Declan had a fastball that went close to ninety miles per hour, according to the town lore. It still surprised her that he thought baseball was the main reason her father had adored Declan.Sure, it helped, but it was the way Declan treated Amy that her father loved most.
This seemed to be the start of another week of nostalgia for her. She was no longer the girlfriend of the town’s best ballplayer and hadn’t been for over a decade.
“Matthew wants to try out for Little League,” Bianca said, pulling a couple of sodas from the fridge.
Dear Lord, baseball was everywhere now. Next door, in her memories and now at her best friend’s house.
“David is still committed to soccer, though he’s not getting the hang of it and wants to quit.”
“Maybe he and Matthew could join a league together!”
“I don’t know, baseball is such a big commitment.”
How well she remembered that it took up half of Declan’s life, if not more. Away tournaments, fundraisers, practice. And the parents were just as involved as the kids. The Sheridans lived for that kind of thing, which was fine, but Amy didn’t think she could do that level of involvement without a partner.
“It’s just a city recreational league, not exactly the time constraints of Little League,” Bianca said. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re worried about getting him to practice once you start working. You won’t need Rob. I’ll do it for you and at least we know we’ll see each other a few times a week. The boys, too. With it being summer, I don’t want them to lose touch.”
She had a point. “I don’t know, Bianca. I want him to stick with soccer. He shouldn’t just give up. What am I teaching him if I tell him to give up when it’s tough?”
“He’s just a kid and is just learning what he likes. Trying things is how he figures it out. Anyway, just think about it.” Bianca popped open her soda can. “So, a little birdie toldme that you moved in next door to your old boyfriend. Did you know Declan lived there?”
“Nope, and neither did poor Mom. You should have seen her expression when he walked over.”
“He walked over? What for? Welcome you to the neighborhood?”
“In a way. He helped us move this huge box I overpacked.” Amy took a swig of the cherry-flavored ice-cold soda, her favorite.
“Oooooh.” Bianca fluttered her hands near her heart and batted her eyelashes. “Declan Sheridan. God of baseball.”
Amy wasn’t going to mention the little talk they’d had on Sunday night after he’d come back from his date. By the time her children got home at nine in the evening, the kids were bouncing off the walls with a sugar high. David’s tongue was blue from the artificially colored powdered candy she’d specifically asked Rob not to give him anymore. It took her hours to get them both calmed down enough for bed, and after the ordeal, she’d simply strolled outside to sit on the bench swing and contemplate her life’s choices.
She hadn’t expected Declan to roll up at midnight and want to talk. It was a surreal conversation in so many ways, talking about a huge piece of her past. The loss of her father and those painful first years without him. At first, it was like being forced to walk around without a skeleton. With zero foundation, with no bones to hold up the skin, the organs. Her father was the heart of her family and when he was gone neither Amy nor her mother knew quite how to move on.
Amy had turned all her attention toward Rob. Not on graduating from college with honors, as she should have, but with replacing a man who then became the center around which she built her adult life. It was kind of Declan to personally offer his sympathies, but it was a little too late. He’dbeen the last thing on her mind, and maybe he’d been right to stay away. Maybe he’d been the last person she should have seen then, when her heart was already soft and bruised. The Sheridans had attended the funeral to pay their respects, Mrs. Sheridan holding Amy so tight and close.
“I miss you, honey,” she said. “Come by sometime.”
Amy never had. She went on to marry Rob after they’d both graduated from UT in Austin. They’d come home, where Rob eventually got a job in IT and started working his way up the corporate ladder. Funny how at one time she’d imagined herself the wife of a professional baseball player, in a supportive role. She’d wound up as the wife of a software salesperson, in a supportive role. Then she’d had children. Another supportive role. The choices were a bit old-fashioned of a millennial such as herself, but her father was a conservative man, and that’s the home she’d grown up in.
There was never a time in her life in which Amy built her life around the idea of what she wanted it to look like.
Thatwas going to change.
* * *
Tuesday night was slammed at the Salty Dog, and not just because they were short a waitress again. Declan filled orders at the bar and as usual helped wherever else he could. It was summer, and the tourists who came down to see Galveston always made their way to Charming eventually. The boardwalk here was the best, with festival rides on one end and restaurants and shops on the other. The Salty Dog Bar & Grill was just one of those establishments, built in an area considered historical because of the last great hurricane.
Declan had been working here for three years now, ever since shortly after the new owners took over and brought it back from the brink of financial ruin. They were great guys, too, three former navy SEALs, and Declan respected the hellout of them. His cousin was a SEAL and Declan knew all too well how much dedication was involved. When Cole decided he wanted to spend less time behind the bar and more time as a silent partner, the hours increased for Declan. It was now his full-time job. Despite the fact he had a degree in physical education, the one year he spent doing the work bored him so much he moved on. Every now and then, he got asked to coach, usually by his own father. But more often, the parent of a child interested in baseball thought Declan could perhaps offer “a few pointers.” He always refused politely.
They didn’t want to hear what he had to say. What he would tell them wouldn’t get them to the top of any team’s roster. Because what Declan would say wouldn’t win any awards.
Do not make any one thing, whatever it might be, the center of your life.
Yes, that included baseball. Oh yeah, by the way, it also included football, basketball and soccer. All sports.Want to be the best of the best? Cream of the crop? Top of the heap? Then never mind what I said. Make [insert sport here] the center of your life. Morning, noon and night. Make all decisions based on the sport, including what you eat, where you’ll live and go to college, whom you’ll marry and when. Then, once you reach the top, look around and notice all you’ve missed.
If you’re lucky, you’ll decide it was worth it.
“Hi, Dec,” said Zoey. She ran the boutique downtown and was a frequent guest at the Salty Dog since she became single again. “How’s it going?”
