Misadventures of a Rookie (Misadventures #11)(51)

Looking back at my coach, I smiled. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, boy. Good luck.”

Walking out of his office, I ignored the pain in my ribs, which had been taken over by the strain in my chest of not knowing what would happen with Bo. I wanted so bad to believe that we would be okay, but she had already decided we wouldn’t be.

And I wasn’t sure what to do with that.

Or with the pain in my ribs.

’Cause I was playing for the Tornadoes.

No matter what.





Chapter Twenty-Eight





Bo





Davis was just so full of life.

“So then, Willy knocked me down ’cause he’s bigger than me, though Daddy says he isn’t even five, that he’s ten.”

I laughed as I looked over at my dad, who was smiling wide. He looked older than I remembered him being. I hadn’t been home in almost a year, and it worried me that a year of my being away had taken its toll on my father. He was gray everywhere and looked every bit his fifty-five years.

“Boo! He’s taller than you!” Davis took a big bite of his eggs.

“No!” I gushed. “How in the world is he playing, then?”

“He paid the league off, Mommy said.”

I giggled and glanced at where my mom was washing dishes. “Mom said that?”

“She sure did,” my dad said, shaking his head. “Though, I don’t disagree with her.”

“You guys are insane.”

“It’s the truth. You’ll see!”

Davis took another bite, and I wanted to scream at him to stop growing. When I was on FaceTime with my mom, he looked so small, but sitting beside him, he looked huge. His red hair was a shaggy mess, and I wanted to holler at my mom to cut it. His blue eyes were bright and full of such mischief. His nose was running, and his lips were red and chapped. He’d apparently stayed out on the pond for hours the night before, getting ready to show off for me.

He was just perfect.

“She sure will,” Mom said, coming over and moving her hand through Davis’s mane of hair. “Why don’t you go and get dressed. And grab your bag out of Daddy’s truck. We’ll be taking my car to the game.”

With a mouthful of eggs, he nodded before hopping up. “Okay. I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere, Boo.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be right here.”

He sent me a toothless grin and ran off. Once he was out of the kitchen, I moved my fork through my eggs before saying, “He needs a haircut, don’t you think?”

“Sure does, but your mom likes it shaggy,” Dad said, flipping through the paper. “I don’t have it in me to argue with her.”

My lips quirked as I glanced back at where my mom was washing the dishes. “I’ll take him today, after the game maybe.”

“It’s adorable.”

“It’s all in his eyes, Mom.”

“It isn’t.”

“It is. He’s going to look like a girl sooner rather than later. I’ll take him, I don’t mind.”

“I don’t care if you mind or not, Bo. His hair is fine,” she snapped, not looking at me.

“But it isn’t,” I argued. “It’s annoyingly long. He’s too handsome to look like a girl.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because you aren’t here to see it anyway.”

I looked back down at my plate, shaking my head. I didn’t want to fight with her. “You’re right.”

“We can decide if he needs a haircut, Bo Jane. We are his parents.”

“Never said you weren’t,” I said back before exhaling hard. Pushing my plate forward, I got up to take it to the sink. “I was just offering.”

“Well, thank you, but we don’t need it. We’re doing just fine.”

“I know, Mom. I never said you weren’t.”

“You implied it.”

“I didn’t, and if I did, I apolo—”

“It’s over, let it go,” my dad hollered from his chair. “It doesn’t matter. And Rachel, you know darn well that boy needs a haircut.”

“Taylor, he doesn’t.”

He slammed the paper down, giving her a pointed look. “He does, and listen to me right now. I’m not doing this with you two. I will not stay in an argument for the next four days. Go get the boy’s hair cut, Bocephus. And Rachel, let it be. And you wonder why she doesn’t come home…or hell, why she left.”

Mom glared as she stuck her hands to her hips. “And what does that mean?”

“It means you start a fight over everything with her. Yesterday, it was the way she was wearing her hair. Today, it’s ’cause she offered to get Davis’s haircut. I don’t know if you have a thing with hair or if you’re annoyed she doesn’t want to be here, but either way, I don’t want to hear it.”

I looked away, shaking my head ’cause my mom was about to blow. “Well, excuse me for causing you so much hell, Taylor! I happen to love my kids and want to not only see them but have the best for them.”

“Then please, leave her alone. She’s home. Let’s enjoy her being home.” They stared at each other for a long time before he gave me a look. “Jeez, stop arguing with her.”