RECLAIM MY HEART(31)

Tyne pressed her hand to her stomach, sucking in a breath with a hiss. “Strike two,” she whispered.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Lucas yelled, “Plant your front foot, son!”
Zach’s attention wavered from the pitcher, his gaze swinging to Lucas. Tyne knew exactly what had taken her son aback. If Lucas realized what he’d done, he didn’t show it. He was frantically pointing at the pitcher, an appeal for Zach to keep his head in the game.
This time, Zach swung the bat with perfect timing, his front foot firmly nailed to the ground. A satisfying smack resounded. He dropped the bat and raced toward first base. The crowd cheered and Tyne jumped up and down until her son safely reached the base.
“Jeez,” she muttered to Lucas. “This anxiety is enough to give me ulcers.”
“Tell me about it.” Lucas grinned and shook his head. “The way he kept looking at me rather than the pitcher, I was afraid he was going to give them an easy out.”
“He was startled.” When Lucas still didn’t seem to understand, she explained, “You called him son.”
He frowned, then his brows arched. “I did, didn’t I? You don’t think I upset him, do you?”
“Don’t worry.” She reached out and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. “I think he’s been waiting for it, actually.”
The next batter hit a fly pop, and Lucas shouted for Zach to wait. The outfielder missed the catch, and Lucas and everyone else yelled for Zach to run. Tyne’s heart pounded and she let out a breath when both runners safely made it to their bases.
“Lucas, Jasper wants to take Zach camping. I told him it would be okay.” She looked at him, took in the curve of his ear, the corded muscles of his neck. “He said something about helping him become a man. Do you, um—” she slid off her sunglasses and squinted up at him “—do you think it’s okay that Zach goes?”
For an instant, she regretted the question. She slipped her sunglasses back onto her face and turned her gaze back to the ball field. Asking anyone’s opinion about anything when it came to Zach felt foreign to her. She made all the decisions herself, had done so for fifteen long years. What would she do or say if he disagreed with her?
Luckily, though, he grinned.
“I think it’s great. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself. There’s definitely no need for an anger management counselor when we have a Lenape elder around.” He chuckled. “Uncle Jasper and I went hunting for my manhood many times before we found it.” Memories had his mouth twisting wryly. “Trouble is, no one told me what [toluntinwe were hunting. The hardest part for Zach is going to be figuring that out. And he might not, the first time out.”
Tyne watched as the batter bunted and ran toward first. Zach advanced to third, but the batter was tagged out by the first baseman.
She wanted to ask if she should be worried, but she couldn’t find the words. Instead, she murmured, “He’s never been camping.”
Lucas turned to face her then, and ever so gently he reached up and slid her sunglasses down her nose just enough so that he could look directly into her eyes. “Zach’ll be perfectly safe.” He paused a heartbeat before adding, “But he won’t come home the same person.”
The mild alarm that shot through her must have registered on her face, if only for an instant, because he placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay. It’ll be a good thing, Tyne. You’ll see.” He turned back to the game, leaning his forearms on the top of the fence. “Jasper will work him hard, and talk to him a lot. There will be a lot of stories. Fables or parables, I guess you’d call them. Cryptic tales that are often difficult to understand but always have a lesson attached. Stories meant to make him think. This won’t be like any other experience Zach has had, I’m sure.”
She pushed her sunglasses back into place and settled next to him, resting her forearms on the fence too. They watched as the next batter struck out and the teams switched positions on the ball field again. Her son kicked the dirt, miffed that he wasn’t given the opportunity to score.
“First off,” Lucas said softly, “Jasper will have Zach collect enough dry, dead wood to feed a fire for a month. Then my uncle will have him cut it into uniform size. Zach will swing an ax until his biceps quiver. Then when it’s time to cook dinner, Jasper will realize he’s forgotten the matches at home. So Zach will spend an hour trying to light kindling with flint and steel. Have you ever done that?” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “When Zach is so frustrated he’s about to scream, Jasper will conveniently remember he has a piece of charred cloth in the tinder box, and they’ll start a fire like magic. Making charred cloth is a lesson he’ll learn another day.” Lucas toed a clump of weeds at the foot of the fence.
“Zach will eat the trout he’s caught and cleaned and cooked on a fire he started himself, and he’ll fall asleep feeling proud as hell that he did it all on his own. Jasper has a real knack for making a boy feel as if he’s accomplished something great. And Zach will sleep like a baby because he’ll be more exhausted than he’s ever been in his life.” Lucas chuckled. “And he’ll never realize he’s been played like a tune by his great uncle.”
They were so close, the sleeve of Lucas’s shirt tickled Tyne’s bare shoulder. “Sounds like you’ve been played.” She grinned.
He nodded. “Like one of those soulful country songs.” The soft laughter they shared ended with a warm smile.