Under the Owl Tree Read online

Mom nodded. “You sure do, but you know you can’t have that, honey.” She pointed to the counter where she had set out yogurt and granola.

  Here we go... I begrudgingly walked over to get a spoon.

  Mom was great until baseball season started. Then she became food police and made me work my ass off. While I appreciated her keeping me accountable and on track, I wished she would slack off just a bit. Each year she and Dad got worse. They were health nuts but didn’t follow the rules they set themselves. But dammit, I sure had to, and the closer I got to playing college ball, the stricter they got.

  After eating, Dad and I got into my car and went to the batting cages.

  I smiled when I saw Coach Elliot but was majorly confused when I saw his older brother, Zach, there. I did my best not to stare as I put on batting gloves, but he was hard not to look at. I tried to find at least one flaw. Nothing.

  “I’m going to go do a few things around town while you practice. Can I have your keys?” Dad asked as he handed me a bat.

  “Yeah.” I gave him the keys and then pulled my hair through the back of my hat.After he left, I stood next to Zach and watched Coach Elliot hit a few balls.

  “Some of the guys on the team told me he was awesome,” I said, stretching my arms.

  “He is. He could have gone pro.”

  “So, why didn’t he?”

  Zach didn’t look that old. Maybe in his mid-20’s. Definitely not old enough to own a pizza place.

  Why the hell was I analyzing his age? It didn’t matter. Or rather, it shouldn’t matter. Not to me anyway.

  “A guy he played with in high school caused some issues; then his wife died, and he had to be a single dad. A lot of shit stood in his way.”

  “Oh.” I stretched my arms again as Coach Elliot finished up. “So, no offense, but why are you here?”

  “I’m the assistant coach. I help out, especially when he’s having a bad day.”

  A bad day? I furrowed my brow as I thought about what that meant exactly, but reminded myself that not everything was my business.

  I don’t know why, but knowing he’d be at practices made me extremely happy. I smiled. “Cool.” I picked up a bat and rested it on my shoulder.

  Coach Elliot came out of the batting cage and walked over to us.

  “Nice job, Coach, but watch this,” I teased as I headed into the cage. Zach got the pitching machine ready.

  “Give me a few slow ones to warm up and then speed it up, okay?”

  Zach smirked. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  I SET THE bat down and lifted my hat to wipe the sweat from my forehead. I put it back on and looked at the bat leaning against the bench. I only missed two out of thirty. Not bad, but if Dad were here, he’d make me run laps for each one missed and then hit until I didn’t miss any.

  I waited for Coach to yell or tell me I could do better, but he never did.

  “This season is going to be amazing,” Zach said with a proud smile.

  My forehead creased with confusion. I couldn’t understand why no one was yelling at me. They both looked at me oddly when I stayed in the cage. Coach Ray was always hard on me and expected perfection, just like Dad.

  “Let’s go again. That wasn’t good enough.” I held the bat up and got in position.

  “You did great! Why do you want to go again?” Zach asked with a puzzled look.

  “I missed two.” I motioned my head toward the pitching machine. “Make them faster.”

  “O-kay,” Zach said hesitantly, then turned the machine up. “You’re an odd one.”

  I missed four out of six that time. I threw the bat down and cursed.

  “Easy, Tiger,” Zach chuckled a little.

  His phone started ringing as Coach Elliot came over to me. “You’re a great player. Take a deep breath. You’ve been working out here for over two hours.”

  My arms felt like jello. I took off my hat and batting gloves.

  “I’ll get them later. When my dad finds out I missed, he’ll have me out here until I get them all.”

  He cupped my shoulder. “Listen, you’re doing great.”

  “A lot of people do great, Coach. I strive to be the best.”

  He chuckled. “Then meet me here tomorrow, and we’ll do this again. Deal?”

  I shook my head. “If you need to go, that’s fine. I’ll stay here and work until I get it right.”

  Coach Elliot looked at Zach, and he nodded.

  “I’ll stay and help her. You go take Millie to get something to eat,” Zach said, looking at me and then at Elliot again.

  “You don’t have to stay,” I said as I came out of the cage to get something to drink.

  “I’m avoiding going back to my restaurant.”

  I sat down on the bench and fixed my batting gloves. “Did you notice what I was doing wrong?”

  “Yup.” He leaned back against the fence.

  “Well?”

  He laughed. “Grab the bat, and I’ll show you.”

  I got up and grabbed it.

  He walked behind me and then bent down. He placed each of his hands on my feet and positioned them so my legs were spread apart a little more. He then stood and moved to my front. He maneuvered my hands until my right was slightly higher and my left was twisted toward him.

  “This seems really basic. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” He smiled and then walked behind me. His arms moved around me until his hands were on mine and my back was to his chest. He moved the bat in slow motion. “You need to follow through more. Do you feel how I moved the bat?” When I nodded, he continued. “The way you are standing now, and how I have your hands positioned, will help a lot, too. You’re getting too frustrated and swinging too quickly.”

  I nodded, hoping he didn’t notice that my breathing had picked up to a ridiculous pant. You see this kind of thing in movies, and as cliché as it was, dammit did it feel amazing. “Yeah, I do get ahead of myself sometimes.” I went back out to the cage quickly before he noticed how hard I was swooning.

  He turned the machine on. “Ready?”

  I nodded, and he started the machine. He jogged over to me after I hit the first ball and stood behind me again, gripping the bat just above my hands.

  “Follow through,” he said next to my ear as he swung the bat with me.

  Dear God ... If he didn’t get away from me, I was going to lose my damn cool. I let out the breath I was holding when he headed back to the pitching machine.

  I worked for a while longer, hitting twenty-seven in a row at a record speed.

  I dropped the bat and jumped up and down. “Boo ya!” I did the Running Man dance to celebrate my victory. I stopped when I noticed there were now people in the cages beside us, staring at me. I burst into laughter and came out, giving Zach a high five.

  “See? I know what I’m doing,” he laughed. “Now your dancing skills… they need some work.”

  I took a drink and laughed.

  “Hey, kiddo.” I turned and saw Dad walking over. “I texted you to let you know I’d be running later than expected. How’d it go?”

  “She did great! I’m really looking forward to the season now.” Zach grabbed up Coach Elliot’s stuff. “I should head out. That damn restaurant needs me.”

  He put one of the bags on his shoulder. “When do I need to sign that new contract with Coke?”

  “I can bring it by Monday morning,” Dad said as I gathered my things. “So, did Hales miss any today?”

  “A couple, but I made her hit until she didn’t miss any. We run a tight ship here.” He winked at me when Dad wasn’t looking. “And Monday sounds good.”

  Dad nodded. “Good.” He looked at me, and I knew that look. I’d be running tonight, regardless.

  “Elliot wants to have an early practice with her tomorrow so make sure she goes home and rests. We don’t want her too worn out before Elliot works with her. All the guys are going to be resting tonight. Tomorrow starts hell.
”

  “Will do.” Dad’s expression softened some.

  “You guys should come by the restaurant tonight. We have one hell of a salad bar.” He nodded toward us. “Have a good night.” He picked up two more bags and headed toward his truck.

  I could see his muscles flexing as he carried all the equipment. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, trying hard to stop staring. I looked away from him and followed Dad to my car.

  When we got home, I thought I was free and clear of a night run, but Dad wasn’t forgetting about it.

  “How many did you miss?” Dad asked while I laced up my shoes on the front step.

  “2,” I lied.

  “Two miles then.”

  “Dad, I’m exhausted from practice today. Can’t I just have one night off?”

  “You think they’ll be easy on you when you get to college? Hales, you’re a girl. You have to prove yourself, especially, if you plan on going pro.”

  If going pro meant this crap for the rest of my life, maybe I needed to change my goals. But my parents had invested so much time and money into me playing ball, I couldn’t disappoint them. This was not only my dream, it was theirs, too.

  I nodded instead of arguing. I put earbuds in and started a workout playlist.

  Hailey Grayson, the first female baseball player to go pro. I could do it. I would do it.

  I pulled up to Coach Elliot’s and checked the address on the GPS twice. I looked at the giant house and held onto the steering wheel. I jumped and screamed when Zach opened the car door.I grabbed my chest as I caught my breath.

  He laughed. “You okay?”

  I smiled and laughed as I got out of the car. “Now that I know it’s just you and that I’m not being attacked, yeah.”

  He smiled and shut the door. “You’re a little early. Only a couple of the players are here.”

  “Punctual is my middle name.” I laughed. “Okay, that’s not completely true. But seriously, my dad set three different alarms on my phone to be sure that I was early.”

  He chuckled. “Our dad was like that. Used to drive him insane when I would change all the clocks and alarms in the house.”

  I opened the trunk and got out my bag. “Good idea. I will remember that.” I smiled.

  He took the bag from me and put it on his shoulder. “Let’s get inside. I promised a very beautiful young lady that I’d take her shopping.” He smiled as we headed inside.

  “The redhead from your restaurant? I guess Dad didn’t get rid of her after all.”

  “No, not her. Someone prettier and not a psycho.” He put the bag down as we entered the house, and Millie ran over to us.

  “Uncle Zach, are you ready?” she asked excitedly as she bounced up and down.

  I swear my heart melted into a big pile of awwww.

  “Hales!” Dane came over and held up his hand to high-five me.

  “Umm, the guys back home always welcomed me with a slap on the—” I wiggled my eyebrows.

  Dane dropped his hand slowly and looked at me oddly.

  I burst into laughter. “Kidding. All of you don’t have to be so weird around me, okay?” I slugged his shoulder.

  Dane rubbed his shoulder, half grinning. “Alright. I promise we will try.”

  Zach chuckled. “Elliot is out back grilling. I’m taking the love of my life shopping.” He scooped Millie up.

  “Grilling this early in the morning?”

  Zach nodded. “Steak and eggs. Elliot believes in packing his players full of protein.”

  “Oh.” I watched him and Millie leave. Dane laughed.

  “What?”

  “Just watching to see if you’ll start drooling like all the other girls do around him.”

  I rolled my eyes and looped my arm in Dane’s as we walked to the back where Coach was. A few of the other guys were out there throwing the ball back and forth.

  “Hey, Hales, welcome to our home.” Coach smiled at me, then flipped a steak. “How do you like your streaks?”

  “Medium-rare, but I can’t have that.”

  “And why not?” He asked as he put a few done steaks on a plate.

  I took my arm from Dane’s.

  “I’m on a strict diet during the season. My parents have these crazy rules.” I smiled a little.

  He nodded. “Then what can you have?” he asked as he looked at me.

  “I can eat the eggs. Red meat is just a big no-no according to the nutritionist my parents hired.” I played with the hairband on my wrist. “Don’t worry about it, though. I ate before I came.”

  He nodded. “I understand.” Elliot looked at Dane. “Dane, can you take over while I go get the eggs started?”

  Dane closed the grill lid and looked at me with a raised brow. His blue eyes brightened when he smiled. “I prefer to eat right too, but steak is okay. It’s just meat.”

  “Red meat. Research says red meat is high in saturated fat which raises blood cholesterol.”

  Dane adjusted his ballcap, causing some of his red, shaggy hair to peek out, and looked at me stupidly. “We’re seniors in high school. I don’t think we have to worry about cholesterol yet.”

  I shrugged. “Tell my parents and nutritionist that.”

  “That’s intense, man.”

  More guys showed up and headed out to the yard to practice.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’m gonna go stretch.”

  I went out onto the grass and started stretching like I always do. I was in my zone until I realized how quiet it was and stopped to see all the boys watching me. I adjusted my shirt when I realized it had raised up on my stomach some.

  “Come on; you act like you’ve never seen a girl before.”

  I picked up a ball and threw it as hard as I could at one of the guys, Trevor I think. He moved out of the way because there was no way he’d catch it. Everyone laughed.

  “We came here to practice. Now get those hormones in check.”

  I made my way out to the pitcher mound and took a minute to take in the awesome mock field Coach had in his backyard.

  “Let’s get to work,” Coach said as he came back out. “We’ll take a break in thirty minutes to eat, then start up again.”

  I watched Coach as he rubbed his head a little, then picked up a ball and tossed it to me. He looked pale. I watched Dane take notice to how bad Coach looked. I got ready to pitch the ball to Trevor when Dane yelled. The ball fell from my hands when I saw Coach leaning against Dane, struggling to stand.

  “Call an ambulance!” Dane shouted as he lowered Coach to the ground.

  Trevor was on his phone, calling 911. He walked over to Dane and Coach, and the entire team followed. “An ambulance is on the way,” Trevor said as he knelt down next to them.

  Coach Elliot’s eyes were starting to close. “I’m... okay… Call Zach.”

  We all took off to the front of the house when we heard sirens. We showed the medics where Coach was and watched as they lifted him into the back of the ambulance. I looked at Dane who looked like he might pass out himself. I touched his shoulder.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “He’s like an older brother to me.” Dane wiped his eyes. “He’s been battling cancer for the past year.”

  “Come on; we’ll follow the ambulance to the hospital.” I took his hand and led him to my car.

  The whole team got in their vehicles and followed the ambulance. Dane rode with me and called Zach on the way.

  “What’s up, kid?” Zach’s voice rang out cheerfully through the speaker.

  “Elliot’s on his way to the hospital. He started to pass out during practice.”

  “Shit!” I yelled. “There’s stuff cooking at the house!”

  Zach didn’t respond for a second. “We’re on our way. I’ll get Brink to go to the house. Are you on your way too, Dane?”

  “Yeah, we all are. I’m riding with Hailey.”

  “Alright. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You’re on the list for them to talk to. If they let you know anything,
call me.”

  “I will.” Dane hung up and stared out the window.

  “So, he means a lot to you?”

  “Yeah. My parents pretty much suck. Coach saw potential in me one day at recess in middle school and taught me everything I know now.”

  I pulled into the hospital parking lot, and Dane jumped out before we even came to a complete stop.I parked, then went into the waiting room with the rest of the guys. We filled the room and waited for news. Twenty minutes went by before Zach showed up carrying Millie.

  He walked straight over to Dane. “Any news?” Millie was holding on tightly to Zach’s neck.

  “No, just doing blood work and shit. He’s awake, just in and out.”

  Dane took Millie from Zach. “I’ll take her to get a snack or something.”

  Dane looked at me. “Come with us, Hailey?”

  I hadn’t even realized I was staring at Zach until Dane’s voice snapped me out of it. Dane and a few of the guys on the team were laughing at me.

  “So embarrassing,” I mumbled as I followed Dane.

  Millie looked at Dane. “I want my daddy, Dane.” Her arms were wrapped around his neck. Tears started to fill her eyes. “I don’t want him to go be with Mommy!” she cried out as tears fell.

  He took off his hat and handed it to me. He set Millie down and put his forehead to hers; her little fingers played with his hair.

  “He’s not, Millie. He’s not.” Dane’s voice shook a little.

  “Promise?” she asked as she wiped her eyes a little.

  “He’s a fighter. The doctor said he’s going to be fine, just gonna be sick while going through treatments. Remember when Dr. Jack talked to you?”

  She nodded and rubbed her eyes, then started playing with his hair again. “He said Daddy would get sick then better.”

  He nodded with a big grin on his face. “That’s right. Now, let’s get your favorite candy bar and then go find your dad something fluffy.”

  “It’s got to be big too.” She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Dane.”

  “I love you too. So much. You’re like my little princess.” He ruffled her curls.

  She giggled, then took his hand in hers.

  We sat down at a table in the cafeteria and watched Millie eat. She watched a movie on Dane’s phone, giggling at all the funny parts.