Liam: Thank You.
Me: For what? I haven't done anything.
Liam: The last twenty-four hours have been amazing. I look forward to spending the day with you and the kids.
Me: It should be a great time.
Liam: It will be. Here’s my address so you have it. 205 Brentwood Lane, Morgan Springs.
Me: You have your own road?
Liam: It was Nonno’s idea, we didn’t ask questions, just went with it.
I wasn’t sure why this schoolgirl-crush smile wouldn’t evaporate from my face. I should be exhausted, but instead find myself texting with Liam for over an hour. We finally say our goodnights and I snuggle deeper into my bed. Surprisingly, for the first time since Chris and I split, I finally had a decent night sleep.
Chapter 8
Mia
The next afternoon, I drive my kids over to Liam’s house. He had mentioned last night in our texting that he and the boys were going to be moving some stuff over here this morning. Pulling into his driveway, I notice Aiden and Cooper throwing a baseball around in the front yard.
“Can I go join them, Mom?” Garrett asks.
“I think we need to be heading out soon, Garrett. We don’t want to be late for the game, right?”
Liam comes out of the house and hollers something at the boys. They bolt toward my vehicle and I jump out and open the door for them to get in. Liam walks up to me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before he flashes a smile. “You look beautiful today.”
I look at what I’m wearing—a simple pair of jeans, and a t-shirt, nothing fancy. I do have a sweatshirt in the car just in case.
“If you say so, Liam.” I smile like he’s joking.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Mia. You should believe it when someone tells you as much,” he says as he traces his thumb down my cheek.
“We should be going. We’re going to be late if we don’t,” I mention, changing the subject. I don’t take compliments well. I’m not used to them. I surely do not believe them either.
The ride to the stadium is nice. Liam’s boys are filling Garrett in on the stadium and how cool the games have been in the past. Arianna plays with her little plush brown bunny as Liam and I have a light conversation.
“What is your favorite kind of music?” he asks.
“Depends on my mood,” I answer sincerely.
“What about right now?” Liam asks.
A few songs pop in my head like Dierks Bentley’s What Was I Thinking, Crystal Gayle’s song Here I go Down that Wrong Road Again, and We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This by George Strait. There’s a tiny voice in the back of mind saying I’m glad I did this. Liam tears me away from my thoughts. “I can see the wheels turning, Mia. Tell me.”
I let out a sigh. “I never do stuff like this. The last time that I went to a baseball game, the people that I went with ended up leaving after the fourth inning and to this day have not spoken a single word to one another. I am a little scared.”
“What on earth do they possibly have to fight over at a baseball game?”
I let out a laugh. “It’s so stupid. It really is. Chris’s boss at the time, Lynn, asked Which one is my seat? George, the guy who was a widow that also works with them, replied Right there, pointing at a seat next to Dan, Lynn’s spouse. Lynn jokingly said Ew gross, I have to sit next to him? and laughs it off. That is the way she is, and of course Dan knows that so he was laughing. Chris and I started laughing because that’s just the way Lynn and Dan are together. I didn’t think anything of it, but next thing I know, George is storming out of the stadium and everyone was following.”
“You’re serious?” Liam sounds absolutely dumbfounded.
“Like I said, it was stupid. Up until today, I have never gone to another baseball game.”
“George refused to talk to Dan and Lynn again? Over that? That’s pretty stupid.”
“That’s the reason my circle is really small,” I tell him sincerely.
We arrive at the baseball diamond a short time later, park and the boys jump out with their sweatshirts. I unbuckle Arianna and pick her up from her car seat. Liam surprises me by grabbing her backpack. Such a small gesture, but it does mean a lot to me. Chris didn’t even do that for me and it’s his daughter.
I flash a smile. “Thank You.”
“For what?” Liam asks, sounding clueless.
“Grabbing her backpack.”
“No problem. Here.” He holds his hands out for Arianna.
“What are you doing?”
“I told you, I would carry her today, since you said her mobile stander won’t go a lot of places,” Liam kindly reminds me. Arianna leaps to his arms and Liam carries her, walking beside me while the three boys walk in front of us.
Getting to the will call area, Liam gives his information and within minutes, there’s a tall muscular guy in a uniform standing there.
“Hey, Jack!” Liam says.
“Hey, man! Coach said you’d be here. I just wanted to find you before warm-up starts to say thank you!”
“What are you thanking me for again?” Liam asks.
“The recommendation on the diner! My wife loved it!”
“I’m glad the two of you got out together.”
“You have a lovely family, Liam,” Jack says, admiring the kids before his eyes find mine.
“Thanks,” Liam says. Right before he starts to introduce us, Jack’s name gets called over the loudspeaker.
“Jack Greenman, report,” the announcer says.
“I gotta jet, but we should catch up again soon, man!” Jack says giving high fives all around before jetting off.
We make our way toward our seats and Liam wasn’t kidding; these seats are right behind home plate. Liam lets the boys go into their seats first, keeping Garrett closer to him which I find odd, so I question him.
“Why are you sitting next to Garrett instead of one of your boys?” I ask.
“You said that he has never been to a game before, so I want him close so if he has questions, he can ask,” Liam declares like it’s the most logical thing in the world.
“That’s very sweet of you.”
“I remember my first game. My pops made sure that Nonno was in the middle of two of us and he was in the middle of my other two brothers so that we could ask all the questions we wanted. It was such a cool experience. I did it with my boys too,” Liam says with a grin.
“They are very lucky to have you.” I scoff a little at the thoughts running through my mind.
“What’s that about?”
“It makes me so angry at times that Garrett doesn’t have that, nor does Arianna. I couldn’t even get Chris to take Garrett fishing once! I took him the first time. We hardly ever did things as a family. Marvel Live, once. Arianna has been to every Disney on Ice show in the area since she was five, and he couldn’t be bothered to go just once. Real men don’t do stuff like that.” I roll my eyes and shake my head as if trying to shake the negative from it.
“Well, I would like to think that I’m as real as they come, and I would be honored to be this princess’s prince for the evening. After all, every princess needs a prince, right?” Liam smiles looking at Arianna.