Give And Take: Taken By Storm Part 8

And here he was being the good guy and helping out Coach with his team. Was there no such thing as a good deed being rewarded in this world?

"Thought you said Peach was coming too," Coach said, standing beside MJ on the third baseline watching the boys practice batting.

"Something came up."

Yeah it did. Something came up hard and fast, and he'd almost shoved it home. Then he saw the ring, and it went right back down and hid deep inside his boxer briefs. Nothing like another guy's engagement ring to make the mood wither and die.

The bat cracked into the ball, sending it out in left field. "Good hit!" Coach yelled.

"Get under it!" MJ shouted to the left fielder who caught it. "Nice!"

Coach spit tobacco juice on the ground. "Everything good between you two?"

"What do you think?" MJ eyed the small kid in the batter's box. He remembered him from last year. He couldn't hit far, but the boy could run. "Move in!" he yelled to the infield. "He's going to bunt."

"He's actually been hitting some decent grounders," Coach said. "Boy's fast."

MJ tugged on the bill of his cap. Maddie's ring sat like a lead rock in his pocket. Knowing her, she'd sneak in the big house and snoop through his bedroom while he was gone, which was why he'd keep it in his pocket until she asked for it back.

Which she wouldn't.

Maddie was always trying to make up rules as she went along, but she never realized they just delayed the real outcome. You win a game, or you lose. There's no almost. You get engaged, or you don't. There was no taking a break to think about it.

If she didn't say yes, then the answer was no.

What kind of loser agrees to a break? Why would anyone want to marry someone who has to run away and tear you apart in her mind, weighing each piece to see if it's worth enough to be tied down to you for the rest of her life?

MJ hooked his thumbs in his pockets and scuffed his foot along the base line.

She'd run away from him, too. Guess that made him a pathetic loser who hoped she'd come back for over a year.

What had he done wrong? Yeah, he lost his head sometimes and his temper all the time. But it wasn't like that was a surprise to her. She'd known him forever.

Maybe it was like she'd said, only kids play to her.

"All right!" Coach yelled. "Give me five laps around the diamond and you're free to go. I want you all here fifteen minutes before the game starts on Sat.u.r.day. Don't be late!"

MJ realized he'd spent the whole practice lost inside his head over Maddie. "I wasn't much help," he said. "Team looks good this season."

"We're not winning many games, but they're fighters. You and Peach whipped them into shape their first year. You two make a good team. Always have though."

He could feel Coach eyeing him, but kept his gaze on the team running laps. "She was wearing an engagement ring around her neck."

Coach shuffled from foot to foot and tucked his hands in his pockets. "Not on her finger?"

MJ let out a sharp chuckle. "She and the guy are taking a break until she figures out if she's going to tell him yes or no." He turned his head to Coach. "I took it from her. The ring."

Coach's face went blank, then he slowly smiled, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you two? You're like fire and gasoline."

"Yeah." MJ thought about earlier, with her under him on the table, how easily she could get him worked up-like tossing gas on a fire. "We are."

"Take it easy on her. I don't know why, but it seems like she hasn't had her head on straight since you two broke up. She's got something stuck in her brain she's being stubborn about."

MJ had sensed it too, but he figured it was just him. Maddie not wanting to be around him.

He reached into his pocket and squeezed the d.a.m.n ring. How long had she been with this guy? Long enough for him to be proposing?

"Good to see you helping out again," a man said beside MJ, jerking him out of his thoughts.

Mr. Singleton stood beside him. MJ's back stiffened. "Thanks."

Coach chuckled. "If you call hanging around on the baseline with his thumbs in his pockets helping out."

"No Maddie again this year?" Mr. Singleton asked. MJ wasn't sure if it was the guy's tone or his own imagination that implied more than what was on the surface of the question.

"She stayed home today," he said, smugly.

"Hope she can make it to the game this weekend. We missed her last season." He motioned for his son. "Let's go, Charlie!"

MJ squeezed the ring in his pocket again. If it wasn't Ring Man, it would be Mr. Singleton after her. He couldn't take it anymore. Being around her was torture. He couldn't get away fast enough.

Pulling into the driveway after practice, MJ parked beside a black Mercedes sedan he'd never seen before. The Old Man was always having business meetings, so it wasn't like this was the first time he'd seen a strange car at the Rocha Estate. But, this one had him feeling uneasy. Too many surprises had been dropped in his lap lately-Rachael and Maddie to name two-and he didn't want to be caught off-guard again.

He walked in the back door and glanced down the hall to his grandfather's closed office door. The house was quiet, but it always was. Still, something seemed different.

"You're home," Mr. Simcoe said, bustling out of the great room. "Come with me." He took MJ by the arm, spun him around and almost had him out the door.

"Wait. Where are you taking me?" He wasn't walking into anything unprepared.

Something lit behind Mr. Simcoe's eyes. A hopefulness. Eagerness maybe? But it was shaded with uncertainty. "MJ, your dad's here."

He stared at him trying to register the words. They came into his ears and jumbled before reaching his brain. There was no way he was putting them together right. "What?"

"Merrick. He's here."

Realization slammed into him full force, like a door shut in his face.

He wanted to run, scream, flip the f.u.c.k out, but he could only stand there staring at Mr. Simcoe, struck dumb. He c.o.c.ked his thumb toward Enzo's office. "Is he in there?"

Mr. Simcoe shook his head. "No. They spoke already. Very briefly. He's back at the guest house with Rachael. Maddie's in with Enzo. He wanted to make sure she knew what was going on so she could be there to support you."

"Maddie?" His brain was tearing in two. One half wondering what the f.u.c.k Enzo wanted with Maddie, the other half scared s.h.i.+tless to meet Merrick.

"I'd hoped she'd be out of there before you came home so she could go along to the guest house with you. I'm sure it would be nice for you to have someone familiar along."

"Familiar. Yeah. Maddie's familiar." What was this random string of words coming out of his mouth?

Mr. Simcoe patted his back. He probably thought MJ had lost his mind. "Will you wait for her?" Mr. Simcoe asked.

Should he wait for Maddie? He'd been waiting for her his whole life. A few more minutes wouldn't kill him.

And he needed her there. He didn't know if he could face Merrick alone.

"I'll wait for her." He glanced down at his old, dust-covered jeans. "I'm going to go up and change."

He took a few steps down the hall.

"MJ?" Mr. Simcoe called.

He glanced over his shoulder.

"Everything will be fine. Good even. You'll see."

MJ nodded, not sure he believed him, and headed upstairs.

Eleven.

Maddie dug her fingernail into the black leather chair in front of Enzo's desk. "Leave my father out of this. He has nothing to do with it, and he's disgustingly loyal to you."

She wished she was digging her nail into his eye, especially when his smug expression didn't budge with her plea.

"No." He pushed his rolling chair back from behind his desk and stood. "You will leave today, and I will never see you back here again. Do you understand me? I will make certain of it this time."

Was he threatening her? Exactly how far would he take this?

Before she could wonder any longer, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, opened it and handed her a wad of bills. A wad of one hundred dollar bills. "I realize your father is important to you. I should've been more... accommodating to you when I asked you to stay away from him. I plan to see that you're taken care of as well as your father. Do I make myself clear?"

"You want to pay me off to not visit my father?"

"He's free to visit you whenever he likes," he said, not directly answering her question. "My grandson, however, is out of your life for good."

She ignored the invisible belt tightening around her chest. "Why do I have to leave today?"

He tapped his fingers against his side in agitation. "You know why."

"Because Merrick's here and you're afraid I'll spill your secret. Well, I haven't for almost two years, have I? Why would I do it now?"

Enzo let out a derisive laugh. "When would you have told MJ? It's not exactly the type of conversation to have over the phone, is it?"

Her frustration ebbed and came dangerously close to defeat, but she wouldn't be defeated by him again. "When it's your only option, maybe it is. I'm tired of lying to him. Tired of keeping a secret that shouldn't be a secret at all." She stood up and threw her shoulders back, telling herself she wasn't intimidated by this man, the Old Man who'd controlled her for too long.

He threw his hands out. "So, tell him. See what happens. Let's see how he takes this news and knowing you've been keeping it from him."

She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. He was right. "Maybe this isn't the time, but he'll find out. This isn't something you can keep from him forever."

The corners of his mouth twitched. "I can't? Who will stop me, Maddie? You?"

She lifted her chin in defiance and held his eyes like it was a staring contest and she'd lose if she looked away or blinked first. But this wasn't a game and she didn't know how she could possibly win anyway.

The money practically burned her fingers. She wanted to throw it at him for daring to think handing her a stack of paper earned her loyalty, would keep her from MJ.

She choked back a sob of frustration and strode out of his office. The money in her fist was damp from her nervous, sweaty palm. She opened her fingers and glared at the offensive, crumpled bills in her hand. How much value did the Old Man put on her love for her father? Her history with MJ? However much, it wasn't enough. There was no amount in the world that would ever be enough.

Maddie wadded up the cash and sat it on a table against the wall in the hallway. Enzo could keep his money. She wanted her father in her life.

She wanted MJ in her life, however she could have him. Friend, acquaintance, distant stranger, she didn't care. She'd take whatever sc.r.a.ps he'd give her. He was a fixture in her life even if they didn't work together, and she couldn't give him up.

"Are you okay, Peach?" Her dad took her by the shoulders. She hadn't even seen him when she rushed down the hall.

"I'm fine." She made herself smile and tried to look convincing.

"Good. MJ's home and he needs you to go meet his father with him."

"I can't." No matter how brave she thought she could be, when it came down to it, she was afraid of Enzo Rocha. She didn't know his limitations or if he had any.

"Of course you can. You know how difficult this will be for him. He's been waiting his entire life for this day." He ran his knuckles over the top of her head. "What's wrong with you? You've never walked away when he's needed you."

"You don't have to." Tall and broad shouldered, MJ strutted down the hall toward them. His wavy hair was damp, and he smelled like laundry softener and the sporty deodorant he wore. Maddie liked the clean smell of him better than any cologne or aftershave. He stopped in front of her, his jaw clenched and unclenched nervously.

"I'll go," she said. Despite the gnawing voice in her head telling her Enzo would make good on his threat, the protective streak she had for MJ kicked in. There was no way she could let him face his dad alone.

MJ shrugged and walked past her, opening the back door. He could play it off, but she could practically see the tension lessening from the stiff line of his shoulders.

She followed him outside. They walked to the golf cart behind the garage in silence, MJ a step ahead and to her right. "I'm not in the best frame of mind to do this after this morning," he said, getting behind the wheel. His face was a steel trap, locking her out.

He gripped the wheel, and looked straight ahead, pressing on the accelerator and letting out a groan of frustration. "I don't know what the f.u.c.k to do about you."

Maddie's stomach tightened. She'd wanted him so badly this morning. Wanted to purge him out of her system. She couldn't think straight when he was around, and didn't trust herself to make a life-altering decision.

The golf cart b.u.mped over a tree root and pushed through the tall gra.s.s beside the lake. The guest cottage was only about the length of a football field away. "This is going to be good," she said, sliding her hand across the seat so her pinkie finger touched his leg. "It's going to be everything you've ever wanted."

"I stopped wanting this a long time ago."

He was lying. Talking around the steel trap again. Closing out all emotion so he wouldn't get hurt. If that was what he had to do, she'd go along with it. She took a chance and squeezed his leg, expecting his muscle to tense under her hand, but he stayed relaxed when she touched him. Maybe he needed her with him after all.

Her fingers ran over a round ridge in his pocket. She traced it and knew immediately what it was. Her ring. He was carrying it with him.

The only thing keeping her heart from jumping out of her chest was the guest cottage door opening and a man coming out, tall and broad like MJ. The same dark, wavy hair. The same self-a.s.sured gait as he walked out into the yard with Rachael hanging back a few steps.

Something heavy pressed against Maddie's chest making it hard to breathe. Merrick was the image of an older MJ. It disoriented her, like she'd somehow slipped into the future.