Thankfully it all quickly grew stale, and he soon nixed his social life to spend the rest of his college days focused on themost important thing in his life—baseball.
Not anymore. His priorities had been forcibly shifted six months ago. It had taken time for him to accept that there was life after baseball,but he fully believed it now. Getting hung up on the past wasn’t an option.
Without realizing it, his jogging had picked up speed, and he was at a full run when he reached his house. He was breathingas hard as Riley had been. The thought of Riley triggered his memory of seeing her sweaty, red-faced, and unbelievably sexy.He grinned. The jolt of attraction he’d experienced sitting next to her on that old bench had surprised him. Then again, maybehe had finally grown up.
Hayden caught his breath and put his hands on his hips. Since Riley’s arrival he’d been thinking about his teenage years moreand more, and it hit him that he’d always thought she was sexy, in a natural and aloof kind of way. Had she always liked torun? Maybe if he’d known that, he would have asked her to join him on a run or two. He’d been running since middle schoolas part of his off-season training. He shook his head at the dumb thought. She would have told sixteen-year-old him no andsent him on his way. Like she was obviously doing now.
He needed to get a grip. Riley had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in him hanging around her, and he needed to respectthat. For all he knew, she had a boyfriend back in New York. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with the thought. Maybe that’s whyshe was so distant with him, and he couldn’t blame her. If she were his girl and some guy was asking her questions, he wouldn’tlike it one bit. So, no more trying to make friends with her, even though he still wanted to. And no more prying questions.
As he entered his parents’ house, he wiped the sweat from his face with the hem of his T-shirt. He’d been living at home sincereturning to Maple Falls, but he had always seen this living situation as temporary. Now that he had purchased a house thathe would start fixing up in a week or two, his time in his childhood home would soon be coming to an end. He had to admithe didn’t mind staying with his parents. They were easy to get along with, and after years of eating on the road, he couldnever get enough of home-cooked meals.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw his mother coming down them, dressed in a light-green short-sleeved blouse,white pants, and white slip-on shoes. She was fiddling with a colorful sheer scarf wrapped loosely around her neck as shewalked off the last step and stopped in front of him. “How was your run, honey?”
“Good.”
“Where did you go?”
“The park, as usual. I’m going to get a shower,” he added quickly before she could ask any more questions and he’d have tomention seeing Riley. He wasn’t sure if anyone knew she was back in town.
“All right. There’s pancakes and sausage for breakfast in the warming drawer under the oven.”
Yes! “Thanks, Mom.” His stomach growled as he moved to let her walk past him. “Where’s Dad?”
“Finishing up reading the paper on the back porch. He said it’s too nice a morning to sit inside. By the way, we won’t beback until later tonight. Your father has promised me a fancy dinner at some steakhouse in Chenal. I can’t remember the nameof it, but he said it had good reviews on the internet.”
“Have fun. Let him know the store is in good hands.”
His mother smiled and tucked a strand of her shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear, the color courtesy of regular six-weekappointments at a salon in Hot Springs. “He knows it is. We’ll see you later.”
Hayden nodded, then bounded up the stairs, forcing his mind to focus on work and not on Riley. Business usually picked upon Friday and Saturday since people tended to work on their DIY projects more on the weekend than during the week. After aquick shower, he stepped onto the pale-blue bath mat and reached for the matching towel hanging on the hook. He had just wrappedit around his waist when his cell phone buzzed on the double sink vanity. When he saw the caller, he wiped his hands on thetowel, then swiped at the foggy screen twice.
“Hey, Erma,” he said. “You’re on speaker, by the way.”
“Good morning, Hayden. How are you?”
“Just fine.” He rubbed his shoulder but didn’t look at the scar. Occasionally he felt a twinge of pain, but his surgeon hadbeen one of the best in the country, and the healed tendons and muscles rarely ached now. Still, he preferred to ignore thesix-inch vertical scar going across the side of his shoulder. He didn’t need a visual reminder of the past. “I’m getting readyfor work.”
“Oh, I won’t keep you long then. I have a favor to ask.”
“Anything for you, Erma.”
“Oh, you really are a peach, aren’t you? I promise this will be the last one. Obviously, I won’t be able to continue as assistantcoach for the church softball team.”
Hayden tucked the towel tighter around his hips. “I’m so sorry about that, Erma—”
“No more apologies, understand?”
Her strict tone caught his attention. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I hereby officially resign as coach.”
“You don’t have to resign, though,” Hayden said. “I’ll hold your place until you’re ready to play and coach again.”
A pause. “I, uh, I’m not sure when that will be, so it’s best I resign. But I do have a replacement in mind.”
He wiped his face with the hand
