Second Chance Dad

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She watched her mom frown and move to a closer shelf to rearrange the books.

Nodding toward the coffee area in the front of the shop, Hanna led him out of her mom’s earshot. “With Blue bonnet Books so close to opening, I just can’t spare the time.”

“Fair enough.” Tilting his head, he grinned, flashing those deep dimples. “Maybe another time.”

She smiled. When was the last time a sexy guy had unexpectedly asked her out? A sexy guy with just a touch of mischievousness that if she wasn’t careful could suck her in.

For a long moment, he just stood there then pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I realized after you left in such a hurry the other night that we didn’t exchange numbers. Just in case.”

Phone numbers? She paused. Not a bad idea, given the kids and all. She grabbed a brochure for the bookstore out of the rack and scribbled her cell number on the front. “Here you go.”

Vince folded the brochure and slid it into the front pocket of his jeans. “Thanks. And Kenzie mentioned a comic book she wanted.”

Hanna grinned. “Let me get it.”

She rang up the comic book and took the money from Vince. Their fingers brushed as he took the bag from her and tingles shot up her arm. She quickly pulled her hand back, rubbing it down her blouse. He’d been a gentleman and not stopped her from leaving the other night. But she reacted to his slightest touch and the worst thing she could do was send out sexual signals she was not ready to follow through on.

He slung the bag by the handle as he backed toward the door. “See ya.”

“See ya.” Hanna stared at his denim-covered ass as he left the shop. The guy did know how to fill out a pair of jeans. “Hmph. What was that all about?”

Norma walked up and followed the direction of Hanna’s gaze. “Heartache in faded denim, if you’re asking me.”

Chapter Five

Monday afternoon, as Vince was unloading tools from the truck, Kenzie’s bike pulled into the drive. Ashton jumped off from behind her and removed his helmet. “I hate Bully Baer!”

“Your mother is going to hate me if you didn’t tell her where you are. Does she know you’re over here?” Vince asked.

Ashton shook his head.

Vince handed him his cell phone.

Kenzie took off her helmet and looped the chinstrap over the handlebars, but she was too angry to pet Boo as he ambled up. “We were playing softball at recess and Ash was the last one picked. Bully Baer had a hissy fit when he had to have Ash on his stupid team.”

Rolling his eyes, Ashton fidgeted with the phone. “Yeah, like I was thrilled to be on the ‘moron’ team.” He kneeled down and buried his fingers in the dog’s silky red mane, letting him slobber all over his face.

“Dad, they just kept poking fun at him. Every time he was up to bat they made cracks like he wasn’t even on their team.”

“It doesn’t help that my mom gave me a stupid, sissy name like Ashton.”

Vince grimaced. “I grew up with Vincent so don’t complain to me.”

Ashton looked up. “I guess that would suck about as much as Ashton, but at least Vince is cool.”

“Now, maybe. About the third fight I got into over it, I went home ready to fight my dad for naming me Vincent in the first place. He told me it was a classy name and if I acted ashamed of it, the other kids would continue to torment me. But if I acted proud of it, like it was a cooler name than theirs, then the other kids would back down.”

“Did that work?” Ashton asked, scratching Boo behind the ears. The dog’s tongue lolled out in complete euphoria.

“Not always, but it helped. I actually started liking it by high school.”

“Yeah, but you were probably never a wuss. I suck at sports.” Ashton stood and jabbed his sneaker in the dirt on the drive. “I missed that fly ball.”

“The sun was in your eyes. Anybody would’ve missed,” Kenzie said, fisting her right hand.

Boo looked from Kenzie to Ashton as if giving his support.

Ashton did not look convinced. “I suck.”

Evidently softball wasn’t part of the prep-school curriculum. “Have you ever even played softball before?”

Shaking his head, Ashton looked more miserable by the second. “I played soccer one season, but I sucked at that, too. Mom says it’s okay. Some people just aren’t athletic and that I could beat them at chess or spelling and that they probably couldn’t play the saxophone.”

Yeah, not exactly going to make the boy feel manly. “Kenzie, go grab our gloves and let’s toss a few around.”

“I gotta go,” Ashton said, giving Boo a goodbye pat and holding out Vince’s phone without using it.

“Nobody is born knowing how to catch a ball. You gotta learn, practice. Now’s as good a time as any.”

Ashton smirked, but flipped the phone open. “I guess so.”

The first few balls, Ashton ducked rather than trying to catch them. Vince finally got him past that, and left Kenzie to toss him a few while he finished unloading the truck to make room for a load of lumber he needed to pick up the next day.

Ashton’s catching skills improved fast. How to hold a bat and actually make contact with the ball proved to be more of a challenge. But with Kenzie’s help and about twenty strikes, Ashton finally knocked the ball down the baseline. It didn’t even make it to first base, but it was a hit and enough to give Ashton cause to jump around as if he’d just won the World Series.

“Do it again.” Vince straightened up the garage and kept an eye on the kids as Boo watched from the sidelines. Vince did not need Ashton to get hurt and bring Hanna down on his case.

He laid his tool belt on the bench. Actually there could be worse things. Hanna was impressive when she got all self-righteous and mother hennish.

Vince grinned at the sound of wood cracking against the ball and Ashton’s “Woohoo!” If these two kept this up for a while, maybe by next year Ashton would be able to hold his own on the diamond.

Billy Baer and two of his buddies pedaled up the drive and spun their bikes sideways. “Mackenzie, you’re wasting your time on the nerd.”

Shit! Not what Ashton needed.

“The only time I’m wasting is any time you’re around.” Kenzie tossed the ball to Ashton, and Vince could see the concentration and focus but nervousness won out and he missed.

Billy guffawed. “You suck worse than a girl.”

“If girls suck so bad, then why do I always get picked before you?” Kenzie boasted.

Vince put his hands in his pockets and turned to Billy. “So, you any good? Maybe you could show Ashton?”

“Dad! We don’t want Bully Baer here.”

Vince removed his cap, stuck it on Ashton’s curly hair and took the ball from Kenzie. “Come on, Billy, let’s hit a few.”

Laying his bike down, Billy eyed Vince suspiciously. “Sure. Why not? I can hit better with my eyes closed than the nerd can.”

Vince threw a couple of balls and allowed Billy to hit them. “Good job,” Vince said as the ball sailed past the makeshift second-base sycamore tree.

Billy’s smug expression grew as one of the other boys retrieved the ball and tossed it back to Vince. He let Bully Baer hit one more and his two buddies clicked fists. “See, nerd. That’s how it’s done.”

Kenzie paced with Boo dogging her heels and Ashton looked downright miserable. Vince put a slight spin on the next throw and Billy barely made contact. The ball fouled off to the right just missing the mailbox—uh, first base.

“No fair, you didn’t throw it right. One more time.”

Kenzie tossed the ball back to Vince.

Adding more spin, Vince curved it directly over “home plate” and Billy swung, missing the ball as it curled to the left and bounced down the drive.