“Are you working? I haven’t heard where you were or what you were doing,” Logan said. “Some are saying you’re scouting out other teams. Say it isn’t so.”
“It isn’t so,” he said, grinning. “No worries there.” Did he tell them what he was doing now? There was no reason not to. It wasn’t as if he was embarrassed over it. Not like he’d thought he’d feel as a kid and why he didn’t want a part of it. “I’m heading up the marketing and communication for McCarthy Construction.”
“Your family business?” Logan asked. “Doing what? Selling homes or something?”
Henry laughed. “Jayce’s parents have one of the biggest construction firms in North Carolina. I believe they might have had a hand in this building years ago.”
“They did,” he said. “When the addition was put on fifteen years ago.”
He’d been in college and thought it was cool. Got to come here over the summer and check it out, hoping to catch sight of players. He had and it was one of the best experiences of his life.
Why hadn’t he remembered that until now?
“Sounds like a boring job to me,” Logan said, pumping his grin higher. “Bet you aren’t on the road much, let alone hanging out with us.”
“I’m not,” he said. “But we all have to grow up at some point.”
He caught the shake of Henry’s head to Logan. “It was good seeing you anyway.”
“Nice try,” Jayce said when the door shut on Logan.
“What?” He wasn’t buying the innocent look. “Word got around you were stopping in to help on a few things.”
Not help. Just show them where a few things were. They saw it differently.
“If Levi shows up here to act like we are friends, I’m out the door and you’re on your own,” he said straight faced.
Henry picked his phone up and sent a text. “No worries. Let’s go see what everyone else is doing and then we’ll let you get on your way.”
“Thanks.”
“You can’t blame me for trying,” Henry said.
“No. You need to do what is right for you, the same for me.”
“I don’t think that’s right for you, Jayce,” Henry said. “I’ve known you for over a decade. I know the type of person you are and you live for the action. A few months of quiet is a good thing, but in a few more, you might not think so and the opportunity could be gone. Don’t forget that.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’re going to let me,” he mumbled.
28
THE ENVY OF EVERYONE
“Date night, date night,” Farrah said as she looked in her closet. How much should she dress up?
“Mom,” Archer yelled and came into her room. She had the door open—he knew he had to knock if it was closed. She rarely had it that way, only if she was in the bathroom or changing.
“Yes,” she said.
“I’m packed. When is Grandpa coming?”
“He’s on his way,” she said. “Should be here any minute.”
“What are you and Jayce doing tonight?”
“We’re going out to dinner,” she said.
Her son wanted to spend the night with his grandparents. He asked, she hadn’t suggested, nor her parents, though she wondered if maybe they’d put the bug in Archer’s ear when he talked to them during the week.
