The Art of Starting Over

People in New England had an old saying . . . if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it’ll change. Hayden waited. He stood in the front room window, drinking coffee from a mug declaring him the World’s Best Grandpa. Cars drove along the road, tires hitting puddles and splashing water and road grime onto yards and parked cars. Hayden glanced at the watch on his wrist and then leaned forward to peer out the window and up at the sky, forgetting that the roof of the porch would hinder his view.

The showers had come out of nowhere and, as of the night before, hadn’t been on the radar. The random burst hovered over Oyster Bay, threatening baseball tryouts. Hayden set his coffee down and pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen to bring it alive and then clicked on the weather app, scrolling until he found the video of the rain showers.

“It should be clear in a minute,” Darcy said from behind him.

Hayden let out one of those humph sounds, neither believing nor disbelieving his mom.

Darcy stood next to him and sighed. “Figures.”

“Of course it does.”

As a kid, Hayden remembered many times when rain would dampen or ruin an outside activity for him. The worst had been his junior year of high school during football season. The team had lost one game all year and were vying for the state championship in their division. It had rained for three straight days, and no one had had the keen sense of mind to push the game off for a week. They’d been lucky all season with little to no foul weather, but when it mattered the most, Mother Nature unleashed on them. The “mud bowl” ended with a score of two to zero, in favor of the other team. Hayden was the one who’d been sacked in the end zone.

“Tryouts start in an hour,” he said to his mom. “And I promised the kids I’d take them to the field beforehand to toss the ball around.”

“They’re not made of sugar,” Darcy said. “They won’t melt.”

“I’m definitely made of sugar,” Hayden said with a smile. “According to the radar, this storm will be over in a minute.” Hayden picked his coffee up and took another sip.

“Is there an echo in here?” Darcy looked around the room as if she was looking for the echo to come out of hiding.

“Funny,” Hayden said. “I’m stressed. I can’t help it.”

“It’s baseball tryouts. They can happen later in the day.”

“Yeah, it’s not just the tryouts,” he said as he frowned at his phone.

“How was dinner last night?”

“Fine. Took the kids to the Pizza Palace. They had fun.”

“And you?”

“What about me?” He eyed his mother cautiously and saw the slight lift of her shoulder as she brought her coffee cup to her lips.

“Just, you know.”

“No, I don’t know.” Hayden knew that his mother and her friends were gossips. If you had or wanted news spread, you asked the Crafty Cathys, or the CC Club. The women of Oyster Bay took their blabbermouthing very seriously. The Crafty Cathys were also the first to come to someone’s aid when needed. They were the first to volunteer, be there with food when there was a crisis, and set up watch parties when a fishing boat hadn’t returned yet or organize a knitting party for babies in need. The group had a purpose and had been around for eons. It was an honor to be part of the CC Club.

“Tabitha may have mentioned she saw you and another recently single resident chatting it up in the parking lot last week, and then again at dinner.”

Hayden rolled his eyes, hard. Tabitha was the worst of the worst when it came to the CC Club. She patrolled the streets in her hot-pink spandex pants and matching jogger jacket, and she often wore a headband to keep her unruly short, curly blond hair out of her eyes. She was the epitome of what people thought the eighties looked like, with all the neon colors. Hayden was curious, though, if Tabitha still wore the same Reeboks now that they were back in fashion and if she had upgraded her Walkman to an iPhone.

“I’m pretty sure I told you I ran into Devorah outside the school and gave her a ride because it was raining. She’s going through a lot of shit right now and doesn’t need any of you Crafty Cathys adding your two cents.”

Hayden excused himself and went out to stand on the porch. He glanced at the sky. The clouds were moving fast, and the blue sky showed a lot of promise. He sent a text to Devy: Please tell Maren I’m sorry but it doesn’t look like the rain is going to let up in time for us to get some practice in. Make sure she doubles up on her socks. The grass is going to be wet. I’ll be there shortly to pick you up.

He pocketed his phone and went back into the house, made eye contact with his mom, and shook his head. She meant well, but he truly wanted the locals to forget about what they’d seen and let Devy figure things out on her own. She didn’t need a constant reminder that her husband had had an affair with her best friend and had chosen the same best friend who’d humiliated her on the internet.

“Conor, you about ready?” Hayden yelled up the stairs.

“Yes, but it’s raining.”

“Tryouts are still on. Grab another sweatshirt and extra socks. You’ll be fine.”

Hayden went into the kitchen and prepared Conor’s water bottle. He added ice and then water and then grabbed a couple of bottles from the refrigerator for later. The temperature would rise to a lovely sixty-five, and he didn’t want Conor and Maren to be without some form of hydration. He knew they’d need it with all the running around they were about to do.

When he heard Conor thump onto the floor, Hayden yelled, “Stop jumping off the steps.”

“You used to do it all the time,” Darcy yelled back from the living room.noveldrama

Hayden gripped the edge of the island and gritted his teeth. His parents babied Conor, which at times he appreciated. He was the parent, however, and there were things he and Sofia had tried to instill in their son. One of them was self-preservation. Jumping off steps was never a good idea.

Conor and his grandma came into the kitchen, both with shit-eating grins on their faces. Hayden shook his head and made a mental note to call the contractor, Link Blackburn, on Monday to see when they could break ground on his new home. Link was a local and had grown up with Hayden. They hadn’t been great friends in high school but were always cordial. Hayden was more than ready to have his own place, somewhere he could parent his son without his mom undermining him.

“Ready?” he asked Conor.

“Yep, Grandpa put my stuff in the truck already.”

“All right, let’s go try out for some baseball.”

Conor hugged his grandma goodbye and followed Hayden outside. He climbed into the back, without Hayden suggesting it.

“Are we still picking Maren up?”

“Yeah, we are.”

“She really kicked my butt at the games last night.”

“You didn’t let her win?” Hayden asked as he drove toward the sheriff’s house.

“What? No way. She’s a beast.”

Hayden glanced in the rearview and watched as Conor’s head bopped to the song coming from the radio. It pleased him how his son was so compassionate toward Maren, especially considering how Conor had lost his mom. Maybe it was good for the kids to be close.

It was definitely a great excuse for Hayden to spend time with Devy. He liked her. Probably more than he should at the moment.

Hayden pulled up to the front of the house and groaned when Sheriff Crowley came down the steps. Knowing he shouldn’t hide from Crow, Hayden put his truck into park and stepped out under the light drizzle to greet the man.

“Sheriff,” Hayden said as he came around the front of his truck. “Working on a Saturday?”

“Just gonna monitor the activity at the park,” he said as he adjusted his duty belt. “I hear your boy is the reason Maren wants to try out today.”

Hayden glanced at his truck and smiled. “Yes, sir. They’ve become fast friends.”

Crow nodded. “She needs all the friends she can get right now.”

“She” could’ve meant Dev or Maren. Hayden took it as both.

The front screen door squeaked as Maren and Devy came out. Maren rushed down the stairs and all but crashed into her grandfather.

“See you at tryouts, Grandpa.”

“Knock ’em dead, slugger,” he said as he gave Maren a hug. When Devorah reached her father, the reception was stilted. Crow started to put his arm around Dev and then stopped. He sighed heavily and then grunted out something that sounded like “Keep your head up.” But Hayden couldn’t be sure.

“I will.” The response from Devorah was clear as day. As soon as she looked at Hayden, she smiled softly and ducked her head.

Was she flirting with him?

He hoped so.

Hayden stepped to the side and motioned for Devorah to walk in front of him. He followed behind and opened the passenger door for her when they reached his truck. Once Devy was in, he checked on Maren and Conor in the back, both deep in conversation about the Pizza Palace, and then jogged around to the driver’s side.

He chanced a look at Crow, who stood there watching everything. Hayden gave him a quick wave and then hopped into the cab. “The rain will stop by the time we get to the field,” he said as he put his truck into drive and signaled he was about to reenter the roadway—he didn’t want to give the sheriff a reason to pull him over—and headed toward the park.

“I love the rain,” Maren said from the back. “It means everything will be all muddy.”

Devy shook her head. “It’s all she’s talked about since it started this morning.”

“Do you remember the time it rained for days, right before the football championship?”

“How could I forget? Colt complained nonstop. First about the weather and then about losing. Wasn’t the score something like three to five? It was an odd one.”

Hayden sighed. “We lost because of me by a score of zero to two.”

“Ooh, that’s right.” Devy’s ooh seemed to drag out forever. “Now I remember.”

“Please don’t,” Hayden said with a bit of laughter. “No one needs to remember that night, especially me. Actually, I take that back. There are a few things from that night that I want to remember.” Hayden winked and Devy blushed. “I’ve never looked at a swing the same since.”

“Hey.”

Hayden jumped at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t expected that she’d want to see him. He turned in the swing as Devorah came toward him, still in her cheerleading outfit.

“Hey.”

She stood in front of him until he had no choice but to look up at her. She sat on his lap, facing him. Being tall gave Hayden a lot of advantages. This was one of them.

“I’m sorry.”

“Do they all hate me?” he asked, of the football team. He’d fucked up royally tonight and cost the team a championship.

Devorah shrugged. “Coach says the rain and field conditions hindered everyone’s game.”

“You can say that again.”

“I would, but I don’t like repeating myself, and I honestly don’t understand any of it.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

She shook her head. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you are.” He pulled her close and helped her put her legs on either side of his hips. Hayden was in love with her but couldn’t tell her, afraid of what her brother would say or do. The two-year difference in their age had never bothered him until now. He wanted her to come to college with him, where they could be open and free about how they felt about each other.

Hayden’s hand trailed up her back, bringing her forward until their lips met. Gently, he pushed his foot into the rain-soaked ground, swaying them back and forth.

“We all have our moments,” she said, smiling at him. “It was high school. Who cares?”

Yes, they’d definitely had their moments, and he was having an easy time remembering them. Most of his memories were good. Great even. The only bad one was when he saw her kissing Chad. If Hayden could go back in time and tell her then how he felt . . .

Nope, he wasn’t going there. He and Sofia had had a good life together. They had been happy, in love, and thriving. Hayden couldn’t change the past, but he’d be damn sure to show Devorah that she deserved better than the likes of Chad “Full of Shit” Campbell.

Hayden pulled into the parking lot of the park. “Those guys care,” he said as he pointed to a group of dads, most of them former classmates.

“This is why small towns suck,” Devorah said. “People remember everything.”

“Especially when you leave and then come back.”

Before Hayden and Devy could move a muscle to get out of the car, Maren and Conor had opened the back doors and bolted for the group.

“They don’t have any cares in the world,” Devy said. “Maren should, though. I tried to talk her out of this, but she’s insistent.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Conor is happy she’s here.”

“A little, but I fear—” Devorah paused and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have come back here, but I couldn’t stay in Chicago. This place was the lesser of two evils.”

Hayden placed his hand on top of hers. “You have friends here who will protect you.”

Devy scoffed. “I can’t even get my father to sit down and talk to me, let alone anyone else. I’m the town pariah.”

“Nah, something will happen next week, and everyone will have moved on. You didn’t do anything wrong. Remember that,” Hayden said. “Come on, I see my dad sitting at the registration table. The sooner we get this started, the faster it’ll be over.”

Hayden and Devy made their way to the registration table, where several parents were registering their players. They both went to Lee to make things easier.

“It’s good to see you, Devorah,” Lee said. “I had coffee with your dad yesterday.”

“Well, hopefully Crow did his part to keep up the conversation.”

Lee chuckled. “A man of few words our sheriff is, that’s for sure. He’s happy you and Maren are back in Oyster Bay, though.”

“Really? Did he say that?” Dev asked.

“He did. He’s very proud of you.”

Devy stepped back and met Hayden’s gaze. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, and Hayden suspected that might have been the first time Crow had ever said anything of the sort. Everyone in town knew Crow had a rocky relationship with his kids, so hearing him say this sort of thing to someone else had probably hit Devy square in the chest.

Devorah and Hayden walked side by side toward a set of bleachers. Devy chose the bottom row. Hayden sat next to her and extended his long legs out in front of him.

“Don’t want to sit higher up?”

She shook her head. “I’m less visible here.”

Hayden looked around. He smiled when smiled at and waved a couple of times. “No one will bother you. Not here at least.”

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears, and he accepted that. If someone even came up to Devorah and said something about what was going on, Hayden would have words with them. There was a time and a place, and it wasn’t Oyster Bay.