Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
6
CATHERINE
“You okay?” I ask my son for the third time.
We’re just leaving the baseball field, and the game didn’t go well. Cole missed a ball at first base, and he struck out two of the three times at bat. And even though the whole team didn’t play their best, I know my son, and he’s going to be so hard on himself about the error and his performance.
He’s leaning with his head on his hand against the door of the car. “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. I just sucked tonight… I need to do better.”
“Cole, language, and you didn’t do badly. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes.” I want to chime in that his coach is too hard on him. You shouldn’t get benched just because you make one error, but that’s the way his coach does it.
He won’t even look at me, and it’s killing me the way he’s looking out the window. “I know, Mom, but his son made three errors on first base, and he didn’t take him out for it. It’s just not fair.”
As his mom, there are so many things I want to say, but I know talking smack about his coach is not going to help in the long run. As much as I hate it, I know what I need to do. “I know it doesn’t seem fair, but he’s the coach, and you have to play by his rules. Everyone makes mistakes, and that’s okay. All you can do is work your hardest and do your best.”
He gets mad, but at least he finally looks at me. “I do work hard.”
I put my turn signal on. We’re only five minutes from home, but this car ride is feeling like an eternity. “Cole, playing games online all weekend long is not working hard.” I hold a hand up because I know what he’s about to say. “I know you deserve down time, but you spent the majority of your time in your room playing that game. Did you run? Do arm care? Stretch? Do anything to help improve your game?”
When I’m met with silence, I look over at him as I pull up to the stop sign. “I’m not trying to get on you, Cole, but you want to be better, and I’m just trying to help.”
“You’re right, Mom.”
My mouth drops open, but I slam it shut. “Okay.”
“I’ll work harder,” he says, and my hands tighten on the steering wheel. Did I just get through to him?
We get a few more blocks, and I bring up the one thing I know I need to talk to him about. Everything is in place. I’ve moved all my patients around, got the okay from the hospital to work out of the office the next two months. Everything is in place, but I still need to talk to Cole about it. “So, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
“You know Holden Gray?”
It’s like I can see him rolling his eyes as he says, “Yes, Mom, I know who Holden Gray is.”
I clear my throat. “Right, well, he’s injured—”
Cole cuts me off. “Yeah, he has a rotator cuff strain, and the news is saying that he’s going to be out for a while.”
I should have known that Cole would already know all about Holden's injuries. “Yeah, well, I’ve been asked to be in charge of his treatment.”
Cole shifts in his seat so fast I almost get whiplash. “You’re going to be helping Holden Gray?”
“Yeah, well, we’re still working out the details, but it’s going to be intense therapy. He’s wanting to make it back for the playoffs, so it’s a lot.”
I pull into our driveway and park the car. Cole doesn’t make a move for the door; he’s staring at me, waiting for me to continue. “So I have two months to get his arm better, and it’s going to require me to be a live-in therapist.” I hold my hand up. “Now if you’re uncomfortable with this at all, you can tell me, and I can get someone else—”
“Wait. Mom, are you saying you’re going to be staying at Holden Gray’s house?”
He looks so excited it’s like he can barely contain himself. “Actually, we would be staying at Holden Gray’s house.”
He sits back, stunned. “Mom, you have to take it.”
He’s out the door and running up the front steps of our house by the time I get my door open. “Cole, where are you going?”
“I need to pack, I need to call my friends, I need to—”
I have the key to the house so he’s rocking back and forth on his feet as he rambles on. Slowly, I follow behind him. “There are a few things we need to go over, Cole. You can’t tell your friends anything about Holden’s therapy. I could lose my job if that happens. Second, I still need to talk to Jeremy about this—he’s coming over for dinner.”