“But can I?”
Then I remembered Teagan’s letter.
“You never asked why I was scared.”
I wasn’t going to make Lucas pay for my fears.
“Yes.”
***
The first meeting happened at a public baseball field.
Lucas chose it.
“You never asked why I was scared.”
His father was already there.
He held an old leather glove.
Lucas stopped.
“That’s the one from the picture.”
The man looked down.
“Yeah.”
Lucas stopped.
“You kept it all this time?”
“I kept more things than I had a right to.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“I’m Lucas.”
Lucas pointed toward the field.
“Are you any good?”
“You kept it all this time?”
“Not really.”
“You had a glove.”
“Owning one and being good are different things.”
Lucas smiled.
They started throwing the ball, awkwardly at first.
One throw sailed too high.
“You had a glove.”
Lucas missed it and kicked the dirt.
“Sorry,” the man said. “That one was mine.”
“I should’ve caught it.”
“No. I threw it badly.”
I stood several yards away.
After a while, Lucas asked him something I couldn’t hear.
“I should’ve caught it.”
The man crouched beside him.
My body moved before I thought: one step forward.
Then I stopped.
Lucas looked at him.
The man answered.
I stayed where I was.
Lucas looked at him.
