Chapter 11

11

Cutter

Ilook up at the banner and nod.

RAYES PIZZA & GAMES

Place doesn't even have an actual sign, just a banner. This is small town business as its finest for sure.

I spent the day lingering around the house, kind of bored, pissed off after watching the baseball game. PJ put up eight shutout innings only to have our closer, Jakey, go into the game and give up a bomber of a home run which eventually ended the game.

I also had to confess to my stubborn self that I've been pushing too hard with the swimming and I needed a small break. Last thing I want is to end up hurting myself again.

The only reason I'm here at this pizza place is because of a menu magnet stuck to the side of the fridge. Funny part too is that I called to get some pizza delivered but the delivery driver was home sick.

Small freaking town, huh?

In the city you can order any kind of food, any time of the day or night, and someone will bring it to you.

My only goal here is to not get recognized. Or at least not get recognized to the point of being swarmed and bombarded with autographs and pictures and end up having my location plastered all over social media.

I have to admit the last little while here has been extremely quiet.

Quiet from the game itself. Quiet from the reporters and the questions.

The person blackmailing me hasn't been in touch again, so I personally chalk it up to some loser looking to get a rise out of me. Since I ignored whoever sent the text and email, they've moved on.

It's also been very quiet from another situation.

I haven't seen Piper in…

There I am standing at the hostess station, waiting to get a seat and I look right across the pizza place and there she is.

There's Piper.

She's not alone either.

She's with her son.

His back it toward me. Piper's front is facing me.

I watch her talk to her son, smiling, her eyes so bright and happy.

A mother's love, right?

It kind of gives me a swift punch to the gut.

"Just you tonight?"

I turn my head and a high school aged girl with braces and bright blue eyes smiles at me.

"Just me," I say.

"Any preference where to sit?"

"How about a corner?"

"Sure," she says. "Follow me."

The place reminds me of some rehabbed dive bar. The kind of place that used to have a bad reputation and whoever owns it now is trying hard to turn it into a location where families can enjoy some food and some games. I notice a section for the adults to play darts and pool. There's a bar off in the corner, half full, everyone staring at TV screens. I tell myself to avoid that section at all costs. That's my greatest chance of getting noticed.

I sit down at a corner table meant for four people, yet I am alone.

The waitress is in her mid-fifties, wearing glasses, short brown, shoulder-length hair, looking to be a veteran of the waitressing game.

"Hey, dear," she says to me. "You alone tonight."

"People are overrated," I say.

"Amen to that," she says. "Say, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Were you the one from Phoenix ten years ago?" I ask with a grin.

The waitress smiles. "Oh, dear, I haven't left Morgalen in two decades."

"Sounds like you need a vacation."

"How much do you tip?"

"How far away do you need to go?" I ask.

The waitress touches my left shoulder. "Dear, there's not enough pizza in this place to warrant the kind of tip I need for how far I need to go."

"I feel that," I say. "So I guess we'll both settle for a soda and a large, plain pizza?"

"If you say so. I'm Bethany. You need anything, just yell my name." She turns and then stops. She turns back. "I know where I saw you. You were on TV a little bit ago."

I put my pointer finger to my mouth.

"Oh, secrecy, huh? You're hiding out here."

"The less you know, the safer you are," I say.

Bethany laughs and walks away.

From where I'm seated I cannot see Piper.

That's a good thing. And a bad thing.

Bethany brings me a soda and tells me they're already working on my pizza.

I take two sips of soda and I feel my phone dancing in my pocket.

I've been waiting for PJ to text me about the game. I'm sure he's on a tear right now. Pitching a mostly flawless game like that. Giving up two base runners and then getting pulled. Only to have Jakey give up the game.

That's a brutal way to lose.

I wrestle my phone out of my pocket to discover PJ hasn't text me.

It's from another unknown number.

It's a text message of my current contract. The full details of the contract. Yearly salary, bonuses, all that stuff. Now to be fair here, every contract is easily found online. This isn't some secret news to me or to anyone who cares enough to wonder what a baseball player makes.

It's the second text that comes through…

Man, that's a hell of a contract, Cutter! Lots of zeroes, right? I've been sitting here, figuring it all out. How much you make per month, per week. Per game. Per at bat. How much you make per second. There's nothing better than blackmailing someone who actually has money to give! Be in touch again soon!

Again, my heart doesn't sink. It doesn't race.

But damn do I get angry.

I feel my feet pressing to the floor. I'm ready to stand up and flip the table.

I need to call Tony and shove this onto his shoulders.

Before I can do anything, I look up from my phone to take a breath.

And I see Piper walking toward me.

"Hmm, I ordered a pizza, not a lifeguard," I say.

Nice icebreaker… all things considered…

"I'm not here to chat, Cutter."

"I figured. You're with your son."

"You saw us."

"As soon as I walked in."

I see the hesitation in her eyes. She wants to ask me why I didn't approach her first.

But she's not going to do that. That would be some kind of vulnerability and defeat to her.

Piper is certainly one interesting woman, that's for sure.

There's fire in her eyes, yet a subtle hint of desperation.

"Don't mind me," I say to her. "I'm just here to grab a bite to eat and go back home. Nothing more."

I reach for my drink and sip from the straw, lifting one eyebrow.

Maybe I'm trying to be extra cocky tonight. Maybe.

"I'm not here to talk to you or to get to know you, Cutter. I came over here to give you something. I was hoping to run into you one more time before you leave."

"Before I leave? Here? Or town?"

Piper purposely skips answering that question.

She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a folded up check.

She flings it to the table.

I point to the check. "I'm okay touching that?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just asking, Piper. It was just in your back pocket. You've got this obsession with me getting into your pants and here you are with a check in your back pocket. Seems a little weird, right?"

"You are way too full of yourself, Cutter. Just take the check, okay? And, yes, I'll admit it and say it - thank you for helping me with my car. You didn't have to do that. But I've paid you back. So now we all move on."

"Is that so?" I ask.

"Yes."

Piper starts to turn.

That's when I jump up.

There's this sudden urge inside me to not let her go. I can't let her just slip away like this. What is she going to do? Just vanish? Avoid me at all costs? And I'm supposed to…

I grab her right wrist. Very gently.

Piper looks back at me, realizing I'm not only standing but I'm close to her. She has to look up at me.

"About what happened at my house," I say.

"Don't worry about it."

"I owe you an apology for that. On behalf of myself and my idiot teammates. It's not an excuse, but they were drunk. They thought… well, it doesn't matter what they thought. They should not have taken my phone and sent you what they did."

"Okay," Piper says. "I appreciate you saying that."

"You did rush right over though, huh?"

Piper pulls her hand away. "There it is. You have to make it about yourself. Trying to be all cool now, right, Cutter? I can't even imagine what you said about me to your baseball buddies. Did you lie to them? Make up some sex crazed story?"

I reach for the check on the table and unfold it.

"Beach themed," I say as I study the check.

I can't believe this but I'm studying Piper's handwriting. The big C in my name. The way she crosses both t's with one line. The loops in the B of my last name. And her messy signature which somehow tells the exact story of her life.

"Goodbye, Cutter," Piper says.

As she starts to turn again, I see her son approaching.

Ut-oh.

Piper gasps. "Saxon. What are you doing?"

"You walked away," the little guy says. Then he shrugs his shoulders. "Thought you left me behind."

"When in the world have I ever left you behind?" Piper asks.

"Who's this?"

Her son points at me.

I can instantly tell this kid is very protective of Mom. As he should be.

"I'm Cutter," I say, offering my right hand to him. "I swim at the pool."

Saxon looks to Piper for approval to shake my hand.

Piper nods.

Saxon throws his small hand into mine and tries to grip with some force.

I respect that he knows how to offer up a firm handshake, even if my hand swallows his up with ease.

"I'm a baseball player," I say. "I have a bad shoulder. So I need to swim. Get myself back in shape and back into games."

"Like real baseball? Like on TV?"

"That's right. Jersey Cawlee. Do you watch baseball?"

"Nope," Saxon says. "I'm into music. I play piano."

"Really? That's really cool. I wish I could do that."

"You do?" Saxon asks. His eyes start to light up.

"Are you kidding me? Piano? What an instrument. And, hey, might not matter now, but give it a little more time and the girls are going to love it too."

I wink and Saxon giggles.

"I was just paying Cutter back for something, that's all," Piper says.

"What for?" Saxon asks.

"For her car battery," I say.

"That was your…" Saxon is now staring at me like he idolizes me.

"He liked the SUV," Piper says to me.

I can see how tense her jaw is. She's not a fan of this moment at all.

"It was awesome," Saxon says.

I smile. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. Too bad it's a rental though, huh? I have to give back eventually."

"Oh, dude, you should totally buy it," Saxon says.

"Saxon, don't say that," Piper says.

"Why not? He's got to be rich." Saxon looks at me. "You're rich, right?"

Now I'm laughing. "I do pretty well, kid. Let's just say that."

"Maybe you should go play in the arcade, Saxon," Piper says. "Okay?"

"I don't know. Kind of boring by myself. Nobody else is in there right now."

"Arcade time?" I ask. "I'm in."

Piper and her son both look at me.

I clear my throat. "I mean, if it's okay with your mother and all. I don't want to impose on your night out together."

Piper turns to face me and grits her teeth. "Why?"

"You play pinball, kid?" I ask Saxon.

"I'm not very good at it," he says.

"I can show you a trick or two."

"Really? Cool. Let's go!"

Saxon turns and takes off.

Piper looks ready to smack me in the face again.

"Don't get any ideas, Piper," I say to her. "I haven't been to an arcade in a while. I might as well enjoy myself while I'm in this little town, right? And, hey, I won't bother you at all."

"Too late for that, Cutter," she growls. "That's my son. You don't mess-"

"I'm not messing with anyone, Piper. If you want me to walk out of here right now, I will. But as far as I can see it, he wants to play in the arcade, I've got time, and you can have a minute to yourself to breathe. And, no, that's not me doing you a favor in the hopes of getting into your pants."

"Then why?"

I step closer to her. I tower over her. "Maybe because my mother was a single mother and I saw how hard it was on her. I look back and remember how much of a pain I was and she never faltered for a second. Yet I know somewhere deep inside herself she wished she could have had a little break here and there."

I walk around Piper and run a hand through my hair.

I'm not too thrilled I just blurted that out to her.

Then again, I'm about to do two things I actually enjoy in my life.

First - play some pinball, hit an arcade and act like a kid again.

The second… get on Piper's nerves just little bit more.