Strike Out by Cheryl Douglas

his anger at Rennie before, not even when she walked out on their wedding. “Are you gonna tell me she was justified in keeping your boy from you?”
    “No, Dad.” Zach ran a hand over his mouth, wishing he could make an excuse to leave early. With a four-day road trip coming up, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Tyler. He was having a blast hanging out with the boys too, even if Tyler just thought of him as some baseball player he idolized. “I’m not saying she was justified, but after talking to Rennie, all I can say is she did what she thought was best for our son.”
    “How the hell can you say that? There’s no excuse for what she did. I don’t know who I’m angrier with: her for keeping our grandson from us or her parents for pretending to be our friends all these years.”
    The situation would escalate into World War III if Zach didn’t figure out a way to diffuse it. The truth was his last option. “Let’s take a little walk.” He pointed toward a path to an adjoining park.
    “Why?” John asked, setting his glass on a nearby table.
    “Because you need to understand that I’m not an innocent victim in all this.” His parents may have been victimized by missing out on the opportunity to know their grandson, but Zach trusted Rennie’s motivations. As angry as he was, he knew Rennie wasn’t a vindictive woman.
    “What did you do to deserve this?”
    “Hey, you’re not leaving are you, Zach?” Tyler asked, poking his head out of the water.
    “No, I’m just gonna take a little walk. I’ll be back soon.”
    “Cool,” he said, grinning.
    “It’s obvious that boy idolizes you,” John said quietly as he fell into step beside Zach.
    Zach waited until they’d left the crowds behind before he said, “He’s a pitcher. Can you believe that? Says he wants to be just like me when he grows up.”
    John watched a little girl spraying a dog with a garden hose. She laughed with delight every time he shook himself, soaking her pink sundress in the process. “He looks just like you did at that age. As soon as I saw him, my heart damn near stopped.”
    “I know. Mine too.” Zach led the way to the baseball field. He and his father used to go there all the time when he was a kid. He’d plead with his dad to take him every night after dinner when he was too young to venture so far from home without adult supervision.
    “What excuse did she give you for pulling a stunt like this?” John asked, cracking his knuckles.
    Zach got his stature from his father. At well over six feet and on the south side of two hundred pounds, he was an intimidating man. Zach didn’t look forward to his father’s look of disgust after he told him about the conversation with Kevin. As ashamed as Zach was to admit it,  he’d meant every word he said to his brother. He had felt pressured into marrying Rennie—not by her, but by their family and friends. People who had known them for years assumed marriage was their next logical step, so he’d caved instead of telling her that he needed a couple more years to get his career off the ground before he felt ready for marriage and a family. But that didn’t mean he’d felt any relief when Rennie left town. Figuring out how to live without her was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
    “I’m waiting for an answer,” John said, stopping short when he saw two boys just a little older than Tyler playing baseball. One pitched while the other swung for all he was worth.
    “Things were so simple back then.” Zach remembered when the only thing that mattered to him was playing baseball. He still loved the game, but it wasn’t enough to fill the void in his life anymore. The off-season was long, and while High Rollers occupied a lot of his time, it wasn’t enough.
    “You’re not a kid anymore,” his father said, slapping his back. “It seems like only yesterday we used to come here. Now you’ve got a kid of your own.” He smiled as the batter sent a line drive