Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Beckett-

I wasn’t an impatient man. Playing baseball and throwing pitches taught me the art of weathering any situation with a calm mind to come out on top. And I was that player who loved every second of being in the field, but tonight was an exception. I can’t wait for this game to be over.

I had never felt this urge to end the next two innings in just twenty pitches, and I had never celebrated each strikeout like it was the best pitch I had ever thrown, like tonight. All throughout the eighth and ninth innings, my eyes kept darting towards Andi’s seat after every pitch, making sure that she was still there, watching the game, waiting for me as she had promised.

After the game, I had to endure the delay caused by the interviews with the sports and news channels. I had never enjoyed answering questions about how I felt about the game or our win, as I did tonight.

In the locker room, I went under the shower to wash off sweat, dirt, and the game’s scent on me. I’d usually bicker with my teammates, talk about the game, but tonight, I went in and out of the shower deep in my thoughts, as though I was about to step on the mound again.

The guys were talking about taking a few shots after the game, but I couldn’t commit to joining them. Talking things over with Andi gave me more chills and jitters than our game.

I cleared the locker fast, changed in under two minutes, grabbed bag, and didn’t bother with the post–game debrief.

“Beckett?” Bobby, our pitching coach, called me. I was midway through the locker room door, stopping in my tracks. “Where are you going? Dave wants to talk to the team,” he informed me. Dave always wants to talk to the team after the game. He’d talk about everything we’ve done well, but highlight what we should improve. That man won’t take the win just yet, always preparing us for the next game.

Our coaching staff doesn’t know that the reason I managed to make it through the eighth and ninth innings was waiting for me outside.

“Uh, my mom is here. I need to catch up with them,” I reasoned, knowing that that was Bobby’s soft spot. Family. Mom would kill me if she knew I used her as an alibi. But that wasn’t a total lie. Andi will be family soon enough.

Bobby was in his late fifties, with a Van Dyke beard and an army–cut hairstyle. His blue eyes softened as he gathered that my reason for trying to escape Dave’s post–game ritual was my mom.

“Oh,” he tucked his hands into the pockets of his team’s letterman jacket. “Tell her I say hi.”

I nodded at him, gripping the strap of my duffel bag. “I will.”

I went out to the parking lot. It was almost empty apart from the team and stadium staff rides, and I immediately recognized one of Cole’s men leaning at the hood of a black SUV.

He stood at attention when he saw me coming, yet my eyes were scanning the parking lot for any sign of Andi. My heart was racing wildly inside my chest when I couldn’t find her anywhere. My mind is already racing with dangerous thoughts of her whereabouts, if she had been kidnapped again.

“Boss,” the driver in a black shirt and jeans lowered his hand to his side, the smoke from his cigarette billowing around his frame. “Nice game,” he murmured, meaning each word. Cole wouldn’t send this guy to drive Andi here if he wasn’t working in my cousin’s inner circle. And I saw the excitement in his eyes as he bounced on his heels as I drew nearer. “Need a ride?”

I shook my head, lips pursed in a hard line. “Where is she?” I grumbled, eyes still sweeping the parking lot. She could be inside the car already, but the frown on his forehead told me that the car was still empty.

1./0

7:33 am

Chapter 149

“She hasn’t come out yet,” he rasped, worry clouding his face as he realized where the dark look on my face was coming from. “Do you need me to look for her, boss?” he snapped with real concern.

It’s clear that his command came directly from Cole, and he understood that Andi was as important as any member of the Maldini family.

I was sure Andi was still in her seat when I was doing an interview for CS Channel, and I had this feeling she was still inside.

My bag landed with a thud as I dropped it on the ground. “Call me when she comes out of the stadium,” I said, rushing back inside the ballpark as panic slowly clasped its ice–cold hand around my throat.

If Andi managed to slip out of the driver’s sight, I don’t know where to start looking for her. We are in a different city, and searching for her here won’t be as easy as back in Hawthorne Bay.

The stadium was eerily quiet, as if there hadn’t been thirty thousand people here earlier, watching the game. My sneaker squeaked against the tiled floor with every step.

The housekeeping team was already starting to clean the benches; some were tending to the grass in the diamond and drawing lines on the ground where we had been throwing and batting balls earlier.

Now that the seats were empty and the ballpark was quiet, it was easy to see which seat was still occupied. In the sea of white and blue benches, one was where the woman I was looking for was still sitting. She was looking straight at the now dark screen, as though she was still seeing the game replaying.

I jogged down the bleachers, making sure I was careful not to startle Andi. I managed to reach her without tripping over my own feet and making a fool of myself.

She slowly lifted her gaze to me as I reached her seat; her eyes were bleak, empty, lifeless, as though she had just seen a horror movie in which the entire cast died.

“Andi?” I rushed to the seat beside her, hooking my arms around her shoulder to offer her a little comfort. Despite not knowing what she was thinking seconds ago, I already wanted to erase everything she had been worrying about. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

She silently buried her face in my chest, allowing me to pull her closer. I heard her shallow breathing, then her shoulder rose and fell as she pulled in a heavy breath.

“It’s not okay, Beckett,” she grumbled into my chest. I feel her entire frame melting into me, all her strength leaving her..

“It’s okay. Whatever it was you were thinking, we can deal with it,” I murmured, running my hands up and down her back. Her breathing was starting to grow heavy and fast as she calmed herself.

“It’s not gonna be okay,” she grumbled, her voice weak and small, as if she had just lost all hope.

“Don’t say that, baby girl-”

“Everyone knows you married Sloane,” she cut me off, and I felt all the air leave my body.