Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 94

I lost my footing, my vision tunneled, and Beckett’s voice was merely an echo in my ears. I hear his voice, but it’s garbled and sounds too far away. Like he was on top of the well and I was at the bottom, drowning in the water.

‘How is this possible?‘ I thought to myself as I stared at the shadow standing under the wall–mounted outdoor lights on the fence of our neighbor.

I can’t be mistaken. For years, that figure had tormented me in my sleep and even in my waking hours. It wasn’t just a year. It was from the moment I had a sense of the world to the day Mom finally decided it was enough and fought back. That was a bloody battle that I started, and Mom finished.

“Andi….” Beckett gripped my shoulder, leveling his face with mine as she shook me gently on the shoulder. “Andi? Are you okay?” he asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

He noticed it. Of course, he noticed it. My breath was snagged in my throat, and I could feel the tension in my eyelids as I stared wide–eyed at our neighbors‘ house.

I blinked all these mixed emotions away and smiled at Beckett.

“Me? Of course,” I made a dismissive sound in my throat. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Unconvinced, he followed where I had been staring seconds ago. His broad shoulders were like a shield ready to protect me from any danger.

I stared at the fence again, and there was nothing there.

Just the empty walk path lit up with amber wall lights and trimmed hedges. The street was almost empty.

He turned back to me, brows knitting together. “Is something wrong?”

I realized then that I must have looked like I’d seen a ghost.

I blinked hard, shoving aside the shock out of my system, schooling my features into something lighter. I offered him my sweet practiced smile, one I used at the bar for customers who looked at me like I was part of the menu. It was convincing enough to pass.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, “Just… thought I saw someone taking a video of us.”

His eyes searched my face, lingered a minute longer, but he didn’t push it. He nodded and reached for my hand, squeezing it gently, and assured me, even though he didn’t need to. “No paparazzi will be able to walk through the gates of this neighborhood. Almost everyone living in this area is a law enforcement family”

“Hmm, I hummed as he allowed me to guide him inside the house.

D

“How was practice?” I asked Beckett once we were inside the kitchen. It was better that we talk about other things so Beckett doesn’t see that I’m still a little spooked by what I saw earlier.

He told me about practice while I finished dinner. Then Caleb took control of the night the moment we sat down at the table. He talked nonstop about school, about his games, about how his classmates practically worshipped him now that he had a selfie with Beckett Hale. He reenacted stories with dramatic hand gestures, his laughter filling every quiet space.

I was grateful for it. I liked seeing my little brother like this, being a kid his age who’s all about computer games, baseball, and friends. Not worrying about our mom’s health and how we would be able to buy her meds.

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Chapter 94

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Beckett was absorbed in Caleb’s energy, laughing, asking questions, really listening to every word. That gave me space to breathe. To hide how rattled I still was. How the image of that shadow refused to vacate my mind.

It couldn’t be him. They said he’s in isolation and is suffering from an infection.

Would they lie to me? But why would they? My father didn’t have money. He didn’t have anything of value apart from my mom. No friends either, or family that we know of. He didn’t have anyone willing to pull strings for him back then, and certainly not now, right? He had nothing.

So it couldn’t have been my father.

I let myself drown in the bountiful food, laughter, and Beckett’s presence in the house. He’d always been a distraction, even when I just started working for him. He drew all my focus onto him, allowed me to pin my hate on him instead of hating my ife and its fuck ups. Not that he’s offering a different kind of distraction. His sweetness was too much, and his attentiveness was addicting.

He’d touch me whenever he got the chance. Even if it was just passing over the pitcher of water, or the bowl of rice. His eyes would crinkle as he smiled whenever his gaze found mine. But even Beckett’s sweet gestures can’t erase the horrors of my >ast completely. I couldn’t focus on him like I was supposed to do and he noticed it. We watched the news in the living oom when he asked why I seemed distracted, I blamed school.

I start tomorrow night,” I told him. “I need to prep. I probably won’t be good company.”

He smiled, understanding immediately. “Text me if you need anything.”

The week that followed buried me in work, school, and exhaustion. By the time I collapsed into bed each night, my thoughts. vere too scattered to spiral. I worry about school, about how the people at Siobhan’s office always gave me the side eye when he boss wasn’t around, and about Mom. I still haven’t seen her go out of her room. She was eating because every plate I ›laced in front of her door came out empty. But on the tenth day, my mom finally stepped out of her room.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, her skin pale, as if she’d been deprived of sunlight. We didn’t talk about my dad. Not nce. We tiptoed around the subject, as though it would explode if we touched it.

didn’t tell her about the shadow I saw the last time Beckett was here. I don’t wanna spook her again, or it might take a nonth before she bounces back. She was back in her garden. The sun was good for her; it gave her skin color.

say this day was better than the last few days I had in this house. We had dinner as a complete family for the first time in

nore than a month.

That night, the house fell quiet early. I have an online class, so I was holed up in my room until almost midnight.

Caleb was asleep. My mom’s door was closed. The only sound was the hum of the refrigerator and the soft tick of the clock n the hallway as I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

At first, I hear the water filling my glass, then the rustling of grass on the back of the house. The small window above the sink was open, so I had a clear view of what was happening outside

That’s when I saw him. A figure moved behind the house, just beyond the small kitchen window. He was lurking on the grass, like a burglar ready to break into our home.

Chills spiralled down my body. My heart slammed so hard I thought it right burst out of my chest. Every routine scree at me to run–but my legs wouldn’t move Instead, I reached for the kaufe on the counter, gupping the haille sa tight my fingers ached

I stepped outside. Damn, I was glad I didn’t open the lights so I still have the advantage here. He can’t see, and I can see bin I waited until he was near the house before I pushed open the door and pointed the knife at hun

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The night air was thick and heavy. My breath shook as I kept a steady hold on the knife. He paused, calculating his next move, but he already saw me.

“Step into the light, slowly,” I say, my voice firm and commanding, but I can feel my hand shaking

The intruder did as he was told and slowly walked into the illumination of the outdoor lights. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I had a gut feeling that I knew who he was.

My father.

He was thinner than I remembered, eyes sunken, but it was him. He grew a beard and wore a worn–out beanie, but nothing can hide that nasty gaze he’s pinning on me. That same sneer that watched me crumble after he hit me, and the same eyes that stared at me fold with each kick he landed on my body.

The man who was supposed to be sick and in isolation was now standing at the back of our house

My hold on the knife was shaky as fear registered in my brain. Panic flooded every part of me as the truth crashed down all

at once.

“Hello, little pest,” his mocking voice brought all the horrors of the past to my present.

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