Excerpt from Winter's Thaw

God, I hate Muzak. Maggie switched her cell phone to the other ear and pushed her fingers through her dark, irritatingly frizzed-out hair, automatically loosening yet another snag. She normally straightened and smoothed the mop, preferring it sleek, but hadn’t had time this morning, so it fell in kinky twists, closely framing her cheeks.

It would probably be better covering her face entirely. She knew she looked like crap right now, between the lack of sleep and no makeup. She had just spent most of yesterday flying halfway across the country with her nine-year-old daughter, Cassie, to her mom’s farm for an extended summer visit. Normally once they were there, they’d stay in and not see the light of day for a while until they started to go stir-crazy.

Then after dinner, just as they were settling in to watch a movie, the call had come about her husband, Wade…

Well, technically he was her ex-husband, but one month of ‘ex’ versus almost fifteen years of marriage made it hard to automatically add the prefix.

It had been the Highway Patrol with the shocking news that Wade had been transported to St Vincent’s after a multiple-car accident. They hadn’t given her any other details, instructing her to call the hospital for more information. She’d immediately left the room to keep from alerting Cassie to the problem and got on the phone to St Vincent’s. She’d been redirected a couple of times from the switchboard to the Emergency Room then had finally gotten through to someone who could answer her questions. Once they’d confirmed her identity, she’d learned Wade had been admitted and was in critical condition in the ICU. He’d been unconscious since his arrival.

Stunned and worried, she’d booked a flight for first thing the next morning, deciding to leave Cassie with Mom instead of dragging her right back home. Maggie had then spent a mostly sleepless night getting frequent updates from the nurses before driving alone in the bleak pre-dawn to the closest airport. It was a bit surreal to be back in the same place she’d just been through less than a day prior.

The first short commuter flight to the bigger regional hub had gone fine, and a voicemail message to call the ICU had been waiting when she turned her cell phone back on after disembarking.

She continued to wait on hold, listening to the light jazz music, and glanced up automatically as an extremely tall man stepped over her stretched-out legs before dropping into the seat next to her. Mouth going dry, she could only just keep from gawking.

You don’t see a guy like that every day. Wow, talk about the total package.

She made a mental note to tell her best friend, Sam, that she had sat right next to a Total Stud. Maybe even a Fallen Angel, their highest ranking for hot über-alpha male.

She gave him a quick, furtive once-over out of the corner of her eye, her clearest view of his body his lap, where jeans that looked older than him lovingly clung.

Holy smokes. And ‘package’ was certainly right on the money.

He might have gone with comfort on the lower half, but had dressed it up with a button-down shirt and sports coat, and the combination definitely worked on him.

More than just an Angel. They might have to invent a whole new category just for him, she mused. Maybe ‘God on Earth?’ She searched her imagination for a title worthy of him as she continued to hold. The two friends had played this game for years, ‘collecting’ and describing in detail the yummy, unattainable eye-candy they ran across. They were married, they always joked, not blind. Though, Maggie had to remind herself once again, she was single now, not that it made much difference. Scenery was all it was. Guys like that never looked twice at middle-aged moms.

At least she had something to keep her mind occupied while she was stuck in phone purgatory.

* * * *

“I’m sorry,” the older woman’s impersonal voice rang through the brutally clear cell connection. This was breaking it to her gently? “Someone from the discharge planning office will be calling about making arrangements and getting your husband’s effects back to you.” The delivery was rote, as if she was reading from a mental script. “Mrs Winter?” she prodded.

“Yes, fine,” Maggie managed to croak out. “Thank you.” What am I thanking her for? For telling me that my husband just died? Talk about a social oddity. The call disconnected, apparently from the other end, and Maggie was left leaning back in the hard airport seat, cupping her cell phone loosely in a slightly trembling hand.

The white noise from the endless mass of humanity around her was a surreal backdrop to the chaos in her mind. Maggie sat there motionless for an untold measure of time, until a sudden, energetic surge of movement around her brought her back to the current situation. Apparently, they were boarding.

Stay or go? The call had been an abrupt ending to a flurry of planning and rushing about which had started about fifteen hours earlier when she had gotten that first unexpected call from the Highway Patrol.

Now, she was sitting here in the Minneapolis airport, standby the best she could do for this upcoming flight, and suddenly, she wasn’t even sure if she should continue to Oregon or return to her daughter.

Cass.

A fresh burst of pain hit and Maggie sighed wearily at the prospect of breaking the news to her daughter. She rubbed her forehead, feeling the tension headache that had been growing all day tighten, digging its claws in. Poor baby was going to be devastated. Regardless of the difficulties Wade and Maggie had gone through lately as a couple, Cassie was very attached to her dad. Maggie flashed on a recent memory of Wade, energetic and in the prime of life, hoisting Cassie up in the air and mock-complaining about how big she was getting. Then tried to picture him lying on a hospital bed, still, unmoving, not breathing…

Maggie teared up and blinked, firmly pushing the impossible image away, swallowing hard as she debated her next move. The prospect of flying home alone and walking into the house they’d once shared was just disturbing. She should probably just go to customer service and catch the next available short flight back to her mom and daughter.

Her name being forcefully announced penetrated her mental anguish. “That’s passengers Ingram, party of two, and Winter, for Portland. Please come to the podium,” the gate attendant repeated over the intercom, and Maggie stood to automatically obey. Taking a step to the right, she collided with something immoveable and began to wobble. Before gravity took over, a firm grip caught her elbow and steadied her. She looked gratefully down into a pair of intense blue eyes. Ah yes, the God on Earth.

Excerpt from Spring Training

Aaron rolled his shoulder gingerly then scowled down at the oily rag in his hand. Bad enough that he wasn’t able to be at his real home, working out with his team for spring training, but now Coach had talked him into babysitting duty for the new young phenom he’d brought into the organization. A phenom that was currently AWOL. Not exactly an auspicious start.

His cell phone rang just as he was getting into a good rhythm. “Damn it. Great timing, Deke.” After looking around fruitlessly for a sec, he finally just wiped his oily hands down his jeans. They were old anyway.

When he finally picked the phone up, he had to smile at the contact photo of his friend getting knocked ass over teakettle during a play at home. “Hey, man,” he answered.

“Hank! Wut up?” Deke’s low drawl was as thick and strong as Deke himself.

“Not much.” He stood and walked over to the sliding door to the balcony, staring out at the forested greenbelt behind the condo complex. He’d closed the door earlier because some random neighbor somewhere had been smoking. “Just doing some chores. Day off.” He slid the door open and sniffed to make sure the air was unpolluted before stepping out. One thing he couldn’t stand was the smell of smoke. Probably came from growing up with a dad who’d constantly smoked in the house. He’d had enough second-hand carcinogens in his lifetime.

“So how long ya gonna be down on the farm makin’ hay?”

Aaron had to chuckle at the creative reference to his current position with one of their minor league teams—or ‘farm teams’. Deke might fool those who didn’t know him into thinking he was some dumb hick, but he was sharp and had a wicked quick sense of humor. “Probably until my country accent’s as thick as yours, boy.” He sat on the chaise longue and swung his legs up onto the seat.

“Hain’t never gonna happen. This here took decades to perfect.” After a brief laugh, Deke added in a more serious tone, “You ain’t worried ‘bout the long run, are ya? The docs haven’t said anything else?”

“Nothing new.” Aaron shrugged reflexively then winced. He kept forgetting. “It’ll just take time and determination.” And luck.

“And you got those in spades, or your name ain’t Hank Aaron Reynolds, son.”

“Amen, brother.”

“How’s the wet nursin’ going?”

“Typical.” Aaron wasn’t a gossip, but this was Deke, and he knew that whatever he said wouldn’t go anywhere. Well, maybe with the exception of his wife, Julia, but she was similar to Deke in that she was trustworthy. They had both proven it many times before, especially during this time in Aaron’s career. Everyone knew that Aaron and Deke were best friends, so Deke and Julia got asked questions about him a lot but never volunteered anything.

“So he’s basically young and cocky and full of himself?”

“Sort of. Yeah, on the face of it. Seems to have decent manners, though, so it might not be too bad. That said, he didn’t come home last night.”

Deke gave a snort. “What, already? He’s only been there a day, right?”

“Yep.” He sighed. Aaron had seen Emery Sandusky’s footage with the rest of the coaching staff, and he was a heck of a ballplayer. He played third base like he’d been born for it, plus he was a natural hitter. But it hadn’t taken much digging to find out he was a partier, so Coach had asked Aaron to open up his condo to the young man, to try to insulate him as best he could and be a steadying influence.

Even so, Emery’d disappeared his first night in town with some of the other younger players.

Deke grunted disgustedly and Aaron continued, “I didn’t expect to have to lay down the law about curfew and house rules before the kid even unpacked. I suppose I’ll have to have a chat with him today. If he ever comes home,” he added, looking at the clock. They had a day off today but would be expected to hit it hard starting tomorrow. “I was going to take him over to the field and show him around so he knows what to expect when he walks in tomorrow.”

“That’s nice of ya, Dad.”

“Shove it,” Aaron shot back without any heat. “Speaking of dads, how’s Julia coming along? She got that baby baked yet?”

“Still cookin’, Uncle Hank,” Deke answered proudly. After a couple of years of effort, complicated by the team’s travelling schedule, Deke and Julia had finally managed to get the deed done. His best friend couldn’t wait to be a daddy. “You’d best heal up and come on back, ‘cause if you ain’t here when this baby comes, Julia will never forgive ya.”

Aaron smirked. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s Julia that won’t be happy.”

Deke laughed his cheerful, deep chuckle. “That’s all I’m coppin’ to. We get to take a gander at it tomorrow, maybe find out if it’s a boy or girl if he don’t have his legs crossed.”

“Or her legs,” Aaron pointed out.

“I’ll be glad when we find out, man. I hate callin’ the baby ‘it’ and every fuckin’ time I say one or t’other someone corrects me.”

Aaron laughed. “Yeah, that’ll come in handy.”

“I’d best be goin’. Don’t be a stranger, ’kay?”

“Yeah, man. I’ll touch base in a couple days.”

“You do that. See ya.”

Aaron said goodbye and hung up then stretched. He really didn’t have much to do today. He’d already gone to the store to stock up on food for the week, done some light cleaning and caught up on emails. Maybe he’d go for a jog after he put a bit more time into the glove he was breaking in.

He went back inside and settled into the soothing rhythm of working oil into leather. He’d been at it for about ten minutes when he heard the sound of a key in the lock. He looked up from the glove as the front door of the condo opened. His new charge came through the door, looking a bit worse for the wear, slamming the door behind him in his haste.

Here we go.