Wild Pitch

Before the game that Saturday evening, Gray’s boss Lynda had asked to see her. Gray prepared herself for the worst; Lynda was a strict woman and had no doubt seen the news spot the night before. Gray couldn’t imagine Lynda wanting to keep on someone who had recently been in jail, for any reason.

Gray dressed in a set of the cleanest, newest scrubs she could find in her closet and told Joie she would see her later.

“Good luck,” Joie replied. “I’ve got a couple training sessions this afternoon, but I’ll be home in time for us to go to the game.”

“Good deal. Have fun.”

With that, Gray was out the door and on her way. She had been too nervous to eat anything or even for a cup of coffee, but hunger was hitting her now and she was regretting the choice to go on an empty stomach. Maybe Lynda would be quick with what she had to say, then Gray could get something to eat.

Only a few other cars were in the parking lot of the office when Gray arrived. That was normal for a Saturday. Lynda was in the office six days a week, and other than a couple people who worked as the office staff, most of the nurses were in and out during the week.

“Morning, Gray,” the receptionist greeted.

“Hi Taryn,” Gray replied. “Lynda busy?”

“She’s waiting for you, I think. Eventful night last night, huh?”

Gray’s shoulders slumped. “She knows?”

“And she let everyone else know, too,” Taryn answered with an apologetic tone. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

Gray walked back to Lynda’s office, knocking on the door and waiting for Lynda to answer before walking in and taking a seat.

“Ms. McCarthy,” Lynda started in a measured tone. “You’ve been here for what, two years now?”

“Almost three.”

Lynda nodded slowly. “You’re right, closer to three. In that time, I was sure I had made clear that this agency demands that you uphold a certain code of conduct. Has that in any way been unclear?”

Gray swallowed and shook her head. She felt like she was back in high school, sitting in the principal’s office. “No, it hasn’t.”

“Then perhaps you could explain to me what happened last night.”

“I was leaving the game, and that other woman approached me. I let my anger get the best of me.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Lynda sighed. “Because I cannot employ you here if this is what’s going to happen.”

“I’m sorry, Lynda. Really, it won’t happen again. I just –”

Lynda held up her hand. “It’s done, Gray. I have the papers drawn up. I just need you to sign them – says that you understand the reasons behind your termination, whether or not you agree with them, and says that you were not terminated in an unlawful manner.”

Completely defeated, Gray picked up the pen that Lynda had set on the desk in front of her. She read over the papers just to be sure she knew what she was signing, then scribbled out her signature on the appropriate line.

“Thank you for coming in,” Lynda told her curtly as Gray rose to leave.

Gray bit back a snarky reply and walked back to the receptionist’s desk. Taryn’s face told Gray she didn’t need to announce what had just happened.

“Can you make sure my check just gets mailed to me, please? I don’t want to come back if I don’t have to.”

Taryn made a sad face. “Of course. Let me know if you need anything, all right?”

“Will do. Thanks, Taryn.”

Gray exited the office then, sitting in her car to try and collect her thoughts. Working for Lynda hadn’t always been the best experience, but she loved her job and her patients. She worried what would happen to them, but knew that her now-former co-workers would take excellent care of all of her patients. She’d have to get her resume out and see who was hiring as soon as possible, but with it being the weekend, there wasn’t much she could do now.

“Except get breakfast,” Gray mumbled to herself as she turned on the car and navigated away from the office.



Camden tried calling Elizabeth a few times in the morning to find out if she needed tickets or for him to get her better seats at the game, but she didn’t answer or return his calls. Realizing he didn’t even know what her travel schedule was like, he made himself trust what she had said the night before about having everything under control and headed to the field for the game.

When they took to the dugout, this time allowing for the Cougars to warm-up first, Camden’s eyes searched the bleachers for his fiancée. It took a few sweeps over the stadium’s seating, but finally he spotted her near the Cougars’ dugout. She was in an involved conversation with an older woman who was vaguely familiar. He frowned but didn’t have much time to think on it as the coach was demanding his attention about the batting order.

“Attwater, you and Ramirez are moving to the top of the batting order. Reynolds, you’re up third. The rest of you stay where you are.”

Camden picked up his bat and stepped on deck while the Cougars’ pitcher and catcher warmed up. He took a few practice swings and glanced again at Elizabeth; she almost seemed to be avoiding him. That wasn’t a good sign. The umpire called him up to the plate; he heard cheering from the stands and, inevitably, Gray’s voice.

“Come on, Attwater! No low ones!”

He wanted to throw an ornery smirk at her when he heard the amusement in her tone, but he had to focus on the game. He squared up his stance and took a deep breath.

It was a pitch sent from heaven. Camden saw it coming right down the middle, and his timing was perfect as he swung around to connect with it. He watched it keep flying as he ran down the first baseline and jumped up to cheer when it went over the outside fence.

“Camden Attwater, starting the game off with a home run!” the announcer exclaimed. “Wichita fans, that is why we brought him home!”

He didn’t take his time going around the bases – he hated when players did that. He ran all of them, accepting the congratulatory high-fives and fist-pounds from his teammates as he headed towards the dugout.

“That’s how you do it!” Gray yelled. “Good eye, Attwater!”

Camden glanced up and winked at her briefly before sitting down in the dugout; he couldn’t drop the smile from his face. He leaned forward so he could see Elizabeth, but Camden’s home run didn’t even seem to faze her. Letting out a deep breath, he reminded himself that he had just made an amazing start to this game and pushed everything out of his mind.

It worked. Camden did his best to keep up team morale and the rest of the team fell in line, encouraging each other. They ended up winning over the Cougars eight to two.

Camden had just gotten out of the shower when his phone rang in his locker. Assuming it would be Elizabeth, he answered it without checking the number.

“Hey, babe.”

Gray snickered. “Wrong girl, Attwater.”

He smacked his hand to his forehead. “Sorry, I thought you were my fiancée. Kind of forgot you were going to call.”

“No worries,” Gray replied. “I’ve got the cash for you. We’ll wait for you in front of the stadium, if that’s okay.”

“We?”

“Yeah. My cousin Joie is with me.”

“Oh, all right. I’ll be out as soon as I can.”

He disconnected his call with Gray and dialed Elizabeth. Just when he thought the call was going to voicemail, she answered.

“Hey, Camden.”

“Hey. Where are you?”

“I’m … outside the stadium.”

“Okay, great. I’ll be out soon – just got out of the shower. I have to meet someone real quick, then we can go.”

“Meet someone?”

“It’s a complicated story, kind of. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“All right. See you in a few minutes.”

Camden set his phone back on the shelf and dressed quickly. He gathered his equipment and his uniform, then walked out to the front of the stadium with Monty.

“Monty, this is my girl. Elizabeth, this is Monty Ramirez,” Camden introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Elizabeth said with a curt smile. “Cam, can we talk in private?”

“Yeah, babe, of course. I’ll take you out to dinner; I just need to talk to someone real quick.”
“Actually, I thought maybe now would be better.”

Monty raised his brow; this was awkward. “I see Gray over there, actually. Why don’t I go introduce myself and give you two a few minutes?”

With that, he joined Gray and Joie down the sidewalk. Camden walked Elizabeth a few more feet away.

“Liz, what’s going on? Don’t tell me nothing because you’ve been acting weird since that phone call last night.”

She took a deep breath. “I can’t do this anymore, Cam. We had a few great years, but it isn’t enough.”

“Enough for what?” Camden frowned.

“This,” Elizabeth emphasized. “Long distance.”

“We’re supposed to be getting married soon. The long distance ends then.”

She shook her head. “There’s more than that. I’ve been feeling distant from you for months. I thought I could fight it. I thought that what we had at the beginning that was so wonderful would come back. I thought it was just a rut. When you left Nashville, Marc Robbins called me.”

Anger spread like wildfire throughout his body. If there was one playboy in the whole league, it was Marc Robbins.

“What are you saying, Liz? Just come out with it.”

“I’ve been seeing him since you left.” She took a deep breath. “And I’m pregnant.”

Camden couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What the hell?”

She held up her left finger. “This is the ring he gave me. I didn’t know what I was going to do; when you said we had to move the wedding again, it was like a sign. I had to choose Marc.”

Just in that moment, Marc Robbins emerged from the locker rooms with the older woman Camden had seen earlier; he now recognized the woman as Marc’s mother. Marc put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders, infuriating Camden even further.

“No hard feelings, Attwater. You’re a hell of a ball player. Some things are just meant to be, some aren’t,” Marc shrugged.

The other man held his hand out to Camden for a handshake, and the anger inside Camden erupted from a fire to a full-on atomic explosion.



“That doesn’t look like it’s going well,” Joie commented, nodding in Camden and Elizabeth’s direction.

Monty and Gray briefly glanced that way and agreed with Joie. Whatever Elizabeth was saying was clearly bringing out a side of him even Monty hadn’t seen yet. When Marc Robbins walked out of the locker room and put his arm around Elizabeth, Gray knew trouble was coming.

“Oh, shit,” Monty muttered, running in Camden’s direction. Gray and Joie were right behind him.

Joie pulled Gray back just as Camden threw the first punch to Marc. Elizabeth stepped out of the way, yelling for the two men to stop fighting. For every punch Camden threw, it seemed Marc had one to match it.

The stadium’s security was coming around the corner to see what the commotion was and that wasn’t going to fare well for Camden or Marc. Gray grabbed Joie to help her pull Camden away; Monty seemed to read her mind and jumped in to get control over Marc.
It was too late, though. The security officers had called the stadium police watch over, and both of the players were carted off to the jailhouse. Elizabeth cried on Marc’s mother’s shoulder as the two women walked back to the locker rooms to tell the team what had happened.

Gray, Joie and Monty traded shocked looks with each other. None of them really knew what to say.

“What just happened?” Joie finally spat out.

“I don’t even know,” Monty said, shaking his head.

Gray sighed. “Guess maybe it’s time I return the favor.”

“Do what?”

“He bailed me out last night.”

“So that was you on the news!”

Joie couldn’t help but laugh. “And I’m pretty sure everyone in town knows it.”

“Come on, Joie. I’ll drop you at the house before I head over to the police station.”

“I can take her home,” Monty volunteered.

Gray exchanged looks with Joie who just shrugged. “Fine with me.”

“All right. I’ll see you later on. Thanks, Ramirez.”

Joie and Monty walked towards the players’ parking lot while Gray headed to her car. She’d had a feeling this was going to be a good season, but never imagined it would start like this.



Camden couldn’t help but smirk when he saw Gray waiting for him after he was released from the holding cell. She handed him a paper similar to the one he’d given her the night before.

“I think we might have the same court date. Want to carpool?” she joked.

“If you think we can avoid getting into trouble on the way to the courthouse,” Camden replied.

Gray laughed. “Come on, Attwater. I’ll take you back to the stadium.”

Camden smiled as he followed her down the steps and got in the passenger seat of her car. He checked his messages; his mother had apparently gotten wind of the fight and wanted to know he was okay. He called her to let her know that he was fine and would tell her the whole story later.

“Does the media miss anything around here?” he asked.

“You grew up here. You know it’s a small town.”

“Very true.” He let out a deep breath as she drove. “Are you hungry?”

Gray seemed to think. “I had a hot dog at the field, but I could probably eat.”

“Want to get a bite to eat before you take me to my truck?”

Gray stumbled over her answer. She honestly wasn’t sure about his intentions, and that caused her to hesitate.

Camden chuckled. “Relax. No hidden agendas. We’re both hungry and I just figured it might be nice to put off telling my mother that my fiancée just broke off our engagement.”

Gray winced. “That’s harsh. Want to talk about it?” Immediately, she wanted to take it back. A few seconds ago she was concerned about having supper with him and now she was offering to talk about his personal life? Lame.

Camden shrugged. “Maybe. Might be nice to get an unbiased opinion on things.”

“I’m a good listener,” Gray offered. “But I’m not that girl, just so you know. Not that girl or that fan. I mean, I don’t ever try to get in the players’ personal lives or –”

“I didn’t think you were,” Camden interrupted. “Truth is, it wouldn’t hurt to have a new friend in town. All I really have is the team.”

“Fair enough,” Gray agreed. “Where would you like to eat?”

“Pizza?” Camden suggested. “Unless you’re one of those strictly-salads kind of girls.”

Gray laughed. “Definitely not. Pizza sounds great.”

“Good. And I’ve got the perfect place for us to eat it.”

Forty-five minutes later, they were sitting in the seats just behind home plate, sharing a large, cheesy, meaty pizza. Gray was, needless to say, impressed.

“Pays to play, I guess,” she commented, taking a large bite out of her slice of pizza. “So, tell me about this girl.”

“Elizabeth,” Camden said on a groan. “We’ve been together for three years. Well, were together for three years. I proposed about a year ago. About a week ago, I told her we were going to have to change the wedding date because of a game.”

“I take it she didn’t really understand that.”

“Not at all. We got in a really big fight and we didn’t talk until last night. She called just after you left the stadium and said she’d be here today and wanted to talk.”

“And that’s where the fight broke out.”

“With a couple of small details in between.” Camden reached down for his fountain drink and took a big gulp. “She’s now not only engaged to Marc Robbins but she is also apparently pregnant with his child.”

Gray’s brow rose and her mouth formed into an ‘o’. “Ouch.”

“Tell me about it. He had some smart remark when he came out of the locker room, and that is where the fight began.”

“I’m sorry, Camden. That’s really horrible.”

“Yeah, it sucks.” He shrugged. “You know, I’ll just do the single ball player thing for a while. I need to focus on this season anyway. Really, I’m more confused than anything. I could tell we were drifting apart, but I thought once we got married, it would all work out.”

Gray looked at him; he was trying to bottle up the hurt and she could tell. “If it makes you feel any better, I got fired today.”

“Because of the fight last night?”

“Yes,” Gray nodded. “My boss was really strict and conservative. She didn’t even let me explain.”

“I feel like that’s my fault.”

“No,” Gray assured him. “I let my anger get the best of me sometimes. Most of the time in chaotic situations, I’m at my best. Calm, collected, that whole deal. Every now and then – and usually related to baseball – I’ll lose my head. I get it from my mom.”

“A real firecracker, huh?”

Gray laughed. “That’s right.”

Camden took another slice of pizza out of the box. “While we’re on the subject of family anyway, how is it you landed the name Gray, and then became a Grays fan?”

She smiled. “I suppose I should have known that was coming. Family tradition, more or less. My mom’s family started it, and my dad was all right with carrying it on. Paternal grandfather chooses the first name and maternal grandfather chooses the middle name. My dad’s dad was a huge Grays fan; that’s probably why I love baseball so much. He was always taking me to games and stuff. Anyway, he named me Gray in the hopes I would be as big of a fan as he was. And it worked.”

Camden nodded and took a bite of his pizza. Gray commented on what a nice night it was, and he had to agree. He watched her as she looked over the field; coming back to Wichita, he hadn’t expected Gray McCarthy in any way, shape, or form. He never would have expected to make friends with a fan, but he liked Gray. She was fun and lively and honest. She was down-to-earth – something none of the girls he had met in college or in Nashville had been.

They managed to finish off the pizza between the two of them, then picked up their mess and headed out of the stadium again, dumping the trash in a dumpster near the parking lot.

“Well, these last couple nights have been unexpected,” Gray mentioned as the meandered towards the parking lot again.

“That they have,” Camden smiled. “Thanks for hanging out tonight. It took my mind off of things for a while.”

“Good luck tomorrow,” Gray told him. “Maybe start off with another home run. That seemed to do well for you today.”

Camden nodded. “Yeah, if I get to play. The team gets wind of what happened tonight, I may be out for a couple of games.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“And I’m sure you’ll let me know if I don’t.”

Gray chuckled. “No, I won’t be around tomorrow. I’ve got a family thing. Next home game, though.”

Camden nodded. They had a day off Monday, then they would be on the road for a week and a half. Whatever it was about Gray that had urged him to talk to her about Elizabeth was tugging at him still, and he reluctantly bid her goodnight.

“Stay out of trouble on the way home,” she teased.

“Yeah, you too,” Camden turned around to reply. He winked at her and went on his way.
Gray took a seat in her car and took a deep breath before starting it up and leaving the parking lot. She felt horrible for Camden, but she had enjoyed her evening – and hoped maybe there would be more like it in the future.



Mary was waiting up for Camden when he finally arrived home, which only made Camden feel worse. Worry was etched in every line on her face, so the first thing he did before telling her the details was to assure her that he was fine.

“I never was sure about Elizabeth,” Mary told him.

“I know, Mom. I should have listened to you.”

“You had to learn your own way,” Mary shrugged. “Did you go sulk at the field all alone?”

Camden chuckled; his mother knew him well. “I was at the field, but I wasn’t alone.”

“You weren’t?”

“No. Remember Gray that I told you about last night?”

“The loud fan?”

“That’s the one. I bailed her out last night. She was waiting for me after the game to pay me back and saw the fight. She bailed me out, then we got some pizza.”

“Don’t let her be a rebound, Camden,” Mary warned.

“Gray’s not like that,” Camden replied. “She’s a good girl, I think. I mean, I’ve only known her a couple days, but I think yesterday was her first jailhouse experience. She’s really down to earth …”

Mary shook her head. “I know that look, son. Be careful with this girl.”

Camden shook his head. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get you into bed.”



The next day, Camden sighed as he threw his gear bag in the back of his truck and got back in the driver’s seat. The team owner had really been understanding about the fight the night before but couldn’t let Camden go without any sort of punishment. He was banned from today’s game against the Cougars but would be able to travel with the team for the next series.

Without even really thinking, Camden called Gray. He remembered that she had a family thing going on, but maybe she would want to get out later on. It rang twice before she answered.

“Shouldn’t you be on the field?”

Camden smirked. “Hello to you, too. No, I was banned from today’s game.”

“Yikes. That’s no good. Was it the fight or the pizza?”

“The fight,” Camden informed her. “I don’t think they know about the pizza.”

“Well I’ll make sure not to tell anyone then. Going back home?”

“Thinking about it. You headed to your family thing?”

“In about an hour.” She paused. “Looking for something to do, Attwater?”

Camden sighed. “Busted. Home is fine, just feeling a little restless.”

“Understandable, considering the last couple of days,” Gray returned. “As long as you promise not to stalk me, I’ll text you directions to my place, then we’ll go over to this family thing together.”

“Sounds good,” he agreed, feeling relief wash through him. “And thanks.”

“Sure,” she replied as though the gratitude wasn’t necessary. “See you in a few.”

They disconnected the call and Camden waited patiently to receive the text message with directions before pulling out of the stadium parking lot.