Home Run: A Novel by Travis Thrasher Page A

get—”
    “James Bond is cocky.”
    “So I finally met a girl who doesn’t think I’m cocky.”
    “Deep down, there’s someone else. Not a superhero.”
    “A baseball player?”
    “No. An actor. A comedian. Used to stepping up to the stage and making everyone applaud and laugh. But I’ve seen you when the lights shut off and there’s no one else around.”
    “Uh oh. Emma Johnson knows me.”
    “I think I do. And that’s what scares me. Because I’m falling for that guy. The one no one else knows.”

Chapter Seven
    Fly Ball
    “This is a bad idea.”
    Clay knew Karen would say that because she didn’t want Cory near their family. She didn’t want him anywhere remotely close to the state of Oklahoma, much less Okmulgee.
    “It’s not like I bought him the ticket,” Clay said. “I thought you’d be happy.”
    “I’ll be happy when Cory stops thinking of himself and cools his temper.”
    “Isn’t that the point of recovery? Karen—”
    “Now isn’t a good time.”
    “A good time for what?” His cell phone was almost out of juice; he had to wrap this up quickly. “It’s not like he’s moving in with us.”
    “I know people like Cory.”
    “He’s my brother.”
    “And you’re my husband, who has better things to do than having to go around cleaning up for him.”
    “That’s unfair.”
    Their flight was a couple of hours from leaving the Denver airport. Cory had wandered off somewhere, saying he might not see Clay until they landed. “First class” was all Cory had said in an amused, we’re-taking-an-adventure sort of way.
    “So where is he going to stay? And what’s he going to do?”
    “His agent is taking care of it. You should see this lady. She’s something else.”
    “Cory’s something else.”
    “This might be the change we’ve been praying for.”
    “Recovery doesn’t happen overnight,” Karen said.
    Clay couldn’t say anything to her. He understood. He also knew that this wasn’t Cory’s decision, but his determined agent’s. An agent trying anything she could to make the publicity nightmare go away.
    Karen didn’t need to know all of that. Clay just wanted her to know where he was and what was happening with his brother.
    “How’s Carlos doing?”
    “He’s still talking about the big game,” Karen said, her defensiveness dialed down.
    “He’s going to love having Uncle Cory in town.”
    “As long as his uncle doesn’t run over him with a truck.”
    “Wow.”
    “Well, it’s true.”
    “This is a side of you I haven’t seen,” Clay admitted. “Mama Bear protecting her new cub.”
    “Do you blame me?”
    “No. I mean—I like this side of you. It’s kinda sexy.”
    “Oh, stop. See—you’ve been around your brother twenty-four hours, and you’re already starting to talk like him.”
    Clay laughed. “I just want us to be a family.”
    “You have a family.”
    “I want Cory to be a part of it. To maybe start from square one, like Carlos is doing.”
    “Cory has a long way to go to be as loving and mature as that beautiful ten-year-old boy.”
    “Can I tell him you said that?”
    “Please,” Karen said. “And tell him I’m saving a nice spot for him to sleep. In the barn.”
    Clay couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll see you guys soon.”

    Cory sat in a booth in the corner of a restaurant, having a conversation with the love of his life. The beauty of this private chat was that she didn’t talk back. She comforted and soothed him, allowing him to vent without saying a single word. She understood his deepest and darkest feelings. She didn’t judge him, either. She simply let him be Cory and let him enjoy as much of her as he wanted.
    He finished his “conversation” with the vodka and tonic and crunched an ice cube as he glanced up at the screen above the bar. The volume was down, but ESPN was replaying the glorious highlight of him going ballistic at the game and striking the batboy. A couple of commentators followed to share their own