It Was Me by Anna Cruise Read Free Book Online Page B

those in the gaps. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”
    “Thank you,” I said again.
    He nodded and walked off.
    I bent down and put all of the gear in the bag, pulled out the other bottle of water I had and zipped the bag up. I hoisted it over my shoulder, unscrewed the cap and downed half of it. I caught Abby's eye and motioned for her to meet me outside where we'd parted. She nodded, said something to her dad and they both stood up, heading for the stairs.
    I walked off the field through the visitors dugout and up the stairs that led to the concourse. The shade and concrete was a welcome relief from the baked dirt, grass and scorching sun. A man at the top of the stairs wearing a U of A golf shirt, walking shorts, and leather flips took a step back as I hit the top stair, but smiled at me.
    “You put on quite a show out there,” he said.
    “Did I?” I shrugged. “Just did what they told me.”
    “I don't think they told you to throw on a rope from center to home or send those guys shagging balls in the outfield running for their lives.”
    I shrugged again. I saw Abby and her dad on the concourse, about twenty yards away. She looked at me, her eyebrows raised.
    “I'm Ed Childs,” he said, extending his hand. “I'm a coach at Arizona.”
    I shook his hand. His face and arms were brown from the sun and he looked a little younger than Abby's dad.
    “Diamondbacks?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “No. University of, here in Tucson.”
    “Oh, right. Sorry.”
    “I was doing some work in my office and wandered out to see what was going on,” he said, his hands on his hips. “Caught a little of your act there.”
    I nodded, unsure what to say.
    “You were slated for Stanford, weren't you?” he asked.
    I was surprised by the question, but nodded.
    “I remember you,” he said, still smiling. “Watched a couple of your games out in San Diego a few years back. You hit the same way then. But I was late on you. Stanford had already lined you up.” He shook his head, the smile looking wistful now. “My mistake.”
    Abby and her dad were now watching us, her eyebrows still raised.
    “You mind me asking what happened with Stanford?” he asked.
    “The scholarship was partial,” I said. “I couldn't pull together the funding on my end. Just...bad timing, I guess.”
    “You haven't played since then?”
    I shook my head. “I'm going to a JC in San Diego right now, but I'm not playing.”
    “So you have all of your eligibility still?”
    I thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, guess so.”
    He pursed his lips and nodded again. He glanced out toward the field, then back at me. “Any offers from those guys yet?”
    I shook my head. “Probably be a day or two. If I hear anything.”
    He smiled again. “Right. If you hear anything.” He chuckled. “Based on what I saw, you'll be hearing from them before you hit the parking lot.”
    “You think?” I asked.
    He nodded again. “Probably. But who knows. We all see things differently.” He adjusted the sunglasses on top of his head and squinted at me. “Can I ask why you aren't playing college ball?”
    I didn't have a good answer. The coach at Mesa had approached me, but I'd blown him off. I wasn't in the right mindset at the time. I was focused on my grades and getting through probation.
    “After the Stanford thing, I guess I just needed a break,” I said.
    He folded his arms across his chest. “You see where I'm going here, right, West?”
    “Maybe,” I said. “But I don't like to assume things.”
    “Smart man,” he said, reaching into the back pocket of his shorts. He pulled out two small, white business cards. He found a pen in another pocket and handed me one of the cards and the pen. “Could I get you to write your phone number on this?”
    I took the card and pen, wrote my cell on it and handed it back to him. He took a look at it, nodded, then handed me his card. “West, you can assume I'm interested in having you play for us at