Turn My World Upside Down: Jo's Story by Maureen Child Read Free Book Online Page B

know, but—”
    Jo stopped, digging in her heels and bringing Jack to a sharp halt along with her. “No buts. You worried everybody.”
    “Didn’t mean to.” He dipped his head, and his hair, the same brown color as her own, fell across his eyes. Probably would have blinded him if he hadn’t suddenly jerked his head to one side to blink up at her. The frown was back. “But you wouldn’t understand and Cash did.”
    Ouch again.
    She glanced over her shoulder at Cash and noticed that he was practically whistling and rocking on his heels, trying to pretend that he wasn’t listening to the conversation. Fine. She’d do the same.
    “Wouldn’t understand what?” she asked, dropping to one knee on the sun-warmed grass.
    Jack blew out a breath that ruffled his hair, then rubbed the back of his hand under his nose. “The kids at school say I throw like a girl.”
    “What?”
    Jack rushed on. “Justin Shepard says I can’t throw cuz my dad is old and all I got is sisters.”
    Temper flickered inside her. “Justin Shepard.”
    “Yeah,” Jack said, and glanced at Cash before looking back at his sister. “And he wouldn’t pick me to be on the baseball team at school and I had to stand there like a girl and do nothing while everybody else played and stuff and I just thought that maybe Cash could show me how to throw like a guy because I have to know how, all the guys know how and . . .”
    He was still talking, showing absolutely no sign of stopping or even, hell, slowing down. Regret bubbled through Jo. She should have been able to figure out what was bothering the kid. Should have
made
him tell her.
    Threw like a girl because he only had
sisters
?
    Poor kid had come to Cash out of desperation. Because his own sister hadn’t known what to do. Or maybe because she hadn’t cared enough to look closer. To really listen to what Jack needed.
    And that stung.
    Shame rippled through her as she acknowledged, atleast silently, that “taking care” of a kid required more than just making sure he showed up at school and brushed his teeth after dinner. She should have been paying closer attention. Should have gotten past her own discomfort with the fact of Jack’s existence to understand that the little boy was really lost.
    And somehow, Jo pledged, she’d make that up to him.
    When Jack finally ran out of breath, she stood up and winked. “Justin’s father went to school with
me
,” she told him. “And Tom Shepard couldn’t catch a ball if someone had handed it to him and stitched it into his glove.”
    Jack laughed.
    Cash moved up closer.
    But she focused on her little brother. “You know, the guys are right, you do only have sisters.” She wouldn’t touch that “old father” thing at all. “But every one of your sisters plays ball better than Justin’s father ever did.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. I could have helped you. I played shortstop on every school team and I still play softball.”
    “Yeah,” he said, swiping the toe of his shoe across the grass and watching as every blade went down, then sprang back up again. “But it’s still not the same. You’re not a
guy
, Jo.”
    “Ah.” And that was the real problem. He hadn’t just needed to know how to throw, he’d needed a
guy
to teach him. She really tried not to mind that the guy he’d chosen was
Cash
.
    “Now watch,” Jack said eagerly, and sprinted for one corner of the yard, where a sheet of plywood witha hole cut dead center of it was propped against a tree. “I’ll show you.”
    “The Testosterone Club is very exclusive,” Cash whispered from just behind her.
    “So says its president,” she murmured, keeping her gaze locked on the boy who was winding up and letting a baseball fly.
    “We all have our strengths.”
    “And shortcomings,” she pointed out.
    “Are we really going to talk about size before our first date?”
    Jo snorted, amused in spite of herself.
    “Did you see?” Jack called, crowing and doing a silly little