Just a Little Faith (4 page)

Her thoughts raced. Could he be more put off than he let on? She didn't shy away from her faith; i
t
was
just as much a
part of who she was
as her name.
I
f Seb
seemed
uncomfortable with this aspect of her life, at least he was kind enough to not let on
for now.

She blew on the spoon of hot
soup and
sipped on it
tentativel
y.
“Well, you know some about me
.
W
hat can you share about yourself? I know you play ball and are good at it, but what about your family, friends, things you do for enjoyment?”

Seb
's
shoulders slumped forward as he
put his sandwich down on the plate
. With a sigh, he
leaned back in the booth
.
“I have two daughters
.
Maggie's six and Ashlynn is eight. They live in California with
my ex-wife
.
She and I split right after my youngest was born.
They'
re great girls
,
and
I'm
proud to be their Dad
.
But
I don't see them as often as I would like.
I live out there in the off-season
,
so at least I get to spend a little more time with them.
”

Pax could see the pride in his eyes as he spoke of them
. Even though it seemed she was treading on difficult memories, she inched further.

“Forgive me if this is too personal, but what caused the break-up?”
G
reeted with silence
,
her heart sank
,
and
she feared she
had
overstepped her bounds.

Eyes cast down
,
he u
s
ed
his thumb to rub the condensation off of the water glass
,
and
cleared his throat
before looking up again
.
“I guess we didn't love each other enough to make it work. Melissa knew when she married me
,
I plann
ed
on making a career in baseball. But even then, she couldn't handle what she considered the disappointments of being married to a minor leaguer. It's not a bed of roses.
G
one a lot
,
I
didn't make
much
money
,
which I think Mel
issa
thought would happen from the first minute I signed the contract.
H
ome
,
with two little kids
, she
got lonely.
O
n the road, without my wife and kids
,
I got lonely too. It wasn't the best situation for either of us.”

His
eyes dimmed
.
“I think we were both disappointed in each other once we realized
everything
,
and for the sake of the girls, I got out. Mel
issa
's married
to
the guy she met while we were married. His name is Rick
. H
e's a successful investment banker on the west
coast
,
and
provides her with the lifestyle I couldn't
,
initially
.
”

Pax couldn't help but notice
a tinge of
disgust in his voice when he spoke of his wife's new husband.

“
Once we split up, I decided marriage wasn't for me
, at least
as long as
I'm
playing ball.
You
can never know why someone's interested in you
.
Is it for the money or something else?
Some can make it work. My friend Linc
, he's
been married awhile and has a couple of kids. He keeps trying to tell me to just have a little faith, but I guess
I'm
just not willing to take the chance.”

Pax's
heart
broke at his revelation. Not for herself, but for him. To think he would never find happiness with someone else because
of
unknown
intentions or their understanding of his career. In a sense
,
it put him in a different light, one quite opposite from the
spotlight she imagined he lived
in
.
So why did he ask ME out?
The question tugged at her
.

The evening
progressed
with each
s
haring different facets of their lives. Pax told him about her sisters' kids and all their different personality quirks. Seb shared stories of some of the pranks his teammates had pulled on each other through the years. It seemed to take the conversation in a more light-hearted direction and Pax guessed it was his intent. Sebastian Quinn might be a famous baseball player with a hardened exterior, but he was also someone who wasn't as tough as he appeared on the diamond. He
'd
had his share of disappointments in life
,
and it seemed he tried to live his life with a shield around him for protection from the outside world.

Once they
finished their meal,
Seb
paid the tab at the door
. T
hey walked back to their cars
, side by side. Periodically
,
his hand brushed against hers causing her heart to flutter
. Pondering their discussions,
Pax
again wondered why Seb wanted to spend time with her. It had been a nice evening,
and she was
thrilled
for
some company
,
but
her thoughts kept drifting to
…
“Marriage isn't for me.”
As much as she
enjoyed s
pending time with him, she didn't just want to be another one of the girls Sebastian Quinn went out with “for a
while” and then set aside for the next one.
Besides, she
couldn't see herself with anyone who didn't put God first and foremost in his life.
R
ight
now, Seb's
world centered on being
a baseball
player.
It was
h
is passion and his reas
on for getting up in the morning
,
and it
didn't include God.

She
chuckled to herself. Why have all those thoughts anyway
?
It was one date… for coffee
and soup
. Who
knew
why he asked
,
and she for sure didn't plan on him asking her again.
H
er dad call
ed
these
“Diary Day
s
.”
Something unexpected
happened which would likely never happen again
,
a
n experience to rec
ord in your diary for posterity.
Yep, that
's
it.
A
great “Diary Day” moment and she would leave it at that.

****

Once they reached their cars, Sebastian toyed with what to say or do next.
H
e
'd
enjoyed their dinner more than he thought he would
. Watching her
pray at the table, he
'd
realized without a doubt she was not like any other girl he had dated. All those girls would have been practically in his lap from the moment they sat
down
.
But he didn't know
if h
is pursuit of
Paxson
resulted in
want
ing
to get to know her better or if he considered her a challenge...a sort of puzzle to figure out because
of boredom
with his life outside the game. Either way, he want
ed
to see her again.

“Thanks for agreeing to
meet me tonight.
I had a nice time
.
”
Turning
to face him, her
eyes
were
bright
,
and
it
pleased him
.

“Oh no, Seb, I should be thanking you! I have been
so
busy at work and
then
unpacking at
home,
I haven't had
much
time for any outside activities. It was nice to be able to go out and enjoy dinner and good conversation.”

“Maybe I can call you again sometime? If
you're
interested
,
I could show you the stadium or something.”

“A behind-the-scenes tour of Busch Stadium with one of the players himself? How could I say no to your offer
?
My
mom
will be so jealous!”

Startled, he leaned in her direction.
“Did you say
mom
? I guess I thought you might say your dad or brother-in-law or something.”

“In my family, sports genes are passed down through the females. Strange
,
I know
. W
e enjoy them all. Football, baseball, hockey…
you
name it, we pretty much follow it.
” She looked up at the sky
, tapping her finger on her chin
as if pondering the view. “
Well,
maybe not
bowling
.
It's kind of boring.”

He laughed as he nodded in agreement.

“What's so funny?”

“
A
visual
popped in my head
of the w
omen in your family
sitting around the TV with popcorn and sodas,
giving
the
ref
s
‘
what for
'
after a bad call.”

A smile lit up her face
. “
It's true
,
you know
. Mom once broke a l
ight fixture when she jumped off the couch
after
Alabama scored a touchdown.”

This was more than Seb could take
. H
e lowered his head
,
a
nd
his whole body shook from laughter.
Pax
,
too
,
got the giggles until they were out of breath.
Her eyes met his
,
and l
ike a light switch,
the air between them sizzle
d
.
He yearned to pull her in
to
his arms. She
hid her feelings well
,
or she
didn't notice his inner turmoil because she
continued to smile in his direction.

He tore his eyes away
, putting distance between them
.
“
I'll give
you a call in a couple of days
. I hope the rest of your evening is nice and quiet.”

“Same to you. I imagine after the past eight months, quiet is something you don't get a lot of.”

“
If there is anything that is the opposite of quiet
, it's a locker room full of baseball players.”

Taking her keys
from her hands
, he u
nlock
ed
her car door
and pulled
it open
.
She smile
d
, c
aptivat
ing him with her
turquoise eyes
.

Seb's
mind
raced.
What
do
I do
next
?