Just a Little Faith (6 page)

****

P
ulling his black
BMW
into the parking lot at LLS, Sebastian moved a box from the passenger seat to his
trunk
.
E
ager to show her the surprise he planned for the kids
they'd
meet
,
Seb wondered why he hadn't done something like this in the past.
How much time does it take to go by and see a bunch of kids and share some of your day with them?
Seb knew Linc liked to try and arrange visits to schools, hospitals
,
and such. He
'd
invited Seb to join him on a few of the visits
,
but
Seb
always seemed to find something else to do. Knowing Pax was involved in something like this motivated him more than Linc ever could. Seb
grinned.
If Rangy ever found out about this
,
he'd for sure
have something
to say
.

Stepping
in the lobby of LLS, Tori g
ave
him an evil eye.

She tapped her pencil on her desk
with one hand as she pointed at him with the other
.
“You certainly had me fooled this morning…
Bash
.
”

Smiling,
he stopped in front of her desk put
ting
his hands in the front
pockets of his jeans.
“She mentioned she might have a difficult day based on my call this morning. I see she set you straight.”

“Yep… but I don't think she cared for my
inquisition
.”
Grimacing first
,
she
smile
d
.
“
She
loves me, so
I'm
forgive
n
.”

“
She forgives easily.
I'll keep it in mind.
”

He
nodded his head toward the direction of Pax's office. “You think it's okay if I head on back?”

“Oh sure. She never sets any appointments after two on Thursdays so she can get out by three o'clock.
I
t shouldn't be a bother… Bash.”

He
chuckled at her continual use of the nickname. “You aren't going to let it go are you?”

“Why should I? It's a nickname suited pretty well for a ballplayer like you
rself
,
don't you think?
Wham there it goes! Quinn's bashed it outta the park!
”

Laughing at her impersonation of a play-by-play announcer, he walked
down the hall
.

Pax's office
door stood wide open.
Pink and blue sticky notes lined her desk as she sorted through various papers, occasionally jotting things down.

She looked different today
, with
h
er hair
styled d
own and loose rather than in the usual up
-
do she
'd
worn the previous two times he'd
seen her.
H
e resisted the urge to reach out and touch
the mocha
tendril
s
to see if
the
y
were
as soft as
they
appeared.

H
oping
he could get her attention
,
Seb
cleared his
throat.
At the sound,
Pax
jumped in her seat
lifting
her hands to her chest
while
turn
ing
toward the door.

He
put his hands on
either side of the
door frame
, supporting his upper body
as he
lean
ed
into her office. “Sorry. I scare
d
you.”

“Oh
,
it's okay. Everybody
is
startled every once and a while.
” Playfully she wagged her finger at him. “J
ust
don't
mak
e
a habit of it.”

“
You got it!
Do you need some more time? I may have gotten here a little early.” Seb
pushed away from the door and into
the hall.

“No,
you're
right on time.
I
wanted to make sure I got these last few items down on my
‘
to do
'
list
. If I don't write them down today… they won't get done tomorrow.”
Checking over the note
s
one more time, she nodded to herself and hopped up, grabbing her coat and purse from the hook behind the door
.

“Let me tell Michael
I'm
heading out.
” She paused. “
Speaking of Michael, could I introduce you to him?
I guess you might say
,
h
e's the man in charge
,”
She
emphasiz
ed
the last few words by forming quote marks with her
fingers.

Pax
lightly rapped on the door at the end of the corridor
as
she
opened it.

“Hey Michael? Do you have a minute?
”

“Sure, what'cha need?”

“
I thought this might be a good opportunity to introduce you to Sebastian Quinn. Seb, this is Michael Stratford.”

Pax's boss was younger than Seb anticipated
.
D
ark headed with
a
bright smile
, Michael
stood up
before
coming
around to the front
of his desk
.

“Mr. Quinn, it is certainly a pleasure to meet you. I a
m
sorry I didn't get the opportunity the other day
,
but I understand Pax took good care of you and Mr. Thompson.”

Seb grabbed
Michael's outstretched hand
and shook
it firmly.

“
Please, call me Seb.
It's nice to meet you
,
as well. Paxson t
ells
me you
'
re the boss around here.”

Laughing, Michael shrugged his shoulders
. “I g
uess
I'm
just the one
who's
stuck it out the longest. The brains of the outfit belong to Tori. Without her
,
Pax
and
I would be
lost.
”

Looking
at Pax
,
Seb
smiled. “She mentioned something like that
the other day
.”

“I'
m hoping you and Mr. Thompson are considering our proposal. I know Pax felt the relationship could be beneficial to all parties involved.
You'd
be a
great
asset to increasing our donor list
,
which in turn provides more funds for research. I know I appreciate your willingness to consider our charity for your work.”

Seb ducked his head
.
“It's nothing really. I'm glad it worked out for me to come by the other day.
”

Tu
rn
ing
to face Paxson
, he smiled
.
“
That
reminds me, I spoke to Jim this morning
,
and he inferred to me he was getting close to a recommendation. I feel confident by tomorrow you'll be hearing from him.”

“
That's great
,
Seb.
I'
ll look forward to the call.”

Leaning back, Michael
rested his hands
against
the corner of
his desk. “So what brings you by the office? Did you have some follow-up questions?”

“Actually, Michael, Seb is accompanying me to the Children's Hospital today. I thought the kids would enjoy it.”
S
he glanced at Seb
who nodded in response
.

“What a great idea
,
Pax
.
They
won't be able to contain their excitement
. Not that they don't enjoy Pax visit
ing
every week, but a local hero will
most certainly
brighten their day.”

Seb
noticed
Michael swivel his gaze
from Pax back to him and w
ondered if Michael
thought
something else was
going on between the lines
.
“I didn't realize you had set it up the other day
, Pax.
”

Seb interjected.
“Oh we didn't. Paxson suggested it this morning when I called her on another matter.
I'm
glad she thought to invite me.”
A look of relief crossed Paxson's face.

“Good. Good.”
Reaching
his arm out
to shake Seb's hand
once
again, Michael
then
returned
to sit behind his desk
.
“
I don't want to keep you from the kids. Have a great time
,
and I hope we can look f
orward to more appearances
like this in the future, Seb.”

“I hope so too
,
Michael.
”
Seb followed Pax down the hall
, watching her
as a pang of attraction he'd experienced at the end of their first date, thumped him again.

More than you know, I hope so t
oo.

 

Seb o
pen
ed
the car door for Pax
.
I
mmediately
,
she
relished
how
t
he
interior
of the vehicle
was
already
nice and
toasty
.
She surmised
Seb
used
a
remote starter before they left the office
.
She ran her hands over the
lush interior of the car. Leather seats, and were those
s
eat warmers she felt? She could get used to this. The only
heated seats
in her car were the ones God provided by the sun on a hot summer day
.
Sitting
back
,
she
closed her eyes, enjoying the
warmth
as it seeped through the muscles of her back
,
which were always strained from sitting
too long
behind a desk e
very
day
.

Even though
Seb's door slammed shut on the driver's side, her eyes remained closed
. She
heard the engine purr to life and then
move
when Seb shifted into drive.

“What led you to start visiting the hospital every week?”

Opening her eyes, she p
ivot
ed
in the seat
to
face him
. “Leukemia is a disease for all ages, but over
three thousand
children are affected each year. The thoughts of little innocent kids having to endure the treatments, bone marrow transplants,
and such
… Well,
it's
pretty tough to imagine. I thought perhaps by visiting the Children's Hospital every week, I could get a feel for not only
what
the kids might need, but
what I could do for
their families
,
as well. Plus, it makes the work I do seem more real. To see the treatments in action and give these kids a new lease on life is amazing. It's a great motivation for me to keep on keeping on.”

Seb glanced in her direction. “Some of the guys are good about visiting hospitals, schools and youth leagues. In fact, the Cardinals team itself has the
‘
Cardinals Care
'
program which benefits kids in the community.
I've
done some work with them
,
but I've never taken the opportunity to visit the kids myself. This will be
a good experience for me
.”

She leaned back
,
sett
ling
in her seat
.
“I hope you
will
enjoy it. It can be difficult
,
but the way the
kids
light
up when someone comes to visit…i
t melts your heart.”

A
short ride
later
,
they reached the hospital.
She patiently waited while Seb came around the car to open her door. Surmising they would head into the hospital, she was s
urprised when S
eb
detoured to
open
the trunk. C
uriosity overwhelmed her
.
After pushing
the trunk closed,
Seb
stood up. In
one hand he held a large box
.

“I hope
it's
okay I brought some things to give the kids.”

L
ifting the lid
,
she
p
eer
ed
inside the box
,
then
she
looked at him
, a wide smile forming
.
The box was f
illed with autographed baseballs
.
I
t
must have taken him the whole
morning
to sign them
.

“Oh Seb!
The kids will be thrilled.
Not only to have you visit, but to receive th
e
s
e
,
as well. You
'
ll be their hero for years
.
”

Continually
amazed by this guy
, she felt him
inching
his way
into her heart one moment at a time.