The Heart Will Lead You Home Read online

  “Oh, sorry. I guess I’m just out of it.” Payton took a sip of his drink and waved as two tenth grade girls smiled as they passed by.

  “So, who’s it gonna be?” Payton looked momentarily confused at Hank’s question. “Okay, man, you’re starting to freak me out. If we aren’t talking about football we’re talking about girls, right? So, who’s the lucky girl gonna be?”

  Payton sipped his drink and tried to avoid the conversation, but he couldn’t think of a decent way out. “I’m not really interested in anyone right now.”

  “Not interested? You’ve got the entire female population of DixieAcademy drooling after you, and you aren’t interested? Would you mind sending that out in a memo so maybe the rest of us will have a shot in the dark here with at least a few of them?”

  “Boys, boys.” Seeing his previous answer wasn’t satisfactory, he huddled them closer and decided to lead them off the trail by evasive maneuvering tactics. “I broke up with Leena all of ten seconds ago. Now a man, and I mean a real man, has to play his cards well this day in age.”

  He could see he had them right where he wanted them so he rubbed his hands together, and gave a sly grin. “But let me tell you, you can’t just pick the first girl that comes along. Oh, no. You have to wait and watch. A man has to search the masses, choose from his narrowed selection of choice prime female, and go in for the hunt from there.”

  Satisfied that he had sufficiently thrown them from his tracks, Payton downed the rest of his drink, and then slid from the tailgate. “Take my advice boys. It works every time. Now about searching the masses…”

  Payton sauntered quickly off into the night, thankful that a throng of women hadn’t pursued him when he left. Before, when he’d been dating Leena, all he could think about was breaking up with her and being free to spend time with as many women as he wanted. Countless women, he had remembered thinking, all his for the taking. And now that he was available he didn’t want any of them. Well… that wasn’t entirely true. There was one girl that popped into his mind every now and then, but she wasn’t his type and he refused to even think about going there.

  The stars in the night sky glittered down at him and the moon lit his path as he walked. He liked it out here in the country, with land all around him and no tall buildings to block his view.

  He knew some people preferred a big city with all its glitter and glitz, but for him, crickets lulling him to sleep and being able to see the stars at night was what really mattered. Stepping out and smelling clean fresh air with a hint of lush grass was heaven compared to the scent of exhaust and fumes from expensive foreign cars.

  He supposed it was because he had always lived here, and that was what he knew, but did it really matter? He honestly believed that he could have lived all over the world in every kind of place imaginable and he would still choose the country and its way of living to anything else out there. He didn’t need some great sign of fate to show him what he already knew: this was home, and this was where he would always stay.

  He clicked the lock into place as quietly as possible when he slipped in through the front door of his house a few minutes later. His mother had left a light on for him on the entry table, and he flicked it off as he tip-toed past. It was late, he knew, and he hoped that he wouldn’t wake his mother when he walked past her room on the way to the kitchen.

  His stomach had been a bottomless pit for years, but in the past few months it had seemed to grow even more demanding of food. He pulled some ham, a tomato and mayonnaise from the fridge and quickly pulled two slices of bread off the loaf. He had just finished added the finishing touches to his sandwich when his mom poked her head around the corner and smiled at him.

  “Hey, sweetie. You made it home, I see.” Sleep held her lids lower over her eyes than normal, and Payton smiled at her as she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

  “Hey, mom. Want a sandwich?”

  “No, thanks. I’m not blessed with my son’s sky high metabolism. But I sure would love it if I was.” She watched with envy as he devoured the sandwich, then gave in and made another. His body, she noted, had filled out in the past months, giving way to more muscle and leaving him looking more and more like the spitting image of his father every day.

  The only thing he had been blessed with from her part of the gene pool was her depthless green eyes, and she was proud that he got to see the world from what she considered her greatest attribute.

  “So, the town’s all abuzz with the night’s victory. I can only assume my darling son had a major hand in this.”

  “You heard, huh? It’s great, isn’t it?” He smiled, that lazy smile like his father’s that had stolen her breath nearly twenty years before and still did to this day.

  Her heart gave a tug with a love only a mother could hold, and watched him as he celebrated his victory with her. She pulled a chair out from the small rounded breakfast table in the center of the bay window of the kitchen, and sat to watch her handsome son as he ate. She smiled as he told her each play by play of the night, and felt pride beyond any she had ever known before.

  When he finally stood from the table to go to bed, he gently kissed the top of her head and said softly, “I love you, mom. I hope I find someone as great as you one day.”

  A single tear slipped down her cheek as he walked from the room, and she quietly turned out the lights in the kitchen and slipped silently into her room.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lizzie snuck quietly through the fence of the pasture and took a seat fairly close to the gate just in case she needed to get up and run for her life. The day was bright and though still slightly chilled from the winter they had just come out of, the air held a promise of warmth of the new spring that was blooming. Already Lizzie could see the leaves budding out on the trees showing promise of greenery. Just this morning she had spotted the first tulips as their buds started to spring forth.

  It had been months since anyone had dared to pick on her, she consoled herself trying to hear reason through the maddening pounding of her heart. No one had even bothered to throw spit balls at her in class, thanks to the lightening fast spread of the threat of the Payton’s wrath. There was nothing better than having the most popular boy in school to help get your taunting and teasing immediately put to a cease-fire.

  Lizzie pulled her legs up in front of her and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees as she watched the group of tenth and eleventh graders playing baseball out in the field. She had been on her way down to the pond, and normally would have walked right past, but the thought of just being able to watch for a little while was too appealing for her to pass up. So here she sat, hoping that being in the same field as some of the most popular kids in Dixie wouldn’t jeopardize her chances of not being taunted anymore.

  She skimmed the sea of players, and noted Payton wasn’t among the group. Lizzie wondered where he was, but was almost thankful that he wasn’t there. Quiet murmuring had gone on when she passed in the halls now. People were curious to know exactly why it was that Payton had become her protector. Was there something going on between them?

  It was plain as day to her that there was nothing even remotely close going on with the two of them, but that didn’t stop the girls as school from eyeing her with jealousy anyway. Besides, just being around that boy made her tongue swell up so much that she couldn’t talk in coherent sentences, and her brain switched gears and overheated all together. Yes, it was much better that Payton wasn’t around the field today.

  She watched in silence for a while as Bud took over Payton’s usual position as pitcher. The other team gave it their best shot up at the mound and occasionally hit a ball or two. But the majority struck out against Bud’s “curve ball of fame” as he liked to call it, and left Bud’s team bored pretty quickly.

  “The score’s five to zero, and it’s looking like it’s only gonna get worse from here,” Hank taunted the other team from his spot guarding second base.
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br />   “Oh, yeah? Well if you’d actually make the teams even for once, maybe we’d have a shot at winning,” called back Colin who had been shuffled to the losing team this game, and was obviously wounded because of it.

  “Well, New Girl’s over there. We’ll let you have an extra player if you put her on your team.” Lizzie sat up in shock. She hadn’t realized they’d even seen her, but apparently they had.

  “Oh, come on man! That’s not even close to right. She reads books all the damn time, how is she a fair addition?” Colin whined but he looked over at New Girl as if to size her up.

  “Hey New Girl!” Hank yelled out to her. She looked around, sure that they couldn’t possibly be calling out to her.

  “Don’t look around. I’m calling you!” Hank jogged a few steps closer, and Bud and Colin followed him.

  Lizzie stretched her legs out, and tried to pretend her body wasn’t shaking from nerves. She was ready to jump and run at any moment, if one of those boys tried to pull anything funny on her.

  “What?”

  “Wanna play some baseball with us?” Lizzie tried to look severe and size him up at the same time.

  “Oh, come on Hank. Leave her alone. I bet she hasn’t ever even touched a baseball before.” Colin tugged on his sleeve and tried to pull him back to the game.

  “No, wait a minute. Let’s just see if she wants to play.”

  “What do you want me to play for?” She was itching to play, she could almost feel the bat in her hands, but she wasn’t going to let them know that.

  “See, she doesn’t want to play. Now let’s go finish slaughtering my team,” cried Colin as he started to head back to the game.

  “Wait,” Bud called. “Let’s put a little bet on this.” Colin paused, and Lizzie turned to see what kind of bet they could possibly put on her. “Five dollars says that New Girl can’t hit the ball on the first three swings.”

  Lizzie could feel her blood start to boil, and her fingers clamped down into a fist.

  “Interesting bet, Bud, but how does that help me?”

  “Okay, Colin. For every run that New Girl gets, your team gets two points. If she hits it out of the park, your team wins the game.” Colin chewed on his lip and thought it over. Odds were, he’d be losing this game, but it was at least worth a shot.

  Lizzie studied him, and tried to remember to breathe. When at last he looked her way, he shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “All right, New Girl. You’re on my team. Just try to see if you can hit the ball, okay?”

  And with that, Colin slunk back over to the game. Bud and Hank grinned from ear to ear and headed back to the game they were sure to win.

  “Who’s turn to hit next?” one of the girls on Colin’s team asked.

  “Oh, let’s put New Girl in. Might as well get the slaughtering over with.”

  Lizzie couldn’t hear over the roar in her veins, and she was pretty sure she had no feeling in her fingers from fisting her hands so tightly, but she saw herself lift the bat on the batting mound as if she were in a dream. She took a deep breath, tried to settle her nerves, and got in position to smack the ball with all her might.

  “Okay, Bud. Just try and throw an easy one this time, alright?” Colin was whining again from the sidelines.

  Bud grinned. “Sure thing, Coli-pooh.” He sent the ball whizzing past the plate, before Lizzie had time to blink.

  “Jesus, Bud. Did you have to be that mean about it? We already know New Girl’s practically never seen a baseball before. Give it to her easy alright?”

  Oh, Lizzie was starting to get mad. It wasn’t like she was deaf or anything, and she had definitely seen a baseball before. Not like she was going to tell any of them that, though.

  “Two more and she’s out Colin. Then it’s your turn to pitch and you can do it however you like.”

  “Fine, just remember you said that.”

  Bud smiled innocently at Lizzie, but this time she wasn’t fooled by his look. She kept her eyes focused on the ball, and watched as it flew at her at breakneck speed. She swung in the general vicinity of the ball, knowing full well she was missing by ten miles, and tried not to giggle outwardly. She was just testing out her swing.

  She heard Colin groan and the rest of the team gave her a half hearted cheer to pep her up, but she remained focused on the evil twins, Bud and Hank out in field. When Bud smiled at her this time, just before he wound up for the throw, she smiled back then settled her eyes on the ball and nothing else.

  This time it came at her in slow motion, and she followed it every step of the way. She felt her body twist into the swing as the ball crept her way, and she felt herself lunge forward as the bat cracked against the ball.

  Every mouth on the field sat agape as she rounded the bases. Colin finally found his voice three bases into her homerun, and cheered his head off for her. Bud and Hank only found her homerun slightly amusing.

  Payton stood on the other side of the fence and watched as Lizzie stepped up to the plate. She was the last person in the world he had expected to see on the field that day, and he certainly hadn’t been prepared to watch her bat. How had that happened, he wondered, but kept his thoughts to himself and decided to watch what happened.

  He winced as the ball whizzed past her on the first pitch and silently sided with Colin. Bud was just trying to be a jerk in his own nice way. He was too good natured and honest to be a real jerk about anything, and besides his mama would have his hide if he was ever caught being the school bully.

  Payton focused in on Lizzie during the second pitch, and noted with some amusement that she was way off in her swing. Maybe he’d teach her how to swing and play baseball if he ever caught up with her at the pond next summer. It might be fun to teach her how to play, he thought, then shook his head and tried to get those thoughts from his head.

  When the bat cracked the ball and sent it flying on the third pitch, he felt his jaw drop like the rest of the players, and immediately retracted his thoughts on teaching her to play. She didn’t need any lessons on playing, and if he didn’t know better, from the slight grin spread across her face, it might seem that she had just been playing with them all along.

  She was bent over retying her shoes when finally made his way up behind her. He thought it odd that she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone called his name, so he waited until she slowly stood and turned toward him to smile and say, “Some batting arm you’ve got there, Lizzie. You’ve been holding out on us, haven’t you?”

  She didn’t respond, but the twinkle in her eye told him everything, and he wondered what else that girl had been holding out on him.

  “Mind if I join your team?”

  “Sure,” Colin said, sarcasm evident in his voice. “Show up now after we’ve already got a star player.” For the rest of the game he kept his eye on her, and really wasn’t the least surprised after watching her bat that her out fielding was just as spectacular.

  The game ended with Colin’s team winning by three points, and Colin gloating about it while Bud and Hank walked off pouting.

  “Hey New Girl,” Colin called as she was about to slip through the fence and head home. She turned back to see what he wanted, catching a glimpse of Payton from the corner of her eye. God, he’s gorgeous, she thought, and tucked that tidbit away to analyze later.

  “Yes?”

  “We’re playing again tomorrow, if you want to come. You can play on my team.” Lizzie smiled, and turned away.

  She made herself walk until she was well out of eye sight of the field, even though she really felt like skipping. When she knew no one could see her, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Finally! Her father would be so proud that she was finally starting to fit in, and she couldn’t wait to tell him.

  “Are you sure it’s okay if I come play with you, Bean,” Carrot asked as they walked down the road toward the field where all the baseball games were held.

  Lizzie rolled her eyes and gently jabbed her friend with her elbow. “Are
you gonna whine like this the whole time?” She waited until Grace gave her a sullen shake of her head.

  “Good. Because if you are, you can always walk back home.” Lizzie gave her best friend the fiercest stare she could muster up, and watched as Carrot nibbled on her lower lip.

  “No, I won’t whine. It’s just that... never mind.”

  “Good, because you’re gonna have fun I promise. Just remember what I taught you and you’ll be fine.”

  It had been four weeks since she’d started playing ball with the other kids and Lizzie couldn’t remember a time when she’d been so happy. Finally things were starting to look up for her, and she was ecstatic. The only problem was that Carrot hadn’t been included in the games, and that had made Lizzie sad.

  But Lizzie was about to change that. Colin’s team had titled her the Home Run Queen after her tenth homerun, and it was pretty much fact that she single handedly could whoop Bud and Hank’s team with one arm tied behind her back. Well, as long as Payton wasn’t on the other team, that is. She still wasn’t sure, but something about that boy was like Kryptonite to Superman, and whatever it was when he was around, it was useless to try and think straight.

  But today she was on a mission, and she intended to get her point made. She held Carrot close to her, to prevent her from running off once they got into the field, and the two of them together marched out to where the others were getting ready to play.

  “What you got there, New Girl? Bring along the cheerleading squad?” She ignored Bud’s half-hearted attempt at teasing, and found Colin before her courage wore out.

  “Colin, I’d like a word with you.” He was busy trying to teach another girl how to catch pop-flies, even bribing her with money if she’d just catch one, and turned only after Lizzie continued to tap him on the shoulder.

  “What, Lizzie?” He eyed the flaming red mop of hair on Lizzie’s sidekick with vague curiosity. “What’s up?”