He had to choose that for himself, didn’t he? Didn’t he owe himself that much?
“Yeah,” he said, noncommittal, and pushed open the door into summer.
Ollie picked Theo up that afternoon, partly because Theo had somehow strewn his personal belongings across three different locations and the lost and found and needed time to collect them, and partly, Ty suspected, because he could. Ty didn’t actually run into him, but he didn’t need to; the trail of moony-eyed teachers gave the game away.
A few of them gave Ty calculating looks afterward, so obviously word aboutthatwas getting around too. As long as everyone still loved Ollie, Ty told himself he didn’t care what anyone thought about him.
Unfortunately, with the game tomorrow and the rest of the week booked up, tonight he couldn’t just go home and relax. He had an appointment with Eliza at her home office to go over their strategy for the town hall meeting tomorrow.
“I’m not on trial,” Ty pointed out.
Eliza raised delicate eyebrows over her reading glasses. “Not yet,” she said. “And we’d like to keep it that way, so pay attention.”
“They don’t have a case, you said.”
“Doesn’t mean he can’t make your life miserable, which he already has. Just because he doesn’t have a case doesn’t mean he can’t have someone bring charges. I don’t think he’s got an ADA in his back pocket, but I don’t want to find out. Do you?”
He sighed. “No.”
“All right, then. Now, I’m not going to show up to this thing acting as your lawyer.”
That sent a jolt through him. “What? Why not?”
“Because you’re not on trial, and showing up with a lawyer makes you look guilty of something.”
“It makes me look like I’m not an idiot,” Ty muttered.
She offered a slight smile. “That too. Now, just because I’m not going as your lawyer doesn’t mean I’m not going. I like hot gossip as much as the next small-town church lady.”
“You don’t gossip!”
“Not with or about my clients,” she agreed serenely. “But I’m only human, so Iwillbe asking you about my nephew when we’re off the clock.”
Everyone in this town knew everything about everybody else. He should know that by now. “Okay, so I’m showing up solo.” A hollow pit opened in his stomach. Of all the things he hated, of all the things he feared, standing on his own was near the top of the list.
Eliza shook her head. “Notsolo. Bring Ollie. Everybody loves Ollie. People see you with him, they’re going to want to see the same things in you that he does.”
In Ty’s opinion, it was more likely to work the other way around. People would wonder if Ollie had a secret criminal side or something. Especially since he’d lost his job. “Are you sure—I mean, he just got fired. Isn’t that going to, like… make people think he’s untrustworthy or something?”
“He did get fired,” Eliza agreed placidly. She seemed very smug all of a sudden. “Thanks for bringing that up. Because Ollie got fired for being a good father. Everybody knows his child was in the hospital. Word travels fast around here. Public sympathy is strongly on his side. And if the two of you bring Theo in with you….”
Ty loathed the idea of using Theo as political clout. He wrinkled his nose.
“Believe me, I know. I understand the reluctance. But this is how the game is played. And don’t you think he’d want to help you too?”
God, he’d been here five minutes and he already had a headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “All right. What else?”
“ARE YOUsure you don’t want to come to the game?” Ty asked for the third time that morning.
For the third time that morning, Ollie shook his head. “I’ve got a few things I want to finish up around the house, but I’ll meet you at town hall. I won’t be late. Promise.”
Ty exhaled, anxiety pooling in his stomach.
“Hey.” Ollie touched his arm. “I was going to—if you need me to come, I’ll be there. It’s not like any of my stuff is time sensitive.”
No, Ty was being ridiculous. What could Alan Chiu even do to him anyway? Nothing. Certainly nothing was going to happen at the baseball game. Alan Chiu probably wouldn’t even show up even though his own kid was pitching. “It’s fine,” he said, as much to reassure himself as for Ollie. “But when it’s the only game we win all year and you miss it, it’s your own fault.”
Ollie kissed him briefly. “I’ll take my chances. Theo! Are you ready to go?”
