As much as he wanted to sit in the dark and wallow in his own self-pity, he knew it wasn’t the best way to pass the time.
“Yeah,” he found himself saying. “That’d be great.”
“I’ll stop by and pick you up around five. Game starts at seven. Then we’ll head over to Luke’s and pick them up on the way.”
“I’ll be here.”
The call ended and Elijah stood in the middle of his living room.
A ball game.
With Logan.
It felt almost like deja vu. Something he would’ve done with James all those years ago. Not only had they shared Beth, but he and James had been close. And now he had another chance at the friendship that had been stolen from him because James had been… scared.
***
By seven o’clock, Elijah, Logan, Luke and Cole were at Globe Life Park in Arlington watching the Texas Rangers take on the Boston Red Sox.
The game had started out slow, but the beer was cold, the crowd was enjoying themselves and Elijah had finally relaxed. Luke and Cole had been bickering about something, keeping all of them laughing since the moment they got into the car.
But it was relatively quiet at the moment because Luke and Cole had headed off to get more beer rather than wait for someone to deliver it to them. It smelled like a setup, but Elijah didn’t say anything.
“Tell me about James,” Logan suggested, glancing over at him. The man was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched the game.
Yep, definitely a setup.
Elijah contemplated what he should tell Logan briefly. During the drive to get Luke and Cole, they had talked but mostly about work, about Elijah’s trips, and how often he was out of town or out of the country. As it turned out, they both travelled, although Logan didn’t leave town nearly as often, and when he did, it was usually for a day or two at most. Elijah had reluctantly informed Logan that he was generally gone for at least fifteen out of every thirty.
The discussion had been relatively casual, but Elijah had heard Logan’s interest and in turn, he’d been curious himself. So, he opted to go for open and honest.
“I met James in college. We started off as roommates and became good friends. After we graduated, James bought a house and I rented a room from him. I had started out at V.I. as a sales rep making little to nothing at first, but I quickly started climbing the ladder.”
“So it’s always been sales for you?”
“It has. I’m good at it, for whatever reason. V.I. had me going to trade shows, said I had charisma. I don’t know about all that but I was good with people.”
“Was?” Logan asked, grinning.
“Ok. Am. I am good with people. That’s when I met Beth. I somehow, by the grace of God, managed to catch her eye and by the time I had the nerve to ask her out that same day, she admitted she’d been hoping I would.
“Anyway, I’d known Beth for only a few months before I introduced her to James. I think James fell in love with her right away although we were all just friends. But they became close. Beth and I bought a house, I moved out of James’ but we still saw him all the time. After we were married, he’d stay at the house and the three of us hung out almost every day.”
Logan glanced over at him briefly before turning back to watch the action.
Elijah continued, “James was my best man at my wedding, he was going to be the godfather of our children, if we ever had them.”
“Did you want children?” Logan asked.
“Beth did. I was on the fence. When she got sick, it no longer mattered although she kept telling me she wished we’d had a baby so I wouldn’t be alone.”
“Would it’ve helped?” Logan sat back in his seat, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee as he regarded him.
“No,” Elijah told him point blank. “Nothing would’ve eased the pain of losing her.” Elijah watched the game for a moment, waited until the man at bat struck out three times before turning his attention back to Logan. “What about you? Did you and Sam plan to have kids?”
“No,” Logan answered quickly, a small smile. “We both know we’re not cut out for it. Hell, I had a dog – Bear, who is now my brother’s dog – and I couldn’t keep him. When work is your main priority, it’s challenging to take care of someone else.”
“You and Sam are a match then, huh? She’s just as focused as you are.”
Logan laughed roughly. “From what I’ve seen, you make the two of us look like slackers.”
Elijah laughed too, but it faded quickly. “I didn’t work this much after I met Beth. And definitely not after we were engaged. She was my life. Work was secondary.”