Baseball - America's favorite pastime - provides a field wide open for romance. A Home Field Advantage (Shae Connor) may not help when Toby must choose between the team he’s loved all his life and the man he could love for the rest of it. In 1927, Skip hides his sexuality to protect his career until he meets One Man to Remember (Kate McMurray). Ruben and Alan fell victim to a Wild Pitch (Marguerite Labbe), leaving them struggling with heartache and guilt, and now they've met again. And on One Last Road Trip (Kerry Freeman), Jake retires and leaves baseball behind, hoping to reconnect with Mikko and get a second chance at love.
Rainbow Award Winner, Best LGBT Anthology/Collection, 2014
"One Last Road Trip," by Kerry Freeman
With the last game of his Major League Baseball career behind him, Jake Wilson hits the road. Years have passed, but he never got over the romance he shared with Mikko Niemi back in college. Finally, he's ready to do something about it. He starts with some crucial visits to his ex-wife in New Mexico, his son in Oklahoma, and his daughter in Tennessee. But his true destination is Mikko's home in Georgia, where he's hoping to get a second chance at love.
Prologue: San Diego
THE clubhouse was finally quiet. Jake had had enough microphones and
cameras shoved in his face for one day. As he sank down into a big
brown leather recliner, he smiled at the realization he would never have
to do another postgame interview again.
Sure, he was bummed that they’d missed the wild card by a half
game, but he was secretly a little relieved. He was ready to hit the road.
He wanted to see his kids, and he wanted to get back home. It’d been
years since he’d been in Georgia for more than a three-game stand in
Atlanta, and he missed it. He missed everything—and everyone—he’d
left behind there.
“Hey, Jake,” the clubhouse manager called from the doorway. “Did
you already clean out your locker?”
Jake smiled. He remembered the old metal lockers from high
school. The fancy wooden shelving he had here was as far from that as
he could get. “Yep, everything’s in my car.”
The manager walked to Jake’s locker and looked up. “Not
everything.” He gingerly climbed onto a wheeled chair and pulled down
Jake’s nameplate. He hopped down and tossed the plate to Jake. “Here
you go.”
Jake caught the plate and took a long look at it. “I guess that makes
it official.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going on a road trip back home to Georgia. Gonna stop and
see the ex and the kids on the way.”
The manager shook his head and laughed. “You’d think you’d have
gotten your fill of road trips as long as you’ve been playing.”
“Yeah, well, this is my last one.”
“We’re gonna miss you around here. I know the team will miss you
on second base.”
That was a polite lie. Maybe if he’d retired last year, but this year
he’d been hobbled by knee pain more often than not. “Thanks. I’m sure
I’ll be wishing I was here when next season starts.”
“Well, you just make sure you’ve got someone to keep your mind
off baseball by then,” the manager said with a wink.
Jake smacked the nameplate against his leg. “I just might do that.”
COLLAPSE
