Strawberry Wine (Strawberry Inn Book #2)

Chapter 10

CODY

After a middle-of-the-night flight and a drive from the city back to Strawberry in the wee hours of the morning, I have just enough time to change into workout clothes and meet Hayes and Harrison at the fire station for a morning workout. I could have said no, I put together no less than ten text messages last night telling him that I wasn’t going to make it, but all I could see was the way he looked at me with such disappointment when we had dinner at Trudy’s last week. If I needed a change of scenery while working, I could have gone anywhere. I chose Strawberry because it was the one place I could fix some of my past errors. I couldn’t say no to Hayes.

After days of negotiations, AJ finally signed his big contract to continue playing for his current team. I knew he’d sign the extension eventually, I just wish he did it without the additional stress on me. That was behind me now and I was getting ready to spend some quality time with my son and Blair’s cousin. Hopefully, getting to know Harrison a little better would put me in better graces with Blair.

I didn’t blame her for hating me. The more I thought about my actions in the past, the more I hated myself. She needed to know that I wasn’t the same asshole that let her walk away ten years ago. Not that I was trying to get back together with her, but I thought we could at least be friends. Maybe I wasn’t too sure what I wanted, I just wanted to make things better, for both our sake.

Harrison and Hayes were stretching when I pulled up. I wasted no time getting out of my car to meet with them. “Hey, Dad!” he waved in my direction.

“You got started without me, what’s up with that?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to show, didn’t you just get back this morning?”

“Told you I was going to be here so I’m here.” I tried to keep my responses light. I didn’t want to show him my annoyance. He’s not wrong in his assessment, but I’m here to change his perception of me and that means showing up for a workout with the Jolly Green Giant even though I haven’t slept a wink.

“I’m glad you are.” I was shocked when Hayes went in for a hug. We don’t hug much anymore, it meant a lot though. Hayes turned to Harrison to introduce him as well, “You remember, Harrison, right?”

I nod and put my hand out to shake his hand, “Good to see you again, Harrison.”

“You too, Cody. I promise I won’t work the two of you too hard this morning.”

“I appreciate that. I can’t speak for Hayes, but I’m pretty damn exhausted,” chuckle.

“Late night?” He asks with his eyebrow raised. I might be reading into the question too much, Hayes must not have told him about work.

“Yeah, but not in a fun way. I was out of town dealing with a client and meeting with some potential new ones. I was supposed to be back yesterday, but the negotiations took a little longer than originally planned. I was flying back overnight and made the drive from the airport this morning.”

“You’re right, that doesn’t sound like too much fun. We better get that blood moving to keep you awake then,” Harrison smirks.

“Of course, that is exactly what I need.”

After a quick warm-up, the three of us hit the pavement. Even though Harrison has a few inches on me in the size department, I’m able to do a decent job keeping up with him. Even though I’m not a professional athlete anymore, I never stopped working out and training as one. I’m sure he could bench more than me, but cardio was not something I had a problem with. We made our way out of town and then headed back to the station. Hayes started to fall behind us as we were entering the last mile.