Chapter 2 — The Young Man Named Noah
The young man’s name was Noah Ellis.
He was twenty-three.
Rebecca had never met him.
But Noah knew Henry very well.
“Your father coached me,” Noah said.
Rebecca frowned.
“Dad retired almost ten years ago.”
Noah nodded.
“Not from everything.”
Three years earlier, Henry had started volunteering at a small community baseball program on Riverton’s south side.
No publicity.
No official title.
He simply appeared every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.
He helped repair gloves.
Hit ground balls.
Talked to teenagers who were thinking about quitting school.
Noah had been one of them.
“Why didn’t Dad ever tell us?” Rebecca asked.
Noah shrugged.
“He said if something good required an audience, it wasn’t really about the kids anymore.”
Thomas smiled faintly.
That sounded like Henry.
Then Rebecca looked toward the envelope.
“What does Grant have to do with this?”
Noah looked toward the entrance.
Grant remained across the room speaking with an old teammate.
“Coach Henry stopped going to Field 4 because of him.”
Rebecca’s expression tightened.
Field 4 was part of the old Riverton Youth Sports Complex.
Henry had coached there for decades.
Then about six years earlier, he abruptly stopped attending alumni games.
Whenever Rebecca asked why, Henry simply said:
“Not my place anymore.”
She assumed retirement had made him uncomfortable.
Noah shook his head.
“That’s not why.”
Thomas asked:
“What happened?”
Noah looked toward Grant again.
“A kid got blamed for something he didn’t do.”
Rebecca froze.
“What kid?”
Noah answered:
“Me.”