Imperfectly Beautiful (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #3)

Meatloaf and Mediation

-LIA-

“The place is incredible, Mom, it’s like the Disney World of baseball!” Logan exclaimed as he practically bounced up from his seat at the dinner table. “There’s Red Sox merch everywhere!”

I smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded as I stuck my fork into the meatloaf that my mother had kindly prepared along with the rest of dinner while my father and I had stayed engulfed in our pile of paperwork. As much as I tried my best to manage everything, during times like this when I was knee deep in trying to prepare to head to court, I always needed all hands on deck and I was grateful for a family that was understanding and willing to help. It was nice to be able to sit down after a long day for a dinner with people that I loved.

“So is this like a fancy gym or something?” I asked.

“Kind of, it’s a training facility.”

“Oh, so do you need a membership or no?”

“Kind of. You have to be on Todd’s team,” Logan explained.

“What do you mean? I thought he was a trainer?”

“He is,” Logan nodded. “But he also runs his own elite traveling youth baseball team. He’s made a ton of stars and he’s got a million connections. Todd Benson is a legend, Mom.”

“Sounds like he’ll be a good trainer for you then.” I said, but as I watched Logan glance in Jordan’s direction, I realized there was more to it than that. “Unless I’m missing something?”

Jordan sighed and grabbed the serving dish of green beans, “You know I told you earlier that I thought the meeting would just be a progress report of sorts?”

“Yeah,” I passed the pepper and salt shakers to my dad as he reached for them. “In my office, right?”

“Yeah,” Jordan agreed. “Well it ended up being a little more than that. Like he said, the facility is incredible and he’s got a wall full of kids that he’s trained to go onto to lofty careers in the MLB. A lot of them were drafted straight out of high school and he thinks Logan has the potential to do the exact same thing because he’s talented, but more than just training him here and there at Danny’s gym, Todd is trying to recruit Logan to join his private traveling team instead of the high school one.”

“What’s the point of a private traveling team exactly?” Jack asked. “It’s been a long time since my days playing high school baseball obviously, but don’t high schools travel anymore?”

“I didn’t know you played baseball, Grandpa,” Logan looked intrigued.

“Well, I ended up being more interested in your grandmother than the sport,” Jack smiled at mom and she blushed. “But yeah, I liked it my freshman and sophomore years. Back then, my little private school would go around the state and play other teams.”

Jordan nodded, “That’s how Barrett High’s team still works. They play other teams in Massachusetts and have the potential to make it to state championships.”

“Which, not to brag, but as a former Eagle quarterback, the football, basketball, and baseball teams do make it to state every year,” Tony interjected. “They’ve got solid teams and great coaches.”

“Exactly,” Jordan agreed and I couldn’t help but smile to myself that if on nothing else, the unlikely trio of Jack, Jordan, and Tony could come to a consensus on sports. “It’s a nice outlet to excel in sports and still have a normal life, I mean it’s going to take a lot of work, no doubt, but this traveling team kicks it up a notch. Todd’s team plays against other traveling teams that are made up of specially selected players and they head all over the country to play each other. It’s got its perks because you see all the competition and you get one on one attention, but it’s a bit of a grueling schedule.”