Taking Aim

"Excuse me. Do you need some help with that?" he asked trying not to scare her as she grabbed bags from the trunk of her car.

"Oh. Hi, there. Um, yes. That would be very nice. Thank you," she said.

"Here. Let me grab a couple of those for you," he said as he reached for two of the four paper bags full of groceries she was carrying inside her house.

"I know they say men are the ones who refuse to make two trips, but it's so cold outside I don't want to go back out, you know?" she said with a pleasant smile as he reduced her load by half.

"Is your garage full?" he asked not meaning to be nosy but wondering why she didn't pull her car inside.

"Oh. No, it's empty. The door just needs to be fixed."

"Wow. Seems like that would be a priority with the weather this cold."

As soon as he said it, he apologized.

"I'm sorry. That had to sound rude. It wasn't meant that way. It just sort of came out."

She laughed as she pushed open the front door.

"There are a lot of things like that around here. Maybe one day the garage door will get taken care of."

She led him to the kitchen where they set the bags on the counter.

"You must be Will's brother," she said once her arms were free and she could turn around and look at him.

"I am," he told her. "I'm Brandon. Green."

He shrugged then said, "Of course my last name is Green. Duh, right?"

She laughed again then said, "I can tell just by looking you and Will are related. His wife, Donna, told me you were coming to visit. They're such good neighbors. I love them to death and I could just eat that little Isabella up!"

"She's pretty amazing. I can only hope to be that lucky. Someday."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was so cold I forgot my manners. I'm Jaycee. Jaycee Reed."

"Ah. Okay. Now I get it. Donna mentioned 'J.C.' several times and I just assumed it was a guy who used his initials. And yet the way she pronounced it didn't make sense. But now that I've put a face to the name, it does."

He smiled then said, "Kind of."

She laughed quietly as she slipped her coat off and laid it on a barstool then said, "My name. Yes. The stress is on the first syllable whereas when someone goes by those initials, it's usually the 'C' that takes the stress. I'm JAY-cee rather than jay-CEE, and well, now you know."

She smiled again and Brandon said, "I can give you a hand with putting things away if you'd like."

"Oh, no. You don't need to do that. I can take care of everything. But thank you, though."

"All right. Well, I guess I'll be going. I was on my way out to get in some practice when I saw you playing Supergirl with the grocery bags."

This time the woman laughed an actual laugh.

"Well, as I said, I don't much like the cold, so if I can save myself any amount of time being in it..."

She paused then realized what he'd said.

"Did you say...practice? As in...like maybe football or something?"

Her voice was full of incredulity as she couldn't imagine any sane person willingly going outside when it was so cold. But Brandon Green was from Minnesota so what seemed absolutely frigid there in Seattle where he was staying with his brother was nearly shorts-and-a-tee-shirt kind of weather to him. It was probably 37 or 38 degrees outside, and they obviously had a very different take on just how cold that was—or wasn't.

Brandon laughed then explained.

"I'm going to a pub where they have regulation darts. I play professionally and believe it or not, it requires a lot of practice."

"You're kidding? Darts is an actual sport?" she asked, still sounding incredulous.

Then it was her turn to apologize when she realized how that sounded.

"I'm sorry, Brandon. That just kind of came out, too. I didn't mean it like that. I...I just didn't know," she told him.

He laughed then replied.

"Crazy, huh? But yes, it is a real sport and although the prize money is nothing like any major sport, it's not bad."

"Do you mind me asking if you've won anything? I don't even know what it would be called. Games? Sessions? Rounds?"

"I believe 'tournament' is the word you're looking for. I could bore you to death very quickly by explaining the rules, but 'tournaments' is good enough. And yes, I have won a few. But only two since turning professional. I've been the runner-up several times, and I'm really hoping to make it into the top eight this year."

"Top eight?" she asked as she started putting things away.

"Sorry. I know very few people know anything at all about the game, and I just used a common phrase among people who play all the time. 'Top eight' is the term used for the eight highest-ranking players in the world, and if I could win a major tournament, I'd be very close to joining that elite group and be eligible for the biggest tournament in darts."

"Wow. No, I don't know anything about playing darts, but I do know that sounds impressive."

Brandon smiled then said, "Yeah, it's way down there on the list of things people think of when you tell someone you're a professional in a sport. I mean, bowling ranks ahead of darts. Shoot, maybe even croquette!"

Jaycee laughed and said, "Donna told me you were cute. She didn't tell me you were also funny."

"Donna said that? Nice! She's a beautiful woman, and if she said that, that's pretty great."

"Yes, she did, and for the record, I agree. You look a lot like your brother who is a very handsome man. Not that I'm looking, of course."

"Thank you," Brandon said. "He broke a lot of hearts when he married Donna, so if I'm even close to being in his league, I'll take it."

"It's no surprise their little girl is so cute. I mean, with parents like that, right?" Jaycee said.

"No argument there," he said. "She's a little doll. I wish I could see here more often, but living half way across the country makes that pretty tough."

"What brings you out here?" she asked. "It isn't darts, is it?"

"Well, actually it is. There's a tournament I'm playing in," he told her. "Tomorrow evening. Why don't you come? There's nothing like a good dart match to help you fall asleep."

Jaycee laughed again then said, "Thank you, but I'll have to pass. I don't think my husband would be too thrilled with me going out with another man."

She smiled then added, "Even just to watch."

"I didn't know you were married, and you haven't taken your gloves off yet, and well, for the record, you're a very attractive woman, and I thought I'd um...take a shot."

It took her a second before she got the meaning of a dart player 'taking a shot'.

"Now it's my turn to thank you for your kind words. But even if I were single, I'm not exactly your age. Or even close, for that matter. In my mind I still think I am, but the mirror, and my driver's license, tell a different story."

"Then you need a new mirror," Brandon quipped.

Jaycee smiled again and told him, "And you're sweet. And you like children. 'Your Donna' is out there, Brandon, and one day you'll find her, and she'll be a very lucky girl."

Before Brandon could reply, they both heard the sounds of someone else moving inside the house. A very rough-looking, disheveled man with several days growth of stubble on his face and wearing boxers and an untied robe, walked into the kitchen and glanced at Brandon then said, "Who the hell is he?"

"Oh, good morning, honey. This is Brandon. He's Will's younger brother."

"Will?"

"Yes. Will. Our neighbor."

"Oh, right. The pretty boy."

Trying to avoid what seemed to be an inevitable argument, Jaycee said, "Honey? Do you have a job later today?"

The man was pouring himself a cup of coffee, and without even turning his head said in a very caustic tone, "Get off my fucking back about work, would you?"

Brandon saw the hurt on Jaycee's face as she looked down to avoid making eye contact with him.

"I...I was just asking," she said very cheerfully, but in a way that was clearly forced.

He turned around, looked at Brandon then asked, "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Again, Jaycee looked down but didn't even cringe. She was evidently used to that kind of thing.

"Right. Yes, I uh, I do need to get going," Brandon said as he nodded toward the front door.

Jaycee smiled pleasantly and said, referring to his destination, "Practice makes perfect, right?"

"Practice? Practice for what?" her husband growled as he slurped a first drink and burning his tongue.

"Goddammit that's hot!" he said loudly as he glared at Jaycee as though it was her fault.

Ignoring that comment, too, Jaycee said, "Brandon plays or throws darts professionally."

The man, whose gut hung well over his underwear snorted and said, "Does he crochet sweaters, too?" before walking away.

Jaycee looked down yet again as her husband walked out of the kitchen then accompanied Brandon to the door.

"He's had a little trouble finding work lately. He's...he's not normally like that," she said in a clearly defensive tone of voice.

"It's none of my business anyway," Brandon told her politely.

He smiled then said, "It was a real pleasure meeting you, Jaycee."

"You, too, Brandon!" she said cheerfully. "Take care and good luck!"

He thanked her before stepping outside. As he walked to his sister-in-law's car she'd let him borrow while he was visiting, he reviewed the events he'd just experienced and shook his head.

Jaycee, stress on the first syllable, was a very attractive woman who also seemed pleasant and kind while her husband was nothing short of a human dick with feet. Maybe it was being out of work that was the reason he was so unfriendly, but Brandon knew people had a basic personality type, and that it could be adjusted but rarely ever changed. It was more likely he was just an unhappy person made more so by not being able to find work, and if appearances were any indication, a whole lot of heavy drinking.

He felt bad for Jaycee but knew it was her life and that staying with him was her decision. And yet, he found her so pleasant and so attractive it irked the hell out of him that a woman like that was stuck with a...prick...like that.

The good news was his game was unaffected by the brief drama. He was banging the 'triple 20' slot on the dartboard over and over and over. Brandon had a couple of fixed routines he used when he practiced, and it was almost always his goal to throw a 'nine dart'.

In tournaments, players played several 'sets' with each game (called a 'leg') beginning with each player (or team) having 501 points with the goal of scoring down to zero. The first to score exactly 501 points and thus get to zero won the leg.

Doing that was called 'checking out'. Checking out in nine darts was incredibly difficult, and was something he'd only done a few times before and only in practice. It was the equivalent of bowling a 300 game or maybe throwing a no-hitter in baseball and was almost as rare in darts.

The first player to win three legs won that set. In this tournament, the first player to win three sets in the final round would be the winner.

All in all, Brandon was as ready as he was going to get for the tournament and felt really good about his chances for winning. First prize was $25,000 with the runner-up taking home $12,500. It wasn't like winning a golf tournament, but it wasn't a bad way to make a living—if one could consistently take home a check.

Brandon spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Isabella, who was 3 1/2 years old, and the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Donna was grateful for some alone time, and took Brandon up on his offer to watch her for several hours so she could go get a manicure and be pampered for a while rather than watching a small child every minute of the day.

He didn't see Jaycee again until he was getting ready to leave for the tournament. When he did see her, it was just a kind of awkward 'hello' as she hurried out to her car while he was doing the same. He almost left it at that, but when she went to pull out of the driveway, he waved at her indicating he wanted to say something.

She rolled her window down and Brandon immediately apologized when he remembered how much she hated cold weather.

She laughed then said, "I'll live. What's up?"

"Well, the tournament's tonight at 7 o'clock. I'm going in a couple of hours early, but Will and Donna will be leaving in about an hour. If you and your husband have time and are interested I wanted to invite you both to come watch."

"Oh. Um...where is it?" she asked.

He gave her the location, and Jaycee said, "Oh, I know where that is. But...I don't think my husband would be all that interested. But thank you for offering, though. And again—good luck!"

"Oh, sure," he said, having expected that would be her answer. "The words 'interesting' and 'darts' don't exactly go together, huh?"

Jaycee laughed again then said, "No, I'd love to watch. It's just...well, you know."

"Yeah. I understand," he told her, now that he really did understand. "Have a good day!"

"Thank you, Brandon. You, too!" she said as her window was closing fast.

As her face disappeared from view he realized she really was a very good-looking woman. She had very fair skin with long, light-blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes and a gorgeous smile. It was obvious she was very fit or at least appeared to be as she had a very tight waist and he couldn't see an ounce of fat anywhere on her in the quick glances he'd taken when they talked inside her house.

And then there was her husband...

Again, all Brandon could do as he drove to the tournament was shake his head in amazement and assume there must have been a time when he looked as attractive as her. There was no time to think about anything distracting, and yet, for reasons he couldn't explain, he found this much-older married woman was very distracting.

He'd finished warming up and was ready to go when Will and Donna showed up along with Isabella.

"You ready to rock and roll, bro?" his older brother asked as they did a kind of man-hug, chest-bump thing.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said before giving Donna a small hug and a faux kiss on the cheek.

She was holding Isabella and Brandon smiled when she reached out for him and asking him to hold her.

"Come here, peanut!" he said as he took her from her mom.

He kissed both of her cheeks real fast several times and made her laugh then asked her, "How did you get so cute so fast?"

"I don' know. I jus' did it!" she told him as though it was some kind of miracle.

"Can I show you what I do?" he asked his niece.

"Okay!" she said not knowing it was going to involve looking at a multi-colored board on a wall.

She did, however, like his darts, and she reached for them immediately.

"Sorry, punkin'. Those are very sharp," her uncle told her as he gently stopped her from grabbing one.

"Show me the fun stuff," she then said innocently.

Will laughed and Donna reached for her daughter when Brandon winced because there wasn't any fun stuff.

"Okay, Princess. That's enough. Come here to Mommy and let's let Uncle Brandon get ready," Donna said as she tried not to laugh.

Brandon had no trouble eliminating his first two opponents in three straight sets. He then beat the next one 3-2.

He was now up 2 legs to 1 for the championship, and Will, who was the quiet, older brother, was on his feet cheering each time his brother threw a 180 (putting all three darts into the 'triple 20' slot) or something else that impressed him.

"Yeah! Nice shot, Brandon!" he yelled when his brother 'checked out' in the second leg.

No one noticed an attractive blonde walk in during that final match. As with most darts tournaments finding a seat or a place to stand was rarely an issue, and there were plenty of seats available.

Even so, Jaycee stood in the back not wanting to distract either Brandon or her neighbors. It was more than that, though. She knew it wouldn't go well for her if it ever got back to her husband she'd gone to the pub rather than going to the store like she'd told him. He'd have never allowed her to do so, and while she hated lying to him, she was even more tired of the endless abuse and control.

So she'd lied, and now that she was here, she was trying to figure out what was happening. She looked at the scoreboard and saw it was 2-1, but had to ask someone standing next to her what it meant.

The man, who was at least fifteen years older than her, patiently explained what was going on and that if the 'young kid' won this leg, or game, he'd win the tournament.

Brandon stepped up and threw a triple 20 followed by another and then another.

"Brandon Green—180!" an announcer called out, followed by a smattering of applause and a 'woot-woot!' from Donna.

"Is that good?" Jaycee asked the man next to her as she clapped, too, hoping it was.

"It's very good," he told her.

She nearly laughed when she heard Isabella call out, "Woo-Woo!" in her tiny little voice, imitating her mommy.

Jaycee had always wanted a child, and although either would be fine, she really wanted a little girl. At 41, that was still possible, but with her husband's drinking and unwillingness to work, it seemed like nothing but a fantasy doomed to torment her until she was physically unable to have a child.

But for now, she couldn't help smiling at the sweet little girl in her mother's arms.

Brandon's opponent, a man of about 50, took his turn and did the same thing, scoring a 180.

The applause brought her back to reality as she again asked the man next to her to explain what was going on. He did his best to tell her how many points Brandon needed and the best way to get there, but it was mostly lost on her. Evidently, the man thought she was asking because she was interested in him, and Jaycee did her best not to make a face as she thanked him for his help before deciding to go move a few feet away.

When she did, Isabella saw her and pointed, "Mommy! Look!"

Donna turned and saw her neighbor and walked over to her.

She smiled then said, "Jaycee. Hi! I'm very surprised to see you here."

"Me, too," Jaycee said with a nervous smile. "I only decided to come at the last minute. Brandon mentioned the tournament, and well, he was so kind helping me with my groceries yesterday, I thought I'd sneak out for a few minutes and watch."

"Yes! He mentioned that. He really is a very nice guy."

"He's doing well tonight, right?" Jaycee asked.

"If he can win this leg, it'll be his set and he'll be the tournament winner," Donna said just above a whisper.

"I don't understand all the rules, but I can see how hard it would be to hit those tiny little rectangle thingies," Jaycee said, pointing at the target.

"No kidding. I can hit the board every time, but that's about it," Donna told her. "But Brandon? He's amazing."

Donna nodded toward the board and said, "Oh, and he's up."

They stopped talking and watched as Brandon threw his first dart.

"He has to get exactly to zero or no points come off and his opponent can 'check out'."

Donna saw the look on her neighbor's face and said, "He could win."

Brandon needed 21 points to check out, and threw a 20 with his first dart, leaving an easy '1' for the win.

The crowd was silent as Brandon tossed the dart right in the middle of the '1' and the house erupted with cheers for the young winner.

The older man graciously shook Brandon's hand just as Will walked over and gave his brother a hug.

"Awesome work, dude!" Will told him as they did another 'bro hug'.

"Thanks, man. This win was really sweet, you know?"

"You're in pretty good shape to make the 'top eight' now, right?"

"Yeah. I've got a real shot at th..."

He looked over at Donna who was smiling at him when he saw her. And then he saw the other beautiful woman standing next to her and stopped talking in mid-sentence.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay?" Brandon told his brother without taking his eyes off of Jaycee.