Chapter 5

Since he was hungry, he didn’t waste any time when his guest walked through the door. Abandoning his video on the start of spring training, he asked, “Do you like pizza?”

“In moderation.”

“Only in moderation?” Tom had never heard of such a thing.

“I don’t want to eat unhealthy foods all the time and give myself a heart attack by forty.”

This anxiety sounded exhausting, not to mention like it sucked a lot of the fun out of life. He thought of a concession to health and suggested, “If it makes you feel better, we can get vegetables on it.”

“I like fresh tomatoes, if your pizza place has them.”

It did, though Tom had to ask when he called because he never ordered this himself. He was a pepperoni guy through and through.

Alex pulled three devices from a backpack. “You don’t mind if I put these detectors up, do you?”

“No.” The guy had to sleep, and his alarms were no skin off Tom’s nose. “But I already have a fire extinguisher.”

“Only one.”