Page 19 of Catching Dreams

“Before I skedaddle, lemme get your number, Penny. I wanna holler at y’all about fixin’ me the best wedding cake ever!”

Pen nodded and exchanged numbers with her cousin. I also gave her the bakery’s number so she could call when it was back up and running.

“I still can’t believe you found me. It was so great to see you!” Pen said.

“I declare, I thought I was dreamin’ when I saw your pretty face on the television. I’m excited as all get out to get to meet your precious babies and your friend, too. And I’m glad you got to see me.” Lita gushed and gave all of a hug goodbye as well. She looked at Tyler and smiled. “My fiancé says you’re going places and won’t be in the minors long.”

“That’s nice of your fiancé. Is he a big fan?”

“Oh, my stars, no. He is the left fielder for the Bobcats, Drew Parker.”

“Oh!” Tyler said and looked over his shoulder at the players getting ready to start the game. “He’s a great hitter. He’s got a solid average, and his RBI’s are impressive.”

“Well, bless your heart, I’ll be sure to tell him!” Lita gushed. “Good luck with the tornado clean up. I’ll see y’all in a year, Lord willin’!”

As we reached Pen’s VW bug in the parking lot, we saw a huge van pulling an enclosed trailer blocking her car from being able to exit the spot it was in.

“Erick?” Tyler asked as the driver stepped out of the vehicle.

“Hey, Stone. Is this your woman?”

“Yeah. Molly, this is Erick Carlile. He’s with SNC and is going to be helping to get out the word for tornado relief. He basically wrote the speech I gave, but I did add a few things myself.”

“Like calling me your wife!” I whispered in his ear but then turned and smiled at Erick. “It’s so nice to meet you! I thought you looked familiar. You usually cover hockey, right?”

“Oh, man!” Tyler said and looked at me with horror in his eyes. “I am so sorry, baby. I didn’t even realize.”

I actually laughed. “Cat’s out of the bag now, I guess.”

“Who’s cat is out of the bag?” Peyton asked.

“Pen, this is Erick. He’s a reporter for SNC,” Tyler said.

“What’s SNC?” she asked.

“Not a sports fan, huh?” Erick asked with a chuckle. “SNC stands for Sports Network Corporation.”

“Yeah, not a sports fan, sorry,” Pen said with a shrug. “But can you please move this monstrosity. It’s blocking me in.”

Erick grinned at my beautiful friend. “I was told to park by the antique blue VW bug. We’re going to the same place, so I figured I’d follow you.”

“What’s with the van and trailer, man?” Tyler asked him.

“Well, I take it you didn’t watch the news.” We shook our heads, and he continued explaining, “We asked people to bring certain items to the game tonight and to different locations around town. This van and trailer are filled with tons of cases of bottled water, blankets, flashlights, toilet paper, first aid supplies, non perishable food, pet food, diapers, clothes of all sizes, and more. I even saw some card games and toys for children who have lost their homes.”

“That’s so awesome!” I exclaimed.

“Do we get a toy?” Peyton asked.

“No, honey, those toys are for kids who lost everything in the tornado,” Penelope explained.

“Oh,” Peyton said but didn’t seem to really understand. “I still have my ponies from CJ, so I’m okay.”

“One whole ladies church group got together last night and sewed pillows and teddy bears to donate. It was really awesome to see how many they had!”

“That is awesome!” I said. I then got down on the little girl’s level and said, “Pey, maybe you could hand out pillows and teddy bears to kids who need them?”

“That would be awesome!” she said while jumping up and down.

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