Page 5 of Catching Dreams

“Four people just don’t go missing. They will find them,” one of my teammates agreed. “We appreciate you playing, even though we know you don’t want to be here.”

I nodded and looked at the score. We were losing 6-1 in the sixth inning. “I’m not helping much.”

The same guy shrugged. “It’s a team sport. We’re all to blame.” We watched as our centerfielder struck out, and there was a collective groan.

“Alright, gentleman. Let’s get out there and not let them score any more,” Coach Henderson said and patted me on the back. I pulled my helmet on and walked to my position behind home plate.

I still couldn’t believe I had talked to my dad, and he said he was proud of me. It took everything in me to not let the tears come when he said it. Between worrying about Molly and the baby and now the relief that my friends were okay and my dad was there to look for her, I was a mess. I took one last deep breath and tried to push all the emotions down to concentrate on the baseball game.

The batter came up to the plate, and I made eye contact with our pitcher, Sean Matthews, who had a wicked slider. I gave him the sign for the slider, and he gave me a nod before throwing the pitch. It should have hit the middle of my glove, but I wasn’t playing my best, and the ball ended up in the dirt.

“We want a catcher, not a belly scratcher!” I heard a feminine voice call out.

Without even thinking, I stood up just as Matthews was about to wind up to make the next pitch. There was no way I was hearing things. It had to be her.

“Son, sit back down in position,” the home plate umpire barked.

I ignored him and looked around frantically to see where the voice had come from.

“Stone! What are you doing?!” Coach Henderson yelled. “Get back in your position and finish this. Your phone didn’t even ring.”

“Sorry for distracting him!” the same feminine voice I knew and loved called out.

I took off running, dropping my helmet and glove on the way. I jumped over the short wall separating the field and the stands without a second thought.

“Slug bug!” Peyton cried as she punched me in the arm. She then immediately went back to singing Miley Cyrus’s ‘Party in the USA’ song at the top of her lungs. I was impressed she knew all the words. “What song is next?” the adorable little girl asked.

“Mom, I have an important question,” Camden asked while the car was actually quiet for the first time since we left.

“And I might have an important answer,” Penelope replied as she maneuvered her car into the left lane to pass a semi truck.

“Well, since we’re in a bug now, do people slug each other when we pass?”

“I’m sure they do, bud,” Penelope replied with a smile. She then turned to me and said, “Not sure if that was an important question but at least I could answer it.” She loved her light blue older model Volkswagen Beetle. She had just purchased it with her last paycheck from the diner and the money she had been saving. Her kids even chipped in their swear jar money, which I thought was the sweetest gesture.

“This car has a lot more room than I thought it would,” I said as I pulled out her MP3 player and looked for a good road trip song. The MP3 player was hooked up to a cassette tape adapter that fit in the older car’s radio. I didn’t even know they still existed.

“Are you sure I can’t just check the score of the game?” I asked as I scrolled through the songs she had.

“No!” Penelope said with a stern look at me. “Don’t even turn your phone on, ma’am. It will make you want to call him, and we all agreed you would tell him in person.”

“Well, can I check with your phone?”

“Same reason,” Pen said with a shake of her head. “You know his number is in my phone. The temptation will be too high. We’re going to continue listening to songs on the MP3 player and enjoy this road trip. We’re almost there, Molly.”

I sighed and knew she was right. I really wanted to call Tyler, but I wanted to tell him in person more. “Oh, ‘Life is a Highway’ by Rascal Flatts. That’s a perfect road trip song!” I said.

“This is from the movie Cars!” Camden called out. “I think I’m going to get out the cars from Cooper and play with them.”

“His name isn’t Cooper!” Peyton whined. “His name is CJ!”

Penelope and I looked at each other, and I had to laugh. Cooper sure had made an impression on both of them.

“We have to turn around, Mom! I left CJ’s thank you letter at your work!” Peyton said as she threw everything out of her bag onto the floor of the beetle, obviously searching for her note to her new best friend.

“Honey, we can get it when we get back,” Penelope explained.

“It’s important, Mom! Ugh!” Peyton groaned. “I’m bored. How much longer?”

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