Page 32 of Batter Up!

During the fifth inning, Tyler stepped up to the batter's box after sending me a wink. I watched as the opposing pitcher tried to get him to chase two balls out of the strike zone. He finally threw a ball right down the middle, and CRACK! The sound of the bat hitting the ball echoed through the stadium, and the ball went soaring over the outfield fence.

“That was Tyler Stone’s first professional home run!” the announcer called out as I was jumping up and down, cheering for him. I didn’t even realize it, but tears were streaming down my cheeks. I was confused and emotional, but I loved baseball, and I was so proud of him.

“That was for you, Molly!” Tyler called out after he crossed home plate and stopped right in front of me.

“Stone! What are you doing?!” his coach yelled.

He just winked at me and continued into the dugout.

They won the game 9-0, and I stood outside the stadium with a few other fans where I was told the players came out. I had the biggest smile on my face. I only waited about twenty minutes before a few of the players came walking out.

“Molly!” I heard his voice before I saw him. “Hi!”

“Hi, Tyler!” I said and walked into his open arms. He wrapped them around me and kissed my forehead.

“Great game,” I complimented and stepped back as he reached into his bag.

“This is for you,” he said and handed me a baseball.

I shook my head emphatically as I handed him back the baseball. “I can’t take your first professional homerun ball!”

“Yes, you can,” he said as he put the ball back in my hand. “I want you to have it because you’re my good luck charm.”

“Tell me why you didn’t remember me,” I said bluntly, crossing my arms over my chest, almost as if I was shielding my heart.

"Can you tell me when it was exactly that I didn't remember you?"

"Oh, I know exactly what day it was – Opening Day for your baseball team and my bakery."

Tyler’s reaction wasn’t what I was expecting. He started to laugh. “Let’s go for a walk and talk.”

“Ok,” I said, accepting his hand and intertwining my fingers with his. I held his homerun ball in my other hand.

We walked in companionable silence away from the stadium and towards the outskirts of a park. “I need to make a phone call,” he said as he pulled his cell phone from his bag. He began dialing a number, and I had no idea what he was up to. He pulled me closer to his side so I could see he was making a Facetime call. Soon, a partial face came on the screen, but I couldn’t get a good look at it.

“Carter! Where did you get those cupcakes after my game when you came to visit? And what the fuck are you doing? I want to see your face.”

“Hold on a damn second, Ty. You’re going to get me killed.”

I could hear the sounds of a video game in the background, and Tyler looked at me and rolled his eyes. “Can you at least answer the damn question? Where’d you get the cupcakes?”

“Some new bakery that was just opening.”

Tyler breathed a sigh of relief like he had all the answers in the world, but I was still confused.

“And did you tell the most beautiful woman in the world that you didn’t remember her?”

Carter then looked up into the screen, and I gasped. He was a carbon copy of Tyler. His hair was a little longer and styled differently than Tyler’s, but they had the same green eyes and dimples.

“The woman working there was hot and flirting with me, then seemed upset that I didn’t know who she was, so, yeah, I guess.”

“Was this her?” Tyler asked and pointed the phone screen at my shocked face.

“Yeah! Hi!” Carter said. “Wait a minute. Is she Red or Pink or whatever fucking color you called her?”

I had to laugh then and turned to Tyler. “So, you didn’t forget me?”

“No, Molly. I’d never forget you,“ Tyler said and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

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