Page 16 of Mom Ball

He nods enthusiastically. I make eye contact with Mama over his head. She gives me a guilty stare.

“What?”

“I may have told him we’d sign him up tomorrow.”

I scoff. “Without talking to me first? Shouldn’t this be my decision?”

For better or worse, my dad and the older of my younger brothers come in the screen door from the sunroom.

“Bushels are loaded for tomorrow’s pickups.” Daddy kisses my mom quickly, then turns to the sink and washes his hands.

“Cinnamon apples are coming along too,” she says.

“I can stay and help with those,” Austin offers. He hurries toward the pot.

Mama swats at his hand with a rag. “Not until you wash your hands.”

“We all know he just wants to eat some,” I say, crossing my arms.

He takes the towel Mama used on him and pops my hip with it. I shriek. Timothy laughs.

“That’s not funny,” I say. “He hurt your mama.”

Timothy straightens, and Austin sits at the island. “What’s this?” He holds up the paper.

I moan and lean against the tile countertop.

“Are you playing, bud?”

“I want to.”

Austin looks at me.

“It may be too dangerous.”

My brother snarls. “Are you kidding? We used to play baseball in the hay loft with tree limbs and apples all the time and look how we turned out.”

“Exactly.”

Daddy grabs the towel to wipe his hands and stares at Austin. “All this time and I never could figure out how smooshed apples got in the barn. I even blamed the county’s cows once.”

I laugh. Austin smirks. Daddy shakes his head and sits at the table. “If the boy wants to play, I’ll get him some gear.”

I stare at the ceiling. “Seriously, y’all. Nothing has been decided. He’s never even tried a sport before.”

“Best try while he’s young rather than wait. It only gets more dangerous the older he gets.”

“Thanks, Daddy, that’s so reassuring.”

“I’m serious, Brooke. Ain’t nothing wrong with my boy playing ball. Your brothers played sports, you cheered, and we enjoyed watching all the games.”

“I’ll help him,” Austin says.

“Aren’t you supposed to be planning your wedding?” Mama asks.

Daddy, Austin, and I exchange a look. Mama’s current obsession is Austin and Haven’s wedding later this year. She can’t understand why everyone isn’t as excited about every single detail—especially the groom.

“By planning, you mean saying ‘yes, darlin’’ to whatever Haven shows me?”

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