Page 63 of Mom Ball

“No, not Brooke. She’s not assertive like—”

“You?”

Morgan smiles. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I can’t bust up on a team gathering.”

“I think the team would prefer it.”

I suck in a deep breath and exhale before looking back at her. “I’ll think about it.”

“You should.” She drops the sunglasses from her hair to her eyes and peels out of the parking lot.

Her van moves to reveal Jeffrey’s kids playing with the air hose. The older one is trying to shove it down the smaller one’s underwear. I shake my head and hurry to wash my truck.

This place makes Waffle House look upscale.

CHAPTER 14

Brooke

“Here’s some more burgers.” Mama lets the screen door close behind her and brings a pan to the kitchen counter.

“All right.” I move them to a platter with the other patties and cover it with tinfoil.

“I hate we missed the tournament. We’d already signed up to bring pies to that farmers’ market.”

“It’s okay. Not much to see.”

She touches my arm. “It’ll be fine. They’re new at this.”

I half smile. “Timothy did get some hits.”

“See.” She squeezes my arm, then moves toward the refrigerator.

“Thanks for helping with all this. I want to keep their spirits up.”

“Anytime. You know I love to feed people.”

I laugh. That she does, and people love her for it.

The screen door slams, and I turn, expecting Timothy. He’s not the best at letting it close slowly, especially on windy days.

Morgan lifts her chin. “What’s up?”

“Hello, Coach Morgan.” Mama smiles at her.

“Hey, Mrs. M. Thanks again for having us.”

“Of course. Sawyer’s always happy to grill.”

“What can I do?” Morgan slaps her hands together and scans the kitchen.

I nod toward the table. “You can make sure one bag of each kind of chips is open and get the dip from the refrigerator.

“Got it.” She washes her hands and gets to work.

“Thanks for coming early. You didn’t have to help.”

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