Page 29 of How We Fooled

“It’s the truth. God gives us the tools we need to succeed. It’s just up to us to follow his lead.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I reply with a nod.

“Matthew?” a little girl calls out, who’s holding a bat next to a baseball tee. “Hannah doesn’t hit right. Have you not taught her yet?”

We all laugh as Hannah places her hands on her hips in defense. “I am not that bad.”

“Excuse me as I go save my wife from my little sister’s teasing,” Matthew says.

Liza

I have had the biggest grin on my face the entire day, and I’m not even trying to hide it. Everything about today has been perfect. Yes, I miss my mom, dad, and sister back home, and I have some friends who were really hard to say goodbye to, but if this is what my life will be like here, then I’m so happy I moved.

I guess you don’t realize how unhappy you are until you leave a situation and can look back at it. I see now I was just living day to day, going from one to the next, making sure all my boxes were checked. I’ve heard of the rat race, and now, I know I was one hundred percent running in it and coming in last place.

Everything in California is more expensive—from the gas prices to the food—and forget about living on your own. No one could afford rent by themselves, so if you were able to move out of your parents’ place, you lived with three or four roommates and were barely making ends meet.

I never truly felt safe there either. You never left anything in your car, your doors were always locked, and visiting a park meant you had to deal with the homeless who lived there too.

There’s none of that here.

You don’t have to look over your shoulder, you can walk the streets at night if you want to just go for a stroll after dinner, and the weather … sigh. It’s so gorgeous right now. I know winter will be a brutal kick in my ass, but it’s worth it for this weather right here.

All of that makes moving here the right choice for me, and then you add in Eli, and I’m a girl flying high on the choices she’s made in her life that all led her to this moment, right here, right now.

Tucker made some amazing ribs that Eli absolutely loves. We all sit around the table, talking about everything from Hannah’s band to Eli’s baseball and all things in between.

With a sigh, Matthew stands from the table. “I hate to cut this short, but duty calls.” He turns to Eli. “You still up for coming to show these kids what you got?”

Eli nods and stands as well. “Sure.”

Everyone helps clean off the table and puts things away before we say our goodbyes. Then, we get in Eli’s truck to follow Matthew to the facility.

Before we pull away from the curb, Eli turns to me. “That was fun.”

Hearing him say that absolutely melts my heart. I’ve dated guys who wanted nothing to do with my family and thought it was torture, having to eat with them.

I grin at him as I reach to hold his hand, hoping he knows just how much his words mean to me. “It really was. Such a relaxing way to spend the day.”

He squeezes my hand to acknowledge he felt the same way as we follow Matthew to his hitting facility.

The large, barn-like structure sits off to the side of a property, where you can park in a field. Matthew slides the door open, then invites us to follow him inside as he turns on the lights.

Eli looks right at home as he starts circling his arms around like he’s warming them up. “Looks great in here. I see you’ve added a few machines too,” he says to Matthew.

“I did. You haven’t been in here in a while, have you?”

“No, not since last summer.”

“Well, you know you’re welcome here whenever you want to come.”

Eli nods his head. “Thanks. Good to know.” He smiles my way. “I’m going to be in Mason Creek a lot more now, so I’ll take you up on that.”

I swear I feel like I’m Chandler on an episode of Friends, where I want to scream out, Could I be any happier than I am now?

I go to sit on the couch where parents must sit during practice and watch the interactions between Eli and Matthew as they talk baseball while Eli warms up his body.

Matthew hands him a bat. “Here, this should work for you.”

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