Page 54 of Embers of Torment

We were in the fifth inning when Della nudged my arm.

"Kendra and I are going to the restroom. Do you want to come or stay here?"

"I'll stay."

"How about another beer? I'm going to get one."

"Sure, I'll take another one. Let me give you some money." I reached for my wallet only to see Della vehemently shake her head.

"Nope. You're not allowed to pay for this one. You got it last time." Della scrunched her face, attempting to look stern. It was adorable instead.

I laughed. "Okay, fine. You get this one."

With a look of smug satisfaction, Della left her seat and followed Kendra up the stairs. Spencer had stood to let the ladies out, and when he went to sit down, he took Della's chair. I hid my amusement, knowing he was about to have a talk with me about his baby sister.

"Now that the women are gone, I thought you and I could chat," Spencer said, his expression shifting to something more earnest.

"About Della?"

"Yes, my sister, who I'm very protective over. I'm not sure if Della told you what it was like for her growing up, but there was a time when things were particularly rough for her. She went through an awful lot, and I don't want to see her hurt like that again. I hope Della means something to you and isn't some temporary diversion rousing your interest. She deserves morethan that. The fact she's brought you around to meet her family tells me she likes you. So don't hurt her. All right?"

"Look. It's obvious you care about Della and mean well. But I can assure you I have no intention of hurting her. I like your sister more than you think. I don't plan on going to her a week or a month from now and telling her I had fun, but I'm moving on. I'm in this for as long as Della wants me around."

"I'm glad to hear that." Spencer stuck his hand out. "No bad feelings for forcing the talk?"

"None." I shook Spencer's hand. "If I was closer to my stepsister, and she was single and dating, I'm sure I'd do the same."

"Cool. Now that's over, tell me a little about yourself. What do you do for a living?"

Spencer and I spent the next twenty minutes talking about our jobs, with a few tidbits about my life in Boulder and Chapel Hill thrown in. We'd just switched to discussing baseball and who we each predicted would make it to the World Series when Della and Kendra returned.

Della sat and handed me a beer. "I'm sorry it took a while. There was a line for the ladies' room like usual."

"No problem. Your brother and I had an informative discussion."

"About me?" Della bit her lip, her eyebrows knitting together.

"You were part of it." I couldn't help but grin at her worried expression.

"Darn it. I knew Spencer would do that. He's such a butthead." Della rolled her eyes. "Sorry."

"Hey, it's no big deal. Your brother's protective of you. I get it."

Della flopped back in her chair. "I know, but he doesn't need to be." She was still for a few minutes, then pursed her lips and glanced at Spencer. "I guess I shouldn't complain. If he didn't care, he wouldn't say anything."

"True, so it's better this way. At least you know your happiness is important to him. I'd prefer that over the opposite."

"Yeah, me too."

One of the Red Sox hit a home run right then with the bases loaded, the play pulling Della's attention back to the field. She jumped up and down and shouted with glee as her team moved ahead by two runs. After another round of high-fives with the group behind us, she returned to watching the game.

We were at the bottom of the ninth inning with a tied score, and the atmosphere had grown increasingly intense. Bachman, one of the Red Sox's best hitters, was up to bat. The Astros pitcher threw the ball, and we held our breath. Bachman made contact, his foul ball flying toward the section in front of us. There was a wild scramble as several men jumped from their seats, mitts ready. A burly man in an Astros jersey pushed his way in front of two others and reached for the ball, his arm outstretched. It ricocheted off his mitt and came zinging in our direction.

"Fuck!" I lunged to my right, my arm shooting in front of Della and Kendra—and caught the ball.

Kendra shrieked.

Della stared at me, her eyes wide.

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