Page 89 of Double Play

Arizona and Quincy both sit there appearing disgusted and stunned. I’m grinning, doing my best to hold in the laughter.

ARIZONA

After the most disturbing lunch in the history of the world, I’m shopping with my mother and Ripley, who met us at a shoe store. We’re searching for shoes to match our dresses forthe upcomingSports Illustratedreveal party. We’ve narrowed it down to a few pairs. The saleslady is in the back finding our sizes in all of them.

Quincy and Layton had to get to the stadium for warm-ups. Dad wanted to go with them and watch.

Mom squeezes my hand. “You seem very serious with Layton.”

“Weareserious.”

“I’ll admit that Quincy gave us an earful on the way from the airport to lunch today. He doesn’t care for your relationship. He thinks Layton is a womanizer.”

“I’m sick of…”

Before I can finish, she holds up her hand. “I’m not done. He had us concerned at first. You’ve had a difficult year. You’ve been incredibly fragile, and we’ve been so worried. But after spending time with you two, I don’t see what Quincy sees. You’re happy and lively in a way I haven’t seen in nearly a year and a half. Your special Arizona sparkle and spunk is back. And the way Layton looks at you…” She clutches her heart. “I know what a man in love looks like, and that man is completely in love with you.”

I can’t help the smile on my face. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

Ripley nods in agreement. “You’d have to be blind not to see that. He stares at you like he’s going to tear your clothes off at any moment and…”

I cover her mouth and my mother giggles.

“Thank you, Ripley. I’ll remind you that my mother is here, though she’s done some oversharing of her own today.”

I narrow my eyes at Mom, but she simply smiles. “Did you think you were conceived via immaculate conception?”

I sigh. “No, but our names are now officially tainted.”

“Don’t be silly. Let’s get back to Layton. He didn’t really hide his feelings for you. What I want to know is how you feel about him.”

I blow out a breath. “I think I might be in love with him. It’s so different than it was with Marc. Everything about us feels good. Nothing is forced. It’s open and honest. We truly enjoy being together. It’s such an…adult relationship.”

“Marc obviously wasn’t the right man for you.” She mumbles, “We all knew that even before the wedding.”

I stand there in a bit of shock. “You never thought he was right for me? Even before the craziness of the wedding day?”

She exchanges glances with Ripley before looking back at me. “I didn’t.”

I turn to Ripley. “You too?”

She nods.

“Why didn’t either of you say anything?”

Ripley shrugs. “I tried to push you a few times about what it was you loved about him. He wasn’t attentive, he wasn’t good to you, you fought all the time, you had nothing except ball in common, you were insecure, always thinking he was cheating, and he was kind of a dick to me. You were a little blind to it. I wasn’t going to lay it out there and then have you marry him anyway, subjecting us to a lifetime of awkwardness. And…and you were pregnant. At some point, I let it go.”

I suppose she’s right. She did question me a few times about how he treated me. I always made excuses for him.

“What about you, Mom?”

“I felt the same. I wasn’t going to risk you pushing me out of your life. I’m honestly not sad about what happened. It’s for the best. I could have told you from the beginning that he wasn’t good enough for you. He wasn’t right for you.”

“But you think Layton is?”

“I can’t tell you that, only you can decide, but I can tell you that you are glowing in a way you never were with Marc.”

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