Page 121 of The Show

“I did.”

“When?”

I looked at my watch, still set to east coast time. “’bout four hours ago.”

Jupiter’s eyes popped, his knee started jittering, then he stood up and began pacing the length of the deck.

“Fuck.” His hands went behind his head and pulled down hard. He stopped in front of me. “What did she look like?”

“Like a scientist,” I grinned. “She’s a ball-buster too.”

Jupiter snorted. Actually snorted. “Yeah. Guess she hasn’t changed then. Did she still have green eyes?

“Yes. Eyes don’t change color, Jupe.”

“No, no, of course not.” He rubbed his triceps subconsciously. “Fuck! I can’t believe you saw her. I haven’t seen her in fourteen years. Fuck! I’m going to see her again.”

I was stopped from whooping at what I hoped meant he was coming to New York by Rosa bringing me a burger which would make any New Yorker proud, along with a huge portion of the thinnest, crispiest fries. My mouth watered as I separated the bun and squeezed out a dollop of mustard on top then replaced it, and took a massive bite.

Fuck, I could marry this burger, it was that good.

I took another huge bite and sat back to savor it.

“Good?” Jupiter asked.

“Maybe one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Don’t tell Billy, my chef, I said that though.”

Jupiter grinned, which was slightly unnerving.

“So, does this mean you’re coming to The Lions?”

“Tell me what happened with Marnie.”

I grabbed a couple of fries and threw them in my mouth, washing it all down with some beer.

“She’s been hard to get hold of. I think I called her twenty times before she finally answered, and by then I was already mid-flight to Houston. She stormed into the coffee shop to tell me she was only meeting me to ask me to stop calling her.”

Jupiter’s head flew back again with a loud laugh. “I bet she did. What changed her mind? You did change her mind, didn’t you?” he added with a slight panic.

“Yes. I offered her a million dollars.”

Jupiter’s inhale caught again, and I used the opportunity to finish off my burger.

“Fucking hell,” he wheezed, his brow creasing up.

I wiped my fingers and threw down my napkin, remembering the look on Marnie’s face. “She didn’t accept because of the money, Jupiter, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I should warn you, I think she knows you’re behind this job offer.”

His eyes widened. “What gives you that idea?”

“She told me a story about Jupiter being the king of the planets, and getting stuck in its gravitational pull or something.”

He pondered for a second, scratching his fingers through his beard. “Well, I guess if she had any interest in The Lions then she’d see I was going to be there as soon as the trade was announced. It’s out of my hands now. What will be, will be.”

I hesitated. We could hold the announcement of the trade, but I needed the announcement to secure the players I wanted and shake up the M.L.B. Fuck it. If this was Lowe and it meant I could see her again for the first time in fourteen years, then I’d do everything I could to make sure it happened.

“I’ll try to swing it so we don’t announce you until we have to. We can drag out negotiations until Spring Training, and then she can’t back out. If she tries, I’ll tie her up in red tape until you get to see her.”

His eyes shot to mine. “You’d do that?”

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