Page 106 of First Love, Second Draft

“Sorry. I’m trying to find a quiet spot. How bad is he?”

“What part of the worddyingdon’t you understand?” Gracie forced herself to take a breath. “Sorry. I’m sort of freaking out right now. He doesn’t want anything more to be done. He just wants to be made comfortable.” Gracie snorted a half-laugh, half-sob. “And watch the stupid ball game, of course.”

“Gracie...”

“Seriously. Where are you? It is so loud.”

“Gracie...”

“Why do you keep saying my name like that? Like you’ve got something to hide? If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were at the—” Gracie’s breath whooshed out of her. “No. You are not there.”

“I didn’t want to upset you.”

“You. Are. Not. There.”

“Noah was able to get us tickets. He figured you wouldn’t want one. I’m here with Matt and Rachel and um... well, Gus. We’ve sort of been seeing each other.”

“Gus? You’re dating a boy from the firehouse?”

“He’s not a boy, he’s a man, thank you. And hey, that’s not the point.”

Thatwasn’tthe point. “I can’t believe you guys are all at the game.”

“We never said anything since we know how much you hate baseball. Plus we had no idea Noah would be pitching tonight. Can you believe Noah is pitching? Did you know? Gracie, say something.”

“What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to say to Dad? Sorry, Dad. Nobody can make it. They’re all at a baseball game. Go ahead and die. Better luck next time.”

“No, you’ll tell him we’ll get there as soon as we can. You’ll tell him we love him. Then you’ll tell him if he’s ready to go...” Her voice broke. “It’s okay to go.”

“How can you say that?”

“Honey, he’s been dying for the past year. You don’t think we’ve said our goodbyes to him by now? We’re at peace. Don’t worry about us. You just get back to his room and find yours before it’s too late.”

“Mona?”

“Yeah?”

Gracie looked to the dark clouds in the sky, unable to stop herself from asking. “How’s he doing?”

Her sister didn’t have to ask who she meant. “So far? Amazing.”

Tears leaked down Gracie’s face. “I’m glad. I really want him to finish well.”

“I think that’s all any of us can ever hope for.”

67

Raindrops freckled the skin of Noah’s arms as the stadium rumbled with the chant of forty thousand fans.Win Big! Win Big! Win Big!

The dirt on the pitching mound vibrated with energy. His fingers caressed the seams of the ball.Win Big! Win Big! Win Big!

Noah zeroed in sixty feet six inches from where he stood. A flash of two fingers, down and in. Noah nodded. Rooster adjusted his stance behind home plate and held up his target.Win Big! Win Big! Win Big!

No runners on. Two strikes. Two outs. Noah stared at the catcher’s mitt. The same target he’d been staring at for the past thirty years. Better to stare at that than the stands. The seats. The empty spot he used to hunger for his dad to fill. Then eventually Gracie.

Noah stepped back, lifted his arms above his head for his windup. His arm rotated, wrist flicked.Thump!

Noah didn’t have to hear the umpire’s call to know it was a strike.

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