Page 18 of Legal

Be there in 20. XO

It felt like only a few minutes before I saw Perry tromping up the steps that led to my office door. She peeked in the window, and I waved her in.

“Thank you, Mr. Swanson. I’ll have all the required paperwork faxed over within the hour.”

Perry set the bag on my desk, the aroma wafting up and distracting me. I mouthed, “Thank you,” as I quickly finished the call. Leaning back in my chair, I scrubbed my hands over my face. “That was brutal but worth it. Unless he changes his mind in the next twenty-four hours, I’m golden.”

“That’s awesome!” She pulled up a chair, and I pulled out the sandwiches. “Now you can take more time off and start enjoying all that commission you’re bringing in.”

I scarfed down a huge portion of my sub before she even started hers. “Hey, I did take off a big chunk of my day for the game.” Actually, it was more like the entire day since I couldn’t center my mind long enough to get anything accomplished when I returned home. I ended up sitting on my back porch swing and watching the wild turkeys trek back and forth through my yard. Productive.

She nibbled on a piece of cheese. “How’s your sandwich?”

“So good. You are a godsend.” The only thing that had graced my stomach all day was several cups of strong, black coffee. “Do you want some iced tea?”

She nodded, and I went into the kitchen and pulled the pitcher from the fridge. I poured two glasses, grabbing the canister of sugar for her.

“Are you still taking off this weekend?” Perry asked when I came back.

“For the most part.” I handed her a glass, setting the sugar beside her. “Especially now that I have Mr. Swanson wrapped up. Why, what’s up? I thought you had to work.”

“I do, that’s the problem. I promised I’d pick up Emily from softball practice and bring her home during my break, but now they’ve called a mandatory meeting during that time. And I thought maybe since you’re forever in my debt and all….”

I laughed. “No problem. What time?”

I thought her smile would bust open her cheeks. I guess she was happy. “Be there at eleven. You can’t be late, okay? Hillside Park right off 94, next to that little charter school.”

“Yes, I know where it is. Anything else?” I collected all the documents I needed to fax over, and I had another call coming in. My short lunch break was over, but if it weren’t for Perry, I probably wouldn’t have eaten at all.

“Nope, that’s about it. I’ll let Sam know. Thanks so much; you won’t regret it.”

My eyebrows scrunched together as I switched on the headset.What an odd thing to say. Why would I regret it?

I swung into the lot ten minutes early, seeing the girls were still gathered on the field. I didn’t know if I should wait in my car until the end of practice, but it was too nice of a day to be cooped up. The predicted heat wave was pushed forward another day, giving me more time to work on the a/c. Every day I’d planned to fix it, another reason popped up for me not to.

I cut through the grass and over to the diamond, plunking myself down on the bleachers. I glanced around at all the empty spaces.Shouldn’t there be more parents here?It was close enough to pick-up. Come to think of it, there was only one other car in the lot.

Squinting against the sun, I cursed myself for forgetting my glasses. I shaded my eyes with my hand and tried to scope out Emily from the rest of the bunch that was lining up for the tee. Practice didn’t appear to be almost over. Maybe Perry got the time wrong.

I pulled out my phone to shoot her a text but decided against it, not wanting to bother her during the meeting. I set it aside as a young woman sat down next to me. “Hi,” she said. “I haven’t seen you around before. Which one’s yours?”

“Emily. Well, she’s not mine; she’s my friend’s niece. I’m picking her up today.”

She nodded. “The redhead.” With the sun piercing my eyeballs, they all seemed to have a red tint to their hair. She gave me a once-over. “Cute shirt.”

“Thanks.” I slapped my palms on my thighs. “What time is practice over? I was told eleven.”

“Oh, no. You probably still have at least a half hour yet.”

Hmm… now what? I could take a walk, swing on the swings. I used to love that. I wondered if I could even tolerate it anymore without feeling nauseous. Or I could just sit here in the warm sun and chat with the woman next to me. She seemed pleasant enough.

I turned my head, about to ask her name, when I noticed a goofy smile on her face. Her eyes were transfixed on the coach, and I think I detected a bit of drool. I recognized that look. “Your boyfriend?” I asked.

“Not yet.”

“Good luck.” I smiled. How cute—a little crush. The woman looked to be twenty. I wish I could say I remembered those days, but I couldn’t recall a time when I wasn’t with Mike. Being a married new adult with a ready-made family didn’t leave much time for gushing and googly eyes.

One of the girls connected her bat with the ball, sending it flying. She ran right over to her coach and gave him a huge hug. Sweet. I was trying to get a better look at the guy who had the one beside me so spellbound when my cell pinged.

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