Page 83 of The Double Play

“Only for you, Hazel James.”

Her smile lights my every nerve up. She lets her legs fall and slides down to the ground. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Wildflower,” I reply, not letting go of her waist.

Something in the corner of my eye draws my attention. I turn my head to see a trail of small battery-powered tealight candles leading to June’s trampoline. On top of the trampoline looks to be a pile of blankets and pillows.

“What’s all this?” I ask.

“I thought you’d be exhausted after your game. So I figured we could rest together.”

I smile down at her. “I like that idea.”

She grins. “Good, because the blankets are from your bed.”

We laugh in unison. I bend down and throw her over my shoulder. She squeals in surprise and delight.

“You’re going to wake the neighborhood up,” I fake-scold her.

“You don’t live in a neighborhood,” she says through laughter.

“Semantics.”

I toss her through the gap in the net around the trampoline. She bounces on her back in the middle, the blankets lifting around her. Her giggles fill the night air. The sound sparkles like the stars above. I climb in next, moving so that my body hovers over hers.

Her giggles subside as she gazes up at me. She lifts her right hand and brushes her fingertips over my temple, then my cheek, then down my bearded jaw.

“I’ve never been this happy in my life,” she whispers.

“Me either.”

I think of my past and wince as the reminder of Shelby’s text comes to mind.

“What’s wrong?” Hazel asks.

I turn and fall onto my back. I hate that Shelby is wiggling her way into our most special moment again, but I don’t want to keep anything from Hazel.

“Shelby texted me.” My chest rises as I draw in a deep breath. “I saw it after the game. I didn’t want to keep it from you.”

“What did she say?” Hazel’s voice is small. The laughter from before is gone and I hate that I’ve stolen it away by bringing this up.

“Nothing of worth. I usually delete messages like this, but like I said, I didn’t want to hide it from you.”

I pull out my phone, unlock it, and hand it to her. I don’t have to look at it to know what it says. Her words are branded in my head.

Shelby: After five years, you finally decided to replace me and it’s with the nanny? I thought you could do better than that. June’s therapist is going to have a lot of fun unpacking that kind of messed up when she’s older.

“If this wasn’t your phone, I’d throw it,” Hazel says in a cold voice. She sets the phone down between us.

“If I could block her number, I would.” Legally, I can’t. She occasionally calls for June or texts, making plans to visit. The last time she visited was June’s birthday last year. Actually, it was two days after June’s birthday, because sheforgot which day it was. Even though she’s the one who gave birth to her.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with this after she hurt you and June so badly.” Hazel grabs my hand and squeezes it.

I close my eyes and focus on her touch. There’s a night and day difference between her and Shelby. If I could go back…I shake off the thought and recall what Hazel said to me the first night we came out here. I won’t let Shelby steal my joy.

“It’s okay. I’ll delete the message tonight and won’t think about it again. I hate that June doesn’t have her mom, but”–I turn my head to find her already looking at me–“she has you.”

Hazel smiles. There’s not a trace of fear or uncertainty in her gaze when she replies, “She does, and so do you.”

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