Page 36 of The Pickleball Girl Finds Her Match

“Yeah, no,” chuckled Sebastian. “I’m headed to—”

“Stadium Court for mixed doubles with Sloane,” interrupted Paul, crossing his arms across his chest. “We know.”

The Grands, standing under the shade awning, stared at Sebastian as he approached the court. Earlene peered over her boxy prescription sunglasses, and Candi stood with her weight shifted on one hip, her foot tapping rapidly on the court surface. Nora wrestled with tearing open the wrapper on a granola bar.

Sebastian shifted his eyes to the trio of older women. “Hi, ladies, you’re all looking exceptionally beautiful today.” And then he turned to Endy and said, “And you look really, really pretty this morning.”

Upon hearing Sebastian’s words, The Grands seemed to soften, and they turned away.

“Did you just come here to charm the womenfolk?” asked Endy, her head tilted. “Or do you actually need something?”

“Iactuallywanted to see if you were available tonight …” began Sebastian, smiling.

“Darn it,” replied Endy. “You know that I have Picklers after work.”

“Yeah, I know. But I mean like late, late tonight,” he replied, his eyes gleaming.

“Oh my god,” interrupted Paul. “The meteor shower!”

“Exactly, it’s tonight, and the skies are supposed to be clear,” said Sebastian. He looked at Endy. “So I thought we could take a blanket out to the middle of the golf course to watch the shooting stars. Do you think you can stay awake until midnight?”

“I’d love to,” answered Endy.

“Of course I can,” answered Paul at the same time. Then he immediately colored and clapped a hand across his mouth. “Oh my gosh, Sebastian. Obviously, you meant to invite Endy, not some old third wheel.”

Still smiling, Sebastian threw up his hands and shrugged. His eyes caught Endy’s.

“The more the merrier,” he said. “What do you say, Endy?”

“The more the merrier,” she agreed. “I only have one blanket, so Paul, you’ll have to bring your own. But just not your lovely Prada cashmere one—that should be left at home on your sofa.” She laughed.

“It’s a date,” said Sebastian. “We’ll take my golf cart. I’ll pick you both up around 11:30.”

They laid out their blankets on the close-clipped grass on the championship golf course, but even before they settled, the dark sky lit up with a bright streak crossing overhead. “Did you see it?” exclaimed Endy, clapping her hands. Sebastian leaned over and kissed her temple.

“Beautiful!” agreed Paul. He tugged his Prada blanket flatter, then lay back, crossing his arms behind his head. “I know you told me to leave this at home, Endy, but life is too short to not use cashmere for the special moments.”

Sebastian sat in the middle of Endy’s blanket, then pulled her into his lap. She shivered when he wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back into his chest. If Endy didn’t know better, she would have sworn she was purring.

She tilted her head back against his shoulder, peering up at the jet-black sky, the darkness pressing around them. Coyotes yipped in the distance, their calls sounding somber in the night.

“How many shooting stars do you think we’ll see?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“If we’re lucky, it could be a half dozen or more,” replied Paul.

“Well, I only need one big one,” said Endy, “because all the other wishes that I’ve made on shooting stars have come true.” She laced her fingers through Sebastian’s. “I don’t want to get greedy.”

“Look, there’s another one,” breathed Paul, lifting an arm to point into the darkness. “Endy, you wait for a big one. I’ll take all of the littles like that last one and collect them together to wish on when I need to.”

“That’s sweet, Paul,” murmured Endy. She shifted, turning to kiss Sebastian, then crawled off his lap and onto the blanket to lay down between the two men.

Sebastian lay back and stretched out next to her, all three of them gazing at the huge breathtaking open sky, the clusters of stars twinkling. He reached out and held Endy’s hand in his, caressing her palm with his thumb.

Paul cleared his throat and quietly said, “The last time I went stargazing with someone was a very long time ago. I bet we were about your age.”

“We?” asked Sebastian.

“Gharrett and I,” said Paul. “He was the love of my life.”

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