Page 64 of The Pickleball Girl Finds Her Match

Sloane’s lower lip trembled, and she whispered, “Make him happy.”

“You mean Sebastian?” Endy asked, her eyes questioning.

“Of course I do.” Sloane nodded. “And the advice I wanted to give you? Go watch his games,” she said. “Pickleball seems to be very important to him.”

Endy stood with her mouth hanging open in shock as Sloane turned and walked away.

But then, Sloane doubled back, her fingers wiping the tears from under her sunglasses. “Youare very important to him,” she said as she wrapped Endy in a hug. “He choseyou.He wantsyou.”

41

With the energy of players and fans boiling high, the Paddle Battle was officially underway. Shouts of encouragement, groans at missed shots, along with the upbeat music booming from the speakers, created an exciting, fever-pitched atmosphere.

All of Whisper Hills’ pickleball courts were filled with two pairs of senior/junior players, and each played for best two out of three games. Volunteers kept score and tracked each team’s wins and losses.

At the end of the fun-filled day, the two top-scoring teams would face off for a championship match to conclude the event. Stadium Court was temporarily re-striped from tennis court lines to mark out a pickleball court, and seating had been arranged around all four sides.

“Endy, I have to hand it to you,” said Daniel York as he approached her standing next to a court, watching a game. He held out his hand and shook hers. “This is an incredibly well-attended event. Way bigger than I’d ever thought.”

Endy smiled widely. “I know! Never underestimate the power of pickleball.”

“That’s for sure. Let’s go, Picklers.” Daniel nodded, pumping his fist. “So, do you know where are you in the money department? How much were you able to raise?”

Endy’s face fell. “Unfortunately, not enough. We’re still about $10,000 short.” Her eyes implored Daniel’s. “Please, Daniel, can’t you come up with the balance? Even if Picklers isn’t run through Whisper Hills anymore, it’s such a great program and cause.”

“I’m sorry, Endy. You know my hands are tied. We never had Picklers in the budget for more than two years.” He looked away. “Not to mention that our own program may get shuttered anyway.”

Daniel’s phone rang, the sound piercing. He answered quickly then mouthed,I have to take this,as he walked away from Endy.

Endy sighed. Her heart was breaking just thinking about telling everyone that these would be the last matches played by the Picklers Youth Pickleball League. But maybe after she handed everything over to the school district, they’d be able to find matching funds or another way to keep any kind of pickleball program going without her and Whisper Hills. It was a long shot, but anything could happen—just like she and Maria always said.

But then there was the dark cloud of Barbara’s formal complaint to the board hanging over Whisper Hills’ own pickleball program. Endy had told Daniel to never underestimate the power of pickleball, but the actuality was that they shouldn’t ever underestimate the power—or fury—of a formidable woman. Barbara Tennyson was so close to getting her husband’s tennis court back, as well as all the other pickleball courts resurfaced into tennis courts.

By the time Endy checked in on all the courts, pairs of players were already moving on to their next match on different courts. Matches were going quickly, so with short breaks in between, teams would get four to five matches each. Around midafternoon, by which time most of the pairs were starting their final matches and everything seemed to be running smoothly, Endy made her way to the registration table.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked. “Everything still okay?”

Maria puffed out air, blowing at the curls drooping over her forehead into her eyes. “It’s still busy, but nothing I can’t handle.” She pulled a multipack box of peanut M&M’S out from under the table.

Endy smiled and grabbed a pouch from the box. “What do the scores look like?”

“All pretty even with most of the teams splitting matches,” replied Maria, looking over the score sheet. “Well, except for, of course, Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vadar.”

Endy screwed up her eyebrows. “What?”

“Potter versus Voldemort … Thor versus Loki …”

“Maria, what are you—”

“Taylor versus Kany—”

“MARIA!” yelled Endy. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

Maria stopped and stared at Endy. She blinked slowly and shook her head. “You don’t have to yell,” she said and handed the score sheet to Endy.

At the top read Joel and Brayden, undefeated with all five of their matches won.

And Sebastian and Paco, undefeated with all five of their matches won.

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