Page 43 of Home Run Fiancé
Who needs sleep when you have hope to run on?
* * *
The flight out the next morning is early, but I’m beaming, ready to head to Texas and claim my man. My craft project from last night is on underneath my lightweight jacket, but I don’t show the shirt off yet. This baby needs to be unveiled at just the right moment. I text both Charlotte and Asher to let them know where I’m going, then shut off my phone with an evil grin. I know they’ll both be calling me for more details and won’t be able to get ahold of me. This whole trip is turning out to be a ton of fun in more ways than one.
The plane touches down right on time and I nearly bounce in my seat like a little kid waiting for everyone to get off the darn plane. When it’s my turn, I grab my cross body bag from the overhead bin and book it down the gangway and through the airport to the line for taxis. I keep checking my phone, thinking Jake might call or text me to make sure I’m coming, but so far, it’s silent. I have just under thirty minutes to make it to the game before it’s supposed to start.
Leaning over the front seat, I plead my case to the cab driver. “Hey, Arjun, could you maybe pretend we’re in New York? I really need to be at that stadium quick. The entire rest of my life depends on it.”
The driver looks over at me straight-faced, probably seeing my hysterical nervousness and knowing I won’t shut up about it, and then steps on the gas, the sudden acceleration jerking me back into the seat. That’s more like it. I don’t want the game to start and not be there. Jake might see my empty seat and think I didn’t come.
The cab pulls up to the stadium and I throw money at him, enough to cover the ride and a generous tip for getting me here on time. I sprint through all the people trying to get in the stadium, apologizing left and right for hitting them with my overstuffed bag and darting ahead in line. Normally, I’d wait my turn like everyone else, but today is an extraordinary day. Hopefully they’ll forgive me.
After wasting precious moments going through the metal detector, the ticket taker greets me warmly and scans my ticket, directing me to go clockwise inside the stadium to get to my box seat. She pats me on the back and tells me to have a nice day in a thick Texas accent. I’m delighted. Everything’s delightful. I rush off, having to slow down due to the crush of fans milling about, waiting in the concession lines and even more lines for paraphernalia. I’m getting ridiculously hot in my jacket. A bead of sweat drips down the side of my face and the thought of being a sweaty mess when I see Jake again makes me even warmer.
“Girl, you gotta breathe,” I mutter to myself. I pull out of the swarm of people going in the same direction and lean against the wall to just take a second to catch my breathe. I have plenty of time and arriving in a hurried mess isn’t going to make things better. The sounds echoing all around me remind me of the one game I went to in LA. The food smells the same and even though the fans are wearing red instead of Dangers blue, they have the same eager look, like they know they’re about to be highly entertained by world-class athletes.
Once my heart rate returns to some semblance of normal, I merge back into the flow of people and only veer out again when I see the number of my box. As I head down the concrete stairs, I can see the players on the field warming up. My toe catches on the edge of one of the stairs and I nearly tumble, so caught up in trying to spot Jake. I grip the handrail and continue on until I see the box seats near the dugout, just left of home plate.
I turn into the boxed seat section, absentmindedly looking for my seat while continuing to scan the players in red pinstripes. I don’t even know Jake’s new number on this team, and even from this close distance, it’s hard to make out their last names on the back of their uniforms when they’re moving.
“Rhys, honey?”
I do a double take and finally focus on Jake’s mama sitting there watching me, a huge grin on her face.
“Susan!” I guess I should have guessed she’d be here to watch Jake’s first game back in Texas, but I couldn’t seem to think beyond my personal invitation and what that meant for Jake and me.
I lean down and give her a long hug. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. Someone joins our little group and wraps us in an even bigger hug. As soon as I hear his laugh, I know it’s Damon being his silly self. We finally break apart and Susan pulls me down into the chair next to her, Damon taking my heavy bag and settling on the other side of me. I wonder how much Jake has shared with them.
Asher strolls into the box like he has every reason to be there and ruffles my hair while I struggle to know what to say. I had no idea he was even out here in Texas.
“What—what are you doing here?” I stand and give him a hug. He hugs Susan next and shakes Damon’s hand before turning back to me to answer my question.
He shrugs with a smile tugging at his mouth. “Just keeping an eye on my business.”
I narrow my eyes. I don’t know if he means Jake or me. Either way, I can’t ask because I don’t know if Susan and Damon know about our fake relationship, our fight, and our current attempts to make up. You can bet I’ll be talking to Asher later when it’s just us.
“I’m so glad you made it.” Susan beams at me, drawing my attention back to her.
I nod, my smile growing with each moment I’m with this lovely family. “I did. Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
The day proves to be full of surprises and I have a feeling it’s only the beginning.
18
Rhys
The teams run off the field together and I scoot forward in my chair to not miss a single minute. I think I spot Jake and that thick beard of his, but then he’s in the dugout and hidden from my view. The announcer welcomes the fans and the noise level ratchets up as everyone gets ready for the season opener.
The huge screen in the middle of the outfield goes dark for a second and then the announcer introduces Jake for the first time as a Slider. Jake steps out of the dugout to smile and wave to the stands. That smile, so rarely seen, does things to my stomach. My thoughts are interrupted by the big screen looping through a series of photos and video of Jake throughout the years.
A picture of him, much younger and without the beard, starts off the slideshow. He’s wearing a team uniform I don’t recognize. Then it’s a picture of his debut with the Dangers. Five clips of him hitting game-changing home runs. A picture of him and me outside the breakfast diner flashes up there and I’m frozen to my seat. I’ve never seen myself on a jumbotron and it’s an odd experience. Then a picture of him and his mama where she’s in a hospital bed.
Susan squeezes my hand and I squeeze it back. The announcer explains that local boy Jake Kersh is back in Texas to be with his family. Finally, a picture of Jake, in a squeaky-clean Sliders uniform freezes on the screen and the crowd cheers as he’s officially welcomed to the team.
Tears fill my eyes at the ache in my chest, so different than the piercing ache that’s been there since last week. I’m proud of him for successfully executing his plan and moving back to Texas. I know it means everything to him. The announcer moves on to introducing the rest of the team and I blink my eyes to contain my emotions.
A horrible thought hits me while the crowd cheers around me and the local celebrity comes out to pitch the first ball. What if Jake just invited me here to thank me for my part in helping him make the move? What if he wants to apologize but has no intention of continuing our relationship? Did I read too much into the invitation? My heart dives down to my toes.
