Page 133 of Home Field Advantage
I watch as Poppy throws her head back and laughs loudly with her sister and best friend, feeling deep in my chest that Griffin is right. Baseball may have been my life for as long as I can remember, but I’m older now—different. I’ve been so in my head about keeping the consistency of what I’ve always known, the one thing that’s never let me down. When I stop to think about it, there are so many other things in my life that have never let me down.
Maybe the next journey I’m supposed to be on is here, in Bluestone Lakes.
“Think about it,” Griffin adds with one more squeeze of my shoulder before releasing his hand. “Let’s have some fun tonight.”
I nod and follow him to where everyone stands in the dugout.
“You guys ready to play some baseball, or what?” Sage shouts.
We all snap our heads to where she stands in the outfield, arms out in the air with an impatient look on her face. It takes us a minute to notice if she’s joking or not, and when her hand covers her face and she starts giggling, we do too.
And it hits me all over again.
I have no idea how I can leave this town.
“That’s so out!” Nan shouts. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is bull.”
“His foot touched the base before the ball reached his glove. What don’t you get about that?” Griffin argues.
“What he said,” Tucker adds. “I’m like lightning. You can’t get me out even if you tried.”
“Ugh. I hate this game.” Nan rolls her eyes.
Griffin does the same and turns to face me. “She’s very competitive.”
“So I’ve learned.” I chuckle.
“This is the most fun I think I’ve ever had in my life,” Poppy says as she jogs up to where we stand, hair pulled back in a ponytail, and wipes some dirt from her forehead. “Who knew baseball was this fun?”
Tucker, Griffin, Lily, Sage, and I all raise our hands, which forces her to giggle.
“It would be more fun if we won,” Nan adds flatly, but then smiles and raises her hand. “But yeah, I knew baseball was this fun from the first night we all got together here for this.” She turns to face me, smacking a hand lightly on my arm. “Thanks for coming into town and introducing us to this. It’s keeping me younger than I already am.”
I nod.
“Daddy, can we have cotton candy ice cream tonight when we get home?” Sage asks, joining us where we stand as she takes her glove off. “I think since I was on the winning team, we can have some.”
“You ate the last of it a few nights ago, bug.” I laugh, tugging playfully at the brim of her San Francisco Staghorns baseball cap. “And it’s getting late. The General Store closed five minutes ago.”
“I have some at my house,” Poppy says.
“You have ice cream?” Sage asks, shocked as if other people don’t ever have ice cream at their house. “What flavor?”
“Cotton candy. Someone told me it was the best flavor, so I bought some to keep on hand.” Poppy shrugs.
My lips part, and my heart skips a beat. There’s no way she bought some just for herself, right? No. She keeps it stocked forSage. The realization makes me lose my breath, and I’m unable to find words to reply.
“Daddy? Can we go to her house for some?”
I nod, answering Sage, but my eyes are fixed on Poppy.
“Yes! Now I can see your puzzle set up too!” Sage beams, settling herself next to Poppy with one arm around her waist. Poppy does the same, resting an arm around her shoulder. “Ice cream and puzzles after playing baseball? Wow. This might be the funnest night of my life.”
Poppy giggles at my daughter.
“Well,” Lily says, grinning from ear to ear. “We’regoing to head out. You three have fun.” She wiggles her fingers in the air to say goodbye, and Poppy glares at her. “But not too much fun.”
“Impossible,” Sage emphasizes. “We’re gonna have too much fun.”
