Page 48 of Home Field Advantage
I’ve worked hard for the things I have in life, and I love the path I’ve chosen. I’ve never felt like anything was truly missing. Would I like to have a relationship someday? Yeah. It’s been on my mind more often than not lately. It’s something I’ve been working with my therapist to overcome after my last boyfriend in college broke up with me. Everything I was always afraid of came to light the day he broke up with me. He told me I was too much for him, and that I prioritize my career and routine before him, among other things that I don’t want to let come into my head again.
I spiraled, but therapy saved me.
I can’t help the way my brain functions.
I’ve learned that it doesn’t make me crazy, though, it makes me…me.
But being with someone isn’t the end-all, be-all for happiness, is it?
“Miss Barlow!” I hear just as I open my mouth to reply toNan. Snapping my head toward the small voice, my smile grows. “What are you doing out of school?”
“Hi, Ally.” I laugh. “You know I don’t live there, right?”
Her eyes widen briefly before she breaks into a fit of hysterics. “I knew that. I was testing you.”
“I bet you were, silly goose.”
“Hi, Miss Barlow,” her mom, Mindy, says behind her. “So nice to see you again.”
“Same to you. How are you two today?”
“Fantastic!” Ally shouts. “I gots cinnamon crunchie cereal!”
Her mom shakes her head before looking around us as if she doesn’t want anyone else to hear what she’s about to say. Nan picks up on it, stepping closer and adjusting herself so her ear is close enough to listen to the tea—such a Nan thing to do.
“Have you seen the new guy in town?” She grins, keeping her voice low before waggling her eyebrows. “I just saw him in the cereal aisle and almost forgot what I was there for.” She fans a hand in front of her face. “It should really be illegal for someone to look as good as that man does.”
There’s only one new man in town who fits this description. The thought of running into him after successfully avoiding him since he showed up on my porch makes the hairs on my arm stand tall and my stomach twist. My palms feel clammy on the shopping cart as I tighten my grip, forcing myself to listen to whatever she’s saying.
“I just know he’s not going to be on the market long,” she adds. “And I’m so mad I look like I just rolled out of bed.”
“You did just roll out of bed, Mommy,” Ally chimes in.
“What did I tell you about giving away my secrets?” She chuckles with her daughter.
“That baseball daddy is something else.” Nan laughs, crossing her arms over her chest but keeping her eyes fixed on me. It feels like she’s waiting for a reaction from me.
“Baseball daddy?” Mindy questions.
Nan nods. “Head coach for some fancy major society team in San Francisco.”
“Nan, it’s a MajorLeagueteam. Not society,” I correct her.
“Same thing,” she waves her hand in the air.
“Ohhh,” Mindy coos. “The head coach for a major league team? Wow. Maybe I should return to the cereal aisle to give him my number if he’s still there.” She winks.
My stomach churns again, and my heart rate picks up out of…jealousy? I don’t know, but I feel a protectiveness creep into my pores over the way she’s talking about him. Not that I have a single right to feel this way. I’ve made it clear that he and I are to remain professional, and I know I can’t allow myself to get into a relationship.
Then again, Dallas and Mindy would be ideal for each other.
They’re around the same age and both single parents, so they have a lot in common, right?
“Speak of the devil,” Nan says.
Mindy and I turn our heads to where she’s looking and find Dallas and Sage walking toward us.
“Ally,” Sage shouts before jogging to meet us. “I see you twice in one store!”
