Page 87 of Spotlight
Grandpa joins us as Flynn is striking out the second batter. Gigi is working the store today and, honestly, I think she’s grateful to have an excuse to sit this one out. She has sat through a lot of baseball games during their forty plus years together, so I think that’s fair.
“No facility emergencies today?” I ask, smiling at him and then glancing back at Flynn. He’s going through his whole routine, kicking the dirt, rolling the ball in his hand, staring down the batter and shaking off signs from JT.
“If there are, they’ll have to wait until after the game.” Grandpa leans back in his seat and adjusts the old Mustangs hat on his head. He’s been wearing the same one for as long as I can remember. The team made it to the division playoffs that year. I remember Ruby bought him a new hat one year because his was looking old and worn. He thanked her, then hung it up on a hook in his and Gigi’s mudroom, where it still hangs today.
No one has bought him a new one since, and eventually I realized that the hat was a symbol for him. The Mustangs didn’t win that year, but it was one of those years that gave my grandpa, and so many other hardcore fans, hope that we might get back there again.
“Yeah, right,” Ruby says from the other side of me. We both know he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the game if he thought something needed his attention. He takes such pride in the stadium. It isn’t as big or fancy as others, but it’s clean and well-maintained.
We watch the first inning without talking much. It’s easy to get wrapped up in watching Flynn, or at least it is for me.
When the Mustangs get the third out and Flynn starts for the dugout, I let out a breath. I’m clapping and staring hard at him for any sign of how he’s feeling when Grandpa nudges me.
“Your grandmother said Flynn stopped by the bookstore this week.”
I’d been waiting for someone to spill my secret.
My face flushes. “Yeah, he did. He’s reading through Ruby’s entire backlist.”
Grandpa grins. “Oh yeah? I didn’t picture him as a romance reader.”
“I have a small, but loyal male fanbase,” Ruby says.
His smile smooths out into a more solemn expression. “Is it serious? Should I give him the talk?”
“Oh my gosh. No.” Just the thought makes my face flame hotter. “We’ve only hung out a few times.”
My traitorous sister speaks up again. “He texts her every day, little notes like what you do for Gigi.”
“He saw the wall in the office,” I add.
“The kid is stealing my moves.” Grandpa shakes his head, but his smile brightens. “You like him?”
“Yeah. He’s great.” I’m sweating in my seat. I swear I feel like a teenager whose parents found out she had a crush. “And as you can see, he’s already won over Greer.”
She’s wearing a shirt that he gave her with his name and number on the back.
“Hotshot took us to get pizza last night. He ate half the pizzaby himself.” Greer says the last part with complete awe in her voice.
“Hotshot, huh?”
Greer nods rapidly. “I made him a bracelet.”
She holds up a pink beaded bracelet. I helped her spell out his name and she used an I and B for his number, eighteen.
“That’s real nice,” he tells her, then turns his attention back to me. “You know, about a month ago before he threw that no-hitter, he told me he needed to impress a girl that was in the crowd watching.”
I blush. “He did?”
He nods. “If I had known that girl was you, I would have messed with him a bit.”
“Does he know?” I ask him.
“That you’re my granddaughter?” He shakes his head. “Not unless you’ve told him.”
“No. I wanted to tell you first.”
It isn’t that I was worried Grandpa wouldn’t like me dating a baseball player, but I did think there was a possibility he might have an opinion on Flynn. And I guess I didn’t want anyone else’s opinion to change mine.
