Page 87 of Home Sweet Home

As Evie scanned the crowds, she was glad she’d had the forethought to show up early. They’d set up Della’s card table on a well-trafficked footpath between the concession stand and the restrooms. Well,theyhadn’t exactly set up the table. Remembering her embarrassing struggle last time, she’d made West do it, and she’d almost regretted it because as he unhinged the legs with one tiny movement of his muscles, he’d winked at her.

Every inch of the bleachers was filled. People were even sitting on the ends, one butt cheek hanging off the side. The grass outside the field was covered in lawn chairs and people sipping beers, sunglasses on their foreheads. The parking lot was full, and lines of cars were double-parked on the street all the way to the Marathon. Everyone in Creek Water and Bend had showed up for the game.

The day had been a baking marathon, and Evie was beyond exhausted. Muscles she didn’t know she had, let alone could use for baking, ached. Her fingers were sore from hours spent pinching a piping bag. She had a three-inch burn on her arm from where she’d touched the oven while pulling out a tray of cupcakes. She had loved every moment.

West’s Jeep had come in handy. It was big enough to carry the boxes and boxes of cupcakes she’d packed and stacked.

“If you take this turn too hard, I will actually kill you,” Evie had said from the passenger seat as he’d driven them to the field. He’d grinned at her, but he’d taken the turn slowly, careful not to jostle the perfectly frosted cupcakes in the back.

Once the table was set up, West made his way to the dugout while Evie arranged the cupcakes into neat lines. Then she had nothing to do but wait and see if people would buy them.

“These look yummy,” a woman said. Three kids stood behind her, one of them clinging to her arm and sucking his thumb, his eyes fixed on Evie. “We’ll take four.”

“Twelve dollars,” Evie said, packaging them up and giving the lady her change. As they walked away, the kid plunged a finger into the frosting, and when he licked it, his eyes widened before he went back for more.

The boys threw balls back and forth in the outfield. The Bend team was using the infield to warm up, and the pitcher was at the mound practicing his throw. His pitches were still monstrous, so fast that Evie couldn’t even see them. She only knew they existed when she heard them whiz through the air and land in the catcher’s mitt with a loud thwack.

“Can you watch the table?” Evie asked Kayla.

“Sure thing,” Kayla said as she handed cupcakes to an elderly couple.

As Evie walked to the outfield, she watched how well the boys worked together, so different from the first practice, when half of them hadn’t played before. It was like a machine, one she’d helped oil.

Then her breath caught in her throat as she saw Oliver and Josh throwing balls back and forth. Josh was smiling—no, laughing—and Oliver was too. Josh saw her looking and wiped the smile from his face so fast. Still, Evie grinned triumphantly because it was too late. She’d already seen it.

Evie came up next to West and tilted her head to the side as she looked out over the field. Her eyes narrowed in on Freddy, who was wearing a purple T-shirt instead of his orange jersey. “Where’s Freddy’s uniform?”

West shrugged. “Oliver can’t find his cleats either.”

Evie looked back to where Josh and Oliver were throwing balls, and sure enough, Oliver was wearing sneakers. Evie glanced toward the dugout, where the bench was completely empty except for the boys’ stuff scattered around. “Where’s the water cooler?”

“Huh. That’s weird.” West looked to the left then the right, as if it would magically appear. “Wasn’t in the equipment shed.”

“They need to tuck in their shirts,” Evie said, giving West a long look. “I miss one practice, and everything falls apart.”

“What can I say?” West pulled her to him. “We’re lost without you.”

* * *

Oliver’s cleats—Eviehad found a spare pair underneath a volleyball net in the equipment shed—dug into the dirt with each step toward home plate. It was the bottom of the ninth. Creek Water was at bat, and they were down two runs.

Bend had been just as formidable as they had in the first game. Their pitcher’s fastballs cut through the air like bullets. Their batters hit Freddy’s pitches like they were what they’d ordered for dinner and he was hand delivering it to them. The boys had been working hard, but they were exhausted. Each time they walked onto the field or came into the dugout, their feet dragged a bit more, their shoulders hunched deeper.

The Cougars had two outs. The bases were loaded. They’d hit a few line drives and one pop fly to left field that had miraculously been uncaught, but none of the hits had netted them a run so far, and Oliver was up to bat.

All the boys were at the fence, their fingers gripping the chain-link, faces pressed up against the metal like they couldn’t get close enough. Evie scanned the crowd for Robert Martin, but she couldn’t find him. She was grateful he’d either decided to stay home or leave his son alone for a change.

Josh stood next to Evie. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “You got this, Oliver!”

Oliver stood at the plate and took a breath so deep, Evie could see it, his stomach pushing up against his jersey as he inhaled. He bent his knees and held his bat at an angle, the same way West had taught her.

The pitcher wound up and threw.

There was the sound of metal hitting leather.

Everything was quiet. Oliver froze in place, and hundreds of pairs of eyes searched for the ball. Then the crowd erupted, and West screamed, “Run!”

Evie screamed it, too, and Oliver threw the bat and moved as fast as his legs would take him. The right outfielder ran back, back, back to get the ball, so far back that from where Evie stood, he was just a speck. One boy crossed home plate, then two. Then a third boy slid across, kicking up dust. And just as the outfielder made it close enough to throw the ball toward the pitcher, Oliver crossed home plate, panting and wheezing. Beads of sweat peppered his skin, and he’d lost his helmet at some point during his run. He was definitely safe, though.

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