Page 15 of Double Play

“Of course I knew that. I’ve seen you walking up and down the aisles.” He followed her through the door into the ice cream shop, which smelled of burnt sugar andchocolate.

“You have? Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on the game, not the aisles?” she teased. “Are you really supposed to thinking about cotton candy andpeanuts?”

“Believe me, that isn’t what I think about when I see you upthere.”

She turned pink, and he felt like doing cartwheels. He’d made her blush. He wanted to eat her up like a strawberry cone. She took his hand and pulled him toward the glass case where all the ice cream flavors were displayed. For so long, he’d been dreaming about how her hand would feel in his. The reality put his fantasies toshame.

“I have to warn you,” she told him. “When it comes to ice cream, I’m very, veryserious.”

“How doyoumean?”

“You’ll see.” She proceeded to approach each flavor, one by one, and analyze how it would taste in combination with every other flavor. She asked for samples, which came on tiny pink spoons, and mixed and matched them in a cup. Finally, the server cut her off at fivesamples.

She grumbled at that. “How am I supposed to make an informed decision? I mean, black cherry next to lemon sorbet could be amazing or it could taste like coughsyrup.”

“We can always come back,” he pointed out. As far as he was concerned, they could return for every combination under the sun. “I would have no problem with that. Think about all the different variables. Nuts, toppings, sprinkles. Cone or waffle. Pecans or walnuts. Fudge syrup or butterscotch. Then we have to try each one with whipped cream on top. Cherry or no cherry. We could come back every day for a year and try a different combination every time. This might even call for an algorithm. Oranapp.”

Her face lit up like a million fireflies. “You’re right. Let’s do that. Let’s come back here every singlenight.”

“As long as I’m not on the road,” he added, because he was literallikethat.

“Right. And until you get called up.” Her smile dimmed, which made him want to dance a jig. Would she miss him if he gotcalledup?

“You probably don’t have to worryaboutthat.”

Normally, that fact might make him glum, but not at the moment. Right now, if Duke called to tell him the Friars wanted him, he’d probably say “I can’t, I’ve gotadate.”

“I never thought I’d get this far in baseball. It’s all icing on the cakeforme.”

The server cleared his throat. “You guys planning on ordering anytime soon? We close in like, two hours, and atthisrate…”

Nina glared at him. “Don’t you know this is a member of the Kilby Catfish? You should be honored to have him inyourshop.”

The server, who was probably in high school, yawned. “Baseball player? That explains everything. Baseball games takeforever.”

Jim laughed good-naturedly, but Nina couldn’t hide her outrage. “Baseball is the best game ever invented, and if you can’t appreciate the nuances of the game, youshould—”

“Cone or cup?” the serverinterrupted.

“Waffle cone, one scoop chocolate mint, one scoop toasted coconut, no sprinkles,” she rattled off. “And a side of ‘who cares what you think about baseballanyway.’”

“Same for me,” Lieberman said, smothering the laughter that threatened to burst out. The server narrowed his eyes at Nina, as if she were some kind of python waiting to strike while he dished out the icecream.

Cones in hand, they claimed a table nestled into the bay window that looked out on the restored redbrick downtown area of Kilby. “You really are tough, aren’t you?” Lieberman marveled as he pulled out her chairforher.

“Only about the things that matter. Baseball, my family, truth, justice and ice cream.” She twinkled at him as shesatdown.

“Good list,” he said approvingly. “I can’t argue with a single one of thosepriorities.”

For a moment, they focused on the frozen deliciousness. Jim loved the fact that they were eating the same flavors. It made the experience that much more mutual. He also loved the ecstatic expression on Nina’s face as she touched her tongue to the icychocolatemint.

“You never answered my question,” he said after they’d eaten half their cones and were nearly comatose from the sugar high. “About your dreams. You listed off all your jobs, but you didn’t really sound excited about them. Did you imagine selling cotton candy to baseball fans asakid?”

“No, I was more about the Cracker Jacks,” shejoked.

He laughed, but refused to get distracted again. “I’m serious. I know you’re still reallyyoung,but—”

Uh oh. Nina’s spine snapped straight and she frowned at him. “I’m barely youngerthanyou.”

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