Page 17 of Double Play

“You worrytoomuch.”

This was so close to his own self-diagnosis that he stared. “Of course I do. It’s a family trait. But how did youknowthat?”

She let out a long-suffering sigh, as if he were a troublesome child she didn’t quite know how to handle. “You’ll have to figure that part out by yourself.” She gathered up her bag, ready to go, but when he started to follow suit she put a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, I’m going to walk homefromhere.”

“I’ll walkwithyou.”

“No, thank you. I grew up in the slums of Detroit and I nearly killed a man when I was twelve,” she saidpleasantly.

He nearly choked on his coconut ice cream. It really was hard to believe that such a petite pixie-like woman could be so fierce. But he’d also heard another side to the story. “Is it true that you sent care packages to him during hisrecovery?”

“Of course I did. I felt so bad about hurting him like that, even though he was threatening my father. I found his address and sent him anonymous gifts, like books and movies and cookies. I’ve been sending him stuff for ten years. Now that he knows who I am, and that all those gifts came from me, he sends ‘thank you’ notes. We’re friends now, in a weird way. He doesn’t threaten people anymore. I think he’s a lothappiernow.”

With a sunny smile, she got to her feet while he gaped at her inwonder.

Only Nina, he thought. Nina was magic, one of a kind. He’d never been so entranced with a woman in his life, and he never would be. And she was about to walk outthedoor.

“Wait.” He scrambled to get to his feet. “Are you coming to our nexthomegame?”

“Do you mean am Iworkingyour next home game? Selling cottoncandy?Yes.”

“No, that’s not what—I wanted to—ugh.” He dug his fingers into his rich brown hair. “We’re going on the road for a week but when we get back, I can get tickets right behind home plate. And maybe I can, I don’t know, dedicate the gametoyou.”

She fixed her big summer-sky eyes on him while he died inside. Nina’s brother was engaged to the team owner’s daughter. She could get tickets to any seat in the stadium. And if she wanted to see a Major League game, Trevor could get her box seats at Friars Stadium. If he wanted to impress Nina, he’d have to do better than tickets to a Catfish game. Why was he so badatthis?

Her words came back to him.You worrytoomuch.

And then Dwight’s words from the hospital.You want Ninaornot?

Yes. He wanted Nina, with her courage and her innocence and her toughness and her big blue eyes. He wanted her so much his heart ached with it. Maybe it was time toshowher.

He stood up a little higher. “Either way, I’ll be playing foryouevery game until I get back. I don’t know exactly when or where, but I’m going to do something amazing. I’m going to dazzle you. Justwatch.”

Finally, she smiled the way he’d always wanted her to smile at him. Like a woman flirting with a man. A woman who wasimpressedwith a man. “Of course I’ll watch.” She added some mischief to her tone. “You know how much I love thoseCatfish.”

She was such a tease. But she sure knew how to make himsmile.

“Can I call you while I’m gone? Maybe we canFaceTime.”

“Sure. I’d like that.” Her radiant smile rocked his world. If he had to, he’d hit ten homers and make twenty double plays a game just to see that smileagain.

7

When the Catfishwere on the road, Nina had lots of extra time on her hands. Sometimes she went to Bullpen Ranch, where she was helping Crush get the grounds cleaned up for the wedding. Often she volunteered at the Kilby Community Library, rebinding books and conducting Story Hour for the kids. Still, it got lonely—but luckily, she now had aroommate.

Maggie was a fantastic roomie in every way except one. Nina found her the tiniest bit intimidating. She was obviously brilliant. She had a graduate degree in statistics and a master’s in computer engineering. Her memory for arcane baseball facts was insanely detailed. She was also several years older than Nina and came from Boston, which in Nina’s mind translated to sophisticated andbrainy.

But the more she got to know Maggie, the more she realized they had certain essential things in common. They had both been largely homeschooled, for one thing, although Nina had attended the last year of high school in Tucson. They were both skimpy on experience with dating. They were both trying to establish their independence from their families (Maggie from her parents and Nina from Trevor). And they both lovedbaseball.

How many roommates would be excited about watching the San Diego Friars game on TV on a Saturday night? Nina had no idea, really, but she guessed not too many. But Maggie jumped attheidea.

“It’s Dwight’s debut, of course we have towatch.”

“Wow, it sounds like you two really hit it off lastnight.”

Maggie blushed, red tinting her creamy skin. Maggie had a unique look that Nina envied. With her curly dark hair and tip-tilted eyes, she looked like a surprised, sleepy-eyed cat. But when she really got excited about something, her eyes would sparkle deep green instead of black, and her entire face would animate withpassion.

“He’s nice,” Maggie said in a dreamy way that Nina recognized all too well. “He taught me how to hit a baseball. And he—” She broke off as someone rang the doorbell. They were expecting a pizza delivery, but to Nina’s mind, finishing that very interesting sentence ought to comefirst.

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