But Lieberman was shaking his head in a gesture more terrified than shy. “What aboutTrevor?”
Ohhhh, right. Dwight had momentarily forgotten about Trevor. Trevor Stark was fiercely overprotective of his little sister. Not only that, but he was engaged to the daughter of the Catfish team owner. That probably made him even more intimidating toLieberman.
“He might beat your ass, that’s true. Do you want Ninaornot?”
Lieberman brushed a coppery strand of fake hair away from his face and stared at Dwight. “Why are you helping me, even though it means crossing Trevor? What’s in itforyou?”
Sometimes Dwight forgot that Lieberman had most of a neuroscience degree and was pretty damn sharp. “I want to talk to that Maggie chick. I can’t just walk up to her. I’m a big black dude in an Elsa wig. You’re my way in,brother.”
Lieberman blinked at Dwight a few times, then laughed. “I see what you’re up to. It’s her computer program. You want to getcalledup.”
“Damn right.” Even in princess garb, when it came to the topic of call-ups Dwight got real serious, real fast. “I’ve been in the Minor League for three years. I got places to go, man. I can’t hang around with the tumbleweedsforever.”
“Forget it. Not even the most popular player in Kilby can charm a computerprogram.”
Dwight flashed his most dynamic smile and put up a fist for a bump. “Want to watch me? You’ll get a date with Nina outofit.”
Slowly, Lieberman lifted his hand and they bumpedfists. “Deal.”
2
Maggie Blythe kept blinkingat the spot where moments ago two giant princesses had stood. She hadn’t hallucinated that, right? She had an extremely active imagination, butstill.
“Did you see that?” Nina whispered. “I can’t believe they just turned aroundandran!”
“Runaway princesses? Maybe they’reincognito.”
Nina did a double-take, but Maggie kept her expressiondeadpan.
“You do know those are guys? Not only guys but ballplayers, and actually famous members of the KilbyCatfish.”
“I can definitely see they’re famous. My gosh, they were in amovie!”
Nina laughed. In the few days that they’d been roommates, she’d quickly gotten the hang of Maggie’s dry sense ofhumor.
Crush Taylor, Maggie’s current boss, had proposed the arrangement, and so far, it was working out great. Taking a step away from the academic world of graduate school was daunting enough, but stepping into the rough-and-tumble world of baseball? That was even more overwhelming. At least she had a female friend to help heradjust.
Nina’s smile dropped. “All joking aside, one of those guys was Jim Lieberman, the one Imentioned.”
“Mentioned?” Nina had “mentioned” Lieberman at least fifty times since Maggie had met her. But Maggie didn’t want to embarrass her. “You mean the cute shortstop with the great smile? The one they callBieberman?”
“Yes, but honestly, he looks nothing like Justin Bieber, he’s much more mature. And he’s brilliant. He dropped out of a neurology degree to play baseball. How sexyisthat?”
Maggie smiled at her with real affection. Nina had to be the most endearing person she’d ever met. “I guess youlikehim.”
Nina’s smile disappeared. “Yes, of course I do, but not if he’s going torunat the sightofme.”
The nurse who had taken Maggie’s information reappeared with a clipboard. “I think we’re all set now, Ms. Blythe. Just a few things for youtosign.”
Maggie took the clipboard and leafed through to the HPAA release and other pages that required her signature. She was here today because it was a condition of her taking the job here in Kilby. She’d been stunned when the San Diego Friars had contacted her after one of their executives stumbled across her MIT thesis project, which had the catchy title, “Statistical Projections Regarding Outcome of Player Advancement in Major LeagueBaseball.”
The Friars offered her the chance to test her computer model on their farm teams while working under Crush Taylor, a baseball legend and the owner of their Triple-A team, theCatfish.
Her parents were totally opposed to the idea—how could they monitor her health from two thousand miles away? She’d been born with a congenital heart defect, which meant a childhood filled with hospitals, homeschooling, medications, constant checkups and chronically worriedparents.
She loved her parents, but she was ready to experience life on her own. So she’d made a deal with them. She promised to make sure the local hospital and the cardiologist, Dr. Hill, had her medical history in case of an emergency. It was a small pricetopay.
As she finished signing the intake form, she thought about the two baseball players in their ridiculous princess dresses. Her eye had actually been drawn to the taller, bigger, more swaggering of the two. The African-American with the most magnetic smile she’d ever seen. The one who was waving and chatting with everyone, who seemed not one bit uncomfortable with his ridiculousoutfit.