“I second that motion,” Ann said.
“All in favor?” Gerald asked, and he was met with a round of ayes. “Then I guess I don’t need to ask if anyone’s opposed.”
Everyone began to scoot their chairs from the table.
“Justin, go fire up the grill while I get the burgers seasoned,” Gerald said.
His son gave a crisp salute. “Yes, sir!”
“Marcy and I will help you,” Chelsea said and Justin grinned.
“What can I do to help, Ann?” Charmain asked.
“I could use a hand slicing the tomatoes and onions,” she replied.
While everyone shuffled off in different directions, Danni and Darren remained seated at the dining room table.
Danni turned to face him. “What are you thinking about?”
“I can’t believe this is really going to happen,” he replied.
“Are you happy?”
“Yeah, but I’m kind of scared too. What if I get the thing and I hate it?”
“It might take you a little while to learn how to use it, but you can do it,” Danni assured him.
“What makes you so sure?”
“You can do anything.”
“We can do anything,” Darren said, leaning in close to her.
As he brought his lips to hers, Danni thought about everything they had been through and all the things that stretched ahead of them. It all seemed somewhat unbelievable. Then again, it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of getting Darren Jacobs to notice her seemed impossible.
Darren was right. As long as they were in it together, anything was possible.
Epilogue
“Oh my God, who is that? Please tell me he’s single.”
Danni laughed, not only at the lusty way Paige spoke but also because the object of her lust was Danni’s future brother-in-law. At just twenty-seven years old, Justin Jacobs was a blond, blue eyed, well muscled god on earth who was still turning female heads.
Catching sight of them watching his approach, Justin raised his hand and waved.
Paige let out a noise that was a cross between a squeal and a sigh. “I think he just waved at me, at least I hope it was me. It wouldn’t be fair if it was you since you’ve already got a honey of a boyfriend.”
Danni laughed even harder. Paige’s way with words reminded Danni of her best friend Chelsea. It was too bad Chelsea hadn’t been able to make it to Darren’s debut, but she had a good reason for missing the game. She and Marcy both did. While they’d gone off to colleges in different states, Danni stayed behind to go to community college with Darren. By this time next year, they’d be at state college, both having already applied and been accepted.
Even though her friends thought she was crazy, Danni never regretted passing on an out of state college to stay with Darren. It wasn’t just her friends who tried to encourage her to attend a four year university, her mom did too. They all said the same thing. If her relationship with Darren was meant to be, it would stand the separation. Danni didn’t doubt that it would, not after all they’d been through. That wasn’t the point. Just because they could survive the separation didn’t mean she wanted to, especially not when it might have meant missing this. After spending the last year seeing only relief time, Darren was going to make his first start as catcher, a small miracle considering the coach didn’t even want to give him a place on the team when he tried out last year.
The only reason he even made the team last year was because he begged and pleaded and promised he wouldn’t sue the school or the coach if he got injured during a game. Despite making the team, and despite his natural ability still being intact even with one arm, it still hadn’t been enough to earn him a starting spot. Darren had to prove himself last season.
“I think he’s coming this way,” Paige hissed.
Paige reached out to grab Danni’s arm. The closer Justin drew, the harder Paige clutched. When he came to a stop in front of them, Danni winced at the way Paige’s nails dug into her skin.
“Hey, babe.” Justin leaned down to give Danni a kiss on her cheek.
“Hey,” Danni echoed, smiling up at him.
Paige’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Does Darren know about him?”
Justin laughed. “Yeah, he knows.”
“Darren was the one who introduced us,” Danni played along.
Paige grimaced. “That’s awful.”
Danni finally giggled. “Paige, it’s okay. This is Darren’s brother, Justin.”
A blush crept into Paige’s cheeks. “Oh, wow, I feel totally stupid.”
“No need,” Justin assured her and extended his hand. “And you are?”
When Paige let go of Danni’s arm to shake Justin’s hand, Danni rubbed at the angry red fingernail marks her friend left on her arm.
Paige’s blush deepened. “Oh, I’m, um Paige.”
“Nice to meet you, um Paige,” Justin said, winking at her.
“Did you come with Mom and Dad?” Danni interjected.
“Nope, brought my own car,” Justin answered. “Your mom’s picking up my parents, and my mom’s all excited about riding in your mom’s Mercedes.”
“Which I don’t get at all considering how many shopping trips they’ve made in that thing.”
Though she rolled her eyes when she spoke, Danni was grateful for how well their mothers got along. More than once, her mother told her how glad she was her mom hadn’t lived long enough to meet her mother-in-law since the two would’ve probably killed each other.
“There they are,” Danni said when she spotted the trio walking toward them.
Danni couldn’t keep from smiling at the way her mom and Darren’s mom walked with their arms linked. It was the way she and Paige sometimes walked across the vast city college campus.
“Looks like the gang’s all here,” Ann said as they joined the already waiting group.
After introducing Paige to their families, Danni led the way to the ticket window.
“Wait, Danni, I’m going to pay,” Gerald announced.
“You don’t have to do that,” Danni protested, though she knew it was useless.
“Yes, he does,” Ann insisted. “We want to make sure we all get seats together, seats in the front row.”
Gerald smiled at her. “I’m on it, dear.”
Danni and Justin traded grins as Gerald moved in front of Danni to purchase all of their tickets. Tickets in hand, their group passed through the gates and paused to submit to having a police officer pass the metal detecting wand over them.
With Ann and Charmain at the head of the pack, they tromped down the aisle and headed straight for the front row. Their group took the first six seats in their row, and Danni didn’t miss the way Paige took advantage of the opportunity to seat Justin between the two of them.
Yep, she’s just like Chelsea, Danni thought and smirked at Justin.
“I don’t see Darren,” Ann said.
“We’re a little bit early, Mom,” Justin pointed out. “The players will probably be out for warm ups in a few minutes.”
“In that case, maybe we should get our snacks and sodas now,” Ann suggested.
Gerald laughed. “Don’t you mean I should get our snacks and sodas?”
Ann gave him a sweet smile. “What a lovely suggestion!”
Everyone laughed as Gerald got to his feet.
“All right, who wants what?” Gerald asked and was bombarded with requests.
“Maybe I better go with you, Dad,” Justin said.
“Yeah, maybe you better,” Gerald agreed. “I could use some helping paying for, I mean carrying, all of this.”
Danni stood up to let Gerald and Justin out. In Justin’s absence, Paige moved to the empty seat next to Danni.
“Oh my God,” Paige cried. “Why didn’t you tell me Darren had a hot brother? Christ, he’s not gay is he?”
Danni giggled. “No, he’s not gay, and yes, he’s single, and no, I have no idea why, and yes, I’m sure Darren won?
??t mind if you throw yourself at his brother.”
Paige’s eyes twinkled. “Good, then tell me everything you know about him before he gets back.”
Ann suddenly let out an excited squeal that drowned out Danni’s plan to reply. Pride welled up in Danni’s chest as the team took the field. Her eyes found Darren’s at the same time he found hers, and he offered her a grin and a wave before he shoved the catcher’s mask over his face.
Danni’s pride became awe as she watched Darren warming up the pitcher. Even though it’d been two years since he’d gotten his prosthetic arm, she still marveled at how adept he was at using it. From a distance, she couldn’t even tell a difference between the two arms.
As proud as she was of him, she was also a bit nervous. Darren was going to be under a microscope today. One mistake was all it would take for the coach to have an excuse to bench him.
Justin and Gerald returned with their arms loaded down with everything from sodas and peanuts to popcorn and hot dogs. While the team took its turn warming up, their group dove into the hot dogs and sodas but left the peanuts and popcorn for later.
By the time they’d polished off the first of their ball game treats, the stadium was starting to fill up. Either Danni was imagining things or today there seemed to be a bit more people than usual. Unlike regular college games, the community college games didn’t net too many spectators. Most were confined to the players’ friends and girlfriends and family members.
Their section was almost full when the announcer called for them to remove their caps and rise for The National Anthem. Instead of looking at the flag, Danni kept her eyes on Darren as he stood holding his catcher’s mask over his heart. At the conclusion of the song, the fans took their seats while the players ran for their positions. Being that it was a home game the other team was up first, which meant Darren was going to be behind the plate for the first half of the inning.
Danni held her breath as he flashed the first sign to the pitcher. The pitcher reared back and threw the ball into Darren’s waiting glove. It wasn’t until Darren caught it and sailed it back with ease that Danni exhaled.
They struck out the first batter, but the second batter managed to get on first base. When the pitcher released the first pitch to the third batter, the runner on first base suddenly took off. The roar of the crowd was deafening as Darren shot to his feet and zinged the ball to the second baseman. It didn’t do any good for the runner to slide into the base. Darren’s throw had him beat well before the second baseman applied the tag.
“Did you see that play? That catcher’s got an amazing arm!”
The jubilant observation from someone seated behind them brought tears to Danni’s eyes. It wasn’t ‘That one-armed catcher is amazing’.
A stupid mistake at the age of seventeen almost cost Darren this chance. Now, as she watched Darren do the one thing no one ever thought he’d do again, she was reminded of something he said to her the night his parents told him they’d found a way to give him the prosthetic arm that would give him this chance.
‘We can do anything.’
When he’d spoken those words, she could remember thinking maybe they could do anything. Now she knew better. There was no maybe about it. They really could do anything.
About the Author
Trish Edmisten is the author of several novels, including Extraordinary Will, a Reader Views Literary Award Winner. Her work has appeared in Writer’s Journal, Creative With Words and A Long Story Short. Besides being an author, she holds a degree in criminology. Trish lives in Fresno, California with her husband and their two daughters. To learn more about Trish, visit her website www.trishedmisten.com. You can also follow her on Twitter, @trishthewriter and be sure you follow her blog
[email protected] Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends