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“Fitting it was with that one.”

“Sheisa Mini-Mason.”

“You say that aboutallyour kids.” Ellie flopped onto the couch beside Vera. Her mama pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her head. “I promise I’ll be better than Mason and won’t make you flicker the lights for five minutes before I stop necking with a girl.”

Both Isla and Vera chuckled at Ellie’s comment.

“Well, at least we know you can’t get pregnant with Sadie.”

“You’re welcome,” Ellie teased as she hugged her mama.

Chapter 30

Sadie

There were few places Sadie felt more at home than inside the batting cage in her backyard. When she was in there, she could turn off the rest of the world and just focus on the feel of the bat in her hands and the ball as it came toward her. With eachpingoff the bat, Sadie felt herself relax more.

Not that she had too much to relax from. The last couple of weeks had been full of fun with Ellie as they settled into a summer routine. They spent most of the day together, either at one of their houses or downtown exploring the shops. When Ellie had to leave for rehearsal, Sadie headed home to the batting cages or to hang out with her parents while she waited for Ellie to get home. Then they would either hang out again or just text until they fell asleep.

Sadie had never been so smitten in her entire life. Love wasn’t something Sadie expected to find for years. Not until she was much older and had an established career. But the old saying of love finds you when you least expect it must be true on some level.

Of course, she and Ellie hadn’t saidI love youout loud yet. Sadie had the cheesy idea of telling Ellie on her birthday. She wanted to get her the perfect present—she still had no clue what that was—and tell her after she opened it. It was cheesy, yes, but Sadie didn’t care. She was just impressed she hadn’t let it slip so far.

“Looking good, kid.” Delaney’s voice outside the batting cage startled Sadie. “Sorry. I was just going to tell you dinner is ready.”

“Oh, okay.” Turning off the machine, Sadie opened the door and stepped out. “I was just practicing.”

“You’ve been practicing a lot lately.”

“Gotta get ready for college ball.”

And keep my mind off kissing Ellie.

Sadie didn’t dare say that thought out loud.

“Oh, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just impressed. But don’t overdo it, okay? Enjoy your summer. You only have a few weeks left.”

“Ugh,” Sadie dramatically groaned as they started to walk up toward the house. “Don’t remind me.”

“Excitement wearing off a little?”

Sadie held her thumb and index finger close together. “Just a little.”

“I thought that might happen. Especially with Ellie entering the picture.”

Her stomach knotted up at the idea of having to say goodbye to Ellie. Even if Sadie knew it wasn’t permanent, it still meant there would be long stretches of time that the only way she would see Ellie was through a phone screen. Sadie tried to shrug it off, but failed.

“Oh, baby girl.” Delaney stopped walking as they reached the back door and pulled Sadie into a hug. “I know it’s hard. But you’re going to do great things at UT. I promise. It’s all going to be worth it and work out for you in the end.”

“I hope so.”

“It will.”

Sadie offered her mom a sad smile as they headed inside. She washed her hands before joining Delaney and Charlie at the table. Their cat, Boyd, had taken up residence in the extra chair, which made Sadie laugh. She’d never had pets growing up, so she loved having Charlie’s as her own now.

The dinner conversation stayed mostly upbeat as they discussed plans for the rest of the summer and Delaney went over the list of things they still needed to buy for Sadie’s dorm.

“Honey, why don’t we go to Portland this weekend? That way we can knock everything out in one trip.”