Page 10

CHAPTER TEN

Christy

We all cheer as the national anthem finishes when an older gentleman—dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt, and suspenders wrapped around his round belly—comes walking through the door.

“Grandpa,” Liam and Tyler both say, running into the arms of the man.

Samantha and Mike both stand to greet him, so I do the same, motioning for Nolan to join me.

We stand in waiting as everyone says their hellos.

“Dad,” Samantha says, turning to me, “this is Christy, who I told you about, and her son, Nolan.”

I hold my hand out to shake his, and he takes it in a firm grip.

“Nice to meet you,” I say.

“You as well. I’m John, but everyone just calls me Grandpa.”

He lets go of my hand and holds it up to Nolan, lifting it a little higher than Nolan’s height so he has to jump to high-five him. Nolan is excited at the chance to show he can do it and cheers when he does.

“Good job, little man.”

They discuss his drive, the parking situation, and the stadium while I sit here in awe that I’m getting to know Evan’s family before truly even getting to know him. I would assume most guys wouldn’t want to introduce you to his family, yet Evan hooked me up to sit with his family for the entire game without him even here.

The announcer comes over the loudspeaker, welcoming everyone to the Terrors stadium before they start calling out the players one at a time.

“Leading off and playing center field, please welcome number seventeen, Jake Reynolds!”

Everyone cheers, and we all walk to the balcony to wait for them to call Evan’s name.

“Batting second and playing shortstop, please welcome number twenty-three, Gunnar McNeer!”

Everyone claps again as Gunnar runs from the dugout to the third baseline, where they are all lining up.

“Batting third and playing left field, for the first time on the Terrors lineup, wearing number nineteen, please welcome Evan Parker!”

We all scream, jumping up and down as Evan runs to the field to join his teammates. To our surprise, once he’s in line, he turns to face us and gives us all an air kiss and a wave hello.

Liam and Tyler blow the air kiss back as Samantha grabs her dad’s arm, bringing it to her like a proud mom would. Even though she’s his sister, it’s evident she fills that mother role just by the tears that she keeps wiping away.

He continues through the lineup with Damien “Diesel” Donovan, who’s batting fourth and playing first; Lucas Hamilton, DHing; Chase Thorne, hitting sixth and playing third; Kelton James, playing right; Cassidy “Tripp” Nash, the catcher —whose birthday is today; and holding up the end of the line is Eric Wiseman, batting ninth and playing second base.

“And your starting pitcher is Max Murphy!” he finishes with a grand-finale tone to his voice.

Everyone cheers again for the new season to finally begin.

Once the game actually starts, I sit back, put my feet up on the chair in front of me, and relax. Knowing Nolan is locked in this room and has two other little boys to entertain him is like a dream come true. It’s rare that I get moments like this, and I plan on enjoying every bit of it.

Samantha joins me with a friendly grin. “Aren’t these suites nice?”

“Amazing. I’ve never been in one,” I respond.

“They offered us seats or a suite alone for his first game only, so unfortunately, we don’t get it every time we’re here, but it was a nice gesture. I jumped on the opportunity of a suite, so I wouldn’t have to worry about the boys,” she says with a knowing grin.

“Right?” I respond. “I was just thinking about how relaxing this is, knowing he can’t go anywhere.”

“I’m going to get some drinks. Want anything?” Mike asks, pointing at me.

I look at Samantha to see if she’s getting anything.

She nudges me. “He already knows to get me a beer. Lord knows if I get a chance to relax, I’m taking full advantage. The game will be close to two hours, and then you know we’ll stay to talk to Evan. Treat yourself.”

I grin. “Yeah, I’ll take a beer too.”

“Two beers coming up!” Mike responds.

John stands to join him. “I’ll come help.”

The two leave, and Samantha cuddles up closer to me. “Good. We can have some girl talk.”

I giggle at how she’s acting.

“Tell me about you and Evan,” she says in a playful tone.

“Oh jeez.” I pause. “We just met.”

“But yet you’re here, with us, so it must have gone well.”

I inhale a breath as I think. “We had a good day together.”

“Just a good day? Nothing else?”

I laugh out loud. “What else is there to tell? We went shopping together.”

“Did he kiss you?”

I feel my face flush, and she cheers in response.

“He did!”

I cover my face with my hands, embarrassed to be having this conversation with his sister.

“So, was it just a small kiss goodbye or something else?”

I move my hands just enough to peek in her direction, and she jumps on me in excitement.

“You guys didn’t!” she exclaims as a statement, not a question.

“Oh, no!” I wave my hands back and forth. “No, he just kissed me.” I pause with a blissful sigh. “It was just really good.”

She wraps her arms around me in a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

“We’re nothing yet, so don’t get too ahead of things.” I try to calm the situation down, mainly so I don’t get my own hopes up.

“Yeah, but you’re here. That means something.”

I close my eyes, then let out a breath. When I open them, she’s smiling from ear to ear.

“He’s going to be up soon!” Tyler yells to get our attention, thankfully getting the topic off me kissing her brother.

We both stand and join the boys, who are leaning against the railing.

Jake, the leadoff batter, gets a single, hitting the ball just over the head of the shortstop. Gunnar is up next and hits the ball to the right fielder, who is able to make the throw to first base to get the out, but in the process, it moves Jake to second base.

I watch in awe as Evan steps up to bat in his black pinstripe uniform with Parker written above the number nineteen on his back. Samantha grabs my hand in anticipation as she places the other one on her chest.

“Go, Uncky!” Liam yells.

Almost like he can hear him, he turns toward us at that moment, gives us a nod, and goes back to taking his position in the box.

“He heard me!” Liam jumps up and down.

Samantha winks at me, knowing there’s no way he did, but loving that it made her son so happy.

Before he steps up to the plate, he pauses with his feet lined up on the outside of the batter’s box, places his bat in the middle of the box, takes a deep breath, then steps in, and readies himself for the pitch.

He takes the first pitch, which ends up being a strike, and my heart drops. Before I know it, I’m squeezing Samantha’s hand back as the second pitch is thrown. He flinches but holds back, and the umpire calls, “Ball.”

The air escapes my lungs as I breathe a sigh of relief.

Evan steps out of the box again, adjusts his gloves, then walks through the exact process he did before he stepped back in the box the last two pitches.

“Does he do that every pitch?” I ask just as Mike and John come racing back with our beers.

“We almost missed it!” Mike says, handing the beers to Samantha.

Samantha laughs as she grabs one and hands it to me before answering my question. “Every pitch. He’s always had a little routine before he hits. The moms on his other teams used to narrate it as if they were commentators.” She watches him take another ball, then turns to face me and acts out dramatically, seemingly like the moms used to. “He steps in with one foot. He bites his glove. He lifts his pant leg first, then brings the other leg into the box.”

“Seriously?” I laugh.

“Yep. He’s cut it down over the years to what you see now, but he always does something before every pitch.”

I watch as he goes through his routine one more time. Once he’s ready, the pitcher winds up and throws a fastball right down the middle, and Evan swings on it, smacking it to the fence in left field.

We all scream at the top of our lungs, jumping up and down as he rounds first and heads toward second. Jake rounds third and sprints home as the ball is thrown to second, trying to get Evan out, but he slides under the tag.

The umpire holds his hands out straight to the sides and yells, “Safe!”

We cheer some more, and Nolan jumps into my arms in celebration.

“Did you see? Did you see? He hit a double!”

I lift him up. “I did!”

Evan stands up, brushing off his pants from sliding, and does a little celebration on base before getting himself situated for the next person at bat. When he steps off the base with his legs open wide, bending down low with his right arm swinging slightly from side to side as it hangs between his legs, Nolan wiggles himself out of my hold.

“Oh, let’s see if he can steal a base too!” he says, joining Tyler and Liam back where they’ve been standing to watch the game.

The next pitch, Diesel gets a hit, moving Evan to third, but, unfortunately, Eric flies out to right field to end the inning.

Samantha and I sit back down. We continue watching the game while enjoying our beer.

A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the door, and a female with a camera crew enters the suite.

“Hi. Is this Evan Parker’s family?” a woman with long, wavy black hair and red glasses, looking very professional in a formfitting skirt, asks.

John is the first to greet the newcomers with his hand outstretched. “Hello. I’m John Parker.”

“Hi. I’m India Baker. I’m the reporter for The Den . We were hoping we could get some video feed of you guys talking about the game and Evan’s first big-league hit,” she says.

John looks at everyone to gauge their interest, then smiles and says, “Sure. Where do you want us?”

She walks through the suite to head out to where we are all sitting. “We want it to seem as natural as possible, so please go back to what you were doing, and I’ll come join you.”

Nerves wash over me as I sit here, hoping she doesn’t talk to me. This is the interview for his family, and I haven’t even known him but a few days.

“Okay, so first, let me get straight who everyone is,” she says with an awkward chuckle.

Samantha speaks up first, standing to shake her hand. “I’m Samantha, his sister. You’ve met our father.” She then holds her hand out to Mike. “This is my husband, Mike, and our two boys, Tyler and Liam.”

“And you are?” She points at me.

I wave my hands in front of my face. “I’m just a friend, and that’s my son, Nolan. You don’t want to talk to us.”

Samantha raises one eyebrow and whispers in my direction, “Just a friend?” as she walks back to her seat, making me blush some more.

Mike is standing with the boys, so India turns to John and Samantha first.

“How about I get you two, then pan over here”—she points to where the boys are standing—“and finish with you and the kids?”

“Sounds good,” Samantha says, smoothing down her hair to prepare for the interview.

“Nolan,” I say, motioning for him to join me.

“It’s okay.” Samantha stops me by placing her hand on my arm. “Let him be in the video. You know he’ll be excited to do so.”

Not sure what to think about the entire situation, I agree and sit back, trying to act as normal as possible even though I feel very out of place at the moment.

India and the camera guy decide on the angle, and I notice I’m in their shot so I go to move, but she stops me.

“You don’t have to move. It’s better actually to have people in the background—you know, so the stands look fuller. Nobody likes to see an empty seat,” India jokes.

“You’re fine just where you are,” Samantha reassures me.

I grin and pretend to watch the game, trying not to be a part of their interview.

“And we’re rolling in three, two, one …” she says in a quiet voice, then changes her tone to a bubbly one. “I’m here with Evan Parker’s sister, Samantha, and his father, John. So, John, can you tell me what Evan getting that first hit felt like to you?”

John and Samantha both tell Evan’s story about his mom’s passing, his playing days, and the sacrifices he put in to be here right now. Samantha cries while John wraps his arm around her, showing how proud they are of their precious little boy, who’s not so little anymore.

“And it’s not just Evan’s dad and sister we have here.” India stands once their story is finished. She waves for the cameraman to follow her. “Over here, we have Samantha’s husband, Mike, and Evan’s nephews, who have been cheering for him all game.”

Mike waves as India squats down to hold the microphone up to the little boys.

“Tell me your names.”

“I’m Tyler!” He jumps up and down.

“And I’m Liam.” He waves, not to be forgotten.

Nolan doesn’t miss a beat, introducing himself, too, even though he’s not his nephew. “And I’m Nolan!” he says proudly.

India stands with a laugh and looks back into the camera. “Well, that proves right there how baseball-related this family is. Maybe we have the next Nolan Ryan in the making right here,” she teases. “Until then, I’m India Baker, signing off for The Den .”

“And we’re out,” the cameraman says as he moves the camera from over his shoulder.

“Thanks again, you guys,” India says as she waves goodbye. “Enjoy the rest of the game.”

Nolan comes running toward me and jumps on my lap. “I’m going to be on TV!”

His joy overshadows any concerns I had about him being in the shot, so I let it all go and hug him tightly.

“You sure are!”