by Alexa McLean
My cheeks burned with the implications. Gayle hadn’t returned for more than five minutes and already, he was getting me all hot and bothered.
You’ll end up marrying that boy one day, came her grandmother’s voice.
I had always denied it, more so when he became big and famous. What would a record-holding baseball player want with a Plain Jane like me? Maybe back in high school, I could have taken a jab at it but now? I had better luck winning the lottery.
After he explained all the state-of-the-art features the car had to offer, we finally stepped back from our precarious position. My heart was still beating like a drum and I found it difficult to look him in the eye. Why was it that every time I saw this man I was invaded by a pack of butterflies? You’d think I would have gotten used to it by now — but no, my body had to betray me with a bundle of emotions each and every time.
He leaned against the car and looked up at my grandmother’s estate. “It’s strange to know that she’s gone.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Must be lonely in that great big house all by yourself.”
“Oh, the ghosts are great company,” I joked. “We converse by banging pots and pans as hard as we can.”
“Sounds like a hell of a time. I might have to join in on that someday.”
I tried to keep a smile plastered to my face but thinking about grandma always opened up a fresh wound in my chest.
Gayle seemed to sense that I was aching because he wrapped his arms around me in a tight and much-needed hug.
I melted against his chest feeling like a little girl all over again. Gayle had a knack for making me feel better. Even as we grew up, that skill remained.
“She’s in a better place now,” he whispered against the top of my head.
“Yeah...” I answered. “That big ‘ol castle in the sky is much better than Sunny Acres down the road, right?”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “She’s probably watching us right now.”
“And teasing that we’ll get married one day,” I added.
“You know, my mom still asks me if I’ve popped the question to you every time she calls.”
“Really?”
“No word of a lie,” he said. “I don’t know who’s more of a matchmaker — my mother or your grandmother.”
“My grandmother, without a doubt.”
“Why’s that?”
“You don’t remember how she would bake her famous apple pie and then just leave us alone for hours on end? Your mother, on the other hand, watched us like a hawk.”
“I think that’s because she knew my father was a hound and that I’d probably grow up to be just like him.”
“Have you?”
“I don’t know. Although, I wouldn’t mind turning out like my father. He always managed to make my mother very happy and he always managed to put food on the table even if something kept him from working. I don’t know how he did it.”
“We both had pretty decent childhoods. I guess that’s why we decided to stay in our childhood homes.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Some of my teammates have big fancy homes but none of them have charm quite like mine,” he boasted. “Although, the lawn and garden could use some TLC.” As he spoke, he looked down at me.
“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. I was about to shuffle away from him but that’s when I realized that he still held me in that hug from earlier. Had he simply forgotten to let go or was he deliberately holding onto me for longer than he needed to.
“Oh, come on. You’ve got a green thumb and everything I touch ends up dying.”
“So, what does that mean for me?” I asked. “You’ve been touching me for a solid five minutes.”
“Do you have your will in order?”
We both tried to keep a straight face but it only took a few seconds to break our composure. He started laughing first and from there, it was contagious. I couldn’t stop. Tears ran down my cheeks as I doubled over, lungs begging for air.
“Oh, God,” he gasped. “It’s been way too long, Lily.”
“It has,” I said with a nod even though Gayle’s return was routine. It was simply a part of a schedule and something I marked on my calendar each and every year and yet, waiting for the off-season to end was always a special sort of torture that I could barely stomach. “It’s good to have you back.”
“Good to be back.” He smiled and that pack of butterflies started to swirl all around my chest.
Oh, sometimes I really wished that baseball season would never end so that Gayle could stay here all year long.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexa McLean is romance author who enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, eating pasta and writing romance stories that makes her readers beg for more and keep them well entertained.
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