by Raine Thomas
She heard the wonder in his voice. “I sure did.”
“That was…amazing.”
Unable to help herself, she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind some cotton candy myself.”
“You? Eating candy?”
“Oh, who are you kidding?” she said as they joined the line behind Katie and her new friend. “You know you’ll eat most of it.”
“Yeah.”
She smiled. In front of them, Makayla continued to ramble. It seemed the kid had an opinion about everything. She evidently didn’t mind at all that Katie didn’t offer any commentary herself. Jasmine figured maybe she enjoyed having someone so focused on what she had to say.
Once Katie received her wand of cotton candy, Makayla once again grabbed her hand. “This way,” she urged.
This time Katie turned to look at Will, who waved her on. “It’s fine. We’ll be right behind you as soon as we get our cotton candy.”
When Katie’s gaze turned to Jasmine, she said, “It sounds like Makayla knows where all the fun’s at around here.”
“‘Course I do,” Makayla insisted. “Let’s go down the slide.”
Katie offered her friend a small smile and allowed herself to be towed by the hand toward the large inflatable slides set up on the other side of the outfield. It did appear to be the highlight of the event for the kids if their riotous screams were any indication.
“I can’t believe she actually went,” Will said as Jasmine accepted her own wand of cotton candy and they started after Katie.
“It’s a big day.”
“The biggest.” He took some of the candy when she held it out to him. “And it wouldn’t be possible without you.”
She gave him a look that he probably couldn’t see through her dark glasses. “That’s overstating things. I mean, I suppose I helped Katie find ballet, but it’s really her dancing that led to this moment.”
He made a sound of disagreement. “That’s not true.” Before she could form a response to that, he asked, “Do you think they’re enjoying themselves or being tortured?”
They had gotten closer to the slides where chaos reigned.
“It’s a toss-up.”
When they reached Katie, she was attempting to remove her shoes with one hand while clinging to her cotton candy with the other. Jasmine reached out to help with the candy while Will assisted with the shoe removal. A curvy woman with a beautiful halo of dark hair was helping Makayla. They shared enough traits that they had to be mother and daughter.
“Try to keep the screaming to a minimum,” the woman told Makayla.
“Okay, Mommy!” Makayla shouted, hauling Katie over to the steep ramp leading to the top of the trio of slides.
The woman rolled her eyes and looked over to Will and Jasmine. “Is that your poor child bein’ dragged around by my baby?”
He grinned and extended a hand. “Yep. I’m Will. This is Jasmine.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ruby Clark. My husband Jerry works with the grounds crew.”
“Then we’re all indebted to him,” Will said with one of his charming smiles. “We’ve got the best grounds crew in the game.”
Ruby stood a little taller as though she shared her husband’s pride. “Damn straight.” Glancing back at the ramp and seeing that the girls had progressed almost all the way up, she said, “Please excuse me. Gotta take a couple videos or my mama will never forgive me. Makayla’s her only grandchild.”
“I’m right there with you,” Will said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
Ruby chuckled. The two of them moved into a better position to capture the girls’ first venture down. Jasmine smiled as she watched Katie slide down. She looked jubilant.
After six trips down and around the slides, the girls moved off to the next activity, an inflatable maze. Makayla seemed to have the charisma of a ringleader, as she had kids of all ages peeling off from the slides and following her and Katie to the maze. Jasmine watched Katie’s reactions as the crowd of kids around her grew. It seemed as long as she was with Makayla, she wasn’t concerned about the others.
The group made their way around the outfield from one game or activity to the next. Jasmine and Will ended up eating both balls of cotton candy since Katie was too focused on her new friend to care. They also ate a couple of churros with a Mexican chocolate dipping sauce that Jasmine found divine. She vowed they were worth every calorie.
Near the end of the gangway-like setup of outfield activities, one of the event staff came up to Will and asked him and Katie to join the rest of the team and their families for a few photos. Will looked at Jasmine.
“It’s fine,” she assured him. “There’s plenty to do around here.”
“Okay. But don’t eat another one of those churros without me.”
“You’re going to dream about those, aren’t you?”
He leaned close to her ear and said in a low voice, “I hope I’ll dream about licking that delectable sauce off that sexy body of yours.”
With that, he winked and headed over to collect Katie, leaving Jasmine flushed with heat that had nothing to do with the summer day. She waved when Katie turned to look at her. It was enough to reassure her. Katie waved back and took her dad’s hand, walking with him to the photo area.
“That’s a creative way to go,” said a female voice from behind Jasmine.
Turning, she spotted The Girlfriends staring at her from about ten feet away. Alexis stood in front of Gwyneth and Marie with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hip jutted to the side in a combative stance, making her short shorts ride up enough to reveal part of her left ass cheek. Her expression was unreadable behind the huge sunglasses that covered half of her face.
“It’s nice to see you again too, Alexis,” Jasmine said.
Gwyneth and Marie exchanged glances as though they thought she would respond differently or try to engage with them, something she had no desire to do.
“Getting involved with the child to get to the dad,” Alexis continued before Jasmine could turn to leave. “That’s real crafty of you.”
“So’s making nice with The Wives’ Club,” Gwyneth tacked on. “Trying to get Will to see you as wife material by hanging out with them?”
Deciding it was time to nip this nonsense in the bud, Jasmine took a few steps closer to the trio so her voice wouldn’t carry as far as the group getting their photos taken. She didn’t much care who else heard what she had to say.
“I think you’re trying to be insulting,” she said in her coolest, most polite tone, “but I’d have to give a shit about your opinions for that to work. And guess what? I really don’t. Since it seems to matter to you so much, I’ll just state for the record that I’m not angling to become a baseball wife, but I sure as hell find them more pleasant to be around than the three of you.”
The look on their faces was deeply satisfying. The sound of applause and a couple of loud whoops was even more so.
Turning, The Girlfriends saw the other single females who had attended with players—the ones they had dubbed One-Timers or Repeaters at the charity event—gathered together and cheering Jasmine on.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, “I’ve got more important things to do.”
She turned and headed in the direction of one of the beverage booths. She got a couple of bottles of water and went to watch the photo session. It took a while to get all the parents and their kids coordinated enough to make it happen, but in the end, Jasmine thought the photographer had gotten a few great shots.
Will caught her eye as the group dispersed. She walked over to him and handed him a water bottle.
“Thanks,” he said, twisting the cap off and taking a couple of long draws. “Lord, I needed that. It’s hotter than hell out here.”
“You’re welcome.”
Katie tugged on his hand to get his attention. Makayla, in turn, was tugging on Katie’s. Will held up a finger.
“One sec, kiddo.” To Ja
smine, he said, “They asked the players to stay for a few more shots. Do you mind keeping an eye on Katie?”
“Of course not.” She smiled at Katie and her friend. “Come on, ladies. Let’s go see what trouble we can get into. Hey, Katie, maybe you can show Makayla a few things you’ve learned in your ballet lessons.”
Her eyes lit up. Having planted that seed, it wasn’t long before Jasmine and Katie were surrounded by a group of girls. It all started with Katie showing Makayla how to pirouette and somehow progressed to every girl who saw them wanting to be ballerinas. If it hadn’t been so adorable, Jasmine would have found it aggravating. The kids all talked over one another and did whatever movements they thought were right, bumping into each other in the process.
“Okay, ladies,” she said with a loud clap that startled them into silence. “You want to learn to dance? Here’s what you have to do.”
She started by separating them with enough distance between them that they wouldn’t knock each other to the ground when they lost their balance, which was pretty much inevitable without a barre. She positioned Katie in front of everyone else and stood beside her.
“Ballet is about precision,” she said. “Precision means doing things the exact right way. How many of you think you can do what Katie’s doing?”
She looked down at Katie and said, “First position.”
Katie positioned herself as she had now done many times. The girls attempted to copy her. Jasmine talked them through it, verbally explaining what they needed to do with their bodies and walking from one child to the next, correcting anything that wasn’t even close to proper form.
“Very good, ladies,” Jasmine praised them when they were all in position. “You’ve just taken your first steps toward becoming ballerinas.”
The girls exchanged gasps and wide-eyed looks.
“Now, who wants to learn how to perform a proper pirouette?” she asked.
Hands shot into the air. Amused and inspired by their enthusiasm, she spent another fifteen minutes working with them before Makayla’s mother approached.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but we have to get going,” she said.
Makayla’s face fell. “But, Mommy, I want to be a ballerina like Katie.”
Glancing at Jasmine, Ruby asked, “How much do you charge for lessons?”
Belatedly, Jasmine noticed the other mothers who had gathered to watch their children. They appeared to be hanging onto every word. Beyond them, she spotted Sierra with her camera. Her new friend had likely documented at least part of the session too.
“Oh, I don’t…” Jasmine trailed off, not wanting to say she didn’t offer lessons with Katie standing right there. “I, uh, don’t currently have any openings.”
There was a murmur of disappointment, both from the kids and the mothers.
“That’s a shame,” Ruby said. “You’re so good with the kids. This one won’t stay still and listen to anyone for this long. You’ve really got some magic. Could I get your number so I can stay in touch in case any openings come up?”
Not seeing a graceful way out of it, Jasmine reluctantly agreed. Seven other mothers quickly followed suit. Each one of them gave her similar praise to Ruby, saying their kids didn’t generally show this much interest in an activity. Several offered to pay more if needed to get bumped up to the top of the “waiting list.”
As much as she hadn’t expected the detour in her day, Jasmine couldn’t deny that the praise gave her a solid boost. She’d had two more failed auditions since her first one. This span of fifteen minutes had given her more self-confidence than she’d had in years.
She’d even had fun with the kids. Maybe it had been because they had all voluntarily wanted to participate and hadn’t been dragged into it by their parents. Whatever the reason, seeing them try so hard and respond so positively after managing to perform a position and pirouette made her happy.
As happy as her lessons with Katie made her.
It put her in a pensive mood. Her life had been slowly shifting from the path she’d been on before her accident. For the first time, that knowledge wasn’t quite so terrifying.
Could a future in teaching possibly bring her the fulfillment she needed?
Or was she using it as a handy excuse to abandon all her years of effort when she was one successful audition away from achieving her dreams?
* * *
With the photo shoot long over, Will stood in the distance among some of the other dads watching their kids get a ballet lesson from Jasmine. Aside from the few players or trainers he knew, most of them were strangers.
They didn’t know he was Katie’s dad, so when he heard them discussing how talented Katie was, he knew they meant it. It made his chest puff out with pride.
They also didn’t know he was involved with Jasmine, so when he heard them talking about how hot they thought she was, he glowered in their direction.
Granted, they were right. Among the many females walking around dressed in short shorts and skimpy tank tops, Jasmine stood apart in her floral skirt and coordinating sleeveless top. The top just barely met the waistband of the skirt, which meant when she lifted her arms to teach the girls pirouettes, a teasing strip of her taut abdomen was revealed. He was torn between wanting to go over to her and tug it down…or drag her off the field and tug it up.
“Ballet lessons for the kids. Now why didn’t I think of that?”
He looked down at the sound of Caroline’s voice. The team’s owner had stopped beside him and was now watching the group with Jasmine and Katie.
“The lesson seems to be going over well,” he said.
“It sure is. Your girlfriend might have managed to overtake the bouncy slides as this year’s favorite activity.”
He smiled. His girlfriend. He really liked the sound of that.
“Thanks for hosting this,” he said. “It’s the first event like this that Katie has willingly attended with me. She’s having a blast.”
She returned his smile. “That makes me happy. I look forward to hearing everything she enjoys most about it before we start planning next year’s event. I’ll definitely have to approach…Ms. Li, is it?”
The team’s owner knew everything about her players, whether or not her players shared their personal details with her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll have to approach Ms. Li about offering lessons next year. She should be paid for providing her services. She’s not just entertaining these children, she’s teaching them useful skills. I can already see that my granddaughter will insist on lessons after this.”
The statement implied that Jasmine would be attending the following year. He hated not knowing if that was true.
Unsure how to respond, he merely nodded.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” she said, briefly placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Have fun with Katie.”
“Thanks.”
While the girls were all shuffling around attempting pirouettes, Will’s attention shifted to the section of the infield closest to where he stood. He was partway up the first base line. A near-constant stream of kids was taking turns circling the bases. For some reason, the kids squealed like they were being stuck with needles as they ran. The smaller they were, the louder they got. Most of the parents were steering as clear of the area as they could.
That was what made seeing Evan Dorsey standing along the baseline giving high fives to all the kids the most surprising.
The gruff third baseman was wearing his son, Noah, snugly against his chest in a black baby carrier. The baby appeared to be sound asleep. Considering the chaos going on, that was almost more baffling than Evan’s smile as he encouraged the kids around the bases.
Who would’ve thought Dorsey had that kind of soft touch in him?
Shaking his head, Will turned back to watch the dancing. It appeared the lesson was coming to an end. Some of the moms had moved closer and were talking with Jasmine. He debated whether to approach, unsure what he migh
t interrupt.
Beside Jasmine, Katie was giving Makayla a hug. It looked like Makayla and her parents were leaving.
That made the decision easier. He headed over to Katie’s side.
“You taking off?” he asked Ruby.
“We are,” she said, reaching for Makayla’s hand. “We’ve got a birthday party to get to after this. It was so nice meeting you, Will.”
“You too.”
Seeing Katie’s crestfallen expression as she watched her new friend leave, he reached down and chucked her gently under the chin. “Hey, there’s still plenty to do around here and tons of kids to hang out with. There are at least twenty running the bases right this minute.”
She looked over at the bases. The sorrow left her expression.
“You want to try it?”
She nodded.
“You got it. Maybe I’ll run them too. Lord knows I’ll never get the chance otherwise.”
She grinned, though he doubted she understood that relief pitchers very rarely got at-bats.
He glanced back at Jasmine and saw she’d now been approached by Everly and Sierra. She gave him an apologetic look telling him she didn’t want to be rude to her friends. He jerked a thumb toward the bases to indicate he was taking Katie there so she knew where to meet up when she was done.
Receiving her nod, he took Katie’s hand and headed for home base.
“The bases are ninety feet apart,” he told her as they walked. “It might not sound like much, but when you’re running them, they can feel like a mile.”
She nodded like she knew exactly what he meant.
Just as they started to walk past Evan, a little boy of about three or four wiped out during his run—a solid face-plant. Will instinctively hurried over, squatting beside him at the same time Evan did. A couple of other nearby spectators edged closer too.
“Hey there, mate,” Evan said, swiftly lifting the boy and dusting him off before he could decide whether to wail, “you’re supposed to wait until you’re closer to the base before you slide like that. Is this your first time ‘round?”
The boy lowered his chin, pulled on his bottom lip with dirt-covered fingers, and nodded.
