High Meadow

by Joan Wolf

  Columbus was the Yankee's premiere minor league team.

  "No," Daniel said. He was sitting in a comfortable chair on the opposite side of Joe's desk. Joe had swiveled his chair a little to face Daniel.

  Joe said, "Well then, how about going back to Tampa to work with one of the pitching coaches there? You'll be able to concentrate better away from all the hoopla the newspapers are making."

  Daniel leaned forward slightly. "Give me one more chance, Joe. I think I can fix this problem myself."

  "How?"

  "I think it's a mental thing, not something physical."

  Joe stared at him for a moment. Then he said, "I think it's a mental thing, too. We all think it's a mental thing. You've lost your confidence, and you're aiming the ball. We've all told you that."

  "Yes, but no one told me how to fix it. I kept thinking about how I was pitching the whole time I was pitching. I need to just go out there and do it."

  "I won't give you any argument about that." Daniel said earnestly, "It's like horseback riding. When you're a great rider you don't ride with your mind, you ride with your body. You've got all the fundamentals so schooled that you don't have to think anymore; you just feel. And that's the way I was with my pitching. I had all the fundamentals schooled; my body knew them. All I had to do was throw the ball. Let me try just throwing the ball and see how it comes out."

  The manager was frowning. "I don't want to have to take you out of another game, Daniel. It's too hard on you.

  "Please, Joe. Just give me one more chance."

  The manager sighed. "All right. I'll keep you in the rotation for one more start."

  Daniel stood. "Thank you. You won't regret it."

  "I hope not, Daniel. For all our sakes, I hope not."

  It was a bright and sparkly April afternoon the day Daniel made his fourth start. At one o'clock, Kate went up to the house to watch the first inning on television. The game was at Yankee Stadium, and the stands were fairly full for a workday and school day afternoon.

  The story of the day was, of course, Daniel.

  "Joe has come under some heavy fire for starting Montero again," the announcer said. "A lot of people think he should have sent him down to Columbus to work on his control there."

  The second announcer said, "It's just hard to believe that a great pitcher like Montero could lose his control so catastrophically."

  "There are precedents. Look at Mark Wohlers."

  "I know."

  The "Star-Spangled Banner" was played, the players put their caps back on, and the first batter came to the plate. Daniel finished throwing his warm-up pitches and waited for the batter to get set.

  Kate felt sick to her stomach. She clenched her hands as Daniel went into his windup.

  The ball thudded into the glove and the umpire called "Strike."

  Kate closed her eyes. Please God, let the next one be a strike too.

  Daniel delivered, and the umpire called, "Ball."

  "Shit," Kate said out loud.

  The next two pitches were fastballs straight down the middle of the plate. The batter never took his bat off his shoulder. There was one out. Kate started breathing again.

  Daniel's first pitch to the next batter sailed over Posada's head. Kate's stomach tightened. The next pitch was over the plate. The batter stood with his bat on his shoulder.

  "They're not going to swing at anything until Montero has established he can pitch over the plate," the announcer said.

  The next pitch looked like it caught the outside corner, but the umpire called it a ball.

  "Moron," Kate hissed at the screen as the crowd booed its disapproval. The replay showed the pitch clearly getting the outside corner. "How can Daniel expect to get his control back when the umpires don't know a ball from a strike?"

  The next pitch was a fastball right down the middle of the plate. The batter looked at it. Two balls and two strikes.

  Daniel and Posada conferred about the next pitch and then Posada went back to the plate and the batter took up his position. Daniel delivered, the batter swung and missed by a mile.

  "It was a change-up!" the announcer said. "Peters was expecting another fastball and instead he got the change. Daniel sure fooled him."

  The second batter hit a weak fly to the first baseman, and the third batter struck out.

  Daniel was smiling as he walked off the mound. His grinning teammates in the dugout shook his hand as he came in.

  Kate looked at her watch and decided she would watch Daniel pitch the second inning as well. She could listen to the game on the radio while she worked in the barn, but she really wanted to see him.

  In the bottom of the first, the Yankees got a run when Jeter doubled, stole third, and came in on Williams's long fly.

  Then Daniel was back on the mound to start the second inning. His first pitch was a fastball, waist high, right over the plate, and the left-handed cleanup man sent it into the right field stands. The game was tied.

  "Guess they're not waiting around for Montero to get the ball over the plate any more," the announcer said. "If he lays one in there, they're going to powder it."

  Daniel motioned to his catcher and Posada came to the mound. They talked for a few moments, then Posada returned to his position behind the plate. Daniel's first pitch to the new batter was a sinker and the batter swung and missed. Strike one. The next pitch was near the outside corner and was called a ball. The third pitch was outside again, but this one caught the corner. Strike two. Next, Daniel threw a slider in the dust. Ball two. The batter fouled off the next two pitches, then Daniel threw a fastball inside. The batter swung at it and missed. Strike three.

  The next batter who came to the plate was another left-hander. Daniel threw him a cut fastball, a low slider, another cut fastball, and then a rising fastball to get him out.

  The third batter of the inning flied out to short left field.

  "He's done it," Kate said jubilantly. "He believed me, and he fixed the problem. Isn't that great, Cyrus?"

  Cyrus thumped his tail as she looked at him, and she bent down to kiss the top of his head. "I am so happy."

  She and the dogs went down to the barn to finish mucking stalls, and once she was there she turned the radio on to the game. She cleaned the stalls with a song in her heart, because Daniel pitched six strong innings without giving up another run.

  She was teaching a lesson a couple of hours later when Ben came down to the ring with the portable phone in his hand. "Mommy, Daddy is on the phone for you. He said you would want to talk to him."

  "All walk," Kate called to her lesson. "Let the horses take a breather." She ducked under the fence and took the phone from Ben.

  "Hi, Daniel. I saw the first two innings and listened on the radio until you came out. Congratulations. You won."

  My control was so much better, Kata!"

  "I know. I saw."

  "I did what you said, I closed my mind, stared at Jorge's glove, and just threw. And it went over the plate!"

  "You let your body do what it knows how to do."

  "Exactly. You are a genius."

  She laughed. "I'm not, but if you want to think I am, go right ahead."

  "I want to see you tonight. We have to celebrate. Why don't we go out to dinner and then back to my house?"

  "I have a better idea. Let's go out to dinner and you can stay over at High Meadow."

  "That is a better idea."

  "What did Joe and Mel say about your pitching?"

  "They wanted to know what had happened to make me see the light, and I told them about your horse comparison. They were impressed."

  "As well they should be."

  He laughed. She had not heard that joyous sound in over a month and she pictured how his brown eyes would be sparkling and his face would be wearing that terrific smile that always made you want to smile back.

  He said, "Can we tell Molly that we're going to get married?"

  "Yes."

  "Can we give her a da
te?"

  "We don't have a date."

  "Well, let's make one."

  "I don't want a big wedding and a lot of fuss."

  "I love you, Kata. Neither do I. We'll have Ben and your mother and Alberto and my mother and father. How does that sound?"

  "Perfect. But we're going to have to live at High Meadow until this wonderful couple you have promised me comes to take over."

  "Okay. I will pack a suitcase. Unless . . . will it be too much for Molly if I move in?"

  "Not if she doesn't have to cook for you."

  "I usually get my supper at the ballpark."

  "Good. Then pack the suitcase and come."

  "I will do that."

  "I have to get back to my lesson, Daniel."

  "Okay. See you around seven-thirty?"

  "Okay."

  "Ben!" He had been rolling around with Samson while she talked, and now she called him over and gave him back the phone. "Will you tell Nana that Daddy and I are going out to dinner tonight and that Daddy will be staying over with us?"

  "Yes!" Ben said. "I can show him the A I got on my math today."

  "He'll be very proud of you."

  Ben took the phone back to the house, and Kate went back to her lesson.

  When Kate and Daniel returned to the house from dinner they found Molly and Alberto in the living room, sitting side by side on the sofa, holding hands and listening to music. Kate felt the familiar catch at her heart when she saw her mother's tired face.

  Molly had one more chemo treatment to go, and the longer the therapy had gone on, the more it had sapped her energy. There was a translucence about her skin and a pallor that made her look very fragile. She was still teaching, but she had missed more days of school as the treatment had gone on.

  The older couple both smiled at Daniel, and Alberto said, "I hear that you pitched very well. Congratulations."

  Daniel grinned. "Kata can take the credit for my resurrection as a pitcher. She told me I was thinking too much."

  A voice said from the hall behind Daniel, "Can I say hello to Daddy?"

  "Ben." Molly sounded reproachful. "You should be asleep."

  "I was waiting for Mommy to come home."

  "Well, since you're up, come into the living room," Kate said. "Daniel and I have an announcement to make."

  Barefoot, and clad only in pajamas, Ben came into the room.

  Kate said simply, "Daniel and I are going to get married."

  "Kate. Oh my dear. I am so happy for you." Molly stood up and held out her arms. Kate went to hug her.

  Alberto went to shake Daniel's hand.

  Ben said excitedly, "Does this mean that Daddy will live with us all the time?"

  "How would you and your mother like to come and live with me?" Daniel asked.

  "Yeah! You have a pool, Daddy."

  "Yes, I do. And I have strict rules about when children can swim in it."

  "I know," Ben said wisely. "Only when there's a grownup watching you."

  "Exactly."

  "What are you going to do about High Meadow?" Molly asked Kate.

  "We are going to hire a Colombian couple to live in the house and take care of the horses. I'll still do the training and teaching, but not the stalls or the turnout."

  "What a wonderful idea." Molly looked at Daniel. "Do you have a couple in mind?"

  'As a matter of fact, I do." Daniel looked at Alberto. "Tomas and Marta," he said.

  "Tomas works for your father."

  "I plan to make him an offer he can't refuse."

  "Rafael will not be happy."

  "It will be his wedding present to us."

  Alberto smiled.

  Molly said, "There is a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator left over from Easter. Why don't we open it up?"

  "I will get it," Alberto said.

  The champagne was opened, and they toasted the happiness of Daniel and Kate. Then Kate took Ben up the stairs to bed.

  "I'm glad you and Daddy are getting married," he confided as she pulled the comforter up over his shoulders. "Now we can be a real family."

  Kate looked into his bright eyes and felt a pang in her heart. "You and Nana and I have been a real family."

  "I know, but we didn't have a Daddy."

  "That's true. And now we will."

  Ben smiled. "Wait until I tell Connor!"

  Daniel gave Molly a half an hour to go to sleep, then he went down the hall to Kate's room. She was sitting up in her double bed dressed in a large T-shirt and reading Equns magazine. She put the magazine on the night table next to her as Daniel crossed to the bed.

  "We never set a wedding date," he said as he stepped out of his jeans and slid his lean length in next to her.

  "There are only two more months of school. I think we should let Ben finish up at Glendale Elementary and start him in September in his new school in Greenwich."

  "That makes sense. So shall we say the end of June?"

  "Sounds good to me."

  "On our wedding night, will you wear a sexy nightgown?"

  She stared at him. "What's the point? All you'll do is take it off."

  "Men like things like sexy nightgowns, Kata."

  "Men are funny creatures."

  "We are, and we are very grateful to women when they humor us."

  She smiled. 'All right. I'll buy a sexy nightgown."

  "Thank you, querida."

  "What does querida mean?"

  "It means 'darling.'"

  She cuddled against his shoulder. "That's nice."

  "When will you want Tomas and Marta to start?"

  "Are you sure this is going to be all right? Your father won't be mad?"

  "He will miss Tomas, but he will also see that this is a wonderful opportunity for him to better his family. He won't mind."

  "I'm going to be a married woman. It's funny, Daniel, but I never pictured myself married the way most girls do."

  He replied in a matter of fact voice, "That's because you are one of the most self-sufficient people that I know."

  "I am self-sufficient. I've always taken pride in being self-sufficient. I liked my life the way it was."

  He bent his head and kissed her hair. "It won't change all that much, querida. Don't get scared."

  "It will change a lot," she replied soberly. "And the biggest change has happened already."

  "What is that?"

  "Before I met you I was never lonely. But now, if you went away, I would be very lonely. I would be lost. It's a scary thought, to have so much of your happiness riding on one person."

  "That's the risk you take when you fall in love, Kata."

  "I missed you when you were in Florida, and I will miss you when you go on road trips. There's a little emptiness inside me when you aren't there."

  "I'm glad, because I feel the same way about you."

  They remained silent for a long moment, Kate listening to the beating of his heart under her cheek. Then Daniel said, "So when do you want Tomas and Marta to start? Do you want them right away or do you want to wait until June?"

  "We're going to have to wait—there's no place for them to sleep in the house until we move out."

  "True. What about Molly? Has she given any indication about when she and Alberto are going to tie the knot?"

  "I think they were thinking of getting married in the summer sometime. She finishes her chemo at the beginning of May and then she has to go for radiation. Then she's going to go to Colombia again to meet some more of Alberto's family."

  "Is she going to get married before or after she goes to Colombia?"

  "I'm not sure."

  "We should find out so I'll know when to have Tomas start. There are visas that need to be gotten."

  "Okay, I'll find out."

  He sighed. "I feel such happiness being here with you, Kata. Such . . . contentment."

  She pressed her cheek against his naked chest. "I feel the same way. Isn't it funny? And I didn't like you at all when first we met."
<
br />   "I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."

  "Even more beautiful than the supermodel?"

  "Much more beautiful."

  "Good."

  He eased her away from him so that she was lying against the pillow. "Kiss me," he whispered.

  She reached up to put her arms around his neck, and then she obliged.

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