by Caryl McAdoo
Shame, except she certainly wasn’t anywhere near poor, so that forgetting her troubles for a while didn’t apply.
She placed her hand on her belly and rubbed it with great expectation and anticipation, so glad no reason to wait would thwart starting a family right away. That, very soon, would give her a whole new reason not to imbibe.
During the pre-game interview, Gij acted like he didn’t have a chance; the big bad Dodgers were too good to be no-hit three straight games. She so wanted him to fess up and tell the whole world.
Yes, he actually was the greatest to ever take the mound, and these transplanted Brooklyn Bums didn’t have a prayer.
Of course, she would never ask him any direct questions, knowing for a fact he would never lie. And she didn’t want him to clam up on her—especially now that she’d made up her mind. “Okay, Johnson, I’ve been mulling this over, and I think it’s time to let the folks in on our off-season plans.”
“You talking about…?”
“Yes, sir, I sure am.” She turned to April’s camera. “This wonderful man has asked me to marry him.” She laughed. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is. I sure love you.”
“I love you. Too.” She touched his face. “Now get yourself out there and win this thing! I’ve still got like a thousand things to do.”
He laughed, shook his head, then retreated into the clubhouse.
Static. “Sammi Dan?” More static.
She touched her ear piece. “Tom? That you?”
“Yes, congratulations on your and Gij’s upcoming wedding.”
“Thank you.”
“How about you, gal? As our favorite Fox femme fatale, care to make any predictions on tonight’s game? Johnson’s sounding rather subdued.”
“Sure, Tom. I say he gets his seventh no-hitter, and the Rangers their first World Championship.”
“Alright.” He laughed. “I’m holding you to that.”
“Be my guest, sir, announce it to the world if you wish, but also, keep in mind, you’re speaking to the woman who adores the man on the mound and believes, without reservation, he can do anything. I admit, I’m biased.”
From the first batter, looked to her Gij had picked up right where he left off in game four. Pin point control, sliders on fastball counts, a darting change, and that big ol’ beautiful hook. Plus, just to mess with ’em, he’d shake Carlos off two or three times then fiddle with the ball like he was loading up something new, then throw some real nasty heat.
She was going to miss this something crazy, but maybe he’d buy her a team. She’d love being the first lady manager in the Bigs. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?
He’d given them nothing through seven. Had he put a sweetener in his contract about perfection? She turned around and faced April. “How many perfect games has there been? I mean in the history of baseball.”
“Twenty-two or three, but maybe only one in the World Series. Want me to look it up?”
“That’d be great. I might need that little nugget for the post-game.” She glanced toward the dugout, but Johnson’s focus was obviously locked onto the field.
He’d told her that afternoon when she tried to pre-arrange a mid-game, flat out no. She was too big a distraction. He smiled when he said it, but still… Wasn’t like he didn’t know the outcome. Right?
Pappaw had what? Gone ahead in time and then looked back, and… She shook off the permutations of what-ifs. Was everyone’s life written down somewhere? No, couldn’t be, entirely too many. No book big enough for seven billion people.
A loud crack of the bat followed by a giant moan, pulled her back to the game at hand. Elvis had just lined out for the third out. Of course the good guys couldn’t make it easy for Gij; at least they had scored a run in the third.
He stayed perfect through eight, awesome.
Three up, three down for the Rangers.
First batter he faced in the ninth worked a walk.
Persimmons, and lemons, and grapefruit, too! She hated free passes. A quick search of her mental notes failed to render the guy’s name who now stood on first base. Why hadn’t Gij been more careful, just throw it down the middle?
She sighed. But okay, walks didn’t kill a no-no.
Next batter squared, and tapped a slow roller to third. Beltre charged and fired to second. The throw sailed high over Odor’s glove into centerfield. Martin charged and retrieved the ball before the runner advanced to third.
Men on first and second. No outs. Black bananas! Maddox stepped out of the dugout and got time from Blue, then trotted to the mound. Worse yet, two guys started throwing in the bullpen.
Sammi Dan sank to her knees, bowed her head, and put her hands together.
Please, Lord. Please don’t let Jeff take him out. Strengthen him, help him, please.
The pitching coach retreated. Sammi Dan stood. Carlos walked back to home. Okay, just a stall to give the guys in the pen more time. What had Maddox said? Were they giving Gij one more batter? Please, Lord, help him out of this jam.
The batter watched the bad ones and spoiled the good ones to achieve a full count, three balls two strikes, then kept smacking fouls. They should have a rule that after the count was full, three more foul balls equaled a strike.
Eleven pitches and the Dodger still stood at the plate. She could hardly breathe, wanted to cuss. She wanted it to be over. Two bad guys on base, the winning run on first with no outs. The Rangers couldn’t fail. Not now. Gij had to get his seventh no-hitter, and her Rangers their championship.
Oh, Lord, please. We’ve come so far. Don’t let us lose now, not again. Be with Gij. Help the team. Come on, Lord. Let the batter miss one. Please give us a little chicken noodle soup!
Her fiancé hiked his right leg and twisted back. The crowd’s cheers rose urging him on. He released the twelfth pitch. It flew right for Carlos’ glove. The man swung and connected.
The ball skipped once then flew right to Beltre. He gloved it, stepped on third and fired to Odor who tapped second with his toe then relayed the ball to Fielder a full step before the runner landed a foot on first.
Sammi Dan gasped. She managed a swallow, but still didn’t let the air out.
For half a heartbeat, time froze. The crowd on their feet, but eerily quiet.
Blue at third and first swung big circles and called the runners out. All three of them! In one play! A triple play to end the last game of the World Series! The Rangers were the champs. Gij did it. He did it just like Pappaw said!
A collective deafening craziness erupted. Sammi Dan blew out the breath then whooped and hollered and jumped over the rail, leading the charge to her man.
CHAPTER
thirty-nine
Sammi Dan patted Gij’s hand. “We have got to get some rest.” The euphoria had finally morphed into a warm glow, and just maybe, she could close her eyes.
He clicked the TV off. The big screen slid back into its hidey hole. “You’re right.” He stood then held his hand out. “Sun’ll be coming up pretty soon, but technically… Want to read Pappaw’s letter?”
She let him pull her up. How had she forgotten? “Ooooo, yes! Come on.”
He held her hand all the way to her door then stopped. “I’ll wait here.”
She slipped into the room that for only one more night was hers, tiptoed to the bedside table and retrieved the letter. Cate didn’t move a muscle—maybe all old people slept like logs. Did they need more sleep again like babies?
As though already her new room, she followed Gij into his inner sanctum then eased into his chair in front of his computer armoire, tucking both feet Indian fashion. He sat on the edge of his bed.
Her hand trembled as she opened the envelope. She looked from the letter to Gij.
“Want me to read it aloud?”
“Sure.”
“It says, ‘Thank you, Samantha Danielle, for loving my Gij.’ ” She glanced up. “Awe, isn’t that so sweet?” Her attention went back to her letter. “H
e acts all tough on the outside, but he’s really a little kid on the inside. I know you’ll take good care of him for me. And he’ll take great care of you, just like he did me.”
Sammi Dan swallowed, and blinked away the tears. She wiped away the overflow and faced Gij. “I sure wish I could have known him.”
“You will one fine day. Is that all it says?”
“No, there’s more.” She focused a minute then laughed. “He’s got the exact scores of all seven games of the Series. No wonder he didn’t want me to open it until today.”
“Anything else?”
She nodded. “He says for me to study Second Peter, chapter one, but especially verses eight and nine. Awe, lookie here.” She turned the paper toward him and pointed to the bottom. “Says, ‘God Bless Mr.& Mrs. Johnson.’ Oh, Gij, he must have been a very special man.”
“He was.”
She folded the letter and stood. “Well, bless the Lord.” She wanted so much to crawl into his bed and… “Guess I best…”
“Yeah.” He looked like he wanted her to stay even more than she wanted to. “Guess so, we’ve waited this long.”
“Yes. You have. Waited so long, I mean. I was so bad, but praise God I’m forgiven now.”
“White as snow, my love.” He smiled then waved her off. “If we go to sleep then when we wake up, it’ll be that many fewer hours until Saturday night.”
She grinned. “True. Heavy sigh though.” She hated leaving, but made her way to the next door down the hall. Daddy and Cate had stayed up most of the night, but couldn’t hang with her and Gij.
Her mama-to-be slept like a baby in the extra twin size bed Gij had set up for her. Sammi Dan had asked if they wanted to make it a double ceremony, but her daddy insisted on waiting until she got back from Alaska to marry Cate.
Sammi Dan quietly slipped into her bed, thankful Cate left her bedside lamp on. She grabbed her Bible and found Second Peter after checking the index for the page number.
She checked Pappaw’s letter and read the whole first chapter then went back and reread verses eight and nine—the ones Pappaw said for her to study.
‘For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.’
These things. She went back to the earlier verses. Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness. What was temperance exactly? Not getting mad? She’d have to check the dictionary tomorrow. She yawned. Kindness and charity, too.
So those were the things that made a divine nature? And if they were in her she wouldn’t be barren? But if not, she was blind and would forget God washed all her sins away?
She probably should study the scriptures when not so tired and sleepy. She sort of understood what the apostle talked about, but she really needed to ask Gij about it or maybe that old prophet dude at the home group.
Closing her Bible, she laid it on the table then fluffed her pillow.
How long had it been since he’d taken her to the home group? Next time she saw that guy, she sure needed to thank him for his note.
Snuggling into her feather pillow, she smiled to herself thinking how mad she’d gotten that night, but actually, that note was exactly what had propelled her to salvation and being on the verge of marrying the best man she’d ever known.
That wonderful thought carried her all the way to blissful sleep. Too soon, a hand shook her shoulder. She pried open one eye. Her mother stood next to her bed.
“Sammi, wake up.”
The ache behind her left eye told the tale. “Go away.”
“Please, baby girl, get up.”
“But I just went to sleep.” She exhaled and swung her feet over the side of the bed. “What is it?”
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” Was it Gij? Something wrong? An accident? Sammi Dan shook off the last of her grogginess. “Why? Has something happened?”
She grimaced in only the way her mother could. Even with the limited contact she’d had with the woman over the years, she’d seen that expression at least a thousand times.
“Mother! What? You’re scaring me!”
“No, no, it’s nothing bad. Well, too bad. It’s just that I couldn’t stand not telling Fred, and well, Lizzy, too. She swore she wouldn’t say a word. But, well, now…” Another grimace, ever bigger; didn’t she know how ugly it made her look?
“Okay, Mother. You had to wake me up for this? Really? I’m too tired for you to beat around the coconut tree, what’d you tell Fred and Miss Lizzy?”
“About Gij’s contract.”
Sammi Dan jumped to her feet. “No, you didn’t.”
“I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have. I mean I gave you my word and everything, but I never dreamed they’d say anything, or that it would be all over the stupid internet. And now they’re even talking about it on Fox News, so I thought you should know. I feel awful about it, baby girl.”
“Oh, Mother! How could you!” This was worse than when she ran off. She’d promised and went back on her word—her word! Sammi Dan should’ve known! This wrong could never be righted! So horrible and totally unforgivable. “Mother…” But praise God, she sucked the words back before they got out of her mouth. She couldn’t send her away. She closed her eyes, and Saint Peter’s words rang in her heart.
Charity.
She had to be charitable. After all, God had forgiven her so much. Tears welled. How could she not offer… She turned and threw her arms around her mother’s neck. How long had it been since she’d hugged her mother?
“Oh, Mom, I forgive you.” Something inside her broke, and sobs racked her body. “For everything, for leaving me and Daddy. You asked me in that restaurant in California to forgive you, but I just couldn’t, not then. But now I can, and I do. For everything. I never should’ve said anything at all about Gij’s contract. I was wrong.”
Her mother hugged her back. “Oh, baby, thank you. I love you so much, and I thought I’d really done it and messed up too bad.”
“I love you, too. I’ve always loved you, Mom. I’ve missed you so much.” She leaned back and looked into her mother’s bloodshot eyes. “You always called me a daddy’s girl, but…” She wept uncontrollably. “I… I… Why didn’t you take me with you? Why didn’t you want me?”
Her mother pressed her head to her shoulder and caressed her hair. “It’s okay, baby. I know. No matter what, I should never have left you with your daddy. I thought that’s where you wanted to be. You hated Fred so much, and I couldn’t bear hurting your daddy anymore than I already was either. I was wrong, so wrong. ”
Sammi Dan’s phone went to singing Take Me Out To The Ballpark, but she didn’t care. She loved her mother, and her mom loved her.
Cate propped up on an elbow and smiled, but didn’t look wide awake. “Do you need to get that, Sweetheart?”
She pulled back from her mother and shook her head, wiping her eyes and cheeks. It stopped, but then started right back.
Her mother retrieved a couple of tissues from a box on the dresser and handed her one. “Think it might be important?”
She nodded, but what could be more important then making up with her mother? “Okay.” She picked up the phone. It was April; she touched answer, and put on a happy voice. “Good morning.”
“Have you been watching the news?”
“No. I actually just got up.”
“Seems someone in the Rangers’ front office revealed the details of Gij’s contract.”
“Really?”
“It’s all over the net, and Fox and Friends is talking about it every half hour; they’re citing reliable sources within the organization.”
“Gij isn’t going to be happy, but thanks for calling.”
Sammi Dan punched off her cell and smiled at her mother. “That was April, seems someone in the Rangers’ front off
ice spilled the beans about Gij’s contract, not you.”
“That’s not right.”
Sammi Dan spun. Gij stood in the doorway. “I agree. Someone should be fired.”
“No, I mean it wasn’t a front office leak.”
“It wasn’t? How do you know? Who was it?”
“Me.”
“You? I thought you were Mister Keep-Everything-a-Secret.”
“Well, it’s true I cherish my privacy, but seeing as how we’ve got a press conference tomorrow morning, or at least I do. I decided to call Mitch and give him the details.”
Her mother’s mouth hung open. “You did? But why?”
He smiled at his soon to be mother-in-law, then faced Sammi Dan. “Fred told me that you told CharliMom and she mentioned it to him and a Miss Lizzy.” He threw her a puzzled expression.
“Mom’s sister-friend.”
“Anyway, I knew all along it would come out sooner or later, and this way, the fans will not be so heartbroken for poor me. Seeing as how we made over thirty million this season.”
That number blew her away, she hadn’t figured it all out, but never dreamed… But okay, that’s good. He wasn’t mad. “The wedding’s tomorrow. We don’t have time for a press conference, do we?”
“It’s early in the morning. I’m going to announce my retirement. Shouldn’t take long, and everything’s ready, right?”
“Well, there’s always last minute running around, but I suppose the mothers or April could see to that. Yeah, I guess we could fit it in. Maybe. So what time, and is it going to be like a real one with strange people asking you questions?”
“Eight, and it is a real one.” He chuckled. “Why not?”
“What about me?”
He shrugged. “If you want to come, you can sit there by my side looking gorgeous and answer any questions you want to.” He shrugged. “Want me to cancel?”
“Uh… Well, no. Are you sure? I mean really sure?” She took both his hands in hers. “I know how much you love the game, Gij.”
“Positive. I gave Pappaw my word.”
“Have they paid us yet?”
He shook his head. “We could probably pick up a check while we’re there.”
