“Just be careful!” I called. Up ahead, my sister Kit shouted, “I got her! And if I have to, we’ll trade her for a funnel cake.” Kit tickled Winnie as they hugged.
I raised my hand in thanks. After grabbing a blanket from the back and a small cooler filled with snacks, I made my way toward the field.
The men’s twelve-inch softball league games could be pretty fun. Sure, our guys were the second-oldest team in the league, but it was humorous, if nothing else.
A portable speaker was blaring a mix of early country and nineties R&B. The rusted stands were nearly full, and lawn chairs in uneven rows lined the foul lines. Off to the side, a group of small children were setting up a lemonade stand.
I scanned the crowd and smiled when I saw Winnie perched high above my brother Hayes’s shoulders and Elodie waving me over to a spot she had saved. I squeezed in next to my sister Kit.
“Thanks for saving us a spot.” With a sigh, I unloaded all our belongings.
I looked at my oldest brother, squinting in the late-afternoon sun. “Are you playing tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he grunted as he hoisted Winnie off his shoulders, settling her feet onto the ground.
I examined his too-tight T-shirt. “What are you wearing?”
Hayes’s nostrils flared as if he was as thin on patience as I was. “Getting out of my truck, I snagged it. Tore a hole the size of my face. It was unbelievable. I had to borrow a spare shirt and all they had left was a small.”
Hayes stretched his arms in front of his chest. The sleeves nearly tore, and it was so short, you could see a small strip of his abdomen. It was cut high enough to qualify as a crop top and tight enough to pass for a second skin. The shirt looked like it was almost small enough to fit Winnie.
I bit down a laugh. “Ah,” I said with a knowing nod.
Poor Hayes seemed to have almost comically rotten luck. Ever since the end of his senior year of high school, he had been plagued by it. That meant, in our small town, rumors swirled about him being cursed by the Lady of the Dunes.
Of course, none of us believed it, but sometimes it was hard to ignore that our moody, forlorn older brother had absolute shit luck.
The team started to take the field and Kit clapped. “Well, get out there, big dog.Woof, woof,” she barked.
He groaned and rolled his eyes, but he also cracked a rare smile.
“There he is!” Winnie pointed, drawing our attention to the field. “There’s Cal.”
I swear, my little girl, side by side with her aunt, sighed wistfully as Elodie’s boyfriend jogged onto the field. Ever since he’d put himself in the path of a rogue foul ball and saved Winnie, he was a hero in her eyes.
I looked at my younger sister, and a tightness twisted in my chest. She had come to life over the last few months—thriving and happy.
“Ooh, girls, looks like we got some fresh meat on the team in front of us.” Three older women I recognized as fellow Keepers peered into their own sets of binoculars.
I followed their line of sight, my eyes landing across the broad shoulders of none other than Austin.
“Oh, that’s so fun,” Elodie said, turning to Kit. “Did Brody convince him to fill in for Wes?”
My youngest sister’s face twisted. “How the hell should I know? Brody is Hayes’s friend, not mine.”
A disbelieving rattle formed in my throat before I could stop it, which earned me a slicing glare from Kit. Brody and Hayes had been best friends since elementary school, and Kit had been teased for many years about the summer she followed them around with stars in her eyes, mooning over him.
The crush lasted only a summer, and once Tommy Fitzsimmons moved to town, her crush on Brody had all but evaporated. But every once in a while I wondered whether there was still a tiny bit of that ten-year-old Kit lingering at the edges, hoping for her brother’s best friend to notice her.
To me Brody would always be the protective older-brother type, buthisbrother was a different story entirely.
I knew Austin was twenty-eight. Old enough to be considered a man, but far too young for a delusional thirty-six-year-old single mom to fantasize about. Austin was in the shortstop position, and as they warmed up, a ground ball quickly rolled his way. He was impossibly fast, scooping up the ball and effortlessly throwing it to Cal at first base. The sharp whack of the ball hitting Cal’s glove made me jump.
Cal pulled his hand from the glove, shaking it out. With a grin, Cal pointed at Austin. “Hell yeah, let’s go.”
“Maybe with Austin on the team, we’ll actually win a game,” Kit mumbled, hiding her giggle.
The team could use a win, especially after all the worrying about Wes.
