“Ladies, looking good out here!” a voice calls, and I turn to see Frank along the fence, his right leg in a boot.
“Hey!” I jog over. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, it’s coming along. Another couple of weeks and I’ll be ready to try it out.”
Sam comes over from her court to say hi. We may have only had one lesson with Frank, but he certainly made an impression.
“Looks like Calder got you whipped into shape while I was gone.”
I nod. “He’s a task master.”
Sam somehow keeps a straight face as she says, “So much drilling.”
Frank chuckles. “Well, glad to hear it. Looks like I better let you go.”
Sam’s partner waves her over, and when I turn back to my court, my heart lights up. “Speak of the devil.”
My fourth partner is Calder.
He saunters onto the court with a lackadaisical, “Hey.”
I stifle a smile. I don’t know how I ever thought he was in a bad mood all the time. Now his expression looks less broody, more thoughtful. “Having a good time?”
“The best. You?”
“Oh, definitely.”
Calder tosses the ball over the net, and we get into a dinking rhythm. “So what do we do now?”
“I think you’re supposed to be charming or something.”
“Oh. Perfect. My specialty.”
I snort.
“Seems it’s already working.”
I don’t know what we talk about for the next five minutes because I don’t think I’m physically inhabiting my body. I’m floating. Living in the rafters.
By the time we play our mini game, I’m barely capable of holding up my paddle.
“What are you doing?” Calder frowns at me when I miss a block at the net.
I smile back. “I don’t know.”
His lips twitch. “You’re not paying attention.”
“Yeah. It’s hard. I’m a bit distracted.”
He blows out a breath. “If you tell me there’s another spider?—”
I bark a laugh. “No, no spider.”
“Then get your head in the game, Mabel.”
A comment like that isn’t helping, but I do my best. We end up squeaking out a win 5-4 and after we tap paddles, Calder turns to me. “That was a terrible showing.”
A laugh bubbles up my throat. “I know. I’m sorry.”
