Walking into a new place with no one there feels weird. I’ve always lived with a roommate, so looking around at my basically empty house is kind of depressing.
I throw my bag down on the ground, plop on my couch—the only furniture in the room, even my TV is currently sitting on the floor—and pick up the phone to call my sister.
“Hey, bro,” she says when she answers the phone.
“What’s up, Sam? Whatcha doin’?”
She lets out a sigh. “Just got the kids in bed. Mike poured me a glass of wine, and I’m chillin’ for the night. How about you?”
“Just got home. We did an open batting practice tonight, inviting kids out to come watch.”
“Oh, yeah? How did that go?”
“Good. I stayed after to sign autographs.”
A slight laugh escapes her lips. “Of course you did. Why am I not surprised? That’s awesome though.”
I know the second I mention this, she’s going to freak out, but I can’t keep it to myself. “Your girl showed up to watch.”
I hear commotion on the phone, and I can only imagine her setting down her glass so she can react in her proper way without spilling a drop.
“She didn’t!”
I inhale and exhale, fighting a smile, though I have no idea why I’m trying to hide it; it’s not like Samantha can see me.
“She did. With her son, Nolan.”
“Did she know who you were?”
“No. She acted just as surprised as I was. I’d noticed a kid wearing the same Little League hat in the photo on her stand, so I?—”
“So, you went over to a group of kids just to see if, inallof Nashville, out ofallthe kids who play in that league, this might be the kid from the photo,” she interrupts me to say, drawing out the wordallboth times.
“Your point?”
“Nothing. Just pointing out that you went out of your way to see if this was Christy’s son.”
“And it was.”
“Yep. I gathered that.”
“You’re impossible—you know that, right?”
“Sure do. I’m also a really good matchmaker.”
“Just because you called one person to set up my hair appointments doesn’t make you a matchmaker.”
“Eh. Wrong. I called seven.”
“You called seven different people to find me a hairstylist?”
“Yes! I told you I was taking this matchmaker thing seriously. I knew the only consistent thing in your life was your haircut every two weeks, so I took advantage of that and made sure that person at least had a chance of attracting your attention.”
I run my hand down my face. “I thought you were kidding about that when you told me earlier.”
“Nope. I don’t kid.” She sighs, and it makes me stop and pause too. “I just hate that you’re alone out there.”
She hits the button to FaceTime me, and I accept, only to see her wearing a sorrow expression.
