Walker threw an incredible fastball, and the batter swung immediately and missed—strike one. The next couple of throws were balls that the batter let go and didn’t attempt to swing at. I could tell by Walker’s stance that he was going to throw his curveball next. He threw an absolute bomb at the batter, but this time the batter was ready and made contact. Unfortunately, where the ball hit the bat, it didn’t get much lift and was a line drive right into the elbow of Walker’s pitching arm.
Ava and I gasped loudly, both covering our mouths when weheard the impact. “Fuck!” Weston yelled as Walker fell to the ground, holding his pitching arm tightly against his body.
“That’s not good,” whispered Dean, eyes wide.
Archer jogged over with Harper, his own phone in his hand. Being the giant Austin Aviators fan that he was, he was clearly watching the game too. “Did you guys just see what happened?” Worry was etched all over Archer’s and Harper’s faces.
My mom’s previous happy tears for me now turned to sad tears for Walker as my dad held her against his chest while she wept. My dad stroked my mom’s hair. “It’s okay, honey. He’s been hit before. We don’t know how bad it is. Let’s not freak out just yet.”
The announcer didn’t think it looked too good either as Walker rolled on the ground in obvious pain. The trainers and coaches ran onto the field immediately to assess the situation, and the live stream of the game went to a commercial.
“Fuck!” Weston shouted again, startling everyone in the aisle.
I put my hand on Weston’s arm to calm him. “West, calm down. We don’t know what’s wrong yet. We have to be patient.” Even though it seemed like Weston and Walker were always going at each other, Weston never did well anytime Walker got hurt. Over all the years that Walker had played baseball, anytime he got hurt, Weston was at his side.
Farrah walked out of the lounge with a glass of wine and stopped in her tracks when she took in the current scene of my family losing their shit. She looked at me. “Addi, what’s wrong?Is everything okay?”
I shook my head. “No, Walker just got hit in his pitching arm by a line drive.”
Archer showed her the replay on his phone of Walker hitting the ground. Farrah’s hand holding her glass began to tremble, her eyes welling with tears. She quickly shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. “Can you please let me know when you hear from him and if he’s okay?” she asked me quietly.
I nodded, seeing the pain in her eyes. “Yeah, for sure.” I watched as Farrah set her wineglass down back in the lounge and quietly slipped out of the barn, leaving the party.
Dean walked up and noticed the concerned look on my face as I watched her leave. “That was odd.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know what happened between them all those years ago, but they clearly still care a lot about each other. Walker does the same shit whenever anything with her comes up—he shuts down.”
Dean wrapped his arms around me. “She’ll be okay, and so will your brother. He’s a tough guy. Want to go try to enjoy what’s left of our engagement party until we hear from Walker?”
I pushed up on my toes to place a quick kiss on his mouth. “Let’s go, fiancé.”
The End.
