“I can tell. Right off the bat—pardon the pun—I knew you’d met your match. I love that for you—I do—but it alsobrings back years of me waiting for my husband to puthishappiness before the team’s success. I am so thankful that he didn’t put himself into heart failure before that happened.”
After the oysters arrived, the server explained where each was harvested—offering a welcome respite from the direction of the conversation. We placed the rest of our food orders before we had the chance to dig into our appetizers.
“Ooh, did I hear those are from Matunuck, RI?” Kendra asked, getting giddy.
“Have you had these before?” I asked.
“These are some of my favorites. Just wait until you try it.”
She watched as I put a dollop of horseradish on the oyster and slipped the oyster off the shell into my mouth. The sweet, briny flavor exploded on my tongue.
“Wow.”
She finished hers after gauging my response. “Yeah. Just as good as I remembered.”
Nonna quietly enjoyed her food, all while raising her eyebrows at me. She hated when women wouldn’t let themselves eat, and Kendra’s joy in sampling the oysters had pleased her. When she tore off a hunk of bread and swirled it in olive oil before taking a big bite, Nonna smiled even wider.
“Kendra’s running the marathon in April.”
“Yes, the training is ramping up, and I can’t seem to eat enough food to replenish the calories I’m burning.”
“Is this your first marathon?” Nonna asked.
“No, I had to qualify first. But I’ll be honest, training for a fall marathon is a lot different from training for April.”
“Is there a home game scheduled for Marathon Monday?” Nonna asked.
“There is.” She gave me a knowing look, all the sign I needed that she’d be planning a celebration.
“Great. I’m taking over the suite that night.”
“Be my guest.”
FORTY-FIVE
kendra
The excitementof opening day was only mildly dampened by the shitstorm that had exploded in my sister’s life. I had offered for her to sit with me in the suite, but with no one else in our family knowing why, it would be difficult to explain.
I was one of the few executive staff members invited to the owner’s suite for Opening Day. The dirty looks were more than obvious, but fuck that, I had more than proved myself at work and worked harder than any of these crusty old men. Jonathan had unfortunately had to settle with my former director, whose job I had taken, rather than waste energy on a court battle.
The crowd went wild as my brother-in-law Sam took the mound. The pitching reports had shown that he’d come back this season stronger than ever.
Me: Go Kelsey’s husband.
Kelsey: Lol. So freaking excited. Heads up, Sam found out Luc is the baby’s father.
“Fuck.” It slipped out before I realized.
Jonathan slid towards me to see what was wrong. “Anything I need to know?”
I let him read my texts; his eyes bulged briefly before darting back to the dugout. Luc’s frustration seemed to increase, and Sam’s pitching was starting to look like the other team was at batting practice.
The top of the first inning ended with us down three runs, a lead the Minutemen miraculously erased. Jonathan had just introduced me to his parents when Sam made his way out to the mound for the second inning.
Me: Um, WTF?
Kelsey: The boys need to keep this shit at home.
