“Thanks, Will,” I say.
And then I hear Dad’s voice. “That’s great, Colton.”
I don’t know if I’m imagining it or if Dad really just said what he said. I try not to lift my brows in surprise. When I look over at him, I find his mouth raised in a small smile. Briefly, I try to name the emotion I see in his eyes. Pride? Maybe. Or maybe not.I stop myself, doing my best not to measure my worth by the level of his approval. Instead, I turn my focus, feeling gratitude for this moment and the fact that Dad and I are here in the same room together, trying to rebuild our broken relationship into one that is healthier and hopefully stronger in the end.
“You should ask Colton which retainer client he managed to sign yesterday,” Missy says to everyone with a knowing glint in her eye.
“Who?” Will asks, taking a sip of his drink.
I eye Missy, who is far too happy shining a spotlight on me.
“Tyrone Williams,” I say.
To my mother’s horror, Will nearly spits out his hot chocolate.
“As in Joseph Williams’s son, Tyrone? The same Tyrone with a .312 batting average in his first year in the pros and thirty-eight home runs?”
“The very one.” I nod, scooting to the edge of my couch cushion, feeding off of Will’s excitement.
For the next five minutes, our conversation gets a steroid boost, as Will, Lexi, and I talk everything baseball—from the previous MLB season to the draft to which team we think is best set up to sweep the World Series next year. Even Mom and Dad chime in, their features growing lighter the more we talk. For a moment, I glimpse how things used to be, all of us sitting around the TV, excitedly talking baseball as a family while watching the Colorado Rockies play. A bud of hope blooms in my chest. Hope that my family will work through our differences and eventually mend.
When Will and Lexi start an animated retelling of an iconic Rockies game they attended this past spring, I glance at Missy. She happily nods along to the conversation, though I know that behind her bright eyes, she’s likely off in another realm. I can’t help but chuckle as I wrap an arm around her shoulder andlower my face to her ear. “Sorry you’re marrying into a baseball family.”
She elbows me in the ribs; all the while, she appears deeply interested in the baseball stats my family throws around like a group of MLB recruiters. Keeping her smile intact, she speaks to me through her teeth. “I’m coming around to baseball. I just have to get past the part where they use the bat and hit the ball and run around for 500 years—then it will be my favorite game in the world.”
I snort out a laugh, her words reviving a memory. “I still can’t believe that when we went to Tyrone’s game, you fell asleep. Asleep, Missy. His team had just scored a home run in the tenth inning, and you were snoring.”
“A lady doesn’t snore; she breathes deeply.” In the most adorable way possible, Missy scrunches her nose at me.
Just then, the phone in the pocket of Missy’s denim skirt starts buzzing. Missy covertly pulls it out to find Ji’s name on the top of the screen. Quietly, she pockets her phone, putting her attention back on my family. But moments later, my pocket buzzes, and I find that Ji is calling me now. Missy glances at my screen, then at me. We both share athis must be urgentlook.
“Will you excuse us?” I say to my family. “Missy and I need to take this call.”
Mom and Dad nod and Will leans back on the couch, eyeing us with a rakish smile.
“Sure. A phone call. Needing more of that Berry Red lip gloss?” Will winks at me, and without thinking, I take a forest-green throw pillow by the tassels and huck it at my brother, pelting him in the face like I did when we were kids.
“Nice aim,” Lexi says.
“I knew I liked you,” I say, to which everyone, even my dad, laughs.
With that, Missy and I quickly head out the double doors leading to the deck that spans the entire backside of the house. The entire city of Pine Lakes fans out beneath us like a picturesque gingerbread village with its many houses outlined with festive lights and snow flurries that are just starting to dust the city. Missy and I quickly huddle under one of the five or so space heaters that line the outdoor area, and I answer Ji’s call on the very last ring.
“Hey, Ji. Are you okay?” Missy says into my phone as I hold it in between us on speaker.
“Missy, I met him,” Ji says.
“Who did we meet?” Missy asks.
“Theone,” Ji says.
Missy gasps. “No. Where are you?”
“In the bathroom at The Simmering Ramen.”
“Oh, fancy. The restaurant, not the bathroom. Wait, is this the guy from the dating app you said you weren’t sure about? Did you actually hit it off with him?”
“Yes, well, no. It was supposed to be with that guy, but he didn’t show,” Ji says matter-of-factly.
