“Sure.”What’s one more sleepless night?
Jane hesitated. “You know, I don’t think he came in here to throw vegetables at you.”
Well, he did.Clover opted to keep her snarky comment to herself. “Then why did he come in?”
“I think, and this is just a vibe I’m getting, but I think he came in to play.”
Clover had no idea what that meant. “Play?”
“To play. He’s looking for a friend.” Jane lifted her shoulders. “It’s just a feeling.” She headed back to the office.
Clover rubbed her sore shoulder again. When the ball hit her arm, she thought Dustin was throwing itather, but now she wondered if he’d been throwingtoher. The second time he tossed a ball to the crowd, he’d looked right at her. She hadn’t been sure because his face was partially in shadow from his hat, but she’dfelthis eyes connect with hers.
Catching Brayden’s ball had been fun, like she was part of the game that happened on the field. Come to think of it, the people around her had reached for those fan balls.
Had Dustin been trying to include her in baseball? If so, then she did owe him an apology. She probably owed one to Brayden too, considering she’d handed the ball to a little kid on their way out of the stadium. Sheesh! For someone who wanted to join the baseball family, she wasn’t doing a very good job of being a good sport.
Dustin must think she was a baseball idiot. Or an idiot in general, because she couldn’t play a game of catch. Her stomach sank. There was a good chance that the majority of the problems between them—the reasons they couldn’t get along—started and ended with her.
Well, that was going to change. She’d march herself right on down to the stadium and do what needed to be done as soon as she was off work. Never let it be said that Clover Maes couldn’t admit when she was wrong.
Chapter Sixteen
Clover ended up staying an extra hour at the hotel to cover for the guy who worked graveyards. His son was sick and had to go to an all-night urgent care facility. It wasn’t like Clover could argue that apologizing to Dustin was more important than a child’s health. Turned out he had a bad case of strep and needed a couple shots and some major antibiotics. The poor little guy.
Maddie stayed with her, sitting on the couch in the lobby and watching the game unfold. The Redrocks weren’t doing well tonight. They were down by five.
“I like Broc. He’s got a swagger to his walk that’s kind of sexy,” admitted Maddie.
Clover nodded. “Zack is pitching well tonight, but the team isn’t giving him much support.” She’d heard one of the announcers say something like that a few nights ago after Travis Dadds dropped a high fly ball.
Just then, Oakland’s left fielder hit a grounder past the third baseman and brought in another run. Six to zero.
Jeff finally arrived for his shift, looking haggard and worn. His shirt was untucked, wrinkled, and buttoned incorrectly. Clover politely pointed it out to him and then offered to stick around for fifteen more minutes so he could use the iron in the laundry room. He told her thanks and made his way down the hall.
Maddie got up and shut off the television. “That’s it, game over.”
Clover watched the minutes tick by on the digital clock on the wall. The numbers were in green, but nothing about this situation saidgo go go. Pulling her hair out of the too-tight ponytail, she scrubbed at her scalp.
Maddie tipped her head to the side. “How are you going to find him if the game’s over?” At the beginning of her shift, Clover had filled her in on the whole new level of understanding about her subconscious mind and how she was making an honest effort to overcome her antisocial behavior. Maddie nodded along, not contradicting Jane’s statement about her keeping people at arm’s length, and also not judging her for being that way. Maddie was literally the world’sbestbest friend.
“I’m not sure.” Clover chewed her lip. “Don’t laugh, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I read this blog by a guy who used to be in the majors, and he said that when the team is at home, most of the guys eat in the clubhouse after the game and then go right home.”
“You’re reading baseball blogs now?”
“You said you wouldn’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing. I’m impressed that you’ve done your homework.”
“Yeah, well.” Clover cringed. Her research about baseball had made her more interested in Dustin. She wondered what his daily life was like, his routine.
She shouldn’t have read the blog post, because it also detailed what a player ate to stay in shape, and now she wondered stupid things like if Dustin liked his eggs over easy or scrambled and if he had gone to organic produce or ate the regular stuff. Each time a question was answered about the sport, she had five more about Dustin.
“Well, in my research, I found out that a lot of the players live in the new development by the stadium.”
