I hid my face behind June’s shoulder.
Strike two.
I leaned in the opposite direction, away from her raspy yell. Who knew she was such a rabid fan?
Strike three. That’s the ball game.
That was the whole enchilada. The rest of the Roasters poured out of the dugout, racing toward the mound to celebrate. Clarke and Dani stormed the field seconds later, documenting the moment before joining in on the celebration themselves. Soren twirled Clarke in his arms, planting a kiss on her that would make even Granny Gibbs blush.
There was no stopping the tears pouring down my cheeks after that. While the team celebrated on the field, I had a mini celebration of my own, exchanging hugs with June, Bella, and random strangers, all of whom had come out tonight to see history be made.
Eventually, Jared broke away from his teammates. My heart leapt when he jogged across the field, eyes dead set on mine. He didn’t stop when he reached the short wall dividing our seats from the field and instead leapt over it, landing directly to my side.
“Hi, angel.”
I smiled through my tears. “Hi.”
“Got something for you.”
I looked down at the dusty ball in my hands.The World Series game ball.Holy shit.
“Why are you—”
“Roll it over.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and rolled the ball over in my hands. My knees nearly buckled when I read the words scribbled on the other side between the laces.
I love you.
I threw my arms around his neck, soaking up every ounce of sweat and dirt on his body. “I love you, too.” I spoke into his neck.
“Say it again, angel.”
When I stepped back, I ignored the cameras and phones flashing around us and focused solely on the man of my dreams, my book boyfriend in the flesh. Someday, I would find the adequate words to describe how I felt about Jared—those three little words didn’t cut it. Until then, I would tell him every hour, every day, until hopefully one day, they amounted to a fraction of how I felt for him.
I reached up, spun his hat until the brim faced away from me, and grabbed the sides of his face. “I love you.” His eyes blazed when I tugged on his beard. “Now kiss me, baseball boy. You’re on TV.”
Pink
Two months later
“Threehives? Really?” Bella leapt across the couch, practically tackling me against the cushions. “Thank you, Jare-bear.”
“Merry Christmas, Belles,” I choked out.
“Me next,” June insisted, holding her hands out in front of her. “Dani, pass me a present, would you? There’s got to be something under that ginormous tree for me.”
Ginormous was an understatement. It had taken four of us to squeeze the massive fir into Nessa and Nero’s living room. Maybe I had gone a little overboard with the tree and decorations, but it was my first Christmas in Rose City—my first Christmas with Nessa—and I was determined to make the most of it.
Oh, what a difference a year could make. It was hard to believe that only a year ago, I had been slurping down ramen noodles in some tiny hole-in-the-wall outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. Having lived most of her adult life married and with a full staff,our mom had never been much of a cook. Instead, she, Bella, and I had braved the elements and enjoyed Christmas dinner at the only open establishment in town.
With Bella living next door now, I had offered to fly Mom out to join us for Christmas. Much to my surprise, she had already made plans with her new boyfriend, a tree surgeon named Dennis.
I was happy for her. Hell, I was just downright happy.
We had started renovations on Matty’s farmhouse just before Thanksgiving, and things were off to a swimming start. In fact, thanks to the help of his brother and sister-in-law, we were about a week ahead of schedule. They had even offered to help with some fixes on my townhouses, assuming we wrapped up Matty’s in time.
Bella had settled in nicely in Rose City. As discussed, she had finished the last of her coursework online and had requested a leave of absence for the next semester. It was difficult not to press her on it, especially since she only needed another twenty credits to complete her degree—one of them, at least—but I backed off when I saw how happy she was. She had a part-time job, she had friends, and she was even taking a ski trip to Mount Hood next week to ring in the new year.
