My mom said I shouldn’t call you Chase even though that’s how I think of you. Thank you for the baseball mitt. It’s the best one ever. All my friends said so. It helps me catch better. Even Coach noticed.
The coach hasn’t picked the player for first base yet. That’s the position I want really bad. It’s between me and Jayson. I think I’d do better than he would, but Mom said that if I wanted to play sports, I had to listen to what Coach said and be happy no matter what. Sean said the same thing.
I know Sean and Maisy were upset that you bought me the glove. They knew it was from you even without the card. I heard them talking. Sean was more unhappy than Maisy. I think it was because he wanted to buy me a new glove but couldn’t afford one until after payday.
Maisy said you sent the mitt because you like to be kind to people. I think that’s a good thing to be no matter what. I decided to be kind to Jayson if Coach chooses him to play first base even though I’ll be sad on the inside.
No matter what anyone says, I’m really excited about my new mitt and want to thank you even if you would rather remain anonymous…rather not let anyone know.
Your friend for life,
Patrick Gallagher
Chase read the letter and couldn’t keep a smile off his face. He wondered if Maisy knew her brother had contacted him. Perhaps not. If she did know, she’d chosen to remain silent so it would be a surprise.
His good mood lasted the entire day, thanks in large part to the letter from Patrick. The relief he felt having talked to his father about Astrid had also lifted a heavy weight from his shoulders. He left the office earlier than usual because he was eager to speak to Maisy. Rather than waste time cooking a meal, he ordered Uber Eats and waited until the delivery arrived from his favorite Chinese restaurant before he reached for his phone.
Maisy answered after the first ring.
“Chase,” she said, and seemed excited, conveying her mood in a single word. “I have wonderful news.”
“Tell me,” he said, grinning like a schoolboy at her enthusiasm.
“It’s not my news, it’s Patrick’s. I’ll get him for you.”
He heard her open her bedroom door. Next came the sound of her shouting for her younger brother. Patrick must have been downstairs, as pounding footsteps echoed through the phone.
“Is it Chase?” Patrick asked, sounding breathless.
“It is,” Maisy assured him. “Here’s my phone.”
“Chase, Chase, guess what?” Patrick cried, with such happiness that it was all Chase could do not to laugh.
He had a fairly good idea what the boy’s big news was. However, far be it for him to take away Patrick’s pleasure in saying it himself.
“I haven’t got a single guess,” he said.
Patrick drew in a deep breath, as if he wanted to shout the news to the entire world. “Coach picked me to play first base.We have our first game on Saturday and…and Jayson even said I deserved the position more than he did.”
“Your friend is a good sport, then, right?”
“Right. I would have been a good sport, too, if Coach chose Jayson instead of me, because that’s the right thing to do. On the inside, though, I would have been disappointed. I think Jayson is disappointed on the inside, too.”
“I’m happy for you,” Chase said. “Tell me about your game this Saturday.”
Patrick gleefully filled in the details. “We’re playing against the Raptors and they’re a really good team. They won first place last year and they have a lot of the same players on the team this year. Our team is new. Coach is new, too. He does a good job, though. He played baseball in college, which means he knows his stuff, don’t you think?”
“I do. What’s the name of your team?” Chase asked.
“We’re the Tigers. We voted on the name and decided on that one, because we plan on eating up the wins this season.”
“Good luck on Saturday.”
“Thanks, Chase, I mean Mr. Furst.” He seemed to hold his hand over the side of the phone as he spoke in a loud whisper. “Did you get my letter?”
“I did,” Chase assured him.
“Mom said I should write and thank you and gave me the address. She didn’t need to remind me because I would have done it anyway. My new mitt helps me a lot. Thank you.”
