“I didn’t know you were working with her.”
“I wasn’t hiding it.”
“You could have said something.”
“Are you seriously mad that I just helped your pitcher win you guys the game?”
“No,” I said, keeping my head down as I drew my other knee up to the bench to untie my other cleat. “But it would have been nice to know what my sister and my dad were doing.”
“Nowhe’s your dad? Last night when I was practically begging you to play catch with him, he was your coach.” She sighed when I failed to respond. “Sadie asked for help, and we gave it to her. If you want help, say the word and Dad and I will do the same for you.”
I didn’t want help, but I couldn’t shake the image of the three of them practicing together, Selena showing Sadie exactly how to grip the ball and Dad doling out rare compliments that I had to practically pull from him.
“Look,” Selena said. “The point is that you guys won. Don’t let petty jealousy over something you’ve made no secret of not wanting ruin that.” She nodded at the girls still congratulating Sadie. “Be happy for her if nothing else.”
Iwashappy for Sadie. She needed the emotional pick-me-up after Ryan the turd, plus she’d played phenomenally well. I’d been the first to charge the mound after her last strikeout. Looking at her out there, still grinning as the last of our teammates hugged her, I couldn’t help smiling too. It was only when I glanced at Dad that I felt like I was choking on something. And Selena calling me on it only made it that much harder to swallow, because it wasn’t that I didn’t want it—I didn’t know if I should.
Muttering something under her breath, Selena left the dugout. When I followed a few minutes later—after another genuine hug for Sadie—I found her and Mom standing with a guy that could only be Gavin.
The women on Mom’s side of the family were all vertically challenged. Selena was the tallest of any of us, and she capped out at a whopping five-four. Gavin was just barely taller than her, and that might have just been his hair, which was shorn on the sides and swooped across the top in an undercut.
They were laughing together when I joined them.
“Here she is! Gavin, meet my baby sister, Dana.” Selena had to loosen her grip on Gavin’s arm so he could shake my hand, but she reclaimed it as soon as possible.
“Great game. It’s nice to finally meet you, Dana. Selena talks about you all the time.”
I almost saidShe only told us about you a week ago, but it was painfully obvious that Selena wanted this first meeting to go well. “Thanks. She’s told me a lot about you too.”
“Oh, you’ve got a—” Selena plucked a tiny mesquite pod that had blown into Gavin’s hair.
“Thanks, Lena.”
“Lena?” I said, glancing at my sister. “I thought you hated that nickname?”
“No, I don’t,” was her immediate answer.
Um, yeah, she did. I distinctly remembered her calling me Na in retaliation when I’d tried out the nickname years ago.
Gavin ducked his head, but not before I saw a smile play at his lips. Reluctantly, Selena’s joined his.
“Okay, fine,” she said to him. “Maybe you were right.” She looked at Mom and me. “I wanted to try it out because the name Selena is a little crowded in the music industry. I don’t want to be eclipsed by these other huge singers before I even open my mouth.”
“Trust me,” Gavin said, and I noticed his thumb sweep across the back of her hand. “It’s not possible.”
Selena glanced at their joined hands, smiling.
“Besides, it was your grandmother’s name. You should keep it.”
I didn’t have to see Mom’s face to know Gavin had just won major Brownie points with her.
“Tell us how you met, Gavin,” Mom said. She was a romantic, but anyone who wanted to take her firstborn child across the country was getting grilled, especially since Dad wasn’t there yet.
“Oh, well—” he smiled at Selena “—I happened to be in this coffee shop right by campus.”
“And he doesn’t even drink coffee,” Selena said, grinning back at Gavin.
“I don’t, but for some reason, I had this overwhelming urge for—”
