“You are looking at UNC’s new director of Pitching Performance—” That was as far as I got because my brother and Robbie both jumped up and literally tackled me to the ground, my dad piled on top of us, Tilley squealed, Elizabeth gasped, and Mom said, “If the four of you muss those suits I had so perfectly pressed, you are all in trouble.”
Dad got up and helped Parker, Robbie, and me to our feet and then wrapped me in a big bear hug, clapping me on the back. “I have never been as proud of you as I am right now.”
Amelia ran in, Greer, little George, and Big George on her heels. “What is happening?” she asked, breathless.
I didn’t think of her as anything but my sister-in-law anymore. A mother who, yeah, was sometimes tired and usually in some sort of athleisure wear even at work because she worked in her living room. But, today, with her hair done, in a fitted pink dress that I was sure Elizabeth had spent weeks picking out for her, I remembered how drop-dead gorgeous she was. Why she’d ever fallen for my punk-ass little brother, I’d never know. Nope. I corrected myself as Parker wrapped me in a side hug. I was trying to evolve past this. We were adults now, three-minutes-ago tackling aside. In truth, there was literally no one I loved as much as my brother.
“Mason got a coaching job at UNC!” Parker said. His tone indicated that he was probably even more excited than I was, which was pretty cool. He was a good kid.
Amelia gasped and threw her arms around me too.
“Yay!” little George said. “Coach Mason!” Which was funny, because I had been a coach since he was born.
Big George broke through the mass to shake my hand. “Well done, son,” he said. He looked at Parker, who was his right-hand man at his company, McCann Media, and said, “Let’s focus some of our donation efforts this year on the UNC baseball program.”
“George, you’re a real mensch.” He had been the kind of father-in-law to Parker that actually made me want to find a father-in-law of my own, if not a wife. And, to Parker’s immense credit, when Greer died, Parker had made sure that George was still in his life in every possible way. They were bonded forever in their grief and, on days like today, I hoped that a little bit of joy bonded them too.
“I knew all that hard PR work would pay off.” Amelia acted like she was shining her polished nails on her dress.
I raised my eyebrows. “Isthatwhy I am suddenly so popular?”
She hugged me. “You were meant for more, Mason. I just helped everyone see it.” I hugged her closer. “Thank you.” It meant a lot that a woman with so little free time would take hers to help me move forward. And she’d maybe missed her calling. The woman was a hell of a publicist.
“So, how is Daisy taking the news?” Amelia asked.
“Well… that’s the thing. I haven’t told the school or my players, or, worst of all, Daisy, so don’t mention this.”
“Oh, Mason,” Amelia said, patting me on the back. She didn’t need to elaborate. We both knew this was going to be hard. Would Daisy want to come with me? Do long distance? Was it fair of me to ask her for either? I’d had days to tell her, and I hadn’t. Because when I told her, it would be real. And we’d have to figure out where we went from there.
The crowd was beginning to disperse, which gave my mom room to give me a big kiss on the cheek. “Oh, honey. I’m just so happy that you’re so happy.” Her eyes filled with tears. My mom never cried, and I knew if she did, I might too. So I squeezed her hand and looked away so that didn’t happen.
“Wait. So is Uncle Mason leaving?” Greer cried up at me.
I scooped her up, surprised that she was even aware of what was going on. “No, sweetie. I’d never leave you.” I kissed her a bunch of times in quick succession behind her ear, making her giggle. “I’ll be gone a little more, but I’ll still have the octagon house where you can come see me and play.”
“Oh, is that so?” Dad asked in that booming voice of his.
“Well, I guess that was kind of presumptuous.”
Dad clapped me on the shoulder and said, “I’d never throw out the son making all my dreams come true.” He looked at my brother. “No offense, Parker.”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Parker Thaysden, black sheep since 1990.”
“Where’s Aunt Daisy?” Greer asked, peering at me with suspicion like I had hidden her.
“Baby Maisy is kind of little for church, so Daisy is going to meet us here afterward. Okay?”
Greer nodded. “Oh, good. I need to help her with the baby.”
“You will be a big help,” Amelia chimed in.
Mr. Saxton trailed in the back door and said, “What’s everyone doing? It’s time for church!”
Everyone started chattering all at once, filling him in on my new job, which, quite frankly, none of them knew one single detail about. He was a huge Carolina fan and, as we walked out to the car, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, “Mason, I have a lot of thoughts about the way the batting coach is managing practice.”
And so it begins… I couldn’t help but smile. As he talked, I looked out over the marsh grass. I could almost imagine myself as a little kid, throwing pitch after pitch with my dad, Mr. Saxton, Parker, friends, my mom, Amelia, even Aunt Tilley. They had all been a part of my massive success. They had all lost something in my disastrous failure. And I couldn’t help but feel proud that I was giving them a reason to come together in happiness once again.
And I realized what a gift I had been given in this big family who fought and forgave, drove me insane but also saved me. I loved them so much, and not seeing them every day was going to be harder than I had let myself imagine. I told myself I wanted to keep this secret for a few days to let it sink in. But really, I hadn’t wanted to face the reality of how much all our lives were going to change.
