Page 31 of Running Home to You
T.K.’s snores rippled through the tension. She slept with a silk eye mask and noise-canceling headphones. She was slated to pitch in the morning and, despite Abby’s untimely departure, insisted on her nine hours of beauty rest.
“Maybe we should look for her,” Kate said.
Mick shook her head. “Let’s give her one more hour. Bars close at two.”
“How do you know she’s at a bar?” Jill asked.
“Because it’s Cruz.”
Kate frowned. She regretted not doing something more. Abby clearly hadn’t been in a good place that morning. Kate thought she heard her in her sleep, but Abby was out the door before she could ask. She barely ate. While she played flawlessly, she wasn’t the same.
“I should’ve followed her,” she said.
“No. Then we’d be worried about both of you,” Mick said.
“At least we’d be together.” Kate subtly clasped her hands, repeated her prayer, nearly moved her lips with it.
“She’s not your responsibility.”
“She actually is.”
“I know Coach said that, but I think this is beyond tutoring her.” Mick stood and stopped her pacing. “She’ll be okay.”
“I think we need to tell Whit,” Jill said. “If something happens, and we didn’t say anything, we’d feel horrible. Plus, if Coach knows about this, you’ll get to start at shortstop, Hutch.”
“I don’t care about shortstop,” Kate muttered.
Jill shrugged. “I’m just saying. I like Cruz too, but this whole time you guys have been duking it out, when all along she was going to self-destruct. I mean, some people are just wired that way.”
“Don’t say that.”
Mick frowned. “We’re both just trying to say that you can’t hold yourself responsible. Abby is going to be Abby.”
Kate hated such an assessment. Hated them talking about her likethey knew her. They didn’t know her like Kate did. Didn’t see her like Kate did. Didn’t care about her like Kate did. Like her chest might collapse or expand based on where Abby landed, on what she felt, on what she said at any given moment.
When the door beeped a few minutes later and the handle turned, the trio jumped to their feet. Abby stumbled in, steadied herself on the wall, and hiccupped.
“Where were you?” Mick asked.
“I’m just-just getting my cigarettes,” Abby slurred.
“You’re not going back out.”
“Y-yes.” She grabbed her lighter. “I am, Mickey.”
“We have a game tomorrow,” Kate said.
“No, no, no.Youhave a game tomorrow.” Abby pointed at her. “That makes you starting shortstop. You’re great at it. Waste to have you at second.”
Her belligerence turned Kate’s spine to stone. “Don’t leave.”
“You’re sweet, but you need to let me go. You’ll learn that eventually.” She hiccupped again. Kate grabbed her arm and Abby jerked away. “Don’t.”
Mick snatched Abby’s other arm. “Don’t do this, dude.”
“Stop.” Abby grunted, somehow staggering despite their efforts to restrain her. “Guys, come on. Let me go!”
“Stop it! Shupe, help!” Mick wrapped herself around one of Abby’s legs. Kate clung to her torso as Jill secured an arm. Despite Jill being the tallest, Mick the heaviest, and Kate the fittest, it took all three of them to wrestle Abby to the carpet. T.K. never stirred.
