Page 135 of Running Home to You
“They seem so young,” Abby said while they observed practice. The game’s soundtrack filled the wistful, not quite comfortable quiet between them. A steady rhythm of the ball dinging off the bat, sliding through the dirt, popping into a leather glove. “You sure you don’t want to get out there for a few before tomorrow?”
“Not after watching you take one off the leg.” Kate smirked but kept her stare trained on the action. “I’ve never seen you miss a routine grounder.”
“Maybe I’ve lost my touch.”
Kate couldn’t resist her gaze, that self-deprecating, rocky chuckle, like another tug of gravity. When she scanned her face more fully, a little dust on her forehead, Kate detected something new. An unfamiliar lightness in her copper gaze.
“What?” Abby asked.
She was too entranced to shift away. “Your eyes are just so clear.”
A sheepish smile lifted Abby’s face. “Two years clean.”
She pulled out the plastic chip commemorating the milestone and offered it to her. Their fingers brushed together for a fraction of a second, but the heaviness in her stomach overpowered the flutter. Kate frowned as she ran a thumb over the token embossed withtwo.“I’m sorry I never wrote you back.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t need to.” Abby stared at her feet, letting practice fill the quiet for a beat. “I’m sorry I called you.”
Kate had deleted the voicemail, but the pain had never left her. “Don’t be. It broke my heart to hear you like that, but—” She steadied herself with a breath. “But I understand why you called. I’m just glad to see you healthy. Two years sober is amazing.”
“Nah. It’s nothing.” Abby shook her head. “Especially compared to what you’ve done. American Bar Association Top Young Lawyers Award. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals win. What’s next, the Supreme Court? Showing up here looking like a badass, no bullshit attorney.”
“I had a meeting in Portland. And look at you…all covered in dirt.” Kate dampened the pad of her thumb without thinking and rubbed dust from Abby’s chin. “I take it you and Mick made up?”
Abby’s eyes widened. “She told you?”
“Well, not what it was about.” Kate blushed and pulled back from fussing over Abby’s mess. Old habits never died. “What was it about?”
She grimaced. “You.”
“Over me?”
“I said about, not over.” Abby winked. Kate stayed rigid, only to keep herself from smiling, which wouldn’t have lasted long anyway when Abby continued. “She wanted me to get my shit together and stop you from marrying Ryan.” Her gaze shifted to Kate’s left hand. She reflexively grabbed her naked ring finger, though there was really no reason to hide it. “Apparently, you didn’t need my help. Unless…”
Kate shook her head. “You had nothing to do with it.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, good.”
They both turned to the field, shoulders inching back up to ears, identical sighs puffing into the pine-laced air. Kate clasped her hands together and squeezed in the silence, willing herself to keep going. To find out if they could pretend to be two people without history tangled between them.
“So, you’re scouting now?” Kate asked. “I saw theSports Illustratedarticle.”
Abby threw her head back. A glimpse of old that Kate grinned at. “Well, that was just bullshit. You can’t believe everything you read.”
Kate, of course, hadn’t just read the article, but memorized it. It highlighted Abby as one of just two female scouts in Major League Baseball and half of the first father-daughter duo in MLB history. Not just that, but her and Audie’s humanitarian work in Puerto Rico. Kate had lost herself in the photos. The one of Abby absorbed in a game, jaw hard as though back on the diamond, not just watching but hearing.
“Do you like it?” Kate asked.
“Scouting? Yeah.” Abby nodded. “A lot of traveling, but it’s good for me. Keeps me out of trouble. I never stopped needing the game, I guess.”
Kate nodded, a happy skip unhitching her chest. “And you like San Diego?”
“Yeah. I’m crashing at Isla’s pool house, but I’m gone half the year anyway. It’s good though. And I get to see the boys.” Abby grinned and pulled out her phone. “They’re obsessed with baseball.” She leaned closer to share pictures of her dark-haired, amber-eyed nephews. “Leo’s grown like three inches, and he really understands the game. He’ll watch for hours with me. But this little guy, Milo, is an absolute rascal. Always wiggling and on the move.”
Kate laughed. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
“Poor Isla’s going to have her hands full.” Abby chuckled. “She says hi by the way. She’s proud of you.” She tilted her head. “And I am too.”
