Page 124 of Running
“Your brother,” I mouth to her.
“Hey J,” he says after I answer, his voice enthusiastic. “Damn, it’s good to hear your voice after a week. What’s going on?”
“Oh, man. Well, last week wasn’t exactly chill time like I hoped. First, we had the hurricane, and then, a bunch of stuff happened with my family.”
“Shit, your sister you mean?”
I proceed to explain the whole story, from the first call from my mom all the way to getting everyone here—minus Grace’s part of the equation.
“Now everything is situated, and I love that they’re here. But it was a rough couple of days.”
“That’s a relief. What a d-bag that guy sounds like. Sorry, I know he’s your brother-in-law.”
“No apologies needed. Same page. So tell me about the trip?”
He lets out a happy sigh. “Oh, fuck, insane. We had such a good time.”
“Hi, Johnson,” I hear Rori say in a muffled voice through the receiver.
“Hi back, Rori,” I reply. She can’t hear me, but Landon repeats what I say to her.
“I’m twenty-oneeeeee,” she sings closer to the phone.
“Haha, I’m not going to sing happy birthday to her,” I joke.
“Yeah, don’t break my ears,” he quips back. “You can save it for my birthday.”
“So she’s there?” I ask him. Duh, captain obvious. But I can’t remember when she has that final tournament. “That’s nice.”
“Yeah, for this week, through Sunday afternoon’s game. And Rawls and Connor come in Sunday morning for my birthday too. They both have games on Saturday but then will be here a couple days. And Rori leaves for the WTA Finals on Monday.”
“Awesome, I’m glad everyone will be in town for your big day.”
“Twenty-four. We’re getting old, J.”
A thought hits me. “Do you want to use my box at the stadium for everyone coming?”
I bought a suite in the stadium for the season, and I can’t imagine someone as famous as Rori being able to sit safely in general seats. Not to mention, I love the idea of Grace in my box.
“Oh shit, yeah, that would be amazing.”
“Rori and Grace can keep using it even when the boys aren’t in town.”
“Nice, J, that’s huge, thank you.”
“All good. Happy early birthday.”
“Rori definitely plans on coming to all the games once she’s back too. It’s going to be awesome having her hold down the fort at the house, catering to my every need.” He’s laughing by the end of the sentence, clearly teasing her. I hear her say, “You wish, superstar,” in return.
“No, but seriously, thanks,” he says. “She and Grace can entertain each other during the games.”
“Yeah, that’ll be nice for Grace too.” I look at Goldie and wink so she knows the mention of her name is harmless.
Landon’s next words are muffled but I make out, “Woman, why are you taking off your shirt?” Rori’s response is even harder to hear but definitely repeats his earlier phrase “catering to your needs,” and that’s my cue to get off the phone.
“I’m going to let you go, man.”
“Yeah, talk later,” Landon says in a rush before the phone clicks off.
