Page 13 of Just for the Plot

“Wait, really?” she asks.

“Yup.” Bennett gets up to bat and I watch as the camera scans up his body, showing off his thick thighs, sturdy torso, and biceps I never thought I’d see on him. He fills out that jersey better than I expected, and it’s nothing I should be noticing, that’s for damn sure. But it’s the way his blue eyes shine under the shadow of his helmet that really catches my attention, combined with his five o’clock shadow and the intensity in his expression. I honestly don’t understand how he’s single. “I’ll be one floor above him.”

Bennett takes a strike and I can hear Ryland, Gabby’s husband, in the background yell about how that was not a strike at all.

Bennett takes a step out of the box, stares at his bat, and then lets out a deep breath before tugging on his helmet and stepping back in the box. It’s the same routine, every single time. He’s so composed, so calm.

“Now I’m even more jealous,” Gabby complains just as Bennett unleashes his hands and swings at a ball, making contact and immediately shooting it over the left field fence, like a bullet straight from a gun.

He’s so impressive.

Ryland’s clapping in the background while Gabby cheers for a moment and then comes back on the phone. “Sorry, Bennett just hit a home run.”

“I know. I’m watching.”

“You’re watching?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’ve been watching since reading that baseball series I was telling you about. And have you read it yet?”

“Not so much.”

“Ugh.” I groan. “You know, it would really help me out if my best friend liked to read like I do.”

“Sorry, it’s just not my thing.”

“Clearly.” I sigh.

“Speaking of books, whatever happened to you quitting your job and opening that book truck thing you were talking about? That’s a job you could have in Almond Bay.”

I twirl a piece of hair with my finger. “Yeah, I still want to do that, but I don’t feel like I can leave Adalade right now, with the move and everything. She still needs my help.”

“She could find another assistant. You’ve saved up more than enough. You’ve built a small following on social media. You could do this.”

“I know,” I say, nerves blooming in my stomach from the thought oftaking the leap into a dream I’ve had for a little bit. “Just not ready yet.”

“Will you ever be ready?” she asks.

“Someday,” I answer, even though I don’t believe it myself.

I have dreams, I have thoughts, I have ideas, but the reality of the situation is I’ve never been brave enough to take the leap. I went to school to learn how to start my own small business. I took an internship with Adalade since she runs her own interior design company. She doesn’t do much designing herself anymore, but rather employs others to do thejob for her. Well, that internship turned into an assistant job, and that assistant job turned into an executive assistant. And now I spend my days running mindless errands for a sixty-six-year-old with a hefty credit card limit and a lot of time on her hands.

Sure, the job doesn’t really give me a sense of accomplishment. There are days where I go from store to store to store looking for a pair of camel loafers that she’d like, or fetching a brownie with the perfect gooey consistency, but it does allow for me to have a lot of reading time.

It’s also allowed me to dream more—dream of something more than this—but the problem is, when you dream, you must have courage to step out of your comfort zone. And I’ll be honest… I’m confident, but I’m not courageous.

I’ve seen what dreaming can do. My dad was a dreamer, and when I was young, he took a chance on a dream and ended up losing all of our family’s money. It’s why Mom had to work part-time at my school. It’s why he found a job at the Olive Garden. He had to start from scratch and work his way back up. I’ve seen the stress and the anxiety of it all, and even though the job I have isn’t fulfilling in the slightest, it’s safe.

Adalade loves me.

She’d never fire me.

I have security, a great paycheck, and it gives me time to do what I love…and that’s read books.

“Hopefully someday soon,” Gabby says, always pushing me. “But until then, when do you move into the new place?”

“They’re finishing up some painting, so probably in the next day or so. Hope Bennett doesn’t mind.”

“He’s pretty chill and he’s usually at the stadium most of the time, so he probably won’t even notice you there.”