Page 77 of Out of Left Field

“It’s not a real crush, Isaac. It’s like a celebrity crush. She thinks he’s cute and funny.”

It took me three tries to get out a coherent sentence. “But he’s not some movie star online she’ll never meet in real life. He’s right there!” I waved at the locker room. “And his mom is her nanny! She’s going to see him all the time!”

Kate shook she was trying so hard not to laugh at me. “Isaac. She’s nine. Where do you think this crush leads?”

I couldn’t think straight. I was blind with panic. My baby girl wasn’t supposed to have crushes. She was supposed to let me rock her to sleep at night, read her bedtime stories, and be her whole world forever.

Forever.

I was not ready for this.

Kate kissed me. “Babe. After she told me how cute Hunter is, she asked if I thought ponies were better than puppies and which she should ask to get for her birthday. Calm down. You have bigger problems than a little crush.”

“What if a little crush turns into a big crush? What if—wait. Did you just say ponies?”

She nodded. “And puppies. You have a little girl who is going to try and convince you to get her a pony. I asked where she thought it would live and she said it could share her room.”

I pictured a pony in Rosie’s room and busted out laughing. “She’s such an island kid. I don’t think she’s ever spent time around a horse before.” The smell alone would send her running. “She probably thinks it’s like having a very large My Little Pony.”

“I pointed out some flaws in her reasoning, but I didn’t want to crush her spirits.”

This was actually terrible news. The pony was out of the question, obviously, but the puppy? If Everett even got a sniff of an idea that Rosie wanted one he’d have three puppies in a flash. My brother loved dogs but hadn’t adopted one for himself. Mom and Dad always had a dog or two, and until now Ev had been content to play the irresponsible dog brother.

“Why are you frowning?” Kate made a face that must have been a match for mine.

“Because now I have to get a puppy.”

“You could just tell her no. She’ll probably forget about it in a week.”

But Kate didn’t understand. “The real test of our love isn’t the concert tonight. Oh no. The real test will be the next few weeks as you get a full dose of what it’s like to be part of the Anson family.”

She frowned harder. “I don’t understand.”

“You will. Oh, but you will.”

“So you have a daughter?” Kate’s dad asked.

I wasn’t so sure it was a casual question. There was an edge to it. “I do. Rosie is almost ten.” And wants a freaking puppy! This must be what it felt like to have anxiety. The idea of a tiny creature creating chaos in our lives terrified me.

But then again, dogs were nice to have around.

So confusing!

Kent was Kate’s dad’s real name, but he went by his stage name, Q. Kate explained that it was another Star Trek reference and I decided I would need to watch these shows if I was going to keep up with Kate’s family.

“Kate’s always been one to take care of herself.”

It was an off statement. The beginning of a thought that her dad didn’t seem to know how to finish.

“Yes, she is. But she’s letting me in, bit by bit. It helps that we’ve spent so much time together.” A tent had been set up in the park off to the side of the permanent stage. We had fans blowing, coolers of food and drinks, and a few security guards around us.

“Was it strange? To work together?” He said it in the past tense, which, technically, it was, but our paths still crossed so frequently I forgot she worked for Stirling now instead of the Mantas.

“It was great, actually. We really got to know each other.”

Q grunted. “I could never do it. Every time I come home I drive Eileen up a wall. I can only imagine that we’d kill each other if we worked together.”

Or maybe if you were home more you wouldn’t always be a fish out of water. Having someone come into your house—your life—and completely change the routines and dynamic was jarring. And if the other person was blind to it? I could see Eileen not being too happy when her husband came home.