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“Shit.”
“Just relax and don’t force it. Get into your natural stance.”
Putting my feet shoulder-width apart, I bent my knees slightly and made sure to keep my shoulders square, my wrists cocked, and the bat off my shoulder.
“I couldn’t help but notice Haley hasn’t been coming around,” he said as he threw me another fastball.
I made contact and hit a line drive back at the screen.
“Yeah, we broke up.”
“I thought things were going well with her.”
He continued to pick up balls from the bucket next to him and throw perfect strikes to me while we talked about my love life. Or lack of one. I know he’s doing it to distract me from overthinking my swing and for the most part, it’s working. My swing improved with each pitch and by the time the bucket was empty, the back of the batting cage was littered with balls. I set the bat down and followed him to pick them up.
“So if I’m understanding you correctly, Haley just started acting bitchy and that was it?”
“Pretty much. It was good until it wasn’t. One minute she was happy working around my crazy schedule and the next she pouted anytime I was away. I thought it would get better when the season ended, but it didn’t. So we decided to part ways.”
It was a little more dramatic than that, but I really don’t want to get into it.
“She lasted longer than the others. I thought maybe she was the one.”
He used air quotes with the last two words.
“Guess not.” We finished picking up the balls and I straightened and stretched my back. “Does your arm feel okay to throw some more?”
“Maybe another half a bucket.”
“You sure? You’re not as young as you used to be.”
“We’re the same age.”
I walked back to the plate and got into my stance.
“Yeah, I’m not as young as I used to be either.” I chuckled. “But you’re three minutes older.”
He flipped me off then went into his windup and threw a nasty curveball as payback for that last comment. As he settled into a rhythm of throwing fastballs and I found my swing again, I thought we were done talking about Haley, but once he got halfway through the bucket of balls and called it quits, he brought her up again.
“So it’s definitely over?”
“It’s definitely over and please tell the troops not to pull out their little black books looking for someone to set me up with. I’m fine.”
True love came easy to my three siblings, who all met their spouses in college. Now that I’m pushing forty, my family seems to be concerned that once I retire, I’ll end up alone. After being in some less-than-positive relationships, I’m not convinced that’s the worst thing in the world.
***
Chloe
“So are you all settled in?” Karen asked.
“For the most part.” I shrugged. “There are still some boxes to be unpacked, but I put them in a spare bedroom so they’re out of the way.”
“I can come over and help you this weekend if you want.”
“No, that’s okay. All the important stuff is unpacked.” I squeezed her hand. “You, Dale,
and Jeremy helped me so much. I’d still be digging through boxes for underwear if it weren’t for you. I appreciate it so much.”
