Erika’s Pathfinder towing a trailer pulled in behind Drew.I froze mid sweep of the rake.
She’s back?
The trailer could mean she was picking up stuff at the house to move away.Or she was back to stay.
I remained rooted to the ground as she got out.Please, let her be staying.
Sure, I’d had some wicked dreams about her since Saturday, but more realistically, I needed her help at the clinic.Her staying made the unrelenting appointments and after-hours calls seem a lot less overwhelming.
She probably wasn’t here to stay.
Drew grabbed a baseball bag out of his truck bed, which he handed to Vinny.Erika had invited Drew to go inside her house and get Vinny’s stuff?Why not ask me, his coach, to do it?
Okay, I had told her off before she left.Reasonable that she wouldn’t reach out to me.
Erika gave Drew a genuine, happy-to-see-you kind of smile.
I forced my fists to relax.That didn’t mean anything.That was afriends happy to see each othersmile or athank yousmile for getting Vinny’s stuff.
Vinny at practice today had to mean she was staying.Right?
She gestured to the field and pointed at me.
Drew shook his head.He wasn’t in jeans or his coveralls.He rarely wore anything more formal than jeans unless attending church or a funeral.Today, he wore black sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and sneakers.
Vinny took Drew’s hand and led him onto the field.He waved Drew my way.
Once Drew got within a few feet of me, he glanced back toward Erika.She had her hands on her hips and cast him a frightening scowl.
Drew took off his worn, green John Deere baseball cap and squeezed it in his hands.His fluffy brown curls had been smashed into a hat-head helmet.“Listen… Uh, Josh, so I heard you needed an assistant coach to help with the kids and all.I don’t know how much use this redneck farm boy might be, but back in my day I used to be pretty good at hitting.”
These were a lot of boys for me to handle alone.I had a tough time holding their interest long enough to get through all the drills.None of the other dads would step up, and the moms proved useless.“Why would Erika put you up to this?”
“It turns out I owe her a foosball debt.”
“Thisis how she wants you to repay it?”
“Yeah.”
“So, she’s staying?”
Drew glanced back toward where Erika stood.“Pretty sure.Unless you screw it up again.”
“Are you still going to chase after her?”
“Yeah.That’s off the field.On the field, it’s about the kids.”
Not the answer I wanted.“How long do I get your help?Just today?”
He glanced back her way.“Full season.”
I yelled to the dugout, “Infield, go with Coach Drew.He’s going to work with you in the batting cage.The rest of you, we’re fielding.Line up at third base.”To Drew, I pointed at the dugout.“There’s an extra glove and bat in the bag.You can take the bucket of balls.”
Drew led the kids to the batting cage.
As Vinny walked by me toward third base, I asked low, “Was roping Drew into helping your idea?”
“Sort of.”He fiddled with his glove.“She asked me if I needed anything for baseball while we were driving back.It was a really really,reallylong drive.It took all day.I said we sure could use some help at practice.I can’t say Drew wanted to do it, but she…” He lowered his voice, “She got real tough on the phone.She used a scary voice.”
