Page 121 of Elevator Pitch

Chapter 36

[Ross]

I want everything to be perfect for Vee meeting Rena. Instead, it’s one clusterfuck after another.

As the team has a contracted airline, Vee flies separately, and her flight is delayed due to thunderstorms. Then, the team’s hotel was changed at the last minute, because of some scheduling mix up, which means Vee will be at a different hotel than mine. And finally, Landon and Harley decide to surprise visit Philadelphia as their colleges are on summer break.

This summer, Landon will remain near Purdue, living in a house with friends, and Harley plans to stay in his apartment as it’s a twelve-month rental, but they’ll have the freedom to visit me more often. However, this surprise visit means Vee and I need to re-arrange our sleeping arrangement.

And this introduction with my sister.

Rena is cool as far as little sisters go, and being the youngest of three, and the only girl, she’s rolled with having unruly older brothers. She jokes she’s a spinster, a term I never understand, as she’s still young in my opinion. She looks exactly like our mom did with strawberry blond hair, cut just above her shoulder in springy curls. Her eyes are bright blue like mine. Once upon a time, she claimed to have found the One, and then he broke her heart. And she’s given almost ten years of her life to help me raise my boys, so I owe her the world.

But with Landon and Harley suddenly present, meeting Vee won’t be the quiet, easy affair I wanted it to be between two special women in my life. The boys have safely arrived at Rena’s home, and they’ll stay here for a week. They’ve also quickly ditched the house in favor of meeting up with old friends from when we lived here.

“Landon tells me she’s not like the other women in your life,” Rena states, sitting across from me in her muggy backyard. The heat of the day kicks in after the rainstorm. With my night free before the three-game series, I sip a beer while waiting for Vee’s delayed arrival.

“I don’t have other women.”

Rena lifts a brow. Her eyes are warm, curious. “What makes her special? Special enough you invited her to Philly to meet me?”

I shrug at first, then lean forward and brace my arms on the outdoor table. “She’s just different. Harley says Vee reminds him of Patty. In some ways she is like her, but in most ways, she isn’t.” I pause trying to describe Vee. “She’s sweet and funny. Kind. Pretty. Quirky. And she’s nothing like any other women I’ve dated.”

Rena gives me a knowing look. She’s seen the tabloids and knows the truth. I’m a serial dater who was monogamous with each woman but never called any of them my girlfriend.

My sister once said to me, you could do so much better.

“Vee is that better,” I state and smile at how great it is to have someone like Vee in my life.

“How?” Rena lifts her beer after asking, watching over the bottle as she sips.

“What is this, twenty questions?” I chuckle.

“It’s grill-my-older-brother to protect his heart.”

I huff. “Shouldn’t this older brother be protecting yours?”

Rena softly smiles. “Tell me more about her. How did you meet again?”

Oh boy. But, I spend the next hour explaining how Vee and I met, where and when, and then how we saw one another again.

“Happenstance,” I explain, then lower my head, a bit bashful when I say. “I think Vee might be a second chance for me.”

“She’s your happy chance.” Rena’s mouth curls on one side, pleased by her own assessment, while unknowingly stealing my line.

“Yeah.” I agree.

“Then I can’t wait to meet her.”

Only introductions are on hold as Vee doesn’t arrive until almost ten at night, nearly a twelve-hour delay for a two-hour flight.

“I could have driven here faster,” she gripes, once she’s inside her hotel room, and I’m on my way to meet her despite team curfews before games. A blizzard at two a.m. couldn’t keep me away from her.

“I’ll make it up to you.” My Uber stops outside her hotel, and I cross the lobby for the elevators. My feet move almost faster than I can keep up. I’m that eager to get to her. I feel like I haven’t seen her in weeks when it’s only been thirty-something hours.

I’m also unsettled being back in Philadelphia. Restless. And I want to be near Vee. She keeps me grounded. She calms me. She’s my home plate.

“I don’t know that I’d be great company tonight.” She sighs, exhaustion in her voice. “Even though I’m wired, I think I’m just going to go to bed.”