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My heart squeezed. My girl.

It had been a while since he had said that too.

After stopping at an overlook, Dad spoke up again. “I know I made some pretty big decisions about this summer without talking to you or your mother”—You got that right—“but I stand by what I did.” He took two bottles of water from his backpack and offered me one. “We needed the bigger crowds, and we’ve already gotten them.”

“Yeah, but what if we lose, Dad?” I tossed my stick into the woods. “I don’t wanna move my senior year. I’ve worked so hard—”

“I know you have. And you’ll continue to work hard no matter where you are.”

“Not helping…”

He rummaged through the pack and grabbed his Crowley Cardinals hat out of the main compartment. “We won’t lose, Eliza.”

“But what if we do?” Sweat beaded up at the base of my neck. “Reed Fulton is really good, and—”

“Reed Fulton is a loose cannon on and off that mound. Always has been. Always will be. Steer clear from him, you hear?”

Steer clear?

I literally steered out of the stadium with him yesterday and was fine.

Other than the flat tire.

I swallowed hard.

Dad patted my shoulder and smiled tensely. “Not that I need to tell you that. You know all about that family.”

Did I though? “You know, we used to be friends before—”

“Besides, there’s nothing wrong with starting somewhere new.” He started walking again. “Sometimes it’s good to leave behind the ghosts.”

Ghosts? What ghosts?

Sure, our house made some creaky noises when the wind moved too hard against it, but—

And then it all clicked into place.

Grandma.

Grandpa.

Both had died unexpectedly in the last six years, Grandpa first followed by Grandma three years later. Is that what all of this was about? Running away from our memories?

A lump in my throat sharpened. “Dad, if this is about—”

“It’s about baseball, Eliza,” he snapped. “And what’s best for our family.”

I didn’t push it after that. You can’t argue with grief. I had lost my grandparents, but he had lost his parents. I couldn’t imagine that kind of loss, and I didn’t want to.

Too bad ghost lights were reserved only for the stage.

Chapter Twelve

Reed

“I don’t believe in curses. I think you make your own destination.”

—Manny Ramirez