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“I’m sorry, did you not just see me speed across home plate?” Riley asked, pointing at the field.
Julie pursed her lips. “I thought I saw a brunette trot across home plate. I didn’t see anything resembling speed.”
“Says the woman who struck out twice in a row without even trying to swing. You’re lucky Mitchell’s so good. Who knew that Wall Street had sports skills?”
“He’s sporty like that,” Julie said, delicately nibbling a sunflower seed between perfect white teeth. “It’s pretty annoying actually. The other day he asked if I wanted to go on a ‘light bike ride.’ Honestly. It was freaking freezing.”
“Could be worse,” Grace said. “At least your fiancé’s not a previous baseball all-star and on the opposing team.”
“That’s what you get, going steady with an Oxford guy—”
Waaaaaaait.
Riley stopped trying to steal Grace’s second water bottle, and she knew from the sudden stillness on her other side that Emma and Julie were in a similar state of shock.
“Grace,” Julie said, her voice never losing its trademark sweetness. “Did you just drop the F bomb?”
“What? No, I just—” Grace’s hand flew to her mouth in horror. “Oh God.
”
Riley lightly tapped Grace’s naked fourth finger. “Oh God, indeed. A fiancée without the pretty ring? Not that that’s what matters, but—”
“There is a ring, and it’s perfect, but not really softball appropriate, and I—”
Grace’s babbling was stifled as three squealing women mauled her.
“You’re engaged?” Julie asked, mopping her eyes.
“It was supposed to be a secret until I had the right chance to tell you guys,” Grace said, trying to squirm out from beneath the group hug.
“Well, consider that cat out of the bag,” Emma said, glancing around at the curious stares.
Riley found she was wiping tears from her own eyes. Tears. “I can’t believe you didn’t call us first thing. Oh, Gracie, you’re so happy.”
“Of course she’s happy, she’s marrying that,” Julie said, pointing at Jake, who looked gorgeous and completely at home on the pitcher’s mound. Like everyone else, he’d stopped playing to stare at the spectacle the four women made, and the cocky grin on his face said that he knew exactly what they were talking about.
Riley was dying to look toward her left, where she knew Sam was standing on third. She resisted. Barely.
Slowly the game resumed, although Grace wasn’t off the hook. Not with her best friends.
“Go ahead and call me crass,” Emma said, “But um … if the ring’s so beautiful, where is it?”
“At home,” Grace said, grabbing one of the helmets off the hook and preparing for her turn at bat. “I didn’t want to take away from … you know … the softball game.”
Riley lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Because we’re all hoping that this goes from an annual obligation to a regular league. Try again.”
Grace sighed. “Okay, I didn’t want to take away from your day.”
It took Riley a full ten seconds to realize that Grace was talking about her. “What do you mean, my day?”
Grace lifted one of the bats before exchanging it for another one. Not that it would matter. Grace was even worse at batting than Riley was at fielding and Julie was at, well … everything.
Emma was the only one with any sort of athletic skill. Something that Alex Cassidy had definitely taken notice of, if Julie’s attraction radar was working correctly—which it usually was.
“Hello?” Riley asked again when nobody responded.
“Your thing with Sam,” Julie said, nudging her tennis shoe softly against Riley’s knee. “You know, the plan.”
