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“Your girl’s amazing,” Nate yells out.
I watch as Hannah looks to him with the cheesiest grin, then back to me.
“I already knew that,” I say loudly so he can hear me, making them both laugh. “So, I take it, it went well?” I ask.
“It went amazing! I’m so freaking excited!”
I can’t help but chuckle at the way she’s acting right now. I’ve never seen her so happy. “That is very cool. When do I get to hear you guys play?” She covers her mouth, like she’s embarrassed, so I continue, “Come on. You’ll have to play in front of another audience at some point. You can practice on me.”
“I’m okay with it,” Nate says as he backs the truck up, the movement on the camera catching my attention.
“Maybe after a few more practices,” Hannah says shyly.
I don’t want to push her, so I shrug. “Whenever you’re ready. I can’t wait to be the groupie in the audience. Funny how you’re always in the stands for my games, and now, I get to be there, cheering you on.”
She brings the phone close to her lips and acts like she’s kissing it, then brings it back down to where I can see her face. “That would be pretty cool. Let me call my mom, and then I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Congrats on your first rehearsal.”
“Thank you!” she sings, and I have to admit, she sounds pretty good, doing so.
I slip my phone into my back pocket and walk out into the kitchen, where my dad and Justine are preparing dinner.
“What’s going on with you tonight?” Dad asks.
I grab a slice of a carrot Justine is cutting and pop it in my mouth. “No plans. Just hanging out here, I guess.”
“Where’s Hannah?” he asks.
“Driving home from her first band practice,” I say slyly, seeing if I get a reaction out of them.
Justine is quick to jump into our conversation. “Band practice?” she asks with so much happiness in her voice that I have to laugh.
“Yep. She put herself together a little band with some guys from school. They had their first rehearsal out at Cole’s today. I guess it went pretty well.”
I head to the fridge to get a drink and pop the top before even shutting the door.
“Right on,” Dad says. “Good for her. I think she’s really got something going for herself.”
I nod as I take a sip. “Yeah. She seemed pretty happy.”
“How come you didn’t go?” Justine asks.
I shrug. “She didn’t want me there.”
Justine purses her lips in thought, and when she can’t think of anything to say, she looks back down to her vegetables and continues her chopping.
“It’s a little nerve-racking at first.” Dad slaps his hand on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t think anything of it.” He walks back to the cupboard to grab some cans of beans. “Isn’t this your last week of school before winter break?”
“Yep. Then, baseball season will officially begin when we get back.” I look outside at the snow falling and sigh. “If only we could actually be outside. Will be a while until that happens. But we’ll start inside on the weights, getting our arms warmed up again.”
“Do you have any plans over the break?” Justine asks.
I shake my head. “Just hanging out with Hannah, I guess. Scott and Eric are heading to Florida. They can’t wait to get out of the weather here and live in full-time summer mode. Not sure what Josh and Tony are doing. Just hanging out here too.”
“You know,” Justine singsongs, “we’re going to New York for New Year’s. The magazine is doing some big party, and I bet I can get you and Hannah a ticket. Why don’t you come with us?”
Justine works for a high-end magazine out of New York. She lived there for years before coming back to Mason Creek to visit family then meeting my dad. She never envisioned living here again, but life always seems to bring people back home some way. Thankfully, the magazine lets her work remotely so she really gets the best of both worlds — the career and the family life of a small town.
