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I turned to Aubrey’s mom, pleading for a rescue, but she only pouted with an understanding of my embarrassment. “Let’s focus on one wedding at a time,” she joked.
Ethan’s mom crossed her legs as she leaned back in the chair, peeking out the window. “You’re not too far from the stadium here, Aubrey?”
“They’re all across the river. It’s just a ten-minute drive. That reminds me.” Aubrey took her collar down and reached for her phone. “Rowan gave us tickets to take you two to his game on Monday night. I thought it would be great to do before you leave.” She turned to me, her eyes cautious. “When’s the last time you went to an Emeralds game? You should come with us.”
The last time was days ago. I didn’t want to go to another, especially not after spending two hours staring at Diego Leon’s perfect brown eyes and his gorgeous face. And muscles. And that smile.
I guess it didn’t surprise me that Rowan hadn’t mentioned taking me and my gaggle out with his teammates. It wasn’t news and, if he was anything like me, definitely heading toward high risk on the embarrassment scale.
I left them before dinner, catching the train back to my neighborhood in time to wait in line at my favorite food cart. I had a date with Thai noodles, my couch, and the Blazers game. Maybe that was the sport I should spend more time focusing on.
SIX
July
Maggie was waiting for me in my office when I got to work on Monday. It was already eighty-five degrees out, the train was late, and my heel broke. The last thing I needed was to listen to her try to get tickets out of me. But that latte and muffin she brought for me looks too good.
“You’re early,” I muttered, dropping my bag on my desk before falling into my chair.
“Rise and shine, right? You know what they say. You hit the best balls in the morning. Or, um, hit while the bat is hot?” I looked at her. Poor, hopeless, sweet, Maggie. “I’m sorry. I just really can’t stop thinking about Thursday night.”
“Well,” I reached for the latte, “you need to.”
“But you,” she looked around, lowering her voice to a whisper, “know those guys.”
“I really don’t. Thank you for the coffee, as sucking up to me gets you many things. However,” I sighed, “I’m not taking you to another Emeralds game for a long time.”
“Did I talk about being in the orchestra when I was in high school? Or my brother’s strange obsession with moss?” She tugged on her blonde curls, nervously twirling them while waiting for me to have an answer. I didn’t want to go through that again, but she wouldn’t believe me.
“You mentioned the moss, yes.” I offered a sympathetic smile as she pulled on her face, groaning with embarrassment. “But you also added a lot of helpful information about indoor plants, which I appreciated, considering I can’t keep a dandelion alive. I’m sure they enjoyed hearing about it, too.”
She dropped to the chair across from my desk. “I can’t believe, after one beer with those men, that I made such a fool of myself.”
“Maggie,” I reassured her, “let’s just remember it and move on. Did you check the mail today?”
“Yeah,” she groaned. Staring at her wasn’t helping her budge. Maggie’s eyebrows met with such concern you’d think her kitten had just died.
Closing my eyes, I bit my tongue while trying to find the politest way to tell her nothing would happen with the major league baseball players she shared a pity beer with. I was taking two middle schoolers and their dad to a game next weekend, and Maggie knew about it. It was just a matter of time before she wrapped herself around my ankle, begging me as I pulled her along wherever I went.
“Check if Dane needs anything. I think he went to the Trail Blazers game this weekend. He might need help to follow up with that,” I suggested, opening my eyes to catch her taking the hint and standing up.
By Wednesday, I had my Maggie back. Part of that might’ve been that the Emeralds series against the Mariners was only broadcast on cable and her television only got two channels, so she couldn’t refill her Diego inventory.
I was waiting for a conference call with the mayor when my cell buzzed with my favorite picture of Aubrey and me flashing across the screen. She was talking to Ethan in the background when I answered.
“I can’t talk long. I’m waiting to meet with the mayor,” I told her, hoping it wasn’t a wedding fire I’d need to put out.
“Mer,” Aubrey pleaded. I could tell by the way she raised the ending sound of my name that she was going to tell me something she knew better than discussing. “We had to drive to Boise. Ethan’s grandma is in the hospital.”
“I’m so sorry.” She’d been sick as long as I knew Ethan, but leaving on a whim for an emergency wasn’t a good sign. “Do you need me to feed your cat?”
“Please.” I could hear her relief through the phone, but then her tone shifted to nervous. “And I was wondering if you could do just one more thing?”
“Name it.” I sipped my coffee, smiling at the intern who passed by waving at me.
“Rowan’s at an away game and we’re supposed to water his plants and feed his cat, but we can’t with this trip. Could you please, please, I’ll do anything, please go to his house for me?”
I choked on my coffee. “What?”
