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Once Sophia and I agree that the cinnamon roll shall be cut in half, I start making coffee for everyone. Luke, Chloe, and Sophia all take a seat at the table. Meanwhile, Harper sidles up to Daphne by the pastry box, curious about her. I get it. Of the two sisters, Daphne just has this air about her. Also, it probably hasn’t escaped Harper’s notice that Daphne looks like a Disney princess with her long red hair and big blue eyes.
“I like your hair,” Harper tells her.
Daphne nods, not even noticing that Harper’s staring up at her in awe. “Thanks, kid.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“Okay.” Daphne’s tone couldn’t have less inflection. It’s like she’s talking to a fellow twenty-five-year-old.
Harper scoots closer. “I get to be the flower girl in my dad’s wedding to Chloe, but it’s not for a while. Not until next year, they said, because of baseball season.”
“That’s nice.”
Harper tilts her head, studying Daphne, likely perplexed by my friend.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” my niece asks her.
I barely fight back a snort. Sophia openly laughs.
Daphne finally looks at her. “Nah. Do you?”
Harper laughs. “I can’t have a boyfriend! I’m eight!”
Daphne shrugs. “I had a boyfriend when I—”
Luke takes this opportunity to clear his throat very loudly and very pointedly from the kitchen table.
Daphne winks down at Harper, who smiles up at her with delight. As the delicious scent of coffee starts to fill the kitchen, I watch Harper study Daphne, standing like she stands, affecting the same slight lean against the counter, trying to be just like her.
Daphne doesn’t even notice, which probably makes Harper want to impress her all the more.
I carry filled coffee mugs and creamer over to the table. Since I didn’t get the chance to greet her properly on her way in, I wrap my arm around Chloe’s shoulders and squeeze her into a hug.
“Hi.”
My brother gets no hug. Instead, we exchange a cool bro nod, the equivalent of saying, Sup?
“Thanks for the sustenance,” I tell them as I take the last open seat at the table. “We needed it.”
“Late night?” Chloe asks, reaching for one of the coffee mugs. “I’m surprised you haven’t gone for a run yet this morning.”
She’s well acquainted with my type-A personality. Everyone is. If there were a documentary about my life, the people interviewed would share things like:
“Tate? Yeah, she’s kind of intense. Like she’s nice, but I mean…she can be a lot.”
“What’s the opposite of flexible? Rigid? Yeah, Tate’s rigid.”
“She likes to go, go, go. I’m not even sure that girl knows how to relax.”
Then they’d cut to me, smiling, perfectly fine with these assessments. Other people can be chill; I don’t claim that crown. My brain simply will not tolerate being idle.
“No run yet…” I tell her.
“And yes, we had a late night,” Daphne supplies on my behalf.
I’m annoyed that a comment as innocuous as that still makes me blush a little. I definitely made the right choice with that guy.
“Were you with Josh and the guys?” Luke asks.
Luke is slightly older than most of the other players on the Pinstripes roster. Josh, Dustin, Nick—they all look up to Luke like he’s their big brother too. Luke’s well aware of how much time I spend with them, strictly as friends, and he doesn’t seem to mind all that much, but in moments like this, I’m aware that he would rather I steer clear of his teammates altogether. I’ve assured him multiple times that I have no intentions of dating anyone on the team, ever, which seems to take the edge off his incessant worrying. I don’t think it’ll ever go away altogether though. Our parents are a gazillion miles away, down in Texas. I know Luke feels like he has to step in for them a bit and watch out for me in the big bad city.
If only he knew what I did last night, the danger I could have put myself in following a stranger down a hallway into a deserted room…
I nearly shiver at the thought. He’d be livid. Beyond.
“Yup. The usual suspects.”
“Josh still treating you well?” Luke asks Sophia.
Sophia laughs. “No need to worry.”
Luke nods, appreciating this. I know he’d take it upon himself to correct that situation if she said otherwise. He’s a fierce protector, this one. I pity the poor soul Harper tries to bring home on a date in high school. Hopefully I’m there to catch the drama.
“I can’t believe opening day is tomorrow,” Chloe says with a little shimmy. Clearly, she’s as excited as we all are. I love opening day at Pinstripe Stadium. The energy is electric.
“I brought some tickets in the family section,” Luke tells us. “There’s plenty for all of you, though I’m sure Josh has already given you some, Sophia.”
“Yeah, I’m in that section too so that works out well.”
