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“Can I hold Franco?” Marley asked her brother.
“No, you’ll squish him.”
“I will not! Let me hold him.”
“Marley, how would you feel about me dating someone?” I asked, surprised by Spencer’s nonchalant reaction.
“I want Shea to come over and play with me and she can kiss you sometimes. Like when we take a break.”
I looked at my mom, who shrugged and smiled encouragingly. “You won’t find any finer people than the Gradys. I vote for you to kiss her.”
“Grandpa, what about you?” Spencer asked.
“Scan!” he said, filling the letter in on his crossword before looking up at us. “I think life’s much better when you have a beautiful woman to kiss. I know mine has been.”
My mom walked over to him and kissed him. I hated to think about my parents doing anything more than kissing but judging by the look on my mom’s face, Dad was definitely getting more than that tonight.
I needed to get to The Sleepy Moose as soon as possible. Hopefully my parents could stay and hang with the kids.
“Hey, can”
“Of course,” my mom said. “Take all the time you need.”
The kids were already gone, returning the frog to wherever they’d found it. I did a quick pit sniff, then ran to the bathroom to put on deodorant and brush my teeth.
I was full of nervous energy as I pulled out of my driveway. This was crazy, but it also wasn’t.
What I felt for Shea was steady and certain. She could excite me or calm me, depending on the situation. I loved that she was a natural caregiver, and I wanted to show her that she deserved to be cared for, too.
She wanted us to stay friends and see how things were in a few months, but I couldn’t do that. I needed to tell her how I felt now. Hopefully I wasn’t too late. She’d said she wasn’t accepting Keller’s offer immediately, but with his deep pockets, he could have convinced her otherwise.
I parked at The Sleepy Moose, jogging through the front entrance, when someone called my name.
“Holt Sellers?”
I stopped to find a middle-aged man in a Minnesota Mammoths T-shirt staring at me with his mouth wide open.
“Oh my God, it is! It’s you!” He put a hand on the shoulder of the little boy standing next to him. “Keaton, this is Holt Sellers, one of the greatest Mammoths ever to play the game.”
I shook his hand, not letting on what a hurry I was in.
“It’s great to meet you,” I said.
“Kerry, I’m Kerry Sanders. I can’t believe this! I was at the game when you broke the record for goals scored by a Mammoth at home.”
What a night that had been. My teammates had poured so much champagne on my head that the janitorial staff had to bring in wet/dry vacuums to clean it up.
“That’s awesome, man. I appreciate you.”
“Hey, do you have a second for a picture with me and my son?”
“Of course.”
We posed for several pictures and I signed an autograph on the only paper he could find, which was a gas station receipt.
“How long are you here for?” I asked.
“Four nights. My wife’s cousin is getting married here this weekend.”
