Page 20 of Safe at Home

“The only issue will be getting it here to you.”

“Well, the wedding is actually back home.”

“Oh.” Penelope said and visibly paled.

“Where is home?” I asked.

“Bless your heart. Magnolia Bay, Mississippi.” Melita said in her thick southern accent. “Y’all have to come now that we’ve reconnected! It’s not for another year. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we were able to get a June date at The New Beginning Bridge, you know where -”

“Both our parents got married,” Penelope finished for her cousin, quietly.

“Yes!” Lita said, obviously unaware of her cousin’s discomfort.

“Hey, ladies and Camden, are you ready to go?” a deep voice from behind me asked.

I turned around and hugged Tyler. “That was quite the speech!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t tell you more. It was sprung on me this morning.”

“We don’t get to stay for the game?” Camden asked.

“Well, we could, or we could get in the cars and head back to Ohio and go see your best buddy Cooper,” Tyler said with a wink.

“I want to see CJ!” Peyton said, while jumping up and down.

“I had a feeling you would say that.”

Penelope turned to her cousin and gave her a big hug goodbye.

“Before I skedaddle, lemme get your number, Penny. I wanna holler at y’all about fixin’ me the best wedding cake ever!”

Pen nodded and exchanged numbers with her cousin. I also gave her the bakery’s number so she could call when it was back up and running.

“I still can’t believe you found me. It was so great to see you!” Pen said.

“I declare, I thought I was dreamin’ when I saw your pretty face on the television. I’m excited as all get out to get to meet your precious babies and your friend, too. And I’m glad you got to see me.” Lita gushed and gave all of us a hug goodbye as well. She looked at Tyler and smiled. “My fiancé says you’re going places and won’t be in the minors long.”

“That’s nice of your fiancé. Is he a big fan?”

“Oh, my stars, no. He is the left fielder for the Bobcats, Drew Parker.”

“Oh!” Tyler said and looked over his shoulder at the players getting ready to start the game. “He’s a great hitter. He’s got a solid average, and his RBI’s are impressive.”

“Well, bless your heart, I’ll be sure to tell him!” Lita gushed. “Good luck with the tornado clean up. I’ll see y’all in a year, Lord willin’!”

As we reached Pen’s VW Bug in the parking lot, we saw a huge van pulling an enclosed trailer blocking her car from being able to exit the spot it was in.

“Erick?” Tyler asked as the driver stepped out of the vehicle.

“Hey, Stone. Is this your woman?”

“Yeah. Molly, this is Erick Carlile. He’s with SNC and is going to be helping to get out the word for tornado relief. He basically wrote the speech I gave, but I did add a few things myself.”

“Like calling me your wife!” I whispered in his ear but then turned and smiled at Erick. “It’s so nice to meet you! I thought you looked familiar. You usually cover hockey, right?”

“Oh, fuck!” Tyler said and looked at me with horror in his eyes. “I am so sorry, baby. I didn’t even realize.”

I actually laughed. “Cat’s out of the bag now, I guess.”

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