Page 55 of Love's Home Run

“Of course. I want to support Melissa just as she’s supported me,” Ross said.

She smiled at him, and he put an arm around her shoulder.

“Ah,” said her father, and Melissa was relieved when he didn’t say anything more. The smile of approval he gave them spoke volumes.

Melissa and Ross chatted with her parents, and after giving them an itinerary for their trip, Melissa announced it was time to head to the airport.

Ross shook her father’s hand and said goodbye to her mother.

Melissa gave them each a lingering hug. “I’ll check in regularly.”

“Thank you, darling,” said her mother. “The worst is behind us.”

Melissa left her father’s hospital room feeling more settled than she had in years. She still had decisions to make about her future. The longer she stayed away from the kitchen and her family’s business, the more intrigued she became with new possibilities.

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Back in Columbia at the airport, Ross retrieved his car. Before taking off, he called his father’s house to check on his status.

After he ended the conversation, Ross turned to her. “Mrs. Barnard said Dad’s sleeping, but things are pretty much the same. She’ll tell him I called.”

Melissa squeezed his hand. “I know how hard this is for you. What do you want to do?”

“I think we’d better keep going. We’ll stop at some of the places you want to see on our way back. Is that all right?”

“It’s fine. I know your meeting with Mike is important.”

“We’ll meet him in Jacksonville, look at some baseball camps there, and then join him at a year-round training center outside of town. If things go well, we might be able to squeeze in a trip to St. Augustine. I know you wanted to see it.”

“Whatever works. I know you have a lot on your mind,” she said. Neither of them could forget what the future held for his father.

Melissa sat quietly in the car while Ross drove them out of the Columbia area. He’d said it wouldn’t be a long drive to their meeting, perhaps three hours or so, depending on traffic. They’d switch off driving and meet Mike in the late afternoon.

She glanced at Ross. He seemed to be lost in thought as he drove with ease. So many emotional things had happened to them in the last few days that she understood his pensiveness. She decided to open her Kindle to pass the time.

Melissa was deeply engrossed in her book when Ross spoke. “You mentioned you might want to do something simple with food at the tennis and baseball sports center Mike and I are working on. Do you mean that?”

She set down her reader and thought for a moment. Is that how she wanted her life to be in the future? Doing something right, even for a small food venue, wasn’t simple. And because she was known as an excellent chef, she couldn’t ever do anything halfway.

“I’m not sure what I want to do going forward,” said Melissa. “But I do know I want to continue my professional life in some capacity.”

“Okay, we’ll tell Mike we might locate a small food operation there,” said Ross. “It could be something as simple as having mothers of the players selling hot dogs or something like that. But we’ll leave room for something bigger if you want it.”

“Just leave it open-ended until more thought has gone into it,” she suggested.

“Mike has a new idea about expanding our center to include a year-round baseball practice area. The tennis center will, of course, be open year-round regardless.”

“Do you have the land to expand?” she asked.

Ross smiled at her. “Yes, we do. We can even build a separate building for the baseball camp idea Mike has in mind.”

“Speaking of land, I’m wondering what my parents are going to do with the land on which the restaurant stood,” she said.

“I’m betting another restaurant will want to buy it and rebuild something. It’s the perfect spot, and Fins will be truly missed. There’s already a built-up demand for one there. Is that something you want to do?”

“No. That’s one thing I do know. I want a life outside of the restaurant business, which is 24/7, no matter what you plan.”

Ross glanced at her. “There’s a lot to think about for each of us.”

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