Page 116 of Eleanor & Grey

Shay took off the bowler hat, walked over to Karla, and placed it on her head.

Karla nodded once more. “Thanks.” She turned and walked to the SUV and climbed inside after Lorelai.

My jaw was on the floor.

What in the world had just happened?

Shay frowned. “That was a very underwhelming growl, Ellie.”

She then walked off and climbed into the SUV, too.

I turned to Greyson, who was standing there just as stunned as I was. “Is your cousin a wizard?”

“That’s the only logical explanation for what just happened. Nothing else would make sense.”

We all drove to the game, and the whole drive there, Shay and Karla spoke like they were the best of friends, talking about music and makeup, and oh my gosh, Karla was talking more than Lorelai.

How did we just enter the twilight zone?

The baseball game turned out to be a lot more fun than I could’ve even imagined. Lorelai was on a sugar high, Greyson was locked in on the game, and every now and then I swore it looked like Karla was chanting, “Let’s go White Sox.”

“Hey, Dad. Can I get some cash to get a hot dog?” Karla said, standing up from her seat.

Greyson sat up a bit, seeming thrown off by Karla’s request. “Yeah, of course, here you go.”

“Thanks. Want anything?” she muttered.

Greyson’s eyes widened. He shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

“All right.”

Karla headed off to get her snack.

“Did you see that?” Greyson asked. “She asked me for money and then asked if I wanted anything.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I saw.”

“That’s one of those good small steps, right?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was.” That was the thing about small steps—they had the power to lead to big changes.

When we hit the seventh inning, Lorelai was hitting her breaking point. She was coming down from that sugar high really quick.

“Just a little more,” Greyson said, holding his catching glove on his hand. We’d watched four balls fly in our direction the whole game, and he was more determined than ever to catch one, too.

“But, Daddy,” Lorelai yawned, climbing into Shay’s lap.

“Really, honey, we’re almost there. The next batter is the one who’s been hitting all those balls our way. And I have a good feeling.”

Lorelai groaned, but didn’t put up much more of a fuss.

Then, like magic, Greyson’s player delivered a ball in our direction. Greyson stood up from his seat and it all felt oddly like destiny. Greyson’s eye was on the ball, and as it started to come down, Lorelai tugged on Greyson’s jeans, forcing him to break his concentration for a split second. That was all it took, though. In the amount of time it took for Greyson to glance toward his daughter then back to the sky, his focus was shot. The ball was too close, and it hit him square in the face.

“Ugggh!” he groaned, tumbling backward and dropping the ball.

Everyone gasped.

“Are you okay, Dad?” Karla asked, seeming very concerned.

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