Page 228 of Banter & Blushes

“Sure, I can’t wait to meet them,” she looked out of the window, wondering the last time she took an entire day off. She couldn’t remember it.

They pulled into the parking lot next to the baseball stadium, but there were only a few cars. Surprised not to see more people, she asked, “Did we miss the game?”

“It’s pre-game practice right now. This parking lot will fill up very soon. Trust me.”

“Oh?” She tried to hide her confusion.

“Wait there,” he opened his door and jumped out. Walking around the front of the truck, he opened her door from the outside and offered his hand for her to hold getting out.

“Thank you, sir.”

Instead of going through the main entrance he walked her to a door on the back of the building, opening it for her to step through. “Are we sneaking in the back?” She couldn’t help but ask. When he offered to take her to the game, she assumed they’d have tickets.

“I guess you could say that,” he grinned without giving too much away.

They walked down a cold cement block hallway painted in the Blue Claw blue and gold colors before opening to the baseball field. Standing on the perfectly manicured grass, she looked up to the expanse of the empty stands around them. The team was practicing on the opposite side of the field. “Come on,” he offered her to take his hand. Weaving his fingers in between hers, he guided her to the other side. “Hey guys,” he smiled to the team warming up.

“Mitch!” Half of the team yelled out in unison.

“Fellas, I’d like to introduce you to El.”

She felt her insides flutter hearing him shorten her name. “This is her first game, so we are giving her the full VIP treatment.”

“It’s a beautiful day,” she contributed with the warmth of the sun shining down on their faces.

The pitcher who was stretching out his arm yelled out like the game announcer, “IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR SOME BLUE CLAW BASEBALL!”

“That’s Hank,” Mitch pointed. “Boomer, Red, James, Stretch,” he pointed from one player to the other. “Poppi, Dan, Bingo, Parker and our shortstop, Top.”

“Ma’am,” the captain of the team nodded his head. “Nice to meet ya. We are going to play a great game for you today.”

Elva wasn’t used to so much attention, but she wasn’t shy about it either. “I hope you do,” she smiled back at him.

“ALRIGHT! Let’s get going out here,” the coach came out of the same hallway, yelling at the team the moment he hit the sunlight. Then he saw the visitors. “Mitch!” His hand instantly extended to shake, “how’s it going, man? We haven’t seen you in a bit.”

“Work, you know?” Mitch shook his hand back. “Gary, please meet Elva. This is her first game. I was just introducing her tothe team.”

“Good to meet you,” he offered his hand for her to shake, “Gary.”

“Nice to meet you, Gary. You have a nice group of guys here.”

He laughed looking at his team grabbing their gloves and running out to practice their formations on the field, “sometimes.” He swatted the side of Mitch’s arm with his clipboard. “We’ll try to play a good game for ya today.”

With that, Mitch led Elva up the small steps to the stands above the dugout.

“Everyone knows you here, don’t they?”

He wrinkled his nose, “maybe not everyone.”

Laughing as she followed up the riser stairs she added, “I feel like there’s more to the story?”

His hand motioned for her to take a seat, pushing down the bottom of the foldable chair. “Well,” he sat down next to her, adjusting his hat, “I played a little ball in my younger days.”

“Played? Here?”

Nodding his head up and down, “yep. After my Marine Corps service. Pen was just a toddler then.” He looked around before he went on, “Her first job was as a ticket girl here, actually. Now she works for the GM.”

“Wow! You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” She batted her eyelashes his way. Taking in everything he shared, she readjusted in her seat to see his face better next to her, “so you played on the team?”

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