Page 76 of Sweet Spot

Hannah was busy in the kitchen when Rosie and my parents arrived for the weekend.

“Dad!”

I stooped down to hug my daughter. The lump that had been in my chest since the day I took the job was finally gone. After a few weeks of mostly good baseball and now Hannah, I could finally see our lives here. “How’s my girl?”

“Good. Macy Patterson got her hand stuck in the chain-link fence by the playground and they had to cut it up to get her out.”

As always, Rosie hit me with random information that was important to her and seemed out of the blue for me. “Well I hope she’s okay.”

“She is. She had ice cream after she stopped crying.”

I hugged Mom and Dad. “Hannah’s in the kitchen getting familiar with the appliances and rearranging the mess Ev and I made of it.”

“I like her already,” Mom teased. “And is Kate here?”

“She will be soon. She’s over at Jeri’s.” The ability to walk to her friend’s house and The Red Tourist had made convincing her to partially move in with me a lot easier.

What I didn’t expect was for Mom and Hannah to become instant best friends. I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was. After all, they were both baseball moms. Rosie took to her immediately as well. It was like Hannah had always been part of the family. Everett, in particular, seemed happier now that Hannah was here. It was like this big old house had been waiting for its heart to arrive. Instead of feeling like an expensive monstrosity it was now filled to the brim.

We spent the morning in the pool followed by a big family lunch. Then Kate, Ev, and I went to work while the family took a nap before the game. Sunday was similar with pool time and brunch happening all at once since we had an afternoon game. Kate spent most of the game in the family suite becoming, as I was told by my daughter just before they headed home to Calusa Key, her new best friend.

I nuzzled Kate’s neck. “Best friends, huh?”

She shrugged, her fingers digging into my back. “I’m fun.”

“Oh, I know you’re fun.”

“And I’m a good listener.”

I stood up straight. “Did she talk your ear off?”

“She needed to vent. I was happy to help.”

Vent? “What did I miss? Is she okay?”

Kate cupped my face in her hands, smiling, which made some of my panic die down. “She’s fine. She’s just a very social young lady. I believe I now know all the drama at school and that Edwin McClure is a dirty cheater at kickball.”

“How does one cheat at kickball?” You kicked a ball and ran the bases. It was the simplified version of baseball.

“Apparently this Edwin guy likes to claim people don’t touch the bases and plays the victim when he doesn’t do well. It’s all very normal elementary school drama.”

Well that was a relief. I didn’t have time to drive down to Calusa Key and kick a ten-year old’s ass, but I would if I needed to. Not really, but you know, metaphorically. “Anything else I should know about?”

“We both like the weird hot dogs and the loaded cheese fries. Today we got vanilla ice cream but we loaded it down with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. Oh, and she has a tiny crush on Hunter Holland.”

I must have looked sick the way Kate laughed at me.

“It’s not a real crush, Isaac. It’s like a celebrity crush. She thinks he’s cute and funny.”

It took me three tries to get out a coherent sentence. “But he’s not some movie star online she’ll never meet in real life. He’s right there!” I waved at the locker room. “And his mom is her nanny! She’s going to see him all the time!”

Kate shook she was trying so hard not to laugh at me. “Isaac. She’s nine. Where do you think this crush leads?”

I couldn’t think straight. I was blind with panic. My baby girl wasn’t supposed to have crushes. She was supposed to let me rock her to sleep at night, read her bedtime stories, and be her whole world forever.

Forever.

I was not ready for this.

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