Chapter 33
AND THEN LIFE LAUGHED AT YOU, DIDN’T IT?
Dallas
Clark
Are we still set for our meeting next month at the stadium?
I’ll be there.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, bug?”
“Are we even going to still be here for the first game of the season?”
I turn around in the driver’s seat to face her, sitting in the back. “What do you mean?”
She sighs. “I’ve just been practicing really, really hard with the other kids. What if I’m not here to be on the team when the season starts? Will the team be short a player? It’s been so much fun playing baseball, and I want to keep playing. I want to win a game with my friends.”
I sit there in silence, staring at my daughter.
I’ve been so focused on the next step after leaving here and the future plans that I haven’t even thought about what she’d like to do.
She’s different from the day we arrived.
Or maybe she’s not, and I just realized it because she’s living with me now.
Either way, she’s grown here. She’s made a whole new group of friends, which was inevitable because she’s outgoing and friendly.
But it’s more than that.
There’s a sense of belonging in this small town. It’s hard not to get sucked into the charm of it all and see yourself living here for good. I don’t even know how that would work with April’s job and my career being back in San Francisco.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “Daddy still has a big decision to make next month. I have a meeting with Mr. Harris at the stadium while you’re at your mom’s.”
She deflates, looking down at her hands.
I see the pain written all over her face over the fact that we might be going back.
She wants to cry, but she’s holding it together before we step out of the car and head to one of our weekly nights at the barnyard.
We spend two nights a week here. Whether it’s practice with the kids or hanging out with Griffin, Tucker, and everyone, messing around for a game of baseball.
She looks forward to these nights more than I anticipated.
“Let’s have some fun tonight,” I tell her, reaching back to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “We can take this all one step at a time without making any quick decisions, and then see what happens.”
She looks up at me, smiling, before she unclips her seatbelt to get out of the Tahoe.
As I’m about to get out myself, my own words stop me in my tracks.
I used to move fast, running on adrenaline and impulse. I was the guy who said yes before the question was even finished, and walked out a door before it was fully open. That guy? He wouldn’t even recognize this new version of me.
Bluestone Lakes has not only changed my daughter, but it chipped away the parts I didn’t realize were holding me back. Slowly, in a way that rust creeps onto surfaces, I make less rash decisions now, and I think things through.
It’s not like I went and became someone else.
I’m still me, just less chaotic.
And I think I like this guy better.
Smiling to myself, I exit my Tahoe. Hand in hand with my little girl, we walk to the barnyard where everyone waits for us. Tucker is the first to rush over to us, reaching for Sage first as he lifts her in his arms and jogs to meet up with everyone at the field.
Lily and Blair stand off to the side, laughing and drinking, while Griffin runs a hand down the side of the dugout he helped me build, as if he’s assessing the work we put in together to bring this field a new life.
Nan is on second base, with a glove open, while Sage giggles, running from first base to second, while Tucker follows her.
How in the world could I ever leave this?
How can I go back to the life I had, when everything I could ask for is right in front of me? A found family that my daughter and I are now a part of.
“So this is what happens on game night, huh?”
The voice behind me forces me to turn around, my body instantly on high alert that Poppy is now here. My eyebrows narrow in confusion, but quickly shift to something I can’t quite explain.
Because she’s here.
Poppy is here for the first time with everyone else.
I’m stunned speechless.
“Poppy?” Griffin says, now standing beside me. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see what all the fun was about.”
I feel him turn to face me, and then back to Poppy.
I don’t see it because my eyes are only on one person—only ever on one person.
And she’s looking back at me, silently telling me she’s here for me.
My heart rate picks up speed as if I were just running the bases with Tucker, but I haven’t moved from this spot.
“Interesting,” is all Griffin says before he retreats to everyone else.
I stare, still stunned. “You came.”
“Lily and Blair have been telling me for a while now that I should come one night. I knew it wasn’t for me, since I don’t know anything about sports and stuff.
But now that I don’t miss a single recess anymore…
I started seeing what all the fuss was about.
Sage actually taught me how to hold the glove, catch the ball, and the best stance for batting. ”
“She did?”
Poppy nods. “She knows a lot about baseball. She shocked me so much, although I’m not surprised, being that she’s your daughter.”
I know my daughter loves the sport. She doesn’t miss a game. I guess I just never considered that she was learning while watching, picking up on every little thing enough to teach Poppy how to do the basics.
“Are you okay?” she asks, with a soft palm on my forearm.
I clear my throat. “Yeah. That’s just…I didn’t expect that.”
With her hand still on my skin, she steps into me, keeping eye contact and taking every bit of oxygen from my lungs. “Well, I skipped out on finishing a really fun baseball puzzle that my neighbor got me to be here tonight, so…” She pauses, smirking. “What do they say in baseball? Let’s play ball?”
I turn to face everyone, and Tucker is spinning Sage around in a circle above his head.
I lean down, pressing a kiss to Poppy’s forehead, no longer giving a fuck who sees us or what they care about me falling for the girl next door.
Because I have. No part of me sees a future without her. “Let’s play ball, honey.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulder, guiding her to where everyone else is at the barnyard. Lily and Blair’s eyes both widen before they soften into a silent acceptance. Tucker now stands on third base, clapping his hands together and bouncing in place.
I don’t even know what we are at this point, but Poppy has let me in fully. She’s told me all the most vulnerable parts about herself and allowed me into her heart in the most intimate ways.
There’s that uneasiness in my gut reminding me that I’m supposed to be leaving.
She makes me want to stay here in Bluestone Lakes.
Start a new life here…with her.
Lily raises a plastic cup filled with some kind of alcohol, I’m sure, and Poppy makes her way to where they stand.
Griffin comes to stand beside me, nudging me with his elbow. “I see she’s let you in.”
I swallow and nod.
“I told you once, but it’s worth repeating. Don’t fuck this up, Westbrook. I’ll be forced to murder you and hide the body.”
“I’ll help,” Nan adds quickly as she walks past where we stand, not stopping, just continuing walking to where the girls are.
“I don’t want to fuck it up,” I admit. “I have a lot of decisions to make. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what’s right or wrong.”
My eyes land on my daughter, who has her arms wrapped around Poppy’s waist, holding her as if she never wants to let her go, while the girls all continue talking.
“I had it all mapped out. Do my time here, and then go back to baseball. I wasn’t going to form any attachments.”
“And then life laughed at you, didn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Funny thing about plans is they never turn out the way you hope. I told myself I was going to be single forever because I liked my quiet, secluded life. I wanted to be alone. It was peaceful.” He looks to where Blair stands and smiles. “Blair came in like a hurricane and changed my life.”
I know the feeling.
Griffin places a hand on my shoulder, giving me a light squeeze. “Sometimes the detour is where the journey really begins.”
I watch as Poppy throws her head back and laughs loudly with her sister and best friend, feeling deep in my chest that Griffin is right.
Baseball may have been my life for as long as I can remember, but I’m older now—different.
I’ve been so in my head about keeping the consistency of what I’ve always known, the one thing that’s never let me down.
When I stop to think about it, there are so many other things in my life that have never let me down.
Maybe the next journey I’m supposed to be on is here, in Bluestone Lakes.
“Think about it,” Griffin adds with one more squeeze of my shoulder before releasing his hand. “Let’s have some fun tonight.”
I nod and follow him to where everyone stands in the dugout.
“You guys ready to play some baseball, or what?” Sage shouts.
We all snap our heads to where she stands in the outfield, arms out in the air with an impatient look on her face. It takes us a minute to notice if she’s joking or not, and when her hand covers her face and she starts giggling, we do too.
And it hits me all over again.
I have no idea how I can leave this town.
“That’s so out!” Nan shouts. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is bull.”
“His foot touched the base before the ball reached his glove. What don’t you get about that?” Griffin argues.
“What he said,” Tucker adds. “I’m like lightning. You can’t get me out even if you tried.”
“Ugh. I hate this game.” Nan rolls her eyes.
Griffin does the same and turns to face me. “She’s very competitive.”
“So I’ve learned.” I chuckle.
“This is the most fun I think I’ve ever had in my life,” Poppy says as she jogs up to where we stand, hair pulled back in a ponytail, and wipes some dirt from her forehead. “Who knew baseball was this fun?”
Tucker, Griffin, Lily, Sage, and I all raise our hands, which forces her to giggle.
“It would be more fun if we won,” Nan adds flatly, but then smiles and raises her hand.
“But yeah, I knew baseball was this fun from the first night we all got together here for this.” She turns to face me, smacking a hand lightly on my arm.
“Thanks for coming into town and introducing us to this. It’s keeping me younger than I already am. ”
I nod.
“Daddy, can we have cotton candy ice cream tonight when we get home?” Sage asks, joining us where we stand as she takes her glove off. “I think since I was on the winning team, we can have some.”
“You ate the last of it a few nights ago, bug.” I laugh, tugging playfully at the brim of her San Francisco Staghorns baseball cap. “And it’s getting late. The General Store closed five minutes ago.”
“I have some at my house,” Poppy says.
“You have ice cream?” Sage asks, shocked as if other people don’t ever have ice cream at their house. “What flavor?”
“Cotton candy. Someone told me it was the best flavor, so I bought some to keep on hand.” Poppy shrugs.
My lips part, and my heart skips a beat. There’s no way she bought some just for herself, right? No. She keeps it stocked for Sage. The realization makes me lose my breath, and I’m unable to find words to reply.
“Daddy? Can we go to her house for some?”
I nod, answering Sage, but my eyes are fixed on Poppy.
“Yes! Now I can see your puzzle set up too!” Sage beams, settling herself next to Poppy with one arm around her waist. Poppy does the same, resting an arm around her shoulder. “Ice cream and puzzles after playing baseball? Wow. This might be the funnest night of my life.”
Poppy giggles at my daughter.
“Well,” Lily says, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re going to head out. You three have fun.” She wiggles her fingers in the air to say goodbye, and Poppy glares at her. “But not too much fun.”
“Impossible,” Sage emphasizes. “We’re gonna have too much fun.”
“Can I come have some fun, too?” Tucker asks.
“Read the room, Tucker,” Griffin deadpans.
“We’re not in a room.”
“I can’t stand you.” Griffin shakes his head, gripping both of his shoulders to guide him to where his truck is parked. Lily barks out a laugh as she grabs her things, following them to the cars, leaving the three of us still standing on the field.
Nan stays back for a moment longer, looking back and forth between Poppy and me. Then a soft smile graces her lips before she tips her chin and follows everyone else.
“You’re welcome to come over if you want,” Poppy says softly.
I lean down, close enough so that only she hears me. “Are you sure? It’s kind of last minute, and Sage will be fine if we can’t. She gets over things pretty quickly.”
“I’m sure, Dallas.”
She takes Sage’s hand in hers, and I watch as they walk to where we’re parked. A piece of my heart, and the missing piece of the puzzle I didn’t even know I was missing, walk hand in hand together.