1. Chapter 1 #2
Danae looks like she’s going to deny it, but her thumb is furiously picking at the clear polish on her nails. I point to the dead giveaway with a loud “Ha!”
“Okay, okay, maybe don’t do anything too extreme until July eighteenth,” Danae says.
Gasping, I ask, “Does that mean you picked an official date? The seventeenth?”
I didn’t hear the patio door open, but Griffin’s voice sounds behind me. “Better clear your calendar, sis. It’s about the only date we could make work this summer.”
Whirling around, I’m just in time to catch Jason’s enthusiastic hug. He practically yells, “Sammi!”
“Hey, my guy!” I exclaim. I’m grateful he still gets openly excited, despite his preteen mood swings on top of the typical emotional dysregulation that comes with past trauma. I squeeze him as I say, “I’m happy to see you too.”
“Finally, we can eat. I’m starving!” he says.
“Oh, I thought your excitement was for me, but I’m simply your ticket to food,” I tease.
Jason grins and shrugs. When I ruffle his bright red hair, he starts whining about me messing up his style.
Residue of way too much texture powder sticks to my fingers, and I tell Jason, “Whoa, we need to have a conversation about how a little hair product goes a long way.”
He ignores me and takes a plate from the counter. As we all fill our plates with fajitas, I turn the conversation back to the wedding. “What made you choose the seventeenth?” I ask.
Danae answers first. “Well, we knew we wanted to get married while I’m on summer break so we can go on an actual honeymoon.
Jason can go stay with your parents and have fun without missing any school, so it works well for us.
But that pesky daily baseball schedule makes it difficult to find a time that the guys can be there.
” There’s a teasing glimmer in her eye as she elbows Griffin.
Danae’s lack of love for the sport of baseball is well known, despite her undying love for Griffin.
Although Griffin chose to retire after suffering a second labrum tear in his left shoulder last year, he’s still closely tied to the Kansas City Crowns team and the sport in general.
He and Jason watch as many games as possible for their podcast breaking down major events in Major League Baseball each week.
Griffin leans down to kiss Danae’s cheek. “Hey, they get nine days in a row off in July,” he jokes. “Plenty of time for a wedding.”
“Except we all know Adrian will likely get voted into the All-Star Game again this year, so we had to plan for after that,” Danae clarifies.
Adrian Ortiz is the third baseman for the Crowns and Griffin’s best friend.
I know Adrian was devastated when Griffin chose to retire, not only because he’d miss playing as teammates, but also because Griffin played along with Adrian’s goofball tendencies.
There are countless compilation highlights on YouTube of Ortiz/West antics over the years—the entire fandom probably mourned the loss of new videos just as much as losing Griffin as the Wizard of Defense at shortstop.
Considering that Adrian will be Griffin’s best man in the wedding, it’s only fitting to accommodate his schedule.
“Do you have a venue picked out?” I ask as we sit at the table to join Jason, who’s already halfway through his first fajita.
Danae sighs. “We’re going to look at a few options next week. We wanted to have it here in the backyard, but Kansas weather in July isn’t exactly the best time for an outdoor wedding. We’re hoping that by having it on a Friday night there might be a few small wedding venues with availability.”
My lips twist to one side in thought. “How big will the guest list be?”
Griffin answers, “We’re keeping things simple and private. We estimated we’ll have about fifty guests.”
Although Griffin’s wedding could have easily included hundreds of guests—considering he makes friends with everyone he meets—a smaller ceremony is more in line with Danae’s capacity.
She was initially hesitant to even date Griffin due to all the potential public exposure.
Given her strained relationship with her parents and Jason’s history in foster care, I can’t blame them for wanting their wedding to be a personal day instead of a spectacle.
It kills me that the summer weather would interfere with Danae’s vision to have the wedding here at the house.
“Have you considered getting an air-conditioned tent so you could still have the ceremony here?” I ask.
“I didn’t know that was a thing,” Griffin replies.
Pulling out my phone, I open the notes app. “You guys go ahead and look at the potential venues this week, but don’t sign any contracts yet. I’m going to do some tent investigation.”
As we discuss their vision for the ceremony and reception, the note on my phone grows longer and longer.
It feels comfortingly familiar, like all the times I made task lists of appointments to book and media appearances to manage for Griffin.
Only better, because now I don’t have to deal with his overbearing agent.
Even though I’m pursuing my own passion now instead of doing PA work, I relish this opportunity to support Griffin and Danae. My cup is most full when I get to help the people I love.