Chapter 5
Three weeks. That’s how long it’s been since I walked out of Bree’s office after she demanded professionalism.
I’ve barely seen her since unless it’s at a game where she’s wearing Miller’s jersey and sitting with Fields’ wife.
To the world she may be Gabrielle, but to me, she’s still Bree.
Every time I’ve tried to think of her as Gabrielle, it feels like a foreign language my brain can’t comprehend.
“If we can keep up this momentum, we’ll solidify our lead in the division before the All-Star break in a couple weeks, and then it’s a race for them to catch us.” Fields comments, going over the stats on our way back to Nashville after another away series.
“Gah, I want a ring.” Miller chimes in from the window seat beside him on the Troubadours private jet.
“Me too.” Fields nods.
“Hey, at least you got one last year. I’m ringless in every way,” Miller jokes.
“Yeah,” Fields dreamily looks down at the gold band on his finger. They’ve folded me into their duo from day one, but I realize sitting here listening to them that I don’t know much about them outside of baseball. Time to give that team bonding thing a try.
“How did you get the girl?” I ask Fields from my seat across the aisle from him.
“Oh yes, please tell us,” Miller crosses his legs and props a hand under his chin like he’s waiting for gossip.
Fields looks over at me ignoring his best friend. “What would you like to know?”
“Don’t think I’ve ever heard the full story about how you met your wife.” I know he and Ivory have been together for a few years and got married last November—which was where I met Bree for the first time—but that’s about it.
“Once upon a time,” Miller starts like this is story time.
“This is my story. Shut it.” Fields slaps him on the back of the head.
Miller holds a hand up. “But if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have met her, so isn’t it my story too?”
“No, you weren’t there,” Fields argues back.
“You wouldn’t have booked the flight.” Miller pauses and squints his eyes as if trying to recall the memory. “Wait, scratch that because I basically did that part too.”
“I booked the flight,” Fields corrects.
“I found the flight,” Miller jockeys back.
“But I paid for it.”
“But I did everything except put the card number in.”
“Are you guys serious right now?” I jump in. It’s like watching a tennis match. Back and forth they go.
Miller holds up his index finger silencing me while still looking at Fields. “One moment”
“I found the resort, which led to meeting her, so it was all me.” Fields offers a smug smile.
“You literally asked me what I thought before you booked it?” Miller throws his hands up.
“What does that matter?”
“Guys,” I cut them off again.
“What?” they ask in unison.
“Wanna clue me in?” If they keep this up, we’ll be landing in Nashville before I know how he met Ivory, let alone how they got together.
Fields asks Miller, “Can I speak now?”
“If you must.” Miller waves him on.
“It was 2020. We were in spring training and got sent home. We didn’t know how much time we’d have off but this moron—” Fields thumbs over his shoulder at Miller.
“Believe you mean, genius,” Miller butts in.
Fields ignores him. “—Convinced me to take a trip to Belize at the last minute.”
“Flights were cheap. You needed an adventure. I’d say you got the adventure of a lifetime.” Miller holds his hand over his mouth to cover his laughter.
Preston glares at him.
“Am I missing something?” My brows crease with confusion.
“No.” Preston rolls his eyes.
“Yes.” Miller clues me in. “Preston likes to say his trip to Belize was the adventure of a lifetime. Just ask Ivey.”
“Okay?” Will I ever understand the inside jokes between these two?
“Anyways. I went to Belize and Ivory walked into the resort bar on the first night.”
“Like an angel without wings.” Miller flutters his hands as he says wings.
“Would you cut it out?” Fields snaps and Miller holds his hands up in surrender.
“So, it was as easy as meeting in the bar?” I try to keep us on topic before Miller derails the story again.
“HA, he wishes. My guy had to work for it.”
Again, Fields glares at Miller. They really are brothers. “Not quite. She was hesitant. You already know she’s famous in Hollywood, but most don’t know she was treated like shit. That woman was lost. She needed the trip to rediscover her purpose. She’d also been burned by all the men in her life.”
“I thought she and Coach had a good relationship.” From everything I’ve heard about them, which admittedly isn’t much since they keep a lot private, they seem like a solid family unit.
Miller answers my question. “Shit yeah, she’s a daddy’s girl through and through. He thinks she walks on water.”
“They have a great relationship, and I witnessed it when we were in Belize,” Fields confirms.
“Tell him about the FaceTime. OMG that was hilarious.” Miller’s already laughing at whatever that means.
“FaceTime?”
“Ivory and I were hanging out one night after our first flight got cancelled and she thought it would be a good idea to call her dad and tell him we were together. Soften the blow of me not being able to come home or something.”
“But she hit FaceTime instead right before my boy was about to kiss her.” Miller gets to the point, still cracking up.
“I was not,” Fields attempts to protest, but I see the slight tip of his lips.
“You definitely were. The tension!” Miller raises a fist in the air.
“Oh shit. How did that go?” I can’t imagine accidentally calling a girl’s dad when I was about to kiss her, let alone on video.
“’Bout as good as you’d expect it to go.” Fields laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “He texted me later and told me to watch after his girl.”
“He sure watched her alright.” Miller reaches out for a high five.
“When did you know to make your move?” I’m asking purely to get to know Fields, not because I have debated making a move on Bree.
Nope, I definitely haven’t thought about that since I left her in her office where she was desperately trying to hide her attraction behind work.
“I didn’t really. I wasn’t sure what to do if I’m honest. I didn’t want to push her into something she didn’t want. It was a weird situation. There we were in Belize, trapped on an island together because we couldn’t come home, sharing a house and practically strangers,” Fields says, seriously.
“But you wanted her, right? Like obviously there was something going on?” It’s hard for me to understand how you could spend all that time with a woman like Ivory Crenshaw and not want her.
“We built a friendship first,” Fields dodges the question.
“These guys put the slow in slow burn, let me tell ya. Even I was getting blue balls, and I was still in Florida.” Miller leans over and whistles.
“No, dude. Just no.” I don’t want to think about Miller’s balls.
Fields continues his story, “After a month together, I could tell she was letting her guard down. Still, I made her come to me. I was open and transparent from the beginning that I was interested whenever she was ready to make the next move.”
“Ahem, this is where I come in. Tell him about my idea.” Miller can’t keep his mouth shut during this story.
“Is he always like this?” I ask.
“Unfortunately.” Fields rolls his eyes again.
“My idea was amazing. I don’t know why you struggle to give me credit where it’s due,” Miller praises himself.
“I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to inflate your already overinflated ego.”
“Whatever. Basically, I told him to woo her. Plan dates. Make it special. Prove to her that he’s for real and not just treating her like an island fling.” Miller ignores Fields’ jab.
“Wow, that’s not what I thought you were going to say.” I laugh. Miller doesn’t seem like the type.
“No one is more shocked than me.” Fields’ dry delivery shows he’s being sarcastic and there’s more to Miller than meets the eye.
“I’m a complex man, okay. Get used to it.” Miller shrugs.
“So, you planned dates and she changed her mind? What was the thing that finally tipped the scales?” I’m invested now. Maybe I could get some ideas on how to change Bree’s mind about us.
“I’m not sure it was just one thing. It was a lot of little things over time. We watched TV together. We played scrabble. I taught her how to cook.” Fields sighs, reminiscing.
Miller leans over and looks at me with wide eyes. “If you ever eat any of their food, ask who made it and if there was any fondling involved. Trust me.”
“We never have sex near the food!” Apparently, this is a constant debate between them.
“Suuuurrre, I believe you.” Miller shakes his head at me and mouths ‘no I don’t.’
Exasperated, Fields continues “We hiked, paddle boarded, snorkeled, explored together. All of it added up. She found herself again after playing a role all her life, and I was there to witness and support her.”
Miller rapidly taps Fields’ shoulder. “Tell him the grand gesture!”
“OH MY GOD!” Fields pushes him back.
“What? Sorry I just get so excited.” Miller ducks his head like he’s about to be in time out. Maybe not a bad idea.
“I planned a spa day,” Fields smiles, pride and confidence on his face.
“Since the moment we met, I just wanted to take care of her. She deserves the world and to be pampered. So, I found this village that sold supplies and created our own spa in the bedroom of the small house we were staying in at the time.”
“Candles, oils, bath salts. This guy even did a mud mask.” You’d think Miller was actually there with how much detail he has on their relationship.
“It made her smile,” he says matter-of-factly, as if that’s the only reason he needs.
“And the rest is history. We were together after that. And when the time came for us to go our separate ways, I knew it would be temporary. I also knew we were strong enough to withstand the distance and the turmoil that was headed our way. We built that foundation first. She didn’t trust easily.
She needed reassurance and action to speak louder than words. ”
“Heartfelt.” Miller wipes an imaginary tear off his cheek.
Fields finally looks at Miller. “You’re an ass.”
“Come on, Gramps. You love me.”
“I tolerate you.”
“Tolerate it,” Miller sings to the tune of a familiar song I’ve heard recently.
As the jet descends into Nashville, I wonder how I can get Bree to break down her walls like Ivory did, because lately all I can think about is changing her mind about the possibility of us.