Chapter 15 #2
Steffi looked up, gazed around the ballroom, and then met Drake’s eyes.
He was waiting beside the dancefloor, where barely anyone was partaking of the soft music playing.
He looked so divine, so dashing, and so handsome in his suit that it stole her breath.
That was her man, her husband, her heart and soul…
and she couldn’t believe that they’d actually made it to this point.
What started out as a fake engagement had turned into a real love that they would tell their children and grandchildren about.
Drake lifted a hand toward her, waiting, with that knowing smile that was for her – and her alone.
If the dance floor was almost empty and everyone was listening to the speakers before the auction, had he planned this? And how long had he hoped she would attend with him? He was amazing in so many ways, she realized as she glided toward him and saw his smile spread as pride flashed in his eyes.
“May I have this dance?” he asked softly the moment her fingers touched his, and she melted.
“You can have them all,” she replied tenderly, marveling once more at the miracle that had befallen both of them.
Who knew the irritating neighbor that vexed her so much that she’d purchased dog poop from a stranger to sabotage his yard would be the same man treating her like a fairy tale princess now?
“I’m going to hold you to that,” he whispered, giving her a slight spin before curling her against his chest. Her eyes closed at the sensation, feeling the weight of the satin skirt flutter into place.
She felt like Grace Kelly, maybe Ginger Rogers – this, this feeling, this beautiful movement between two souls felt like a lost artform…
and her husband wanted to dance with her.
He’d planned this very moment.
“Hold me forever,” she breathed softly, putting one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his upper arm as they began to sway together.
Captivated, enchanted, if she wasn’t in love with him already, there was no fighting this magic as he whirled her around the dancefloor like they owned it.
Maybe that was what attracted her to him, that he was unabashedly himself and didn’t care what anyone thought.
He was sarcastic, snarky, playful, yet loving – and everything she could have hoped for in a soulmate.
“What are you thinking, love?” he murmured. “You are practically aglow in my arms…”
“I’m thinking I’m so lucky to have met you.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“When can we go home?” she whispered softly. “This is lovely and all, but I want to be alone with you.”
“You wanna see my other dance moves, don’t ya?” he boldly whispered as he spun her around again, his meaning clear. Formal event or not, Steffi laughed loudly at his comments – but her husband wasn’t done yet. “We’ll leave after I get my glove back, woman – and not one second before.”
Pure. Unfiltered. Drake.
“I love you.”
“I love you too – and I’m not kidding about my glove.”
“I know you’re not.”
“Just so we’re clear…”
“Should I be scared?”
“It’s about to be obscene,” he admitted with a determined look on his face. “That’s my glove I was using when I first noticed you checking out my butt – and I need it back. Toot-so-sweet!”
“You mean, ‘tuit suite’?”
“I know what I said.”
She chuckled, shaking her head at her husband’s antics.
An hour later, Steffi was staring at her husband in horror.
Oh, they won the glove – and on their way to the limo, Drake was practically skipping with glee as he showed it off to her.
“See? I had this stitch repaired after playing the Rangers – and this mark is when I dove for a ball against New York… see how it’s soft and fits just right. This is important, Steffi. The right tools for the job, ya’ know. I’m sure surgeons have a favorite scalpel or something like that…”
“We should talk about money,” she whispered, reeling.
“Why?”
“Because you just bought a piece of raggedy cowhide for twenty thousand dollars, Drake!” she nearly shouted, but caught herself. The last thing she wanted was to get rolled in the parking lot of a charity event – especially now that they were surely financially ruined.
“Cowhide? Cowhide? Woman, please. This is exquisite leather from the finest… cows. Fine. It’s cowhide, but it’s pure craftsmanship and not the least bit ‘raggedy’.
Sheesh. No taste whatsoever, I swear. This is a Rawlings glove, broken in over time – do you know what I’m saying?
This, right here, is the Ferrari of baseball gloves. .. so don’t make it sound cheap.”
“It’s not cheap. It’s a year’s worth of salary – if I hadn’t been fired.”
“Is that what you’re sweating?”
“Uh, yeah!” she yelped, waving her hands at him and ignoring the limo door that was open and waiting for them. “You bought a piece of worn-out leather…”
“Bite your tongue…” he hissed in mock-horror.
“Twice – you bought it twice,” she pointed out, shoving her finger in his face, and he pretended to bite at it while clutching the glove against his heart. The driver looked alarmed, like he wasn’t sure what to say or do in this moment – and firmly decided that ‘statue’ was the right move.
“Steffi, get in the car.”
“Can we even afford the car now?”
“Babe, I’m gonna say this once…”
“And here we go with the macho-beat-on-my-chest stuff…”
“I love you. I’m in love with you… But you are irking me - and I need a moment with my glove,” he crooned, stroking the glove and winking at her. Steffi flung up both hands in disbelief as Drake ignored her, climbing into the limo.
“Ma’am?” the driver said, hesitating, as another car pulled up nearby. “Do you need help getting in?”
“I need Midol, Advil, a Jack Daniels, just something to deal with him…” she muttered – and the driver nodded, pointing.
“Alcohol is in the side caddy, ice is in the fridge, and I might have ibuprofen in the center console up front that I can give you,” he explained, giving her a sympathetic look before whispering behind his hand. “Mr. Walker is kind – and unfortunately not all my clients are.”
“He’s a dork,” she shot back and hesitated. It would not do to badmouth him or make a fool of herself at an event. The money was spent. Now it was time to figure out how to recoup such a staggering loss. “I’d love some ibuprofen – thank you.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
Steffi climbed inside and saw Drake watching her carefully.
“You’re mad,” he said simply – and she rolled her eyes as she saw the glove was lying on his lap suggestively over his pants. “It fits like a glove.”
“You are infuriating.”
“Finish your sentence – ‘infuriatingly adorable’…”
“Nah – let’s just leave it at infuriating.”
“Steffi…” he groaned, rolling his eyes, and then pressed a button, shutting the window between them and the driver.
“Open that – I want my ibuprofen. You’ve given me a stress headache.”
“We’re loaded. Okay?”
“We’re drunk?”
“No, honey. Loaded-money-loaded, not drunk ‘loaded’. We’re disgustingly comfortable financially. The house is paid off, the cars are paid off, no credit cards, no loans – nothing. I make a ton of money on endorsements, which is why I act like a nitwit on the field… and then I invest everything.”
Steffi swallowed, staring at him in shock.
“The glove was a drop in the bucket, love,” he said quietly.
“I rolled up the window because money is not something we should talk about publicly. If you never wanted to work another day in your life, we’d still be comfortable for a very long time.
In fact, our great-grandchildren’s college funds would be established long before we ever had to worry. ”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely,” he promised in a hushed voice. “If you have a concern – ask – but let’s keep it behind closed doors. I’ve got nothing to hide from you.”
“But… but we live in a normal subdivision, drive normal cars, and everything is – well – it’s normal,” she stressed, completely at a loss for words. “You don’t have any fancy artwork, no eccentric collections, nothing – except an expensive, worn-out baseball mitt.”
“For charity,” he chuckled and winked. “I’ll give the receipt and documents to my financial advisor. He’ll shake his head, chide me about spending money, and then tell me that I need to spend a little more, so I don’t have to pay capital gains taxes on my stocks and investments.”
“What?” she gasped, stunned.
“We’re good,” he repeated once more, watching her. “Unless you divorce me and then I’m gonna be pissed, pout a whole heckuva lot, whimper, cry, and lawyer-up. I would not be a happy camper if you were done with me.”
“I’m not going to divorce you.”
“Because you love me?”
“I could throttle you right now – but yes,” she sighed, relaxing only slightly as she saw his dancing eyes and that slow smile on his face. “Please don’t spend chunks of money like that until I get used to it – and FYI? I never will.”
“Normal keeps you humble,” he agreed, and hesitated. “You know, I knew I needed to keep things normal for me when I realized that I had no idea how much a bunch of bananas cost.”
“What?” she chuckled, stunned. It was such an off the wall statement that seemed out of place - but that was Drake, wasn’t it? The car wobbled slightly as the limo started to move forward. “What do you mean?”
“When you make a ton of money, get obscene paychecks, or lose your grip on reality – it’s hard to get it back,” he admitted quietly, watching her.
“I was talking with my mother after paying off her house, listening to her fret, and we were talking about the grocery list for the week. Sunday is her grocery day, right after church, and well, I wanted to pay for things,” he paused, hesitating and looking embarrassed.
“I’ve never paid attention to things – if I wanted it, I simply bought it.
So, I looked at the list, it said ‘bananas, eggs, and heavy cream’…
so I handed her three hundred bucks,” he paused, smiled, and shook his head.
“And she threw it at me, completely pissed off.”
“She did?” Steffi asked, stunned and choked out a laugh, picturing it in her head as Drake made a face.
“She said, ‘I didn’t raise an idiot’ and told me that I needed to go outside, say a few prayers, and touch grass to get myself right again,” he chuckled, smiling.
“So I did. I realized that to stay focused, to appreciate the blessings that had been given to me, that I needed to live simply… and touch grass.”
Her lips parted in shock as he grinned.
“That’s why I do my own yard work, my own dishes, my own cooking, and live simply because I think it would be much too easy to lose touch – and then you are left with so many debts that you drown in worries.
I don’t want to be that person. I never want to struggle…
which is why I’m telling you this, because I don’t want my wife ever to worry if her husband is hard-headed about some things. ”
He lifted the glove and pointed at it, smirking. “This mark is when I caught a pop fly against Anaheim – and boy, did I get booed.”
She stared at him, drew in a shaky breath, and then pointed at the glove, a different mark in the leather.
There was no way he could identify all these marks or remember how he got them, but this was his way of sharing, of justifying the expense, his way of being proud of himself…
and bragging about himself, to her, because he wanted her to be proud of him too.
She understood.
“What’s this mark?” she whispered and met his beloved eyes, treasuring the way they crinkled at the edges when he smiled.
“Lemme tell you about that one,” he chuckled. “It was a muddy field, and I was so tired after not sleeping the night before – I believe we were playing Houston… or maybe San Antonio?”
“You don’t know?”
“Shh,” he teased, putting a finger against his lips – and then moving it to her mouth in a caress against her bottom lip.
He was such a little twerp sometimes, and she loved it.
“Let me focus… ah, yes, I was standing in the outfield on a windy day when a line drive came flying in my direction. You should have seen me. I dove, slid across the grass, stretched my arm, and…”
“Drake?” she interrupted softly, wanting him to kiss her.
“Yes, love?”
“You’re amazing,” she whispered, looking into his eyes. “I just wanted you to know that I think you are absolutely, one thousand percent, amazing…”
His eyes searched hers, his smile faded, and the intensity of his eyes was staggering.
She could see the longing, the love, the spark between them that would forever be a flame that they would fan over the years…
and it was moments like this where they shone so brightly.
Oh gosh, she wanted to kiss him, to hold him close, and…
“You wanna touch my glove – don’t you?”
Steffi shoved him in the middle of his forehead.