Page 22 of Taking the Pitch
Kessler nods and leans down, giving Lucy a kiss. He moves his hand down to Lucy’s slight bump and she covers his giant hand with her much smaller one; her ring glittering back at me under the lights. I catch myself staring at them and feel like I’m intruding on an intimate moment.
“I’m going to go find our other deckhand,” I say, moving out of the kitchen and down the hall to give Kessler and Lucy some privacy.
“He’s in the game room,” Kessler calls to me.
Making a left instead of a right, where Hudson’s room is, I find him playingMario Kart.
“‘Sup broski?” I say, plopping down on the couch next to him, jostling Petey around. I twist the cap off my water and guzzle down half of it.
“Hey, Uncle Judd,” he says, pausing his game to look at me. “Nice parrot.”
“Thanks. I felt like it was a nice touch.” I nod to the screen. “Wanna play teams until Kade gets here?” Kessler and I are taking Hudson and Kade Trick or Treating tonight, while Lucy and Kara stay home to have a girl’s night.
“Sure!” Hudson exits out of his screen, and I grab the other controller off the charger. We end up playing three rounds before Kade joins us in the game room and we turn everything off to head out.
Lucy and Kara take tons of pictures of us before shooing us out the door so they can start their movie.
We settle into Kessler’s truck and head off to one of the neighborhoods that apparently has the best candy.
“So,” Kessler starts, looking at the boys in the rearview mirror and seeing they’re occupied with their own conversation. “How was the thing at the library yesterday? Is it something you’re interested in?”
An image of a feisty Amelia pops into my head, and I smirk. “Very.”
Kessler cocks an eyebrow at me. “Why do I feel like you’re not talking about the foundation?”
I look over my shoulder and lower my voice. “I am…for the most part.”
“Fuck Judd.Pleasetell me you didn’t chat up one of the moms. That’s a conflict of interest.”
I huff a laugh. “Says the guy who pursued the coach of the Little League team he volunteered to help. Pot meet kettle.”
“That was different. I volunteered to help because she wouldn’t let me take her to dinner to thank her for getting me out of my batting slump. I was already interested in herbeforethat.”
Kessler slows down and flips on his blinker, waiting to turn into the housing development just a few miles down the road from their house.
“You know, you never really told me what drew you to Lucy and how you knew she was the one.”
Finally, there’s a break in the traffic and Kessler turns down the street, stopping behind a line of cars letting kids out. Turning around, he addresses Kade and Hudson. “Boys, I’m going to let you out here so you can start. We’re going to go find a place to park and then we’ll come find you, okay?”
“Okay!” the boys parrot back in unison, both bailing out of the truck and slamming their doors. Kessler watches them for a second, making sure they both make it to the sidewalk before driving ahead, looking for a spot to park.
“I should have taken Lucy’s car. It’d be easier to park.” He whips his head to me and gives me a pointed look. “Don’t tell her I said that. She suggested it earlier, and I told her I’d be fine.”
I shake my head and chuckle as we slowly follow the trail of cars, who are probably also looking for spots to park.
“And to answer your question, there was an unexplainable energy that I felt when I touched her. Still is.”
“What?”
“You asked what drew me to Lucy.”
“Oh.” I think back to yesterday and the zap of energy I felt when Amelia and I shook hands. “That’s it? There’s just energy?” Not convinced that’s all it was.
He scrubs a hand down his face, scratching his beard. “No. When I was around her, every unsettled feeling I was having about baseball just…stopped. She calmed me, made me want things I didn’t think I’d ever have.” He chuckles. “Plus, she wanted nothing to do with me and what man doesn’t love a little challenge?”
I nod my head, thinking about how Amelia also wants nothing to do with me.
We make it another block before we finally luck out and come upon someone pulling out of their spot. Kessler puts the truck in park and turns to me. “So,isit one of the moms?”
