Page 115 of Eleanor & Grey
Greyson sat up a bit, seeming thrown off by Karla’s request. “Yeah, of course, here you go.”
“Thanks. Want anything?” she muttered.
Greyson’s eyes widened. He shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”
“All right.”
Karla headed off to get her snack.
“Did you see that?” Greyson asked. “She asked me for money andthenasked if I wanted anything.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I saw.”
“That’s one of those good small steps, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was.” That was the thing about small steps—they had the power to lead to big changes.
When we hit the seventh inning, Lorelai was reaching her breaking point. She was coming down from that sugar high really quick.
“Just a little more,” Greyson said, his catching glove on his hand. We’d watched four balls fly in our direction the whole game, and he was more determined than ever to catch one too.
“But Daddy,” Lorelai yawned, climbing into Shay’s lap.
“Really, honey, we’re almost there. The next batter is the one who’s been hitting all those balls our way. And I have a good feeling.”
Lorelai groaned but didn’t put up much more of a fuss.
Then, like magic, Greyson’s player delivered a ball in our direction. Greyson stood up from his seat, and it all felt oddly like destiny. Greyson’s eye was on the ball, and as it started to come down, Lorelai tugged on Greyson’s jeans, forcing him to break his concentration for a split second. That was all it took, though. In the amount of time it took for Greyson toglance toward his daughter then back to the sky, his focus was shot. The ball was too close, and it hit him square in the face.
“Ugggh!” he groaned, tumbling backward and dropping the ball.
Everyone gasped.
“Are you OK, Dad?” Karla asked, seeming very concerned.
“Daddy, you missed the ball,” Lorelai mentioned.
“Oh, look! We’re on the jumbo screen! Dance, girls!” Shay instructed, and the three of them began wiggling their bodies as I helped Greyson sit up straight.
“I’m sure it looks better than it feels,” he whined.
“Which is scary, because it looks awful. We should get you home.”
We all headed to the car, and the ride was pretty quiet. I couldn’t stop from glancing over toward Greyson’s reddened face. It looked like it really hurt.
During the quietest moment in the car, Karla started snickering to herself. “Hey, you guys... remember when Dad caught the baseball with his face?”
Everyone started giggling, even Greyson.
“Who needs a glove when you have a nose?” he joked.
I swore that was the first time I’d ever heard Karla laugh.
Another small step.
When we got back to their house, Lorelai requested that Shay put her to bed—after she finished showing off all her artwork on the walls, of course.
Karla yawned as we walked into the house. “Night, everyone.”
