Page 110 of The Path to Loving Him
“That would be correct.”
She chuckles. “And that’s exactly why we’re not talking about it.”
“Then what do you want to talk about?”
“First of all.” She reaches for the remote, but I help her and hand it over. “I think we need to turn on the Bombers game.”
Christ, a girl after my own heart.
She turns on the TV and doesn’t even have to change the channel as she must have been watching the game last night. The game just started, so the score is zero-zero, but the Bombers are up.
I get comfortable and ask, “Have the Bombers always been your favorite team?”
“They’re not my favorite,” she answers, surprising me.
“Oh wait, you like the Rebels.”
She shrugs. “Not really. I just think Jason Orson is really good.”
“Then who is your favorite team?”
“If I said the Bobbies, what would you say?”
“Fairweather fan. It’s easy to like the Bobbies when they have a high payroll and a shit ton of championships.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” She sips her drink. “Who’s your favorite team?”
“Bombers,” I answer. “I grew up here. It’s the hometown team.”
“Makes sense. I watch the Bombers because Bennett’s on their Triple-A team, and I’m hoping their third baseman gets injured so he’s called up. I’ve never wished for so many pulled hamstrings in my life.”
I laugh. “That would be fucking awesome if he was called up. Shit, I should have been following him. I didn’t know he was with the Bombers minor league system.”
“He was traded last year. It was part of a big trade deal. Worked out because he was with the Texas Hot Dogs, and he hated it there.”
“Oh, that’s right, the Hot Dogs. Fuck, what a terrible draft.”
She laughs. “Yeah, it was brutal. It was right when they went through the rebrand too and chose the new name to get fans more involved. They thought the Hot Dogs was just odd enough that it would work.” She shakes her head. “It did not.”
“No, they have the worst record in baseball, lowest stadium attendance, and they’re the laughingstock of the league. Bennett is lucky he was traded.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
All of a sudden my phone rings, and I glance down at it to see it’s Hattie.
Fear races up my stomach because the only reason she would be calling is if something happened with Mac.
“Hello?” I answer in a panic. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Hattie says. “Sorry about calling, but Mac was missing you, and she wanted to call you.”
“Oh,” I say, the panic slowly easing. “Okay, put her on.”
The phone gets passed from what I can hear and then her little voice comes on. “Uncle Ry Ry.”
“Hey, Mac,” I say. I catch the soft smile that passes over Gabby’s lips. “What’s up?”
“I miss you.”
