Page 128 of Running Home to You
“I’m sorry for our last conversation. I was really fucked-up and I shouldn’t have taken things out on you.” Her eyes prickled. “Youaremy family, Mick. Kate was Kate, but you were my first friend here. My best friend. You’ve always been there for me and I’m sorry I was too selfish to appreciate it, caught up in my own shit. Not just then, but the years before that too.”
“You’re hard on yourself.” Mick reached across the table and squeezed her forearm. “But I accept your apology.”
Abby sniffled. “I love you.”
“I love you too, idiot.” Mick stood to meet her for a hug. “You’re a good person, Cruz. A good friend.”
Abby slackened in the embrace, and when Mick clutched tighter, keeping her on her feet, the air settled deeper into her lungs. They’d shared hugs before, but none that Abby fully let herself go in. While she was the one tasked with mending the bridge, this was Mick mending her.
“I don’t know how you can say that after everything.” She dabbed a single tear as they retook their seats.
“Because you never stopped fighting, you know? And no matter how down you were, you still made us smile or hit one out of the park. In some ways, you were the best of us.”
“No. That’s Kate,” she said before she could stop herself or the blush that came after.
“In her own way, yeah. Kate’s our captain, our heart, but when shit hits the fan, when we need a clutch hit, it’s always you. You know why?” Mick’s eyes glowed with gentle admiration. “Because you’ve seen the shit. You’ve known loss and you persevered. Through this too.”
“I don’t know about that, but thanks, Mick.” Abby fiddled with the straw in her soda. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell you.”
“You’re not a welcome topic of conversation.” She shrugged and Abby ignored the punch in the gut. “So, you apologized to her too?”
“I did.”
“Before me?” she shouted and tossed a crumpled napkin at her.
Abby chuckled. “You’re my last one.”
“You saw her then?”
“No. I sent a letter.”
“You two and your letters.” Mick rolled her eyes. “You know I invite her to the alumni game every year and she never comes.”
“Really? I thought that would be her favorite day of the year.”
“Me too. You should come though.” She smacked the picnic table. “In fact, I’m demanding it as part of my amends.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Nah, I think it is,” she said. “How long are you in town for? You should stay with Hales and me.”
Abby shook her head. “I’m headed back to San Diego for a few days before I ship back out.”
“No.”
“Yes. You realize I have a job to do, right?”
“Well, then that’s perfect, because I have a great player for you toscout.” Mick ramped up at Abby’s sigh. “Oh, come on. This was one shitty apology then. You save me for last, you don’t even write me one of your little love letters—”
“Okay, okay, fine!” Abby laughed.
Mick grinned, reached across the table to ruffle her hair, and while Abby smacked her hands away, it was like two parts of herself harmonized. Like she was twenty years old at Insley again, but not so she could hide there. This time she’d fully come back to herself.
The latest prospect sent Abby to an elementary school. She followed Mick past the playground, dodging kids and strollers, to a small baseball diamond where a team of first graders in bright pink uniforms warmed up.
“Aunt Abby!”
Juniper spotted her first, skipping over with her bat. Abby kneeled to hug her as Mick scoffed. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
