“Even I could hit that weak stuff,” came a call from the peanut gallery.
Turning around, I saw a smiling Ridge Townsend with Bill Callaway and Maria Dowe. I hugged my two USC friends and gave Maria a kiss. I didn’t look around for Leah Johansen because Maria told me she’d gone to my farm to settle in.
“You just get in?” I asked.
“We talked your driver into coming to see you. Tracy called me on the ride down and said we’re all going to dinner tonight. Bill tells me he has to get his pizza fix,” Ridge said.
“Monical’s,” Cassidy supplied.
“I figured we could do that tonight,” Bill said.
He was as bad as I was about Monical’s.
I got Ridge in the batter’s box and threw him some pitches he could hit. Bill and Maria wanted to have turns, so I grooved them some fastballs at three-quarter speed. Maria surprised us with her skills. She admitted that she’d played softball at her high school.
I let them have their fun, and then Cassidy told me to get serious. Ridge was an excellent all-around athlete and had played baseball in high school. I got him in the box and began throwing him actual pitches. It didn’t help that Bill gave him shit about not being able to touch my stuff. Heck, if I hadn’t picked up a bat in over two years, I wouldn’t have done any better.
Moose was happy and sent me home so I could go out with my California friends.
◊◊◊
When I arrived home, there was a pickup truck in our driveway. I entered the kitchen and found John Phillips, my quarterback friend from Kentucky, talking to Peggy and my boys. Duke was making a pest of himself since he thought John should be his new best friend and rub his ears.
“I need to go change, then we’re going out for dinner,” I said.
“Well, hello to you too,” John teased.
“Whatev. Want to hang out here, or go up to my apartment?” I asked.
John and Duke followed me to my place. While I got ready, he looked at my wall of pictures.
“How many All-American teams did you make?” John called out.
I’d noticed that Caryn, or maybe someone else, had put my football awards in a display frame. It also held my picture and State Champion patches for the last two years. I would bet that I’d see a similar one for baseball shortly.
I walked out of my bedroom, and John spoke before I could answer him.
“Coach told me about all the awards. I guess I didn’t really put it together to realize what you’ve accomplished,” he said.
“It’s sort of embarrassing at times,” I said.
“I call bullshit. I know how hard you work. You actually motivated me to do my rehab.”
“I heard you won the starting job in spring ball.”
Blowing your Achilles was never good; some athletes never came back from that. John had missed the season to rehab. His sister was proud of him and had sent me his press clippings.
John just smiled. We ran downstairs and found Fritz waiting for us.
“How big a deal are you to have your own driver?” John asked on the ride to Monical’s.
“It’s the price of fame. I’ve had a couple of incidents. Fritz is more than my driver, he’s in charge of my security and has become a friend,” I said.
Fritz rolled his eyes at that, but it was true. Heck, the guy taught me to surf.
“I saw when those guys tried to attack you in LA. That had to be scary. I’m just glad that at Kentucky, basketball is king, and it’s those guys who get swarmed, not me,” John said.
“It’s my turn to call bullshit. Nancy complains all the time about the girls who flirt with you,” I reminded him.
Nancy Brock was John’s girlfriend. Before they had started dating, she and I had gone out. I’d invited her on a vacation at Range Ranch, and she ended up in the middle of the troubles between Devin and me when he’d tried to steal her. She showed both of us up: she returned to Kentucky and ended up dating John. All I knew was the boy was in trouble. Nancy would keep him on his toes.
“She knows I would never stray,” John admitted.
When we arrived at Monical’s, there were a few photographers out. I stopped and introduced them to John. While we were doing that, Ridge and Bill came up and joined us. Having Ridge and John here reminded me that I’d made some good friends attending football camps.
We walked in and found their dates were already there. I introduced John to Cassidy. Bill already knew Gina, and Ridge had previously met Pam. Leah and Maria saw me and came over.
“Your dates aren’t here yet. Jim is picking up Johan. They should be here soon.”
“What’s with the name ‘Johan’?” Leah asked. “Sounds like a character in a Viking movie.”
“It’s a family name. I think you’ll have a good time with him. He’s one of the nicest guys I know,” I assured her.
I guided everyone back to the banquet room. That way I wouldn’t get distracted with people in the restaurant. I wanted everyone to get to know each other.
Jim and Johan showed up and were introduced to their dates. What was funny was that Johan treated Leah just like a regular girl, and they got along great. Jim was the nervous one. If anything, I thought it would be the other way around. I’d never seen Johan with a girl before and had assumed he’d be a little unsettled.
Tracy showed up and acted as my date as well as mother hen to the group. I sat back and had a good time while Tracy made sure everything ran smoothly. When she and I worked together, we did make a good team. I made sure the guys didn’t talk too much football. Overall, the evening was a success.
◊◊◊ Friday May 6
When I came into the kitchen for breakfast, Megan pointed at the newspaper. There was a photo of the four of us from last night and another picture of Leah. The article said we were meeting pre-prom to get acquainted. Someone in our group must have let the cat out of the bag. It went on to talk about who else was coming today.
I had a feeling either Frank or Adrienne was the source of the information.
When I was done reading, Megan handed me Coby because he wanted his breakfast. She knew I liked to do this in the morning and, if he wasn’t too fussy and could wait, she made it a point to let me do it. Little David was wide awake, chattering away. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was a girl.
“I want to thank you again for helping us out during finals. Peggy’s looking like she’s catching up on her sleep.”
“They’re a handful, but I’ve enjoyed taking care of them,” she said and then smiled. “Did you see the pictures of the boys and Pam?”
Pam had been going a little crazy on social media, though I guess I didn’t have much room to talk. I felt a little guilty when I had to admit that I hadn’t looked in a few days. I pulled my phone out and brought up her accounts first. My eyes got big when I looked at the pictures.
Pam and Peggy had taken the boys to Pam’s, and they were all in the pool. What about gave me a heart attack was seeing Little David and Coby with their heads sticking out of inner tube-like flotation devices. Coby didn’t seem too sure about this, but Little David was older, and he looked happy. Pam and I had talked about her desire to teach Coby to swim early, but I guess I hadn’t realized how soon she wanted to start introducing him to water. At this rate, he might be able to swim before he could walk.
Peggy came in the back door with Duke. They’d gone running this morning.
“Slug,” she called me, then gave me a kiss before going upstairs.
Duke ignored me and followed her upstairs to get his morning loving from my parents. I just shook my head because he was such a creature of habit. God forbid you messed up his routine.
◊◊◊
Fritz dropped me off at school along with Halle, who’d ridden with him today. I never really understood why she was able to drive herself to school, and I wasn’t.
Still, every once in a while, she caught a ride with Fritz.