Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
I do my best to act like I’m not fazed by her judgment. “So you’ve never been? You should definitely come in. Any friend of Beau and Ollie’s is welcome. Now, if you don’t mind, this is the first time I’ve gotten to watch my nephew play, and I don’t want to miss a second of it.”
She rears back, gives me a smirk, and turns back toward the field. As soon as she does, I slide a few inches away from Beau, pushing his hand off my leg.
I will not cry. I will not cry.
My mind is going a thousand different directions, but I will not cry.
I force my attention to the game being played in front of me. I get completely entranced with the six-year-olds on the field. My eyes are glued to Ollie, and when he saves a goal, I jump up and cheer again. This time, Ollie’s looking for me before I even stand up. I wave my fist in the air, and he does the same.
“Natalie.”
I don’t look at him. Beau says my name in a soft, pleading voice, but I don’t look at him.
Until he tries again. “Natalie, baby.”
I hold my hand up and hiss at him. “I’m not doing this here, Beau.”
When the game is over, I don’t wait for him. I make my way down the bleachers and don’t stop until I’m next to Ford and Lilian.
Lilian sees me first and pulls me in for a hug. “Natalie, you’re here!” I hug her tightly, and when she pulls back, she’s holding me at arm’s length, not letting me go. “I heard you cheering for Ollie. I was this close to being jealous when he was looking at the stands, but once I figured out it was you, I was okay.” She says it all in a rush and then pulls me in for another hug. “I’m so glad you came.”
I nod. “Me too. He did so well.”
Ford pulls his shoulders back and pats his belly. “Yep, I taught him everything he knows.”
We all laugh, and by now, Beau has joined us. The brothers shake hands, and I don’t miss the look Ford gives Beau, gesturing to me with a smile.
I look around the small group. “Where are Huddy and Elle? I really enjoyed meeting her the other night.”
Ford and Lilian look guilty before Lilian finally breaks the silence. “Uh, a spreadsheet is getting the best of them. They planned to come, but they had a report they needed to finish.”
They both are trying to hold back a laugh as Beau looks like he’s about to combust. He points at himself. “My spreadsheet? They’re easy, there shouldn’t be any problem. What spreadsheet is it?”
Before Ford can answer, Ollie runs toward us screaming. I barely have time to put my hands out before he’s jumping into my arms. There’s no way I’d stay upright if Beau wasn’t behind me to hold me up. I’m laughing so hard as I hold him in my arms. “You were amazing, Ollie! I am so impressed by the way you blocked those goals.”
We all laugh and listen as Ollie gives us a retelling of the game. He gives us the play-by-play. None of us complain, though. We may have sat through the whole game and watched every minute of it, but listening to Ollie tell it from his perspective is better than any game we could have watched. As we all listen, I can’t help but notice that Beau is off to the side on the phone.
Ollie is jumping up and down in front of me. “Go eat with us. We’re going to have pizza. Please, Aunt Natalie?”
I don’t even look at Beau to see if it’s okay because there’s no way I’m telling the kid no. “I would love to go have some pizza with you.”
When Beau joins us, he has a worried look on his face. He’s taken all this time off, and I know his job is important. I’m not going to complain that he has to go in and fix something. “Go to the office. Huddy and Elle need your help, and we’re all good here.”
He looks at me curiously. “No, I told them to send me the report and I’d do it later tonight.”
I shake my head, suddenly feeling like I need a breather and that maybe a little distance would do me some good. “No, really. Go fix it. Trust me, I know you, Beau Blaze, and you’re not going to be any fun knowing some spreadsheet is out in the universe and the formulas are broken.”
Everyone laughs around me, but Beau knows me well. “I can do it later. I think we need to talk.”
I shake my head. “Anything we need to talk about, we can talk about later. I’ll see you at home in a little while, but right now, I need to go. I have a date with a handsome young man to go play games and eat pizza.”