Page 28 of Double Play
“That talking to those kids was what Ineeded?”
She shrugged one shoulder, a little embarrassed. “You told me before that you like brightening a kid’s day. And they’ve been talking about you. I knew it would mean a lot to them. Ten years ago, Iwasone of those kids. I know how it feels when someone really cool talks to you like youmatter.”
Surprising her, he reached out and ran a hand down her back. The strong, knowing touch made her tremble. “Thank you, Maggie. I needed that. Now I’m all revved up and ready to slap some balls around.” His forehead creased. “That really didn’t sound right,didit?”
At the Audi, he opened the car door for her. “Where to now, MissMaggie?”
“I have to get to work. Can you drop me at thestadium?”
“Sure. I might as well get there early and get the lecture from Duke out of the way. ‘I told you not to come back here.’ Date number two tonight, right? And this time, I’m incharge.”
“Is that athreat?”
“It’s apromise.”
When Dwight made a promise,he delivered. After the game, during which he hit a homer and didn’t let a single fly ball bounce off his head, he took her to dinner at the Playhouse. They took inAs You Like It, then went for coffee afterwards at the Sacred Grounds. The degree to which they clicked blew him away. They never seemed to run out of things to talkabout.
Two nights later, they went to hear a local Zydeco band play. The night after that, he took her to his favorite jazz club. They went to Scoop for ice cream, and took in a lecture on the history of Kilby at themuseum.
Even though a magnetic field of attraction buzzed between them, amplified every time he touched her arm or smelled her hair, Dwight kept things on the level of conversation. She told him she hadn’t socialized much in either college or grad school. He wanted her to enjoy the process, not rush through it. Maggie was different from the other women he’d been with. She had a core of strength to her, but the quiet kind. She didn’t talk a lot, but he loved listening to what she did say. She spoke with so much intelligence, and so few “ums”and“ers.”
Never had he imagined that brilliance would be such aturn-on.
They had conversations about things he never talked about with the Catfish players. Politics, history, books, ideas. The more they talked, the more he realized he’d been hiding that part of himself behind a joking, lovable facade. People liked to laugh, and he liked making them laugh. People liked to watch talented ballplayers too, and he liked to oblige. That didn’t mean he didn’t have a brain. With Maggie, he got to exercise his brain, and damn if that didn’t feel incrediblyempowering.
It made him want herevenmore.
But he didn’t act on that lust, just let it build between them. He wanted it to be right. He didn’t want her to have any reservations about him. About black and white, ballplayer and computer nerd, experienced andinnocent.
The perfect moment would come, and when it did, he’d be ready. He wouldn’t screw it up the way he’d torpedoed his shot at the BigLeagues.
The Bigs…where, to everyone’s amazement, Jim Lieberman was taking San Diego bystorm.
In the clubhouse, the TV was always tuned to the cable channel that showed the Friars’ games. So Dwight got a front row seat to his impressive performances. After five games, his average was a healthy .290, pretty freaking good for a shortstop without much power. He’d been perfect at shortstop so far, without a single error. And he’d actually stolen a base off the league’s toppitcher.
But mostly, the San Diego fans loved his spirit. He got so caught up in the games, air-punching and jumping up and down from the dugout. He was the ultimate team player, just as excited for his teammates as forhimself.
And during his post-game interviews, San Diego got a taste of his scientific side. For instance… “If you look at the numbers, baseball is like the Higgs boson field theory, meaning a unified web of energy that proves everything isinterconnected.”
“Uh…” The interviewer gaped at him. “So what are you saying about the Friars’ chances to move up in thestandings?”
“That’s the question? Didn’t I justanswerit?”
“No?”
“Oh. Well, I’d say our chances are pretty good as long as Trevor Stark stays healthy and Caleb keeps hisfastballdown.”
Dwight couldn’t stop grinning every time he watched one of those interviews. Jim Lieberman—he was an awesome dude and he deserved his moment inthesun.
With thegroupies.
Every game, a group of young female fans filled one of the lower sections of the park and held up signs that said, “Marry Me, Bieberman.” At the end of the game, they’d hang over the railings to get his autograph and take selfies with him. With his fresh-faced energy and good looks, he had the girls of Southern Californiadrooling.
Watching Lieberman—along with Mike Solo, Caleb, Eli and Trevor—do so well in the majors could be difficult sometimes. But being back in Kilby had itsadvantages.
Scratch that. It had oneadvantage.
And every night they went out, every conversation they had, every time Maggie’s face lit up with passion about statistics or baseball or strawberry cheesecake or any of the things she loved, he fell forhermore.