Taste (Cloverleigh Farms, #7)(90)

“Hey,” said my mom. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. But it does feel good to get off my feet.”

“I bet. Where’s Gianni?”

“No clue. I lost him somewhere between the Ferris wheel and the bounce house.”

She laughed. “Sounds like Gianni.”

“Ellie!”

I looked up and saw Winnie heading for the booth. “Hey, Win. Have you seen Gianni?”

“Yes. He’s talking to Dex over by the dunk tank. But he’s looking for you.”

With difficulty, I rose to my feet and wiped my fingers on my shorts. “I’m coming. I hope he’s ready to go. I’m beat.”

As we headed for the games area, I yawned. “Everyone said there would be an energy boost during the second trimester. Where is it?”

Winnie laughed. “I don’t know. But I don’t think Gianni is quite ready to leave yet, so I hope you get a burst of energy.”

We’d reached the dunk tank, and I saw Dex and his two little girls standing there, but no Gianni. “Hey,” I said, smiling at them. “Are you having fun?”

Dex nodded, and the girls giggled and jumped up and down. “We want to see this!” shouted Luna, the little blond one. If I remembered correctly, she would be in first grade this fall.

“Luna, shhhh!” Hallie, older by about three years, poked her sister’s shoulder. “We can’t give it away.”

“Give what away?” I asked. “And where the heck is Gianni? I thought he was—”

“He’s over there!” Luna burst out, pointing at the dunk tank.

I looked up, and my jaw dropped. There was Gianni, seated behind the blue bars on the dunk tank platform, dressed in his swim trunks and grinning madly.

“It’s your turn!” he shouted. “I figured it was time for payback.”

Bringing my hands to my face, I started to laugh. “How many throws do I get?”

“I bought you fifty,” he yelled. “Then we’re even-steven. And if you can’t dunk me in that many throws, it’s not my fault!”

“Step right up,” said the guy manning the tank. At his feet were five buckets of balls, and he picked one up and held it out.

Eagerly, I went over and took the bucket from him, then set it on the ground at the white line on the green turf runner about twenty feet from the big red circle I had to hit in order to dunk him. I picked up the first ball and stared at that red circle, concentrating hard.

“Come on, Ellie!” I heard the girls cheering. “You can do it!”

I took a breath, said a prayer, and threw.

I missed.

Then I missed again.

In fact, as the crowd gathered—including my parents, the Lupos, and much of Winnie’s family—and Gianni continued to taunt me, high and dry on that platform, I managed to miss with all ten balls in that first bucket.

The guy brought me the second bucket, and I pushed up my sleeves, blowing my hair out of my face. “I need help!” I scanned the crowd. “Can anyone give me some advice?”

“Turn sideways more,” shouted Gianni’s dad.

“Don’t hold your breath!” yelled my dad.

“Release a little sooner!” offered Dex.

“Get someone else to throw for you!” hollered Winnie.

I looked over at her. “Now that’s good advice.” My eyes skimmed over everyone who’d gathered around and landed on Winnie’s cousin Chip—who happened to be a newly retired MLB pitcher.

A grin broke out on my face.

“Oh, shit,” I heard Gianni say.

I marched over to him and grabbed his arm. “Please, Chip. Please throw my next forty pitches and dunk the love of my life as many times as possible. Trust me when I say that he will deserve it.”

The crowd went nuts as Chip grudgingly allowed me to pull him onto the runner. Happily, I set the bucket of balls at his feet. “Here you are. Have at him.”

Chip picked up a ball and looked at the red circle, then at me. “Should I move back or something? This doesn’t seem fair.”

I shook my head and patted his arm. “Trust me. It’s fair.”

He shrugged, wound up, threw, and nailed it. Gianni went into the water like a bag of bricks.

Then he did it thirty-nine more times.

The crowd continued to gather, Gianni continued to climb up there again and again, and Chip continued to throw with an accuracy that astounded and delighted me. When he got to the last ball, he pulled it from the bucket and looked at a soaking-wet Gianni.

Gianni didn’t say anything, but Chip seemed to get a message anyway, because he nodded and handed the ball to me. “I think this one’s yours.”

I looked down at it. Written on the side was THIS ONE LAST. And I realized it didn’t feel exactly like the other baseballs I’d thrown. The outside was white leather and the stitches were red, but there was a seam along the middle, as if it would open up.

I glanced up at Gianni, who gave me his signature grin. “Come on, open it up! It’s easier than throwing it!”

My heart was racing, and the baby was kicking up a storm inside me. Taking a breath, I opened up the baseball, and discovered it was a ring box in disguise. Tucked into black velvet was a gorgeous three-stone ring, with a round center diamond flanked by two smaller ones, set in a platinum band. My eyes blurred, and I worried I might pass out for a second. I grabbed onto poor Chip, who was still next to me.