Along for the Ride(79)

‘Your caffeine,’ she said. She was holding out the cup to me when suddenly, something blurred past behind her. Something red, which then crashed against the end of the hallway with a loud, bouncy bang.

‘Hey!’ Esther yelled out the door. ‘What the hell was that?’

‘What do you think?’ I heard a male voice – Adam, I thought – yell back.

She opened the door wide, just as a red rubber ball rolled slowly past in the opposite direction, heading back toward the sales floor. ‘Oh, man. Seriously?’

‘That’s right,’ Adam hollered. ‘Kickball. Tonight. Get ready to get wet.’

‘And who,’ I heard Maggie say, ‘decided this?’

‘Who do you think?’

Esther stepped out into the hallway, picking up the ball. ‘Not Eli.’

‘Yup.’ I heard footsteps, and then Adam came into view, holding out his hands. Esther handed over the ball, and he nodded at me. ‘Came in late today, with this under his arm. He actually seemed cheerful.’

‘Really.’

‘Yup. We were all totally freaked out.’ He gave the ball a bounce. ‘But he was serious. First game of the season, tonight after closing. Drawing for second base commences sharply at ten oh five.’

‘Oh, God.’ Maggie groaned, joining them in the hallway. ‘If I have to be second base, I’m not playing.’

‘That,’ Adam said, pointing at her, ‘is a quitter attitude.’

‘Last time I got totally soaked!’ she protested.

‘Last time was over a year ago. Come on! Eli’s finally pulling out of this thing. The least you can do is get a little wet.’

‘It is pretty major that he’s up for it,’ Esther said to her. ‘I wonder what changed.’

I started to turn back to the desk, taking another sip of my drink. But not before I saw Maggie look right at me.

‘Who knows?’ Adam said. ‘Let’s just be glad and get on with it. See you at ten!’

And with that, he was gone, bouncing the ball as he went. Esther sighed, then followed him, but I could feel Maggie’s eyes still on me as I carefully stacked everything back in the drawer, stuffing the pictures in on top. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘You all right?’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I’m fine.’

This should have been true. After all, I’d had the same night as Eli, and he’d woken up with a whole new attitude. I should have been just coasting and happy, more ready than anyone to jump into kickball, especially with Eli there. And yet, as the nine o’clock dance passed and the minutes of the next hour ticked down, I could feel my stomach getting tighter and tighter.

At ten on the nose, Maggie appeared in the doorway to the office, keys in her hand. ‘Come on,’ she announced. ‘The second base drawing is in five minutes, and believe me, you don’t want to get stuck with it. You’re basically in the water.’

‘Oh,’ I said, ‘actually, I think I’m going to stay late tonight. I have this payroll to do, and some filing…’

She looked at me, then at the pens arranged neatly in the jar next to my elbow. ‘Really.’

‘Yeah. I’ll be along eventually.’

‘Eventually,’ she repeated. I nodded, then turned back to the desk. Her voice was flatter as she said, ‘All right. We’ll be waiting for you.’

Finally she left, and I busied myself labeling some file folders as she and Esther shut down the registers and headed outside. Once the door was locked behind them, I pushed back from my desk. After fifteen minutes of just sitting there, I went out to the now dark store, walking up to the front windows.

Everyone was gathered just down the boardwalk, at the main entrance to the beach. I could see Maggie sitting on a bench next to Adam, with Esther beside him. Wallace and some other guys from the bike shop I knew by sight if not by name were milling around, joking with one another: I watched as they said something to Leah when she showed up, and she rolled her eyes, swatting at them before Maggie slid over to make room for her. More and more people came along, some I recognized, others I didn’t. But then suddenly everyone began to move in closer, converging, and I knew Eli had arrived.

He had on the same blue hoodie he was wearing the first time I saw him, the red ball tucked under one arm. His hair was loose, blowing over his eyes, and as he approached he bounced the ball once, catching it as he turned his head, scanning the assembled group. When he turned, looking behind him right at Clementine’s, I stepped back from the window, out of sight.

After a moment of discussion, teams were organized, and some sort of decision was made. From the looks of it, Adam came out on the losing side, if the jeers and pointed fingers in his direction were any indication. Then, en masse, everyone headed onto the beach, with one group assembling by the dunes while another spread out across the sand. Adam, I saw, took his place right by the surf itself, reaching down to roll up his pant legs, while Eli moved to the center, the ball still in his hands. He was just rolling out the first pitch when I turned and went back to the office.

An hour later, I went out the back door, then made my way across a parking lot and down two alleys before finally popping out by the Gas/Gro. I’d been planning to just go home, thinking Heidi might need the company, but instead I found myself walking back to the boardwalk. I sat down on a bench in front of the Last Chance, which was still bustling, to watch the game from a distance. Just as I arrived, Leah was up: she kicked the ball far and long, out into the water, and a guy I didn’t recognize, now at second base, dove in after it.