Felix (The Ninth Inning #1) (25 page)

“I could hit your car,” she tries.

“You could, but you won’t because you’re steering.”

Abigail lifts her hands to the steering wheel. She grabs it for a couple of seconds before letting her hands fall back into her lap. Tamara seems to be waiting for Abigail to take the next step on her own.

I lean forward to poke my head between the seats. “What’s your plan if you do drive?” I ask. “Where are you going to go in the lot?”

“Oh, um.” She seems to think about it. “We could go down to that lamp and then turn around.”

I’m impressed and proud she’s willing to go that far. “Sounds good to me.”

Now, it’s whenever she’s ready. Abigail’s hands return to the steering wheel. She runs her hands around it as if she’s getting a feel for it. The moments drag by until her hand goes to the gearshift and she moves it into drive. She takes another deep breath, her hands taking position at ten and two.

I grin widely when the car inches forward as she lets off the brake. Her knuckles are white with her grip, but she hasn’t stopped yet.

“Just to the lamp and back,” I remind her of her plan.

She nods, but doesn’t reply. She puts pressure on the gas, just a little, and picks up speed. We’re probably only going ten miles an hour. It doesn’t matter though. Abigail circles around the lamp until we’re back where we started. Her stop is smooth and she quickly shifts it back into park before getting out of the car, the engine still running.

I get out as well and wrap her in my arms. “See? Piece of cake.”

She laughs. “Yeah, if you say so.” Her hands are trembling even though she’s trying to hold them steady against my back.

“Doing okay?” I ask anyway.

“Just give me a second,” she mumbles into my chest.

By now, Tamara has come over to where we are. She’s smiling like I am. Our girl did well and we know it.

“I’m so proud of you,” I whisper.

She briefly squeezes me tighter before taking a step back.

“You did great, Abigail,” Tamara starts. “If we meet here about once a week or so, we’ll be able to get you comfortable and back on the road soon.”

“Once a week it is, then.” They say their goodbyes, and then Abigail faces me again. “Thanks for coming with me, Felix.”

“I’m glad I was here to see you do that. Your sisters are going to be happy to know you did it, too. As long as my schedule works out, I can come with you for the rest if you want.”

“Thanks. Let’s go home now.”

“Wanna drive?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, I like having a chauffeur. I need to milk it while it lasts.”

I SMILE STARING at the screen. Grades are officially in and I passed all my classes with flying colors. I lean back in my kitchen chair and think about the beginning of this semester. I had no boyfriend. I sure as hell wasn’t going to attempt driving a car. Nope, neither one of those crossed my mind.

Now look at me. I have Felix in my life, we’re happy, and I drove. Well, I didn’t drive far, but I did a little bit. My smiles falters when there’s knock on the door. Annie and LA are here and we have one thing on our to-do list we haven’t touched since our parents died.

Today, we’re going to do it.

When I open the door, they both are dressed similar to me: shorts and a tank top. It’s hot outside and I know all the moving we’re planning on doing is going to make it much worse.

“Ready?” LA asks and I nod, grabbing my keys.

The three of us head off to LA’s Nissan and I sit in the back. As we take off toward the other side of town, none of us say anything. We know this is going to be hard for us, but we’ll do it together.

Annie, who can’t stand the silence, begins telling us about her class and all of the end of the school year stuff she has to do. I still haven’t spoken as LA turns into the storage building’s parking lot. The three of us get out of the car and walk down the long alleyway toward the orange garage-like door that houses our parent’s belongings.

Annie unlocks it and the metal clanks and bangs as she yanks it up. We stand next to each other as we stare at the dusty boxes and furniture.

“Why haven’t we done this already?” LA asks.

“Because we were busy,” I answer.

“Because we have careers and lives,” Annie adds.

“Because we’ve been avoiding it.” As always, LA tells the truth. “Well,” she takes a deep breath. “Let’s start.”

LA picks up the first box and opens it. I look over at Annie and she nods at me. With shaking hands, I walk in next and open a box.

After two hours, several tears shed by all three of us, and a lot of sweating, the moving truck pulls up. We decide to donate everything we don’t want to a local domestic shelter. We’re keeping the pictures, home movies, and a few other things. LA’s keeping the china because Annie and I don’t want it. I’m keeping a blanket that laid on the back of the couch. Annie’s keeping a few of Mom’s purses.

“Want to get some ice cream?” LA asks as we load everything into the trunk. Annie tells the manager we were finished and our building is now empty.

“We’re a sweaty mess. I don’t think they would let us into any establishment like this,” I tell her.

“I agree with LA.” Annie comes up behind me. “Ice cream sounds really good right now.”

“Fine.” There is no point in arguing. I’m hoping I don’t see anyone I know.

We pile back into the car and LA drives us off to the ice cream parlor. Again, it’s quiet and I know we all are reflecting on everything we just went through. We closed the final door of our parents’ lives and we closed the final door on
our
lives before they passed away.

I think about my parents. They were both amazing and loving. I couldn’t have asked for two better people in my life. Being in the car and driving the short distance I had, I remember what LA told me before. My parents wouldn’t want me to not live my life. I know in my head it was an accident, but my heart still hurts over the fact I had been the one driving the car. Tamara keeps telling me I will always feel this way, but it’s how I deal with it that will help me get back on track.

I follow LA and Annie into the very cool ice cream parlor and Annie giggles.

“Well, looky looky,” LA turns back to me and winks. “Seems like someone took an earlier flight home.”

“Huh?” I don’t understand what she’s saying until I look over her shoulder and see Felix sitting with Harry at one of the tables. He smirks when he sees me, and Harry waves his hand, showing five cups of ice cream sitting in front of him.

My heart skips a beat and I rush over to Felix. He’s exactly what I need at this moment. Yes, I love my sisters more than anything, but Felix has become my rock. He stands as I reach him. He engulfs me into his arms, and instantly everything is better.

“You weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

Felix pecks my lips. “I took the morning flight. Harry just picked me up a little bit ago.”

“I’m really sweaty and dirty right now.”

“No big deal. I’m washable.” He winks.

I giggle as I take the seat next to him and he hands me a cup, which has two scoops of vanilla ice cream in it. Annie and LA take their seats and Harry hands them their cups. LA’s right, the ice cream was a good idea. The coolness soothes my body heat.

“Did you ladies get everything done?” Harry asks.

“Yes,” LA says sadly.

“The truck picked up everything we didn’t keep,” Annie further explains.

Harry rubs LA’s back and she leans on him. “Did you keep anything?”

“Mom’s china and some pictures.” Her voices cracks and it breaks my heart to see LA, the strong one, sad.

“Overall, it was a good day,” Annie tries to be upbeat.

Felix squeezes my hand and I smile up at him. “Did you keep anything?”

“A few things.”

“Well, I don’t need to keep anything because my memory of asking your father for Leigh Ann’s hand in marriage is forever burned in my memory.” Harry chuckles.

Annie gasps. “I was there that day. How could I forget?”

“What happened?” Felix asks.

“At first, Dad tried to make sure Harry understood how
wild
LA really was.” Annie giggles.

“I told him how much I loved her and I could handle anything she threw at me.” Harry kisses LA’s temple and a small blush crosses her face. “Of course, he finally gave his blessing and we now have our happily ever after.”

Annie and I ‘awe’ Harry’s sweet words.

“Now, she’s a housewife,” Annie jokingly pinches LA’s arm. “Who would have thought that?”

“Hey,” LA points at her. “I’m a good at my job and my job title is housewife extraordinaire.”

We laugh and I can feel all of us relaxing. We begin to tell stories of our parents. Annie tells of her college graduation where Mom cried through the entire ceremony. LA tells of the time she tried to sneak back into the house after staying out past curfew and blamed it on a power outage that she didn’t know the time. Our dad said it was a creative excuse, but she was still grounded. I told of my very first date when Mom
and
Dad just happened to end up at the same movie as my date and me. Felix laughs as do we at our silly antics and the tales of our parents.

Soon, the ice cream is gone and it’s time to go. Felix rides back with LA, Annie, and I to our apartment complex and helps me carry in the one box I saved. I hug both of my sisters tightly and go into my place where Felix is waiting for me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sad,” I tell him truthfully. “But we’ve been putting it off for years and we needed to do it. Now, how was your game?”

“Good. We lost, but overall, we did well. Anything else happening I should know about?”

“Oh,” I perk up. “I passed all of my classes this semester.”

“Outstanding. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind because I knew you could do it.”

“I’m glad for you because I had all kinds of doubts. Now,” I look up at him. “I’m very dirty and I need a shower.”

Felix moans.

“Care to join me?”

He smiles. “I thought you’d never ask.”

I OPEN MY eyes and Felix is still sound asleep next to me as I ease out of the bed. I pull one of his shirts over my head and go into the living room. The box still sits on the coffee table. I open it and pull out the blanket. I trace my fingers over the patterns and smile at all the times I curled up under it when I was young.

I pull out the pictures. Some are of me as a baby. A few are of my sisters and me, but there are more of my parents and a lot of them when they started dating. They looked happy and so in love. I don’t remember a lot of fighting between my parents when we were growing up. I only remember happiness and lot of love.

“Abigail?” I look up and Felix is coming toward me in his boxers. “You okay?” He kneels down and wipes my cheek. I didn’t even realize I had been crying.

“I’m okay. Just looking through memories.”

“May I?” He holds out his hand and I hand him the few pictures I’m holding. “Wow.” He takes a seat next to me. “You and Annie look like your mom.” He flips through them.

“Yes. LA looks like dad.” I point to the one with all of us.

“They look very happy,” he says after a moment of silence.

“They were. They loved each other so much.”

“I can tell.” He sits them on the table. “Are you okay?”

“I am now. Felix,” I take a second to compose myself. “I’m really happy with you, and I love you. I want you to know that.”

“I love you, too. One day, you’ll have a happy family like your parents had.”

“Do you think we have that? I’m not talking like marriage or anything, but happiness? I even saw it with your parents.”

“Yeah, I think we do. I’m never happier than when I’m with you.”

“I feel the same way. I love you, Felix.”

“I love you, too.”

About the Authors

LINDSAY PAIGE is a romance author from North Carolina who has published YA, NA, and Sports romances of her own. She is a huge hockey fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and loves read. When not writing, Lindsay is focused on completing college.

MARY SMITH was born in Chicago, Illinois, but currently lives in West Virginia. She is an avid reader, co-founder of Book Nerds Across America, and author of NA, Paranormal, Sports, and other romances. She goes nowhere without her cell phone or Kindle. Mary loves anything to do with Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp, and hockey related!!