actually wanted me. Usually I’m one of the side pieces thrown in. So yeah, it feels good.”
“How has your welcome been on this Dodgers team?”
“They’ve given me a warm welcome. The Dodgers are a very good team, and they know I’m here to help them win a World Series. I’m excited to be a part of it. Thanks for the interview! I have to go make a call.”
The reporter looked like she had more questions to ask, but Joel pulled out his cell phone and jogged off.
Moments later, my phone rang.
“Hey sweetie!” Joel said.
I sat up on the couch. “Joel? We were just watching your post-game interview!”
“Yeah, they wanted to ask me a bunch of questions. But I’m exhausted. I just want to go back to the hotel and sleep, you know? How are you guys doing?”
I switched the phone to speaker. “We’re good. Watched you get your first save.”
“It’s easier in the National League!” Rafael leaned in close to say. “No designated hitter to worry about.”
“You look hideous in a Dodgers uniform,” Darryl said. “If I were you, I would retire.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. Miss you too, bud.”
“We do miss you,” I said. “Everything happened so fast today we’ve barely had a chance to process it.”
“I know what you mean.” Joel hesitated. “Natalie, can you take me off speaker?”
I frowned and did as he asked, then got up and walked out to the pool to speak to him alone. “What’s up? Is something wrong?”
“I wanted to talk about… us. You and I.”
I steeled myself. “Okay.”
“I’ve loved being with you this year, Natalie. I feel like we’re perfect for each other. You get me in a way that nobody else does. Nobody except Darryl and Rafa, I mean. I care about you deeply.”
I took a deep breath. Here came the tough part. “But…?”
“What? Why do you think there’s a but?”
“I don’t know. It just sounded like you were saying all of those nice things to butter me up before you officially broke things off.”
“Break things off? Hell no, Natalie. I’ve been thinking about what you said. Regarding this thing being more than just a casual relationship. I totally agree. I want to keep it going.”
I laughed. “That’s going to be hard with you in Los Angeles.”
“Sure, it won’t be easy. But the off-season is only three months away. I plan on coming back to DFW for the winter. It’ll suck being apart from you until then, but I know I can wait. If you can too.”
I felt tears welling in my eyes. Tears of relief and happiness. “Of course I can wait that long. Three months is nothing.”
“And in the mean time, Rafa and Darryl can keep you busy. And when October does finally roll around? Well, I’ll just have to make up for lost time.”
“I’d like that. As long as you don’t fall for some Hollywood starlet.”
He laughed. “Not a chance, Coach.”
“I’m not your coach anymore,” I pointed out.
“If it wasn’t for you I’d be pitching down at Nashville right now. You’re the sole reason my career has taken off. You’ll always be my coach.”
I went back inside. Rafael and Darryl jumped up and hurried over to me.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Was it something he said?” Darryl asked with murder in his eyes. “If he broke your fucking heart…”
I shook my head. “These are tears of happiness. I promise. He was saying he wants to pick things back up when he returns to DFW in the off-season.”
“Off-season,” Darryl repeated. “As in, continue this whole thing beyond the baseball season?’
“That’s what off-season means, yes,” Rafael said dryly. He turned to me and added, “I would be open to that too.”
We both turned to Darryl. “We’ll see how the season goes,” he said, but there was a smile on his face that gave away what he really thought. All three of them wanted to continue being with me even when baseball was over.
“Joel said you two have to keep me busy,” I said, wiping a tear away. “Until he’s with us again.”
Rafael and Darryl glanced at each other. “Oh, we’re going to keep you busy alright.”
29
Natalie
The loss of Joel was fresh the next morning. It was still fresh the morning after that. But every day it stung a little bit less, until we were used to him being gone.
It helped that we talked on the phone every night, like high school sweethearts who couldn’t stand to go more than a day without chatting.
Fortunately, my job occupied enough of my time