She shakes her head, rolling her eyes as she does. “He’s ridiculous. Loves being dirty.”
“Anyway, the arm’s okay. A bit sore after yesterday. My therapist is a sadist.”
My sister snorts and covers her mouth. “Sorry about that,” she says as she continues to laugh. “You never were one for pain.”
“Nope, it’s why I like pitching so much. I rarely have to bat, run bases, and I get every three to four days off to rest.”
“Lazy is what you are.”
I bat my eyes at my older sister, and she pushes my good shoulder with her gloved hand. “Ma sent you out here to talk to me, didn’t she?”
“More or less.”
“I know he wants to play, and he should get the opportunity to be a little boy, but Warner . . .”
“Look, I can’t give you advice on how to manage your household, but as Nolan’s really cool and famous uncle, let the boy hang out with me while I’m here. It’s twelve weeks, Lizzy. A ranch hand can take over his chores for the time being. I’ll make sure he does his homework, we’ll go riding, and we’ll spend some time down at the baseball fields.”
She smiles and then looks over my shoulder. I turn and find Warner standing in the doorway. I wave, but the gesture isn’t returned. “He won’t like it.”
“Yeah well, like I said, I’m only here for a short time. I want to hang out with my nephew.”
“Are you going to hang out with the twins?”
I blanch at her question. “Um . . . have you seen those girls? They’re freaky! They’re identical in every aspect. Voice, hair, eyes, smile… it’s like they belong on some horror story reality thing. It’s creepy.” Elizabeth laughs but finally admits she agrees with me and goes on to say that I need to spend time with my nieces as well to keep the peace with our younger sister. I know she’s right, but like I said, the twins are . . . odd.
When Nolan gets off the bus, I’m there to meet him. He runs up to me and just when I think he’s going to jump into my arms, he skids to a stop and gives me a high five. “What, no hug for your uncle?” He turns and watches the bus amble down the road. That’s when I get it, he doesn’t want his friends to tease him. I put my hand on his shoulder in hopes that he knows I understand. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know, downtown. Maybe stop by the field and see what’s going on there. We could get some ice cream if you promise not to tell your grandma.”
“I promise,” he says with a smile.
All the way into town, Nolan tells me about school, his teachers and his favorite subject, P.E. I honestly believe it’s every boy’s favorite class because it’s the only time, aside from recess, where we can burn energy. He asks about baseball and if I’m sad that I’m missing most of my season. I’m honest with him and tell him that it hurts to watch the sport I love so much while feeling like I should be there supporting my teammates. But I know that if I were there, I’d probably be working too hard at recovery, which would likely set me back. I also tell him that I’m happy to be back in Montana to spend some time with him and that we need to convince his parents to let him fly out to Boston during his summer vacation. Nolan, of course, is in full agreement.
“Grandma tells me you want to play baseball,” I say as we pull into the almost packed parking lot of the stadium. Through the closed windows I can hear kids yelling and that brings a smile to my face.
He nods and goes to this backpack. He unzips it and pulls out his glove. “It used to be yours. Grandpa found it in the barn and said I could have it.” He hands my old mitt to me. I want to slide my hand inside of it but the strain on my shoulder would be too much. Instead, I hold it and turn it over a few times. This glove has seen a lot of wear and tear. I’m honored that he’s using it, but he really should have a new one. It would be something I’d buy for him, because I don’t expect his father to do it and I’ve gathered that Elizabeth doesn’t say much to disagree with her husband.
“Wow, I haven’t seen this ol’ thing since I started high school.”
“Yeah, Grandpa found it in the rafters one day. It’s okay if I keep it, right?”
“Of course, until Cooperstown comes asking for it. Never know, maybe I’ll be in the Hall of Fame after I retire.”
Nolan shrugs. “You’re already an all-star. They’d be dumb not to put you in the Hall of Fame.”
I reach over and ruffle his hair. “I need to win a few championships and throw a lot more shut-outs before they’ll even consider me . . . and I can’t really do that while I’m injured, now, can I?”
“Nope, but you’ll be stronger when you return.”
My nephew makes me smile. “You know what, kid? You need to be a motivational speaker when you get older. You’re wise beyond your years.”
He looks down at his lap and fiddles wit
h the worn-out leather on his mitt. “I want to be like you.”
“Yeah? Well, let’s go see who’s out there playing and see if we can’t find you someone to throw with. Unfortunately, your uncle is out of commission for another few weeks, but I can coach you.”