22LoraTwo Years Later“Home run!” The kid’s friend cheers as he slams the bat into the baseball and sends it flying up into the cages. I stand a few feet away and watch as the kid nails the ball over and over, a nice and easy swing.
After his balls are up, they switch spots. All the cages are full, with teenage kids hanging around, drinking soda, laughing, talking, hitting balls. I watch them for a little while and wonder where they’ve would’ve been if we hadn’t opened this place up.
I feel someone come up from behind me. Dean smirks as he drapes an arm over my shoulder. “What are you staring at?” he asks.
“Bunch of teenage boys,” she says.
“I think that’s illegal in most states.”
“Stop, idiot.” I grin at him. “Wouldn’t you have loved to have this place back when you were their age?”
“Hell, yes. I still love it now.”
“I know.” I laugh and kiss him. I’ve caught him more than once using the batting cages before and after closing. And the arcade… and the go-karts. He’s like a big kid sometimes.
“Crowded today,” he muses. “I think there are a lot of people from a few towns over.”
“Yeah, I noticed that. Parking lot is packed.”
“It’s great. I love it.”
“I know. I was worried it would just be Loftville people, but…”
“The whole region’s been coming. I think this area really needed a place like this.”
I hold his hand and lean my head against him for a long moment.
“Dinner at the manor tonight?” he asks me.
“Yep. We’ll all be there.”
“Everyone? The whole pack?”
“Siblings, at least.”
“Oh, what a treat.” He laughs. “I think Shaun still owes me money.”
“Go ahead and tell him that. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
He laughs again and shrugs. “Cheap bastard.”
We’re quiet again for a long moment, just watching the kids swing their bats.
It’s been a wild two years. Once the permits came through, we took out some loans, hired some guys, and started construction. It took a couple months to get the place more or less ready, and we opened up as soon as we could.
Business was slow at first. We took our more loans. We stressed, worked hard. We did the jobs that ten people do now, all on our own, early in the morning and late into the night. We lived here.
But slowly, people started coming. It started thriving. We got better arcade games, upgraded the cages, added the karts. We’re planning on expanding soon and even might open a second location in a town closer to the middle of the state.
Now we employ over twenty people. Hopefully, we can hire more soon. Kids come in here instead of riding around in trucks, getting into trouble. I’ve been serious about keeping prices as low as possible, and we just barely make a profit every month, but that’s how I like it. All the money we make goes right back into this place… after my siblings get their cut, of course.
“How’s your dad?” I ask him.
He laughs. “Odd question.”
“I saw you talking to him the other day.”
He shrugs. His dad stopped by a few days ago, just came in and left almost right after talking with Dean. I don’t know what they said and I haven’t wanted to ask until now.
“He was just checking in,” he says. “Wanted to let me know that I don’t have to keep making payments on that truck. And he lost his seat on the town council.”
I laugh. “Really? He’s letting you off the hook on the truck?” I don’t mention that I knew about the council already, since my mother had a hand in his defeat, punishment for being an asshole to Dean.
Apparently, we do politics only when revenge is involved.
“Yep. After I paid for half of it, that asshole. Does Ron even drive it?”
“If Ron even knows it’s still in the garage, I’d be shocked.”
“Let’s steal it back tonight,” he says. “I think it’s still in my name, you know.”
“Go for it. I got your back.”
“I know. You’re ride or die, right?”
“Right.”
“So if I killed someone?”
“I’d help you bury the body.”
He nods once and kisses me. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m surprised you even need to ask.”
“Just had to make sure.” He hugs me tight against him. “So listen, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
He lets me go and turns to me. I frown as he gets down on one knee and takes a little box from his pocket. “I was thinking about doing this tonight with your family. But then I realized, I should do it here, in this place, the place we built together.”
My heart’s pounding. I stare at him, wide-eyed, and I realized everyone’s staring at us. The music changed and it’s playing the song we first danced to when we got the sound system up and running early on.
“I love you, Lora,” he says. “You’re my life. I don’t want anything else, anyone else. I’m going to make you my wife. Marry me.”