The Other Game (The Perfect Game 4)

The line was quiet for a moment before he asked, “When is she moving?”

“A few weeks, she said.”

Jack cursed under his breath, and it sounded like all the wind had been knocked from his sails. I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling, and before I could ask, he ended our call.

I tossed my phone aside, recalling my thought from earlier about how everything seemed to be changing so quickly. In no time at all, Jack’s dreams had come calling, and now Cassie was moving across the country to follow hers.

As much as I embraced the change, I hated it at the same time. It scared me to think that Jack and Cassie were moving apart, instead of coming together where they belonged.

• • •

“Hey, little brother, I don’t have very long, but I wanted to call you real quick to catch up.”

Jack talked quickly when he called these days. He’d been busier than ever since he got called up to the major league, and his free time had dwindled down to basically nothing. Not to mention the fact that he learned Chrystle had never been pregnant in the first place—she had faked her entire pregnancy to get Jack to marry her. He caught her in the lie and then kicked her out of their house. My brother’s life was like a messed-up book you couldn’t write.

“What’s up?”

“You know we play at Dodger Stadium this weekend, right?”

I laughed and glanced up at his schedule taped to the wall above my bed, all of his games in the area circled in red.

“Really? Of course I know. The whole damn town knows.”

“I already talked to Gran. She said that she and Gramps would love to go to any game that I pitched, but the thing is, I have no idea if I will or not yet. So I’m not sure what to do about that.”

“I’ll talk to her. What else?” I said, figuring that Gran and Gramps would be proud to be there regardless of what Jack did.

“I’m leaving tickets for you, Melissa, and Cassie at will call for Friday night’s game. Try and get her to come, Dean. Please.”

I sucked in a quick breath. “I’ll try, but I’m not sure she will.”

“I know. I know.” He sounded defeated. “Just try anyway, please? I have to see her. I’m dying to see my girl. You gotta get her there.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Get back to me about Gran, okay?”

“What if they want to come on Saturday too?”

“Then I’ll get them tickets. They just might be in a different section. Is that fucked up? That’s fucked up, isn’t it?” he said, suddenly stalling and unsure.

“We’ll figure it out,” I reassured him, not wanting him to worry about trivial things like that right now. He needed to focus on playing and playing well.

“See you Friday,” he said before hanging up.

• • •

When Friday rolled around, we were almost certain that Jack would be pitching at some point during the game. Gran was actually feeling under the weather, and as much as it killed her not to go, she decided she’d better stay home and watch it on TV instead. Gramps refused to go without her, saying that they were a team and teammates stick together.

I fired off a quick text to Melissa before I left the house to ask her if Cassie was coming or not. She replied with a frowny face, and I told her to try harder. My phone rang immediately following that text.

“You kidding me? You think I’m not trying hard enough?” she yelled into the phone. This girl was always yelling at me.

“I’m just saying. Jack wants to see her. She has to come,” I pleaded.

“I know all of that. But she won’t, Dean. She thinks that if she sees Jack, she won’t get on her plane tonight.”

I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment, completely understanding that Cassie was fighting for herself.