The One (Coming Home To The Grove 3)

I can understand to a point, but we don’t have kids yet so it’s the ideal time for her to come and be with me on the road. It’s been a lot of traveling, sure, but Rose has only been doing it for a few months. She’ll get used to it.

Turning to face the crowd and Rose since I’m sure she’s in the VIP seats somewhere, I take the pitcher’s mound. Once I’m there I take off my hat and hold it over my heart, signaling Rose as I always do that she’s my heart.2RoseBrody pitched a great game.

It was easy to just watch him and forget about the score altogether. There has never been a doubt in my mind that Brody is the man I’m in love with. While I’m sure of that much, it doesn’t help that Kaden and his slutty entourage are sitting in the VIP seats too.

I’m not the only wife attending the game; there are two others as well. I thought sitting near them would help me to keep my insecurities from blossoming and making something out of nothing. Unfortunately, the two wives can’t stop talking about Tracy and how broken up she is over Kaden and his cheating ways. Worse, the kids are hurting too.

After making eye contact with Brody right before they brought in the closing pitcher, I left the VIP seats just before the game ended and headed for the exit the players take from the locker rooms to the parking lot. I’m allowed to go into the locker rooms, but Brody doesn’t like it when I do since plenty of the guys are happy to stand around in the buff.

Brody always has a talk with the coaches and his teammates after the game, and it takes a long time to exit, which leaves me standing outside in the parking lot, waiting. I try not to let my frustration show when he finally appears. “Great game! You did awesome!” I lean in for the kiss he meets me with.

“Thanks, babe,” he says, drawing me in for a hug too. We walk hand in hand to the car, and he’s animated about the game and seems so happy. That makes me feel happy too, deciding to put my thoughts from earlier to the side and instead focus on the positives. I’m married to my best friend. Everything isn’t perfect. But it’s good. I need to be happy that instead of being back at school, I’m finally with my husband.

In the car, his excitement slowly fades, and he gets around to asking why I was late.

“I got hung up leaving the hotel. I was working, and you know how I get,” I tell him, thinking we’ll laugh about how when I’m in research mode, I sort of forget the time.

He looks over at me at a stoplight. “I was starting pitching today, Rose. You knew that. I needed you there.”

I don’t want to fight with him. The six months we spent apart seemed to make Brody even more dependent on me. It’s good in a way, because I like to feel needed. But sometimes he takes it too far. As if it’s all about him.

“First of all, it was a midday game, right in the middle of my work. But I was still there before the game started. I didn’t even miss one pitch. Plus, what about me? While you’re in there taking your time after the game, you leave me waiting in the parking lot. I could tell you the same thing.” I try not to get annoyed with him, but it’s hard when he sometimes only sees things from one side.

He starts to talk and then stops, reaching for my hand. “You’re right. I shouldn’t make you wait like that. From now on, after the coaches’ meeting, I’ll meet you. I won’t even shower.”

I scrunch my nose up. “No, really, take the time to shower. I don’t mind.”

He laughs out loud and squeezes my hand. He may have been upset, but even when he’s mad, he’s still holding on to me. It sometimes feels like he’s worried I’m going to walk away. By the time we get to the hotel, Brody’s joking and laughing with me, and I decide to allow him to distract me from our silly argument.BrodyTraining between games has been relentless, but I’m pleased to see it paying off. I’ve been pitching better and better, and if I keep it up I’ll be getting an increase in pay per my contract agreement, and the possibility of endorsement money.

Getting that kind of money would mean that I can finish securing a great future for Rose and me and our future kids. Of course, I know it’s a process, one thing at a time. First the career and money to get that security, later we can worry about having kids.