Ben Doman and Zak Verwood had been booked on a flight from LA that would get to Chicago around 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. Ryan Barlow was coming from New York, and his plane landed at 1:25. Fritz or Paul would go up in the SUV and pick up the three of them.
◊◊◊
I was throwing pitches to Cassidy while Coach Herndon, Coach Haskins, and Moose stood back and made smart comments. They tried to say they were analyzing my technique, but comments about Cassidy having a better arm made me wonder.
“Even I could hit that weak stuff,” came a call from the peanut gallery.
Turning around, I saw a smiling Ridge Townsend with Bill Callaway and Maria Dowe. I hugged my two USC friends and gave Maria a kiss. I didn’t look around for Leah Johansen because Maria told me she’d gone to my farm to settle in.
“You just get in?” I asked.
“We talked your driver into coming to see you. Tracy called me on the ride down and said we’re all going to dinner tonight. Bill tells me he has to get his pizza fix,” Ridge said.
“Monical’s,” Cassidy supplied.
“I figured we could do that tonight,” Bill said.
He was as bad as I was about Monical’s.
I got Ridge in the batter’s box and threw him some pitches he could hit. Bill and Maria wanted to have turns, so I grooved them some fastballs at three-quarter speed. Maria surprised us with her skills. She admitted that she’d played softball at her high school.
I let them have their fun, and then Cassidy told me to get serious. Ridge was an excellent all-around athlete and had played baseball in high school. I got him in the box and began throwing him actual pitches. It didn’t help that Bill gave him shit about not being able to touch my stuff. Heck, if I hadn’t picked up a bat in over two years, I wouldn’t have done any better.
Moose was happy and sent me home so I could go out with my California friends.
◊◊◊
When I arrived home, there was a pickup truck in our driveway. I entered the kitchen and found John Phillips, my quarterback friend from Kentucky, talking to Peggy and my boys. Duke was making a pest of himself since he thought John should be his new best friend and rub his ears.
“I need to go change, then we’re going out for dinner,” I said.
“Well, hello to you too,” John teased.
“Whatev. Want to hang out here, or go up to my apartment?” I asked.
John and Duke followed me to my place. While I got ready, he looked at my wall of pictures.
“How many All-American teams did you make?” John called out.
I’d noticed that Caryn, or maybe someone else, had put my football awards in a display frame. It also held my picture and State Champion patches for the last two years. I would bet that I’d see a similar one for baseball shortly.
I walked out of my bedroom, and John spoke before I could answer him.
“Coach told me about all the awards. I guess I didn’t really put it together to realize what you’ve accomplished,” he said.
“It’s sort of embarrassing at times,” I said.
“I call bullshit. I know how hard you work. You actually motivated me to do my rehab.”
“I heard you won the starting job in spring ball.”
Blowing your Achilles was never good; some athletes never came back from that. John had missed the season to rehab. His sister was proud of him and had sent me his press clippings.
John just smiled. We ran downstairs and found Fritz waiting for us.
“How big a deal are you to have your own driver?” John asked on the ride to Monical’s.
“It’s the price of fame. I’ve had a couple of incidents. Fritz is more than my driver, he’s in charge of my security and has become a friend,” I said.
Fritz rolled his eyes at that, but it was true. Heck, the guy taught me to surf.
“I saw when those guys tried to attack you in LA. That had to be scary. I’m just glad that at Kentucky, basketball is king, and it’s those guys who get swarmed, not me,” John said.
“It’s my turn to call bullshit. Nancy complains all the time about the girls who flirt with you,” I reminded him.
Nancy Brock was John’s girlfriend. Before they had started dating, she and I had gone out. I’d invited her on a vacation at Range Ranch, and she ended up in the middle of the troubles between Devin and me when he’d tried to steal her. She showed both of us up: she returned to Kentucky and ended up dating John. All I knew was the boy was in trouble. Nancy would keep him on his toes.
“She knows I would never stray,” John admitted.
When we arrived at Monical’s, there were a few photographers out. I stopped and introduced them to John. While we were doing that, Ridge and Bill came up and joined us. Having Ridge and John here reminded me that I’d made some good friends attending football camps.
We walked in and found their dates were already there. I introduced John to Cassidy. Bill already knew Gina, and Ridge had previously met Pam. Leah and Maria saw me and came over.
“Your dates aren’t here yet. Jim is picking up Johan. They should be here soon.”
“What’s with the name ‘Johan’?” Leah asked. “Sounds like a character in a Viking movie.”
