“It came out that Tiffany had put Buddy up to it. When the mayor found out, I was suddenly a free man with all charges dropped. Little Kelly-Ann got all kinds of pissed. She about jerked all the hair out of Tiffany’s head right there in the middle of the produce section of the Piggly Wiggly,” Allard said.
As he related this part of his story, a grin crept onto his face.
“Did you and Kelly-Ann get back together?” Dave asked.
“Nope. I’m not dating some girl who can have her head turned by the likes of Buddy Daniels.”
◊◊◊
Paul dropped us off at the Rivers’ house. I put my gear into the washing machine, and Bob talked me into going swimming with him. Their subdivision had a clubhouse with a pool. Bob wasn’t allowed to go by himself, but Melissa thought it would be okay if he went with me.
Bob and I had a lot of fun roughhousing. He was fearless when I would toss him high into the air. I had visions of Little David and Coby at Bob’s age. I finally wore him out, and we grabbed two of the recliners to catch some rays.
“Coach Kingwood’s not happy with M.E.’s brother. He doesn’t think Dave’s a team player,” Bob told me unexpectedly.
I had an inner smile as I thought that you had to be careful talking around little ears. It was easy to forget that they heard everything and many times would share it when you least wanted them to.
“What else did you hear?” I asked.
Bob gave me a rundown of what the coaches were thinking about each player. It was useful information, and I could see where I could help a few of them. From what Bob told me, if I continued to show leadership and the same level of play on the field, I’d be invited to the final 40.
Melissa had invited Paul and my coaches to eat dinner with them. We ate early because we had to get to the field. I was starving.
“I heard you christened the baseball field today,” Moose said.
“It was either nerves or that terrible lunch they served us. I need to either pack a lunch or have someone go out and get us food, because I don’t think I can handle what they serve us. It wasn’t what I would suggest for a training table. They fed us mostly carbs with a salad that looked to be past its expiration date,” I said.
“Speaking of food, if you expect me to buy ice cream, I need more money,” Paul said.
I pulled out my wallet and gave him cash for the week. Melissa’s eyebrows rose when she saw how much money I had on me. I turned to Bob.
“If you want anything, find Paul.”
“Within reason,” Melissa added.
Good call. My phone rang, so I excused myself. Bob was busy telling them what he’d heard today.
“This is David.”
“Hey, it’s Christen. Is it okay if I bring some of my friends to the game tonight?” she asked.
Christen was the girl my mom had picked out on Tinder. She was a college freshman at Duke. I’d let Mom and Peggy play on Tinder, thinking it was just in fun until my mom sent me a text telling me I had a date tonight. She arranged it so the girl would be at my baseball game.
“That’s fine. I look forward to meeting you.”
I could hear her friends acting goofy in the background. We said goodbye, and I returned to the table.
“Who was that?” Moose asked.
“My Tinder date.”
I waited to see who would be the first to dig deeper into that comment. Melissa seemed the most likely because she was the only woman there, and they always needed to know details. I was a little surprised when it was Coach Herndon, Mike’s dad.
“What’s Tinder?” he asked.
“It’s a dating app. You just tell it where you are and what you’re looking for. So, if you’re looking for a … quick get-together, you just say you want something casual,” I said, remembering Bob was listening.
“You said you were in the area, and it matched you with girls? When did you have the time to do all that?” Coach Herndon asked.
“My mom did it.”
I think that about blew his mind.
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” he stammered.
“The girl my mom picked out is bringing friends, so if you want dates, let me know,” I said and watched my coaches squirm.
“I want a date,” Bob said.
That brought me up short. I didn’t want to corrupt my new host-brother. Then I realized he was just trying to copy what I did. Thankfully, his mom was there to bail me out.
“Bob, you’re a little too young for that. Remember the rule: no girls until you move out of the house,” Melissa said.
Wow, she was strict. Poor Bob would be a virgin when he left for college, at that rate.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, David, I can’t help you,” Bob said, acting all grown up.
Paul pointed at himself and smiled. The last time I hooked him up, Fritz had taken him off my security. He might fire Paul if I did it again.
◊◊◊
