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In the end, Hailey had risked her life sliding headfirst into home for nothing. Richmond beat Piercehaven 12 to 1. But, as Emily made very clear in the post-game huddle, she was greatly encouraged that they had not been mercied. This was the first game they had played all seven innings.
As she headed toward her car, she saw PeeWee approaching, and began to silently pray for divine intervention.
“And this time Sydney only played two innings,” he barked.
She stopped walking and flipped open the scorebook. She scanned the page and was dismayed to see Thomas hadn’t quite caught all the errors. He hadn’t recorded any for Sydney, and Emily could remember at least two. But PeeWee didn’t know what the scorebook said. She looked up. “And in those two innings, she had three errors. She got to play, Mr. Hopkins. And she’s only a freshman. Now if you’ll excuse me.” She tried to walk past him, but he blocked her path. “I’m talking to you. We don’t want Jasper coaching our girls. He’s done.”
Emily looked around, trying to act tougher than she felt. “Who’s we?”
“The island. All of us. No one wants Jasper coaching. No one wants Jasper doing anything. And don’t think you’re all protected just because of the stunt the basketball team pulled for you. This isn’t basketball season anymore. We can still get rid of you.”
Emily knew by “get rid of you,” he meant, “fire,” but she feigned confusion. “Are you threatening me? Last I knew such a threat could get you arrested.”
PeeWee began to stammer, his face growing redder as he did, and Emily saw James approaching. Thank you, Father.
“Everything OK here?” James asked with exaggerated jovialness.
PeeWee didn’t answer him. He just stomped away.
“Thank you,” Emily said.
“Welcome. So what was all that about?”
“Where have you been?”
“I was watching the baseball game.”
“What? Why?”
He laughed. “Did you really need me here? I’ve got family on the baseball team, and I was—”
“You’ve got family on the softball team!”
He laughed again and put his arm around her shoulder. “OK, OK, I’ll never miss another softball game!”
She looked up at him. “Seriously?”
“No, not seriously.” He steered her toward her car and began walking. “Now, what was PeeWee’s problem?”
“Oh, he says the island doesn’t want Jake Jasper coaching first.” As soon as she said the words, she realized “the island” likely included her husband-to-be.
She wasn’t wrong. “What?” he said, halting his walk. “Of course we don’t! You had Jake Jasper coaching first? Are you crazy?”
Oh my word. Enough already. “No, for the zillionth time, I am not crazy. I needed a first base coach. He offered.” And he even wore windpants.
“I know, but can’t the girls keep doing it? It was good for them.”
“No—”
She was going to say more, but he interrupted. “No?”
“No, I’m not going to fire Jake just because everyone on the island thinks everything that happens on the island has to do with windmills.”
James took a step away from her. “First of all, you can’t fire a volunteer. Second, if he’s such a great guy like you say he is, I’m sure he’ll understand. Third, having the windmill foreman coach first base is about windmills.”
James was obviously furious. This made her furious. “I never said he was a great guy. I don’t even know him.”
“Perfect. Then let’s have him coaching our children since we don’t even know him.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, don’t pretend this is about the children’s safety.” And she walked off, leaving the man of her dreams there alone on the side of the road with his fuming.
She drove home, trying not to cry, trying to regain the thrill she’d felt at how well her team had played before PeeWee Hopkins had so effectively squashed her joy. She started to pray that this stupidity wouldn’t affect her relationship with James, but while praying, felt convicted for feeling so angry, and decided she’d rather stay angry than pray. So instead she pulled into her small driveway, walked into her small home that wasn’t really hers, locked the door just for good measure, sprinkled some cheese on some tortilla chips, put them in the microwave, and then collapsed on her coach.
When the microwave beeped, she could barely summon the energy to rise. But then the phone rang. She answered, and then tried to make the phone cord reach the microwave.
It was James. “Hi. I’m sorry. I love you. But we need to talk. Can I come over?”
How could she resist?
He was there in five minutes. She hadn’t even finished her nachos. “Come in,” she called through a full mouth.
He wiggled the doorknob. “I can’t!”
She hustled over to unlock the door.
“Why’s the door locked?” he asked.
“PeeWee threatened to get rid of me,” she said, shutting the door behind him. “I thought I should lock the door.”
“Actually, can we leave it open?” he asked.
“No,” she said, annoyed with his overdeveloped sense of propriety, “I don’t want the cats to get out. And no one can see my door. No one cares whether or not we’re sinning.”
His jaw clenched, and she knew she’d gone too far. “Sorry. Let me put the cats in the bedroom, and then we’ll open the door.”
“No, never mind. You’re probably right, and I won’t stay long. I just wanted to talk to you. Emily, it’s crazy to let the windmills cause us to fight. I don’t care that much about them. But I do care about you, and I really don’t think you should have Jasper coaching.”
Emily didn’t know what to say. So she just stood there.
“Again, I bet he’ll understand. I can even talk to him if you want. But Em ...” He paused, as if searching for the words. “You’ve had an awful lot of controversy around you in the short time you’ve been here ...”
“Yeah?” she goaded him to continue.
“And well, you’re going to spend the rest of your life here, right? At least, until I’m dead? I’m sure I’ll die first.” He laughed, but the joke fell flat. “I just don’t want you to be forever thought of as the woman from away who stirs the pot.”
Emily waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. “None of this pot stirring has been my fault, James.”
“I know that, but impressions and reputations matter more around here than the truth. Jake Jasper is going to leave as soon as those windmills go up. So is your pitcher. So no one will remember that you sided with them. People will just remember who you sided against.”
“I’m not siding with anyone, James!”
“Emily, you’re not listening to me. I just said, perception matters more than facts.”
She took a deep breath and tried to focus. No one ever accused her of not listening, and she didn’t like it. “OK,” she said.
“OK?”
“OK.”
“OK, what? What does that mean?”
“It means I’m listening.”
James smiled and looked down at the floor, shaking his head. “There is never a dull moment with you around. I think I understand where you’re coming from, Em, I really do. But you need to understand where I’m coming from too. I get that you’re trying to protect your pitcher, but she won’t even be here next year.”
“This isn’t about my pitcher.”
“It isn’t?” He couldn’t have sounded more doubtful.
It really wasn’t. “It really isn’t. I just try to do what’s right, or what makes the most sense, and I don’t think about the ramifications. Sorry. He offered to coach first. I looked at him as a willing person who knew something about softball, and I thought it was the perfect plan. I didn’t realize that I had to be a politician in order to be a softball coach.”
“I think, Emily, that as long as you’re a teacher, you’re a politician. So either get used to it or find another line of work. I’m going to go, but can I come back later to take you to dinner?” He stepped closer and kissed her on the top of the head.
“Won’t we make a political statement if we go to The Big Dipper?”
He groaned. “You’re right. But if we go to the other restaurant, where we never go, people will think that’s a statement too.”
She smiled and took his hand. “So what? We fast?”
He laughed. “Let’s get a pizza to go. Then we can park by the ocean and have a picnic in the truck. We’ll stare out at the water or read all the anti-windmill signs to each other. It will be romantic.”
She laughed. “Have you noticed there are no pro-windmill signs?”
“There doesn’t need to be. They’ve already won the war.”
