“I might have overstepped the boundary, but I said you wanted to stay. Was I wrong?” Her dad sounded hesitant.
“No, not wrong. I want to stay.” Her hand started moving again, and he kissed her neck and watched her bite her lip to keep from giggling.
“Good. I want you to stay. But I think you need to find a place of your own now,” her dad said.
Her eyes met his over the phone. “Because you don’t want me there anymore or because you have some kid who is eyeing my room?”
“Of course, I want you, Natalie,” her dad protested. “But you need to stand on your own two feet. This seems like the perfect opportunity for you to do that.”
“And?” Natalie pushed, eyes still on Sam’s.
“And maybe Faith has agreed to move in, and we need your room for one of the boys,” Patrick admitted.
“Was that so hard, Dad?” she asked with a laugh and a sparkle in her green eyes.
“No, I should have done it long ago.”
“Yes, you should have. Stringing that woman along for years, Patrick. You should know better,” she scolded her dad.
“I know,” Patrick said, almost too quiet for Sam to hear.
“I’ll call Ruth and see if she has anything for me to rent.”
Ruth was a part of her book club, but Sam really didn’t know her except she worked at the insurance office downtown. Not the one he had insurance through, though, the other one.
“Don’t rush on my account,” Patrick protested.
“Iwillrush for you because you drag your feet. Get them settled before school starts again. If Ruth doesn’t have anything right now, I’ll find a friend to stay with,” she said into the phone and then pointed at Sam.
“I really don’t want to put you out,” Patrick was saying as Sam was thinking about her moving in with him. It didn’t scare him at all. It didn’t even feel like it was too soon.
“You might be doing me a favor. We’ll talk when I get back,” Natalie said, smiling at Sam.
“Love you, Natalie.”
“Love you, Dad.” And she hung up the phone.
Lowering his lips to hers, he kissed her right there in the middle of busy Main Street. Pulling back, he asked, “Are you moving in with me?”
“I am not. I have a few options before I’m forced to move in with you… but you do have a nice shower.” She kissed him before he could respond.
Now they were on opposing teams of kickball. As the kickball came rolling toward her, she ran at it and kicked it with a fraction of the strength she would usually use. The ball flew about ten feet and landed at the feet of a six-year-old boy, who just looked at it as it rolled away from him. Natalie took off toward first base on the slowest run he had ever seen.
After their walk, they had gone to the birthday party. To their surprise, there was a crowd. Or at least the start of one, despite the woman only having two sisters. With them, their spouses, and their kids, there were a lot more people than Sam had expected. After a lunch of hotdogs on the grill, they had picked teams for kickball: girls vs. boys. Each team had a handful of adults and a few kids. The game was geared toward the little kids, and anyone over twelve had to restrain themselves.
On her slow run to the base, she almost tripped over a two-year-old redheaded girl who had wandered into the playing field heading toward her mom. Scooping up the little girl, she kept going, watching them scramble for the ball until an adult had it—then she was running full out. A dark-haired man had the ball and threw it to get her out. Tucking the girl under her arm to protect her from the flying object, she dodged the ball and made it to the base with a cheer and a little dance. Della’s red-haired daughter, who was on second base, joined in.
Sam looked around the group and was struck by how much the sisters looked alike. Even though one had blonde hair, they all looked the same. Though Natalie looked nothing like them, even if she still had their noses, she would still stick out from the group. None of the sisters were taller than 5’4”, and that was only because Della was wearing tall heels, even while playing. Natalie was nearly six feet tall in comparison.
But no matter what the outside looked like, they all had the same fun-loving personality. They all loved to tease and make fun of everyone. No one was safe. Della’s nephew, who was around seventeen, was teased about everything from the girls he might like to missing an easy catch, sometimes even by his own mother.
Della’s sister Evie’s turn was next, and she kicked the ball with all her might, and her son went after the ball on a run. Both Zoe and Natalie took off around the bases with all the speed they had, and to his surprise, Zoe could get some speed. The ball was coming back to him, and Zoe was coming at him.
Before he knew what was happening, she pushed right past him as the ball was thrown at her, missing her by an inch. But in the process, she took Sam to the ground. Catching her in his arms so that she didn’t slide onto the grass, he was oddly on the ground with her in his arms. She looked up at him and started to laugh. His breath stopped as he watched her eyes sparkle in her merriment, just like Natalie’s, only in a different color—hers were brown.
The game stopped to make sure everyone was okay. Zoe insisted she was fine due to Sam catching her. Sam only had a few grass stains and a sore behind, but that would be fine in a few minutes. What would take longer was the realization that Natalie was a part of these people. This was where she was from, and they would accept her in a heartbeat if she allowed it.
Just as Zoe was being lifted over the shoulder of her husband, who was going to take her inside to see if she was really okay, a car pulled up to the curb. Just like in Landstad, everyone turned to see. To Sam’s surprise, another redhead climbed out of the passenger door. He was starting to have a hard time keeping them straight.