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“Hey. Still playing baseball?” Dane asks.
“Daddy makes me play hockey too. And Mommy says I can play whatever I want.”
Last year, my apartment burned, and I moved in with Brooke while Dane was in the hospital with smoke inhalation. Caleb and I formed a strong bond. I always loved him, but he just grew on me. It was as if I needed him to recover from the trauma of not being able to wake or move Dane when my apartment was being engulfed by flames. It was the sweet innocence of a little boy who couldn’t say his r’s that healed me.
Dane picks him up and sets Caleb on his shoulders. “What will you play when you get this tall?”
Dane jobs around the house, and my heart feels like it’s too big for my chest, like I might actually pop. When I think about what I want long term, I know it’s a family. One much bigger than mine that consists of me and my grandparents. That’s far down the road, but I want to think I can have that with Dane. This is all so new, and he has an NBA career looming, so it’s not realistic to think about.
“Basketball like my favowite player.”
And who’s your favorite player, Caleb?”
“Devon Williams,” Reed chimes in, dying laughing.
“No, Daddy, Gweathouse.”
Reed shakes his head. “This kid used to idolize me, and now he wants to be Hagan and play baseball, like Logan and play football and a basketball player like you.”
Dane lifts him off his shoulders and turns Caleb to face him. “You can be everything you want to be.” Dane squeezes him before handing him to Reed, who kisses his cheek and puts him on the floor.
“Okay little guy, we have ten minutes. What do you want to play in the backyard?”
“Football. Football.”
Dane wolf whistles, telling all the guys to go outside. Dane, like Logan, stayed and played their sports all four years and with that comes a certain amount of respect. They file out through the back door, leaving Presley, Adalee, Brooke, Josie, and me.
Brooke hands out a tray of sweet tea in mason jars and striped straws. “These are so cute, and you’re becoming a little Martha Stewart.”
She smiles. “Thanks. As soon as Dane said that to Caleb, I got chills. How my life has changed in a year. Things I thought I wanted last year changed. I love producing plays and events, but there’s not much money in it. I never thought I would be teaching ballet as a career. And be living with the hottest hockey player on the planet while I’m still in college.”
I ask, “Do you miss his bad boy brooding personality?”
“It’s still there; it shows itself once in a while. He knows he’s loved by so many, but his mom’s actions cut him deep,” Brooke says as she corkscrews her lips to the side in thinking mode.
My eyes water. “I know how he feels.”
“Oh God, Lettie. That was insensitive, I’m sorry.”
It’s the first time in a while that I’ve felt sad. “You shouldn’t be sorry; my mom and dad should.”
Adalee says, “Okay, let’s talk about what you and Dane are going to sing at the wedding.”
Presley claps. “Yes. That video is amazing. It’s like you’ve been singing together forever.”
I guess we have, just not in front of crowds. Talent shows at school, yes, but we would sing when we were camping outside or looking at the stars. It was never romantic; it was just us. We didn’t know any difference other than to be us.”
A collective aww slips from their mouths. Each girl suggests a song until we decide on one, and when the guys come back, Adalee pulls Hagan to her, and I reach behind me for Dane, and it’s right where I expect it to be.
“We’ve come up with a song for our first dance. How do you feel about “Hopelessly Devoted to You?” Adalee leans back and looks at Hagan.
“Is my fiancée being romantic? In case you all don’t know, I’m the romantic one,” Hagan grins, and Adalee agrees. “I thought you would want something current.”
Dane cuts in, staring at me. “Did you suggest that song because I thought that would be our song, you know since we know all of the Grease songs?”
Whatever is unfurling in my stomach is too much. A million flowers are blooming and tickling me everywhere. He’s thought about us getting married. “Josie suggested it, and I knew we could sing it and hit all of the notes.”
Hagan and Adalee say at the same time, “We’ll pick another song.”
