Seems Like Old Times (11 page)

"Those muffins smell delicious, just like when I was
in San Diego with you," Lee called a while later as she reached the bottom
of the stairs. "What a great way to wake up." She stepped into the
kitchen, still wearing her bathrobe.

The oven bell dinged.
"Perfect
timing."
Miriam took the muffins out of the oven and put them on
the table.

Lee poured them each a cup of coffee then broke a hot
muffin in half and smeared it with butter, Miriam did the same.

"I've missed these," Lee murmured between bites.

"I've missed having you around to make them
for."

"If I were nearby, I'd grow so fat no one would want
me on TV anymore." Lee touched her aunt's hand with affection. "I'd
better stay in New York."

"I understand I don't have the allure New York does
for you --national television and a handsome young man. I suppose you two will
be marrying soon?"

Lee smiled. "That wasn't very subtle, Miriam."

"I'm not subtle where your happiness is
concerned."

Lee’s eyes met her aunt’s a moment, then she took the
coffeepot and refilled their cups.

o0o

I love you, Lisa.

She could still remember the exact timbre of his voice,
surprisingly soft, yet rich, with a slight huskiness. His eyes had simmered as
he spoke those words, and his arms, holding her, had trembled.

 They had been so young...too young...but still....

 She shook her head and concentrated on the job
before her. The garage was stacked with boxes filled with junk--old tools,
unused appliances, Christmas ornaments, lights...

 I don't want to see you with that boy anymore,
Lisa. He's wrong for you in every way background, class, religion... race....
Wild boys like him only want one thing from a girl.

Don't you talk back to me, Lisa Marie! I know what I'm
saying. You're too innocent. I protected you too much. I’m trying to raise you
in a way that would have made your daddy proud. But this disappoints me. If
only you knew how it tears at my heart when you're with him! If only you'd stop
seeing him, Lisa, I'd feel so much better. I could be proud of you again...

 Lee's hand shook as she ran it over her brow. She
picked up used paintbrushes and rollers and threw them in the trash bag. Why
had Judith kept so much
junk
? She tried to think about
what she was doing, only about what she was doing....

I can't see you anymore, Tony.

She remembered forcing out those words to him very early
in their relationship, when they were still junior, and she thought she could
turn love on and off like a spigot. Judith had ordered her to stop seeing him,
and she was young enough, then, that she foolishly had tried to comply.

I can't see you anymore, Tony.

Why? Is there someone else?

No! My mother doesn't want me to...to see anyone. I have
to think about college, to prepare myself

College is a long way off. Anyway, we're none of her
damn business!

But we are. At least, I am. I'm all she's got left.
Ever since the accident when my father was killed, and her leg...

Don't cry, Lisa.

I'm sorry, Tony.

She rubbed her eyes, not wanting to remember. He had been
so young then...and she had been so willing to hurt him because Judith had
demanded it.

Do you want to stop seeing me, Lisa?

No! God, no!

Then we’ll just make sure your mother doesn’t know.

She remembered staring at him in shocked silence. She’d
never gone against her mother’s wishes.

We’ll be careful. She’ll never know. Anyway, what can
she do about it?

I don’t--

Someday, we’ll get away from this crummy town, like we
both want. We'll make it
big,
have money, everything
we've hoped for. And you know what
else,
we'll always
be together, Lisa.

Tell me again, Tony. Make me believe you.

Always, Lisa.

Always...

o0o

Lee cleared the garage and den, throwing away everything
but a few old photos of her father. She gave most of them to her aunt.

Cheryl called late the next morning, full of apologies and
curiosity about the meeting with Tony. Lee told her all was forgiven, that she
and Tony had a nice talk,
then
said good-bye and that
was that. She decided it would be best not to ever mention they had talked
about her going to a Little League game. That, she knew, had been
spur-of-the-moment inspired folly.

"Well," Cheryl said, "you can't blame me
for wanting you two to meet again. You guys had something special together. I
don't know what caused the break-up, but I just thought if--as adults--you two
talked, you could at least be friends again."

Later that day, Lee made the long delayed journey to the
mall stores that sold carpeting and drapery, and selected neutral colors in
standard draw drapery and wall to wall carpeting that would warm the heart of
any realtor.

Miriam had been invited to dinner at a friend's house.
"Would you like to come to Rachel's house with me tonight?" she
asked.

"I don't think so. I'll just take it easy."

"In that case, why don’t you call the Little League
office and find out if Tony’s team has a game today? And if they do, then go to
it." With that, she breezed out the door.

Lee gawked at her. Had it been purely a coincidence that
she ended up at Settlers
park
on Sunday when Tony’s
game was being played? Miriam hadn’t planned that, had she?

Actually, Lee was ahead of Miriam. She'd already called
the League office and learned Tony's team had a four-thirty game. She wanted to
go it. Why not do it? She'd seen Tony, talked to him, and her heart, mind and
spirit survived quite nicely, thank you very much. Seeing him again made her
realize she would always have a lingering fondness for him, a girl's romantic
first love feelings, not those of a mature woman.
And yet...

In the past, there had been such magic between them. What
if it was still there, ready to erupt?

No. She wouldn’t go. She walked into the kitchen and
opened the refrigerator, then promptly shut it. Eating was not the answer. She
walked to the family room and turned on the TV. Two rounds through the channels
with the remote told her that wasn’t the answer either. She went into the
living room and picked up a book, but sat with it unopened. Outside, the grass
was green, the sun warm. What was she doing in the house? This was
California--nobody stayed indoors here.

Was she afraid to see Tony again? Had he taken on some
mystical, mythical force within her psyche that made her see him as much more
than he was? He was just a man, an old boyfriend, nothing special. If she
couldn’t see that now, maybe she’d better get to that game and look at Tony
until she
did
realize it.

Placing him on some kind of pedestal was not a healthy
thing to do.

She pinned her hair up casually, changed into a natural
linen
Jil
Sanders pants suit, a rust-colored silk
shell, and ivory colored
Ferragamo
sandals.

Her spirit buoyed as she walked toward the ballpark. There
was
a timelessness
to baseball, even Little League,
that she loved. The games were interesting, and she honestly liked seeing how
very much the kids enjoyed themselves.

She searched for Tony as soon as she reached the baseball
field, and found him pitching batting practice to the boys. He wore jeans and a
loose gray sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off above the elbows. As she stepped
nearer the field, he turned. The brim of his baseball cap shaded his face, but
still she could see the quizzical look on his face. This time he lifted his arm
high and waved at her. She waved back, smiling.

What the hell are you doing here, Reynolds?
Her
pulse began to beat a little too fast, and her smile spread a little too wide. It’s
not because it’s Tony, she told herself. It’s just that there's something about
a man in a baseball cap, a devilish, carefree mischievousness that, mixed with
athletic male sexiness, was disarmingly appealing.

She bought a diet Coke then settled in the stands to wait
for the game to begin. She noticed people eyeing her. Used to that, she ignored
them.

Game time came and went. The coaches and umpires were
huddled together for a long time, and all of them keep looking toward the
entrances to the park.

The players and their parents shifted restlessly.

Tony jogged over to the stands and looked up at her.
"Lisa, we need you."

Everyone's attention turned to her. Her gaze danced from
side to side, hoping against hope that he was addressing some other Lisa. No such
luck.

"Please." He held out his hand to her. There
wasn't much she could do but go to him.

He took her hand and walked with her to the other coach
and umpires as easily as if they had walked hand in hand only yesterday instead
of seventeen years ago. "Here she is," he said. "Lisa can do the
announcing, if she’s willing."

"What?" She gawked at him.

"Our announcer didn't show, and most of the parents
get really nervous in front of a mike. But you can handle it easily.
Okay?"

"Me?"
So much for all her television-trained
smoothness and eloquence.

The coach from the other team was an older man, tall,
paunchy, with flyaway red hair and small eyes. He squinted as he grimaced at
her. "She might know how to use a mike, but does she know baseball?"

"I taught her myself," Tony said.

"Yeah, but do you know it, Santos?" he said with
a smirk.

Lee wasn't about to be discussed like some mannequin.
"I know baseball." Her firm voice invited no nonsense.

He put up his hands. "All right, I won't argue,
lady." He jabbed a thumb in Tony's direction. "We're gonna cream
Santos's team. I just want to make sure you get all our great plays
right."

"Stuff it, Snyder," Tony said. "The only
reason your team's gonna have a fighting chance is that you're too old to
play."

Snyder laughed, and so did Tony. Lee looked from one to
the other. She had thought they were on the verge of blows, and now they were
laughing. Men! "So give me your line up cards," she said, "and
let's play ball."

o0o

She had to admit, announcing the game was fun. Not easy,
though. She had to do some very creative thinking not to call almost every play
an error on someone. She wondered if the pitchers realized they both pitched no
hitters, even though the final score was Panthers 15, Bruins
9?
Those walks will kill you every time.

She stepped out of the announcer's booth to find Ben
Santos waiting for her. Her mind whirled and for a moment, she stared at him
before she realized what she was doing. She made herself stop and smile.
Looking at player stats between innings, she'd learned he was nine years old
and in the fourth grade. He was small for his age, and slender, though his face
still had the roundness of a young child. His hair was black, like Tony’s but
it had a lot of wave to it. His eyes were big and brown, his skin, though
olive, was fairer than his father’s. He was of an age where his front teeth
looked way too big for his mouth, but still, he was a very good-looking boy, so
much so that she noticed a group of little fourth-grade girls watching and
giggling over him. Oh, those Santos men.

His uniform was smudged and stained, but his face wore a
big, proud grin. "I know you," he said.

That surprised her. "Do you watch Evening
Newscene
?"

Her question seemed to confuse him. "No. My dad's got
a picture of you in his den."

Her breath caught,
then
she
smiled at him, cool and polished, as if his words didn’t mean a thing to her.
"Well, I know you, too. You're Ben Santos, a very good baseball
player."

"That's right." His face lit up just the same as
she'd seen his father's do time and again. "My dad said I shouldn't let
you go home until you go over and see him."

How arrogant of him! "Is that so?"

"Yeah.
But he said I
shouldn't make you mad. That didn't make you mad, did it?"

Her mouth tightened. "No, Ben.
Not
at all."
She walked with Ben until Tony came into view, then Ben
ran to join his father. Tony had gathered the team together and was giving them
a talk about the game, praising good plays, instructing how to remedy bad ones,
and making the kids feel good about themselves and their team. Her irritation
vanished.

Her legs and back felt stiff as she waited. Before long,
the boys were released. With whoops and hollers they charged off to their
awaiting parents.

Tony turned around, as if searching, and stopped when he saw
her standing by the fence. He grinned as he approached. "I was afraid
you'd hurry off," he said, stopping in front of her, hands on hips.
"I wanted to thank you for announcing. I figured Miwok ought to get some
benefit from all that talent."

"Actually, I enjoyed it."

One eyebrow lifted skeptically.

"Hey, you two," Snyder called.
"Pizza time.
Come and join us, Lisa. You weren’t
half-bad. Maybe you’ll do it again sometime?"

She nearly choked. "Unfortunately, I’m leaving town
soon."

"Too bad."
Snyder waved
and hurried off with his team.

As Ben joined them, Tony lifted the duffel bag with bats
and balls onto his back,
then
draped his free arm
around Ben's narrow shoulders as they started walking off the field. She'd
forgotten how easily Tony touched people.

Tony said, "We can understand if you don’t want to
join us. I
doubt a 'pizza supreme' sounds
like the
kind of thing you'd want to eat."