“Great. First pitch is at 7:05, but we’ll have to be a little late, since I can’t leave work until six thirty. Will it be okay with your friend if I pick you and Jacob up at seven? That’ll get us to the stadium by the second inning.”
“Absolutely. I’ll text you the address of the boutique, and we’ll be waiting out front at seven sharp.”
After the call ended, she and Jacob started walking again. She didn’t realize she was grinning until Jacob said, “You look happy. I guess you really like baseball, huh? I don’t understand why people love it so much. I think it’s totally boring.”
“That’s because no one ever made it into a story for you.”
“A story? What do you mean?”
“Pull up a chair, Jacob—metaphorically speaking. I’m going to tell you about the curse of the Bambino.”
“There’s a curse involved? That does sound cool.”
“It is. Would you mind if we take a detour to my apartment? There’s something I’d like to pick up for tonight.”
“Will I be able to meet Gallifrey?”
“Of course. He’s always happy to acquire new admirers.”
Ian cut his last meeting short and headed out the door at six fifteen.
He told himself he was excited because of Jacob, not Kate. This would be another chance to get his nephew into sports.
Although, come to think of it, maybe he could use this opportunity to get Kate into sports, too. That would be an even bigger challenge, considering how closed-minded she could be.
But he was always up for a challenge.
He arrived at the address Kate had sent him at six forty-five. He’d told her seven, so he didn’t want to rush her, but if she was finished with her fitting she might appreciate the chance to leave early.
It was Jacob who answered her phone. “Kate lent it to me so I could play a game,” he explained.
“That was nice of her. I’m calling because I got out of work early and I’m out front now. There’s no hurry, but you guys can leave whenever Kate’s finished.”
“She’s trying on her dress, so we can’t go yet.” There was a short pause. “You want to know something weird?”
“Sure.”
“The girls in my class can be really mean to each other, you know? But I always figured they’d grow out of that eventually—like, by the time they go to college or whatever. But Kate’s friends are grown-ups and they’re still mean. Well, not all of them. Her friend Simone is awesome. But the bride made Kate feel bad a bunch of times.”
Ian’s hand tightened on the phone. “How?”
“She’s little, like Simone, and she makes jokes about how tall Kate is. She said guys like to feel big when they stand next to a woman, and she said maybe that’s why Kate has trouble hanging onto a man. Then she sort of smiled and said, ‘Just kidding.’ Kate didn’t say anything, but I could tell her feelings were hurt.”
Ian was surprised at the rush of protective anger that went through him. “Listen, Jacob—I’m coming in. Will you meet me by the front door?”
“Sure.”
He was wearing his Yankees sweatshirt, but he had a tee shirt on underneath it. Wondering how many times in his association with Kate Meredith he was going to take off his clothes, he pulled off the sweatshirt, messed up his hair, and told the driver he’d be out in a few minutes.
Jacob was waiting for him just inside the door, and his eyes widened when he saw his uncle. “You never wear short sleeves in public. And your hair looks different.”
“I know. Would you mind waiting in the car while I get Kate?”
“Sure, but she’s not ready to go yet. She’s still got the dress on.”
“I’ll wait until she’s ready.”
“Okay.”
Ian watched through the glass doors until Jacob was in the car. Then he went to find Kate.
She was in one of the back rooms. The doors were all marked private, but when he heard a gaggle of female voices behind one of them, he opened it.
The room he found himself in was small and elegant and smelled like perfume. The women were gathered around a kind of pedestal in the middle of the floor, some standing and some sitting on little gilt chairs, talking with each other and looking at the woman currently on display.
It was Kate.
She was wearing what he figured was her bridesmaid’s dress for the wedding from hell. If so, the denizens of the lower regions were a lot better dressed then he’d previously imagined.
Ian didn’t know that much about women’s clothes, but he knew what he liked. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that he liked Kate.