“I know it sounds like a lot of money right now, Jack, but you’ll lose half in taxes, we take our cut, and you won’t be making much for the next few years in the minor leagues. We could probably get them to budge some,” Marc suggested, still writing.
“I’m happy with it. I just want to play ball.” Jack’s tone was firm.
“Alright then. We’ll accept the deal as is. Congrats!”
Jack pulled his chair next to me and tossed his arm low across my back. “Five million isn’t a bad signing bonus, right? Am I being naïve?”
I almost choked. “That’s what it is? Five million dollars?” I asked.
“What did you think?” He laughed, his eyebrows pulling in.
“I don’t know, but I didn’t think that. Holy shit, Jack, that’s incredible.” I was so stunned I had to remember to close my mouth since my jaw kept dropping open.
“I should sign, right?”
“Absolutely. I mean, have your lawyer look over the contracts, but of course you should sign! Why wouldn’t you?” I grabbed his face and pulled him to me before planting a loud kiss on his lips. “You’re awesome. My baby’s a Diamondback!”
The reporter tossed Jack a Diamondback jersey and hat and asked him to put them on while they interviewed him for a piece to air later that day. I watched as he tossed the jersey over his black shirt, buttoning the top button before placing the cap firmly on his head and tucking the stray hair underneath.
“How do I look?” he asked, modeling the crimson red jersey with D*Backs written on it.
“Like a ball player,” I responded with a smile.
“Like a million bucks.” Gramps punched the air.
Dean grinned. “More like five.”
“Can I get my camera? Are we allowed to take pictures?” I asked, longing to use my new camera for this special moment.
The producer turned to me. “As soon as we stop rolling. Otherwise the shutter sound of your camera will filter into the sound bytes.”
“Okay,” I responded with a huge smile, turning my camera on and exploring its new features so I’d be ready when it was time.
When the television crew cleared out, I grabbed Jack and his family and posed them in the backyard, under a giant oak tree. I took a few group family shots and then individual ones.
“Let me take one of you and Jack, dear. Do you trust me to use your camera?” Gramps asked with a laugh.
“Of course! Be careful, it’s a lot heavier than it looks,” I noted, handing him my weighty equipment.
“Oh, this is heavy.” He carefully placed the camera strap around his neck.
“Okay, now you have to look through it like a regular, old-fashioned camera.” I paused, realizing that Gramps had probably never used anything but an old-fashioned camera.
I placed his index finger on top of a round, smooth knob. “Then you press this button halfway down so that Jack and I come into focus. Once we’re focused, you press it all the way down and you’ll hear it click. And that’s it!”
“I can do that.” Gramps gave me a confident nod and I scurried over to Jack’s side.
I glanced sideways, taking in his new hat and jersey before wrapping my arm around his middle. He pulled me tight. “This is exciting, right?”
“Understatement of the year.” I shivered with excitement and grinned up at him.
We stood still for what felt like an eternity while Gramps maneuvered us and played with the camera. “Oh, Gramps, can we get one more with Dean?” I looked at Dean and waved him over. “I don’t have any pictures of the three of us. I really want one. Or twelve,” I said with a chuckle.
“This is fun! I see why you like doing this, Cassie. You can’t screw up because you can’t run out of film.”
“It’s pretty cool, huh?” I asked, removing the camera from around his neck.
“Pretty cool indeed,” he answered with a wink.
FOURTEEN
Jack left for Single-A ball a few days following the draft. Dean drove up north with him in his deathmobile, and then spent a few days there with him. It had been twenty-seven days since I last saw him, not that I was counting or anything.
He told me before he left that the minor leagues consisted of Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A, and then The Bigs, which was another word for the Big Leagues, the Majors, The Show. Although signed by the Diamondbacks, Jack would have to work his way up through a succession of teams that funneled players to the Diamondbacks, starting with Single-A.
The Diamondbacks’ Single-A team was in a small town in Northern California and even though Jack didn’t have to leave the state, he still had to leave where we lived in Southern California. The truth was that when it came to matters of the heart, distance was distance, no matter the number of miles. I was confused at first why he wasn’t going to Arizona, but after Jack explained to me how it all worked, it made sense that he would be going to Northern California instead.