“Capisce.” Matty nodded extremely solemnly. He took his artisanal ice cream very seriously.

“Well. This is quaint,” Muriel said, her utilitarian pumps clicking on the parking lot pavement.

“What’s the difference between a softball field and a baseball field?” Art asked, pushing his thick lenses farther up his nose and buttoning the middle button on his tweed blazer.

Knowing his in-laws enough to realize that neither of them actually expected an answer, Seb hiked his bag over his shoulder, took Crabby’s leash in one hand and Matty’s hand in the other.

He was halfway past the bleachers when he saw her. Hair dusting her shoulders as she leaned forward to tie one shoe and then the other. Those mid-length sweatpants hugged her in some very interesting places, and her team T-shirt was a size too large, which for some reason, Sebastian found adorable. She straightened up and was pulling her hair into a bun when she looked around and saw him staring at her.

He looked like a dope, he was sure, standing there with his arms overflowing with bags and kids and dogs and that look on his face like he thought she was just about the cutest thing to ever walk the Earth. But there was nothing he could do about that. Not really. It was just who he was. This was what he had going for him.

She waved a little, and Seb realized that he’d stopped walking in his tracks. He attempted a little wave back and ended up tangling Crabby’s leash with his softball bag. When he’d finally sat Matty down on the lowest bleacher, tied Crabby to one of the crossbars and re-slung his bag over his back, Muriel’s eyebrow was raised so far up her forehead her plastic surgeon would have fainted on the spot.

Seb chose not to acknowledge it and instead nodded to his in-laws. “See you after the game.”

“Ice cream!” Matty flashed him a double thumbs-up and then turned to his grandparents with an expression so contrived it was almost comical. “Shall I show you where I play?”

Seb was laughing to himself as he stepped down into the dugout.

“What’s so funny?” Sadie asked him from where she stood next to Via and Rachel.

He made a feeble attempt at not immediately drinking Via in like a glass of ice water on a hot day.

“I told Matty to put on a good show for his grandparents in exchange for Ample Hills and I’m pretty sure he just used the word shall.”

The three women burst out laughing, and Seb took the unguarded moment to study Via’s face. Looking at her hurt. Or it felt so good it hurt. Either way. His chest clamped down like a dog’s mouth on a hand trying to take its food away. She looked like she’d been crying again, but she was also here, in her softball stuff, laughing and talking. So that was a good sign. He wondered, for the millionth time that week, what the heck was going on with her.