“Ample Hills ice cream is definitely worth pulling out a shall,” Sadie agreed. “Are those your parents? They don’t look anything like you.”

“No, those are his grandparents on his mother’s side.” He was well out of earshot so he allowed himself a single sigh. “They’ve been here a week.”

“A week!” Sadie screeched and then threw a hand over her mouth when her voice carried. “Sorry.”

Seb laughed. “It’s okay. It’s not as bad as it sounds, really. They’re super helpful people.”

He couldn’t help but notice that Via was inching away from the conversation and that Rachel was inching in.

“How is that big project you’ve been working on?” Rachel asked, blinking those sweet blue eyes at him. Seb wondered how she planned on playing softball in clothes that tight.

“Project?”

“You mentioned last week that you were thinking of starting a new furniture project.”

“Right.” Seb’s gaze shot over toward Via before glancing away. She was practically standing behind Rachel now, facing out toward the field. “Yeah, I’ve started it. It’s turning out really well. A coffee table and two matching side tables. My typical copper and oak. I’m thinking I might work on a dining table to go with it as well.”

“Wow,” Rachel breathed, and it was then that Seb realized just how close she was standing to him.

Okay. So. That had apparently become a thing while he’d been too busy crushing on Via to notice. He liked Rachel. She was cute, too. Young thirties, sweet face, always had a nice manicure. But he didn’t think about her when she wasn’t around. She didn’t make him want to tuck an afghan around her feet. Maybe he couldn’t explain it that well. Either way, he took a decent-size step to one side and caught Rae up in conversation until the game started.

Halfway through the fifth inning, Seb determined that Via truly was avoiding talking to him. He sidled up to one side of her as she leaned against the chain-link fence, watching Sadie steal second base. He left a healthy two feet between them.

“Hi.”

She jolted and gave him the fastest glance of all times. Her cheeks were pink. “Hi.”

“Uh, are you wanting me to leave you alone? I’m wondering if I should apologize for the way I acted that night last week. I know we’ve just started becoming friends, and maybe I pushed the limits too fast.”

“No! Seb!” She turned then, one shoulder on the fence and her cap pushed high off her forehead. “Of course you don’t have to apologize for that. That was an incredible moment. I was grateful to be there with you through that.”

He mirrored her pose and the movement brought them closer. He looked down at her, a solid foot between their heights. He noticed, for the first time, that he’d always just thought of her eyes as dark, but they were almost amber around her pupil. She’d taken off her gold studs to play softball, but there was a light purple stone on a silver chain around her neck.