“Carry you? Yeah, sorry, but you looked like you could use some real sleep in a bed and not just a quick nap on the couch.”
“Just what every girl wants to hear,” she says, finally looking at me, exasperated.
“That’s not . . .”
“I know,” she says, with a sigh, and then stares out at the ocean again.
“Do you miss it?”
“What?”
“Home.”
“A little, sometimes. But there wasn’t anything left here for me.”
“No, me neither.”
“Well, if we lose Nakamura to the Dodgers, you could always sell him this place.”
“You like the house.”
“What’s not to like?”
“The traffic to the stadium.”
“I did always wonder why you chose to live all the way out here. I figured you surfed or something. Or you liked long drives to clear your head before and after the game.”
“You thought about that?”
“I’m an analyst. I think about everything, Charlie. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“Sullivan, I think maybe I could know you for the rest of my life and I’ll never have you all figured out.”
“Probably not,” she agrees, and smiles brightly at me, like keeping me confused as hell makes her happy. That’s fine by me. “Thanks, though, seriously, for just letting me sleep. When I got the call about Nakamura I booked my flight and didn’t sleep at all on the plane. I . . . you’re right, I needed that, especially if we’re going to do this right. The hotel rooms should be ready by now. Do you want one or . . .” she trails off, gesturing back to the house.
“I’ll stay at the hotel,” I finish for her, heaving myself up and out of the pool and grabbing a towel from the basket near the edge of the patio. “Who else is flying out?”
“Not Stew, though he wanted to,” she says, standing up as well and I toss her one to dry off her legs, trying and failing completely not to watch as runs the terrycloth over her damp skin. “A couple of guys from media relations, Javy’s on a flight later today, plus you and me. I don’t want to overwhelm him with new faces. I figure we keep it simple, make real connections with him as the people he’ll be working with once he gets to Spring Training and then once we break camp. I had a jersey made up with the number 18 on it for him to have, the number they give their aces in Japan.”
“Nice touch,” I say, taking the towel as she offers it back to me and dumping it into the empty basket for the cleaning crew.
“Gift giving is a massive part of Japanese culture; I’d be remiss if I didn’t have something for him. I’m sure the other organizations have done the same. It’s going to be about trying to differentiate from everyone else, especially since we’ll be able to make a competitive offer, but I doubt it’ll be the highest one,” she says, following me as we head back into the house.
“Do you think . . .” I trail off, wandering into the kitchen, knowing there’ll be a fully stocked fridge and at least a few decent options for lunch.
“What?” she asks, leaning against the countertop and I match her pose, opposite her against the large island that separates the kitchen from the living room. “I’m open to ideas.”
“What if I called up Hannah Vinch and asked to extend the budget?”
Frankie furrows her brow. “Why would she agree to that?”
“Well, I’ve been known to have a certain effect on women of a certain age.”
Her laughter is instant, but then she stops when she sees my face. “You’re serious?”
“What could it hurt?”
“First, I’ve had enough of your negotiation skills for one lifetime,” she says, and though there’s still humor in her tone, I can see a little bit of real offense in her eyes.
