Thirty-Nine
I felt as if I was going to throw up the entire game. I don’t think I let go of Erica’s hand once. She was the unfortunate soul seated next to me. My mom was beside her, followed by Lindsey and then Sawyer. Adam’s parents and some of his other family members finished off the row at Fenway Park.
It had been a few weeks since that day in the apartment, since Adam had been able to repay the kindness my father had once shown him. The farm was safe and Sawyer was now able to run it without any more fear. He even hired on a permanent farm hand. I was back in Boston, living in the townhouse I’d grown to love with Adam, kissing him goodnight and falling more in love with him every day. My return to Logics had rounded it all out. I was happy to be back doing what I loved and I knew my father would be proud. We were all moving on as best we could without him, but there was hope again, which felt amazing after so much sadness.
All that was pushed to the back of my mind though as Adam stood on the mound. It was proving to be a fairy tale ending to Adam’s comeback season. This time a year ago, Adam didn’t know if he would even play again and now he was pitching in game five of the World Series. They had blown past the White Sox in the American League Championship Series and the momentum hadn’t stopped there as the Red Sox led the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 in the series. One more win and the Red Sox would be world champs.
The ballpark was electric. Everyone was collectively holding their breath while going wild at the same time. Barring a miracle for the Dodgers, the win was inevitable. The Sox were up 11-2 as Adam struck out a batter to clinch the third out in the top of the eighth inning. The roar from the crowd could’ve been heard all over the city as the umpire signaled strike three and the Red Sox started making their way to the dugout. The Fenway Faithful started chanting his name and Adam humbly tipped his cap to the crowd. We all knew this was probably Adam’s last time on the mound this season. Eight innings in a post-season game was unusual, but he had been stellar and the manager would have been a fool to mess with something that was working. In the top of the ninth though, it was more than likely the closer would finish off the night. The crowd knew this and they wanted Adam to feel their appreciation for his hard work.
Just before he reached the dugout, he looked up, finding me in the crowd and flashing a smile just for me before disappearing from sight.
“Can you believe this?” Erica screamed in my ear. “Your boyfriend is about to win the World Series! Get the duck boats ready!”
She was jumping now, along with everyone else at Fenway, as the nostalgic sounds of Sweet Caroline started flowing through the PA system. I’d heard this song sang at the ballpark more times than I could count, but never quite like this. When we all sang the familiar So good! So good! So good! our fists pumping in the air, the ballpark seemed to shake.
“Holy crap!” Erica suddenly shouted in my ear and then I saw why. She was pointing to the jumbotron over centerfield where our faces were being projected. The people around us started to cheer, too, and I burst out laughing.
I felt a touch on my shoulder then and I turned to see a Fenway Park security guard standing there.
“Can you come with me please, Miss Hale?” he shouted into my ear and my face coiled in confusion.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“Please just come with me. It’s about Mr. DeLain.”
I felt my stomach knotting then. Was Adam hurt? He’d looked fine walking off the field…or at least I’d thought he looked fine. I was sick with worry as I followed the man with the red shirt through the crowd and into a door that led down a long hallway. I knew where he was taking me, to the team clubhouse.
It was madness when we entered. Monitors projecting onto the screen, the smell of too much testosterone hanging in the air as we walked past the lockers and then up a staircase and into the dugout.
“What is going on?” I asked the man who had been silent since he’d escorted me out of my seat. It looked as if the silence was going to continue because he didn’t answer me. Instead, he showed me to a small set of stairs that led onto the field and then I looked up. There stood Adam, back on the pitcher’s mound. Our eyes met and he smiled, motioning me towards him.
“What the hell?” I mouthed silently at him. He just laughed and motioned for me again.
I forgot for a second where we were or that 35,000 people were watching me as I climbed the steps and walked quickly to Adam.
“What is going on?” I demanded when I finally got to him.
“This,” he said, bending down on one knee and holding up a stunning diamond ring that shone in the bright lights of the ballpark.
I couldn’t breathe and my heart started to pound when it finally registered that Adam was proposing to me.
“I want the whole world to know what you mean to me, so I’m asking you now, here, in front of all these people, to make me the happiest man alive and be my wife, Caroline Hale.”
I had no words. I couldn’t find my voice as my eyes filled with tears. I nodded and then forced myself to speak.
“Yes,” I finally managed to choke out while he slid the ring on my trembling finger as the crowd erupted in cheers. With the ring securely on, he stood up, meeting my eyes. The crowd vanished and it was just us for that split second. We weren’t at Fenway Park on the biggest night of his life. We were suddenly back home, deep in the mountains, the sounds of Silver Falls falling in the background, in our own little world where it had all begun when our two worlds collided. In that split second, I had flashes of us as kids, running around the farm without a care in the world and then I recalled the first time Adam kissed me and I knew I would love this man forever. I wanted to stay there with him, but the peace only lasted a moment before we were brought back to Boston, the crowd still going crazy. Adam put his arms around my waist then, kissing me deeply, causing the crowd to get even louder. He pulled back and I couldn’t help but laugh when our eyes met.
“Really, Adam? In front of the entire world?” I asked and his smile got wide.
“Why not? They’re gonna talk about it anyway. Let’s at least make sure they get the details right.”
I shook my head, laughing again and then kissed him once more. He was right. Let them see. He was mine and I was his. Always. I couldn’t wait to see what they would write about that.