Wow.”

Eyes as big as the flying UFOs Nathan told me about on the short, private flight from Munsfield Airport to an equally small one on the outskirts of town, Nathan looks all around him. “This place is massive!”

“That it is, buddy.”

For the first time since seeing Nathan at the airport, I start to breathe easier. When I stepped out of the SUV and spotted him, he looked bad. Terribly gaunt and pale with huge shadows under his eyes. Far worse than when I’d first met him. I actually called Christian, convinced he’d made a mistake when he’d said that Nathan was strong enough to fly and attend a baseball game.

Christian assured me that he’d given Nathan a good going over just a half hour earlier, and that it was his professional opinion that the distraction from his health problems would be the best medicine in the world.

He was right. Like always.

We haven’t even made it into the ballpark, and already Nathan has a little color in his cheeks and his eyes are brighter. There’s no denying that he looks sick, but at least he doesn’t look like death has him by the hand.

Spotting a couple of people gaping at me and raising their camera phones, I wind my arm around Lucy’s neck, pulling her in close to me and dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

It’s funny, over the past few years, I’ve started resenting how fans and their cameras always seem to be intruding on my life, but now, since their presence means I can touch Lucy as much as I like according to the terms of our relationship agreement, I’m starting to wish there were more of them around.

Keegan, the bodyguard Margo found for us, consults his cell phone and glances up at the row of signs suspended from the ceiling. “This way,” he tells us in a voice that seems too high pitched for a man of his size.

Nathan, who developed an almost immediate hero worship for Keegan, starts to follow, only to hesitate and look in the same direction as the camera holding fans and the rest of the crowd mill. “Don’t we have to stand in line with everyone else?”

I give him a quick, light punch to the shoulder. “Not when you’re with me. When you’re with me, you get to enjoy the fast track.”

Nathan starts to follow Keegan, but doesn’t look like he’s convinced. “Will we miss any of it?” Just the thought of it makes his lower lip tremble.

“No way, buddy. I promise you won’t miss a single second.”

“Okay.” Nathan follows behind Keegan. “I sure hope you know what you’re talking about,” I hear him mutter as he goes.

Lucy slips her hand into mine. She tips her head up and smiles at me. With a sudden jolt, I realize it is the first time I’ve seen her eyes light up with genuine pleasure. I wonder if this is how she looked before her high school sweetheart was killed in the car accident that left her scarred.

The thought triggers a sharp stab of jealously. Melancholy follows close behind.

How can I, or anyone else for that matter, possibly hope to compete with someone who Lucy not only loved, but lost in such a tragic manner?

“I can’t believe you arranged all of this.” She squeezes my hand. “I can’t even begin to figure out how you made this happen.”

She says it like I suddenly came up with the cure for cancer, when all I really did was happen to check the Boston Red Sox’s schedule and realize that they were playing a game in Detroit’s Comerica Park, which is a really short flight from Wisconsin.

Once Christian confirmed that medically there wasn’t any reason Nathan couldn’t make the trip, and that the outing would do him a great deal of good, I asked Margo to make it happen.

I look over Lucy’s head, catching Margo’s eye and mouth a quick thank you. She really pulled out all the stops with this one.

“Oh cool,” Nathan cries out. “We’re really going to be here! This is wild!”

One of the most impressive things Margo did was arrange for us to watch the game from the comfort of a private box, which includes a row of prime seats right in front of it.

Jenna, one of the biggest baseball fans I know, grins and hurries up the stairs to the box. She throws a grin over her shoulder at me. “Now this is what I call a smart way to use your money.”

I stand there, holding Lucy’s hand and watching with sheer delight as Nathan darts from end of the private box to the other, checking out every single aspect of it.

“This is something he’ll remember for the rest of his life,” Lucy says.

“Yeah.” I think of the statistics Christian showed me, of all the kids who are just like Nathan, some even considerably worse, who are stuck at home or in hospitals as they fight for their lives. “But it isn’t enough.”

Lucy releases my hand so she can cup my face between hers. “Don’t ever underestimate the importance of helping a single person. It’s a huge deal. And you are doing more. You’re getting ready to film a kickass promo video that will help people understand the importance of organ and tissue donation, and by doing so, who knows how many lives you’ll save?”

Lucy’s gaze holds me in thrall. “You’re a good man, Ryan Jakes. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

She stands on her tiptoes and places a chaste, closed-mouth kiss upon my lips. It’s a kiss that’s meant to soothe, not turn on. Yet, even though it’s completely lacking heat, something inside me shifts and crumbles.

I swallow and accept the truth. This fling with Lucy is more than an attraction. I’m falling for her fast. At the current rate things are progressing, there’s a chance that this thing developing between us could turn into a once in a lifetime love affair.

The thought should scare the hell out of me. It should send me running for the hills, but it doesn’t. In fact, instead of panicking, I feel oddly peaceful as I take Lucy to her seat and settle in to watch baseball.

---

In a perfect world, the Boston Red Sox would trounce the Detroit Tigers, making Nathan’s day complete. But the world is far from perfect and it doesn’t matter how hard a sick little boy roots for his favorite team, sometimes they just strike out. Over and over and over again.

By the ninth inning, with the Tigers leading by a stunning nine runs, it’s obvious that, short of an act from some divine power, there’s no way the Red Sox are going home victorious from this match up.

Luckily, Nathan, who’s sitting beside me, doesn’t care. He’s having the time of his life. He screamed and hollered when the Red Sox scored their single run, but thanks to the excitement of the hometown crowd, he’s equally happy when one of the Tigers crosses the home plate.

He’s a bundle of excited energy and, as long as you don’t look at him too closely, you can’t even really tell that this little boy is in desperate need of a new kidney and pancreas.

“Having a good time, buddy?” Not that I really need to ask – the wide, delighted smile that stretches from one ear to the other is proof enough.

“The best,” Nathan shouts. “Thank you, Ryan!”

Nathan’s gray eyes nearly bug out of his head and his mouth forms a perfect O. The change in his expression happens so quickly I panic, convinced that he’s having some sort of episode.

“Nathan,” I demand. “What’s wrong?”

Hearing the worry in my voice, Lucy, sitting on my other side, shifts in her seat, leaning so close to me, her soft breasts press against my arm.

Nathan doesn’t say anything but points straight ahead.

The enlarged faces of myself, Nathan, and Lucy are plastered across the jumbotron. The words Kiss Cam dance on the top of the screen.

Nathan tugs on my sleeve. “I know how these work,” he tells me, his voice sounding way too serious for a boy of just ten years old.

“How’s that?”

He nods solemnly. “You have to kiss Miss Lucy.”

“Really?”

Another nod. “That’s the rule.”

“Well, I sure don’t want to be a rulebreaker.” I turn to Lucy. “Nathan says the rules state I need to kiss you now.”

Before she can answer, I cup the back of her head, drawing her close, and plant a kiss on her pretty mouth that makes the crowd go wild.

As I reluctantly release Lucy’s mouth, I glance back over my shoulder at the private box Margo managed to procure, and where she and Jenna have spent the entire game locked in what’s appeared to be a serious discussion. I’m surprised, since Jenna is a huge baseball fan and has season tickets to watch Anaheim.

Now they’re staring out the large windows that make up the front of the box. Margo is staring at the jumbotron, which now features a completely different couple. Her mouth is set in a grim line. Jenna is looking down at me. I wave, and she flashes me a wide smile that is as distinctive and wide as Julia Roberts’, and gives me a thumbs up.

I return the gesture before turning back to watch the last few minutes of the Tigers’ victory.