“Step right up,” said the guy manning the tank. At his feet were five buckets of balls, and he picked one up and held it out.
Eagerly, I went over and took the bucket from him, then set it on the ground at the white line on the green turf runner about twenty feet from the big red circle I had to hit in order to dunk him. I picked up the first ball and stared at that red circle, concentrating hard.
“Come on, Ellie!” I heard the girls cheering. “You can do it!”
I took a breath, said a prayer, and threw.
I missed.
Then I missed again.
In fact, as the crowd gathered—including my parents, the Lupos, and much of Winnie’s family—and Gianni continued to taunt me, high and dry on that platform, I managed to miss with all ten balls in that first bucket.
The guy brought me the second bucket, and I pushed up my sleeves, blowing my hair out of my face. “I need help!” I scanned the crowd. “Can anyone give me some advice?”
“Turn sideways more,” shouted Gianni’s dad.
“Don’t hold your breath!” yelled my dad.
“Release a little sooner!” offered Dex.
“Get someone else to throw for you!” hollered Winnie.
I looked over at her. “Now that’s good advice.” My eyes skimmed over everyone who’d gathered around and landed on Winnie’s cousin Chip—who happened to be a newly retired MLB pitcher.
A grin broke out on my face.
“Oh, shit,” I heard Gianni say.
I marched over to him and grabbed his arm. “Please, Chip. Please throw my next forty pitches and dunk the love of my life as many times as possible. Trust me when I say that he will deserve it.”
The crowd went nuts as Chip grudgingly allowed me to pull him onto the runner. Happily, I set the bucket of balls at his feet. “Here you are. Have at him.”
Chip picked up a ball and looked at the red circle, then at me. “Should I move back or something? This doesn’t seem fair.”
I shook my head and patted his arm. “Trust me. It’s fair.”
He shrugged, wound up, threw, and nailed it. Gianni went into the water like a bag of bricks.
Then he did it thirty-nine more times.
The crowd continued to gather, Gianni continued to climb up there again and again, and Chip continued to throw with an accuracy that astounded and delighted me. When he got to the last ball, he pulled it from the bucket and looked at a soaking-wet Gianni.
Gianni didn’t say anything, but Chip seemed to get a message anyway, because he nodded and handed the ball to me. “I think this one’s yours.”
I looked down at it. Written on the side was THIS ONE LAST. And I realized it didn’t feel exactly like the other baseballs I’d thrown. The outside was white leather and the stitches were red, but there was a seam along the middle, as if it would open up.
I glanced up at Gianni, who gave me his signature grin. “Come on, open it up! It’s easier than throwing it!”
My heart was racing, and the baby was kicking up a storm inside me. Taking a breath, I opened up the baseball, and discovered it was a ring box in disguise. Tucked into black velvet was a gorgeous three-stone ring, with a round center diamond flanked by two smaller ones, set in a platinum band. My eyes blurred, and I worried I might pass out for a second. I grabbed onto poor Chip, who was still next to me.
“Well? What do you say, princess?” Gianni called. “Will you marry me?”
I looked at Gianni again and thought I might burst with excitement. “Yes!” I shouted. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
The crowd cheered, and I thanked Chip with a quick hug before letting him hurry back to the sidelines. When I turned around again, Gianni was coming toward me. He was drenched, his wet hair a mess, his feet bare, his swim trunks hanging low and clinging to his skin. But I’d never been more in love with him as he got down on one knee, took the ring from the box, and slipped it on my finger. “I know I’m probably the last guy you thought you’d end up with.”
“The very last,” I confirmed, smiling through tears.
“But I promise to make you smile every single day of your life,” he said, clasping my hand in his. “And I will put all my energy into taking care of you and our family.”
“That’s a lot of energy.”
“It is.” He grinned up at me. “I think that means we’re going to have a big family.”
Laughing, I let my tears spill over as he rose to his feet, wrapped me in his arms and picked me right up off the ground. The people surrounding us cheered, and in a moment we were engulfed by friends and family who wanted to hug us and wish us well.