Thanks to those who continue to read and like this story.

Chapter 24: Dinner

After her call to Adam, Lizzy noticed a thick book on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. She walked over and picked it up. She flipped through it as she sat on the bed and was surprised to find it was a photo album for a little blonde haired girl. The closer she got to the back of the book the more she realized it was her mom growing up. "Lizzy!" she heard loudly from the doorway.

"Huh?" Her eyes shot from the book to the door. "Oh, sorry." She smiled sheepishly at Bash.

"I've been calling your name for the last five minutes or so. What's going on?" Bash asked.

"Sorry, my mom's photo album. What's up?"

"We're leaving in about an hour for dinner, if you want to shower."

"No, I'm good. Is this your dad?" Lizzy asked as he walked over to the bed. Bash looked at the photo she was pointing to.

"Yeah, your uncle Austin. He was only a year older than your mom. He went to college in Atlanta and met my mom. How long are you staying?"

"Just until next Thursday."

"You're going to miss Labor Day? That Saturday we usually have a cookout and then we go to the game. Grayson Stadium, the Sand Gnats. My mom's even going to be here."

"I'm sorry, Bash. I promised the Ducks that I'd be at their end-of-the-summer bonfire. It's in Texas. Austin."

"That's 17 hours from here."

"I know. It's a long drive, but I said I'd be there. I'll be okay. I'm really sorry. Maybe next year?"

"Okay."

"Grandpa said that you were born in Alabama?" Lizzy asked.

"Yeah, my mom's from there. Northport, it's right outside Tuscaloosa."

"We should talk, really to get to know each other. I feel like I really know Charlie, but I know nothing about you. Okay sure, I know that you play baseball and that your dad died, but I don't know much else."

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Do you have a more recent photo of your dad?" Lizzy asked.

"Yeah, come here. He updated it when he came here a couple months before he died. My mom took it. They were both photographers." Bash led her through the bathroom to the other room and to the dresser. He lifted two photos off the dresser. The first was of a man's profile. He was standing on a coastline, smiling as he took a picture of something to the right of the photo with a very professional looking camera. Lizzy couldn't tell what he was photographing but she could tell he looked a lot like his son. "He was taking a picture of me. I was playing in the water and found a turtle." Lizzy smiled and looked at the other photo. The woman was blonde with a pair of glasses perched on her head, a camera slung over her right shoulder and another around her neck, in her hands. She was wearing blue jeans, a white jacket with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, and a black shirt with a design on it. Lizzy could tell what design it was as the jacket hung over most of it. She was smiling and looked really happy.

"That's your mom?"

"Yeah, she was doing a photo shoot in a meadow surrounded by trees and my dad snapped a photo. I miss my dad a lot."

"I wish I could say I know how you feel, missing my mom, but how can you miss someone you never knew and only know through stories?"

"Thanks for trying. I heard that your other grandfather died though?"

"My Nono Jacobs. Yeah. I was 12, sixth grade. He got really sick and passed away. He came to all my hockey games as a Panther, all of Matt's and Seth's games, and Chris's and Ben's baseball games. He didn't really understand hockey even though Matt tried to explain it, but he was there watching."

"I thought you were a Duck," Bash said.

"In sixth grade I became a Duck after my team, the District Two Panthers, got the measles. My dad made a deal with the Peewee Hockey League and I got to play for whatever team I wanted as long as a doctor cleared me of having the measles. Matt said that hockey reminds Grandpa Johnson of your dad?"

"My dad played hockey all through middle and high school, then through college. He was recruited by a minor league hockey team who he played with for seven or eight years after college. He missed my mom so he got a job working for the photography company she worked for and eventually they bought out the owner. My mom still owns it despite it reminding her of my dad."

"How'd they meet?"

"Photography. She was a photographer for the college paper and was tasked with getting shots of the hockey team. They weren't very helpful with settling down so my dad got them to settle down and the rest is history."

"How come you don't play hockey?" Lizzy asked as she set the photos back on the dresser.

"My dad tried to teach me to skate but it just never stuck. I can't stand on ice skates to save my life. I was about seven or eight when Chris came down to see Grandpa and Gram and he was playing catch with Grandpa when I asked if I could play. Chris put a baseball in my hand and I've never looked back."

"Seven or eight? What year were you born?" They sat down on the bed.

"February 1981. I'm five months older than you, well just over five months. We're supposed to be in the same grade."

"I failed the first grade. I had this really horrid teacher who insisted I write my entire nine-lettered first name on my papers and I couldn't count past 25 no matter how hard I tried. So she failed me. I didn't want to face all my friends at Stillwater Elementary so I convinced Matt to let me transfer to Central Elementary."

"Matt made that decision?" Bash asked in disbelief.

"I thought so at first, my dad was always busy so I went to Matt for everything, but now I know he probably just talked my dad into it. I really didn't want to go back to school in Stillwater and I knew that I didn't want to go to school without Fulton either, so Matt convinced my dad and Fulton convinced his parents. I used Charlie's address as my home address and Fulton's grandfather has an apartment in the same building so he used that one and we got to go to school with Charlie until I moved in the March of my sixth grade year. Dad transferred to Texas."

"Ouch. No time to make new friends before summer."

"Exactly." They talked a bit longer about their favorites and him growing up in Alabama, it was a little weird that he didn't have an accent which he blamed on spending most of his year in Minnesota, but then it was time for dinner. Bash put on a clean pair of black cargo pants and a plain white t-shirt as Lizzy changed into a pair of black slacks and pulled the top half of her hair up. They pulled up outside of the restaurant and gave the valet the keys before walking inside. The host at the stand didn't even look up as they came to a stop in front of him. He asked for a name then scrolled through the book.

"Sorry, sir, there's no reservation for Johnson tonight and I'm afraid we're packed, you'll have to come back another time," the host said tiredly.

"Perhaps under the chef's table?" Zack asked politely. Lizzy looked up at him and could tell he was irritated though.

"Sorry, got nothing." The host shrugged. Another man walked up, this one a bit shorter but happier and sent the host away.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, sir. He's a bus boy and called in on his night off. He's down right cranky tonight but we need him. I'm Sam, how can I help you?"

"Where's Richard?" Zack asked.

"He came down with a terrible case of the flu so the owner sent him home. My first night solo, but I'll do the best I can. What was your name again?"

"Zachary Johnson."

"Grandpa, please be nice," Lizzy said softly.

"Mr. Johnson," Sam said as he scrolled down the names in the book, "hmmm, wait a minute." He turned the page and Lizzy saw a note paper clipped to it. "Of course. This way." Sam led them through the dining room back to the kitchen. It ran along the back of the restaurant and looking around at the other patrons, Lizzy felt really underdressed. She mentioned this to her cousin and he smirked.

"You look fine, besides, Gram doesn't care," he answered. Her stomach gave a loud growl and both Zack and Bash looked at her.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten in like five hours. My stomach does that," Lizzy said, trying not to blush. Zack smiled as Sam pulled out a chair and motioned her into it. It was a small four person table on the edge of the kitchen but with a prime view of everything. Anita was just putting two plates in the pass through for the wait staff when she spotted them. She came over and gave Lizzy a gentle hug.

"Welcome to Henry's. Before we get started, I have just one question, is there anything you will not eat?" Anita asked, looking down at her granddaughter.

"Fish. My stomach doesn't agree with it. No allergies, I just don't like it, and plain pancakes." Lizzy smiled.

"I will keep that in mind. Try everything and anything you don't like just push to the center. Two bites at least? Please?" Anita asked.

"Okay," Lizzy agreed. Seven tasting courses later, Lizzy leaned back in her seat. "I'm stuffed."

"Yeah, Gram's food tends to do that. Southern hospitality and all," Bash explained.

"Well, I hope you saved room for my famous chocolate cake," Anita said, walking over with three plates of chocolate cake.

"If there's one thing I'm always hungry for, it's chocolate cake," Lizzy said. Anita smiled and set the cake on the table. The rest of the week was beautiful and spent getting to know her grandparents. They were good people but Lizzy was still a little put off by her grandfather. He seemed like a good person, and he and Bash often spent a lot of time together, but she didn't spend a whole lot of time with him. Part of her was sad to be leaving but another part was glad to escape the awkwardness of her grandfather. She expressed this to Bash on Thursday morning as she sat at the vanity in her mom's old room. "I don't know what to do. I feel like, I don't know what to say, like I can't make him happy with me. Am I crazy?" Lizzy asked.

"Maybe you should ask him about baseball and what he does for a living. What are you drawing?"

"Our parents." Lizzy showed him the picture. On one side it was his father's senior picture and the other was her mother's senior picture.

"Wow, that's really good."

"Thanks."

"Come play ball with me."

"In a minute, let me finish this," Lizzy said. She quickly finished the pictures, taking small glances at the two photos in the mirror frame that she was using as inspiration. She put the sketch pad down, grabbed her glove, and went out back to play. Zack watched from the living room as they played catch.

"Go out there," Anita urged. "Get to know your granddaughter. Zack, come on, when do you think you'll get another chance like this? If you don't make a good impression, she may not come back. She's more like her dad you know."

"Ok, I get it." Zack disappeared back into his office then came out with his glove and joined his grandkids. Bash threw the ball over Lizzy's head and she glared at him.

"You want to go get that?" Lizzy asked.

"Don't have to," Bash answered. Lizzy turned to see why not and saw her grandfather tossing the ball up, catching it as skillfully as either one of them. "Come play?" Bash asked.

"That okay?" Zack asked, looking at Lizzy.

"Uh ..." Lizzy glanced at Bash who smirked. "Okay," Lizzy agreed. "So um ... what exactly do you do for a living?" Lizzy asked a while later as she caught the ball.

"I own a stadium."

"You own a stadium?"

"Grayson Stadium. The Sand Gnats pay every year to use the stadium but I own it."

"Wow." Lizzy breathed.

"You want to go? I can get you in and let you pitch a few on real field," Zack tempted.

"That's how you knew about the minor league clubs in Tennessee?" Lizzy asked.

"Yes. Have you thought about continuing into college ball?"

"I don't know. I know it'll be hard. It's hard for women to continue with baseball after high school. Their bodies aren't the same and they can't play at the same level. I wanna try though."

"Come on, I'll take you down to the stadium." Lizzy glanced at Bash who nodded smirking and they were off. It didn't take them very long to get inside and soon Lizzy was standing on the pitcher's mound looking around. The stadium was big, not as big as a pro-stadium but big enough that Lizzy felt tiny in it. Her grandpa crouched behind home plate and held his glove up. "Pitch a few, Liz, see if you can do it," Zack called.

Lizzy looked at Bash who was standing next to her. "He does know that pro, college, and high school all use the same distances for their fields, right?" Lizzy asked. Bash nodded. Lizzy shrugged and pitched a few, really getting into it. Eventually, Zack stopped her.

"Well done. You may have a future in this. Keep throwing like that," Zack told her as they walked off the field.

"And what if she prefers hockey?" Bash asked.

"Do you?" Zack asked, his eyes turning to Lizzy.

"Does it matter? Can't I be good at both?" Lizzy asked. Zack paused and looked from her to Bash and back. He shrugged but didn't say anymore and Lizzy and Bash were left to follow after him to the car. Though she had been warned about hockey reminding her grandfather about Austin, she didn't realize it would be that painful and that he would be so put off by the sport.

Early Friday morning, Lizzy said goodbye to her grandparents and Bash then took off for Texas. Nearly 19 hours later, she pulled up in front of Dwayne's house and relaxed in her car for a few minutes. It was a long drive and she couldn't help but be thankful that it was over. She was more than ready to fall into the bed and deal with the Ducks in the morning. As she walked up to the door, it opened revealing Mrs. Robertson. Lizzy smiled widely. "Lizzy Jacobs, Doll, it has been ages. Dwayne said you'd be coming separately but wasn't sure on the when. Come in, come in. Everyone is already here and should be in bed. You girls will be staying in Rosie's old room, she moved out a while back but there's plenty of space," she said, her soft, southern accent coming through just as easily as light through a window pane. The woman went on about all the rules and what she expected of them. She also double checked to make sure if there was something Lizzy wouldn't or couldn't eat, then lead the girl upstairs. She softly opened Rose's door and Lizzy saw Connie and Julie in sleeping bags on the floor.

"Where are the boys?" Lizzy asked.

"Living room. They'd stay in Dwayne's room but it's not big enough," Mrs. Robertson answered.

"Okay, thank you," Lizzy said. Mrs. Robertson nodded and left the girls. That's when Lizzy noticed they were both awake. Connie and Julie offered Lizzy the bed and she gratefully took it. When she woke the following morning, it was just after 5:30 and she found both girls still sleeping. Unable to get back to sleep, Lizzy got up, got dressed, and went downstairs where she found Mrs. Robertson and two of Dwayne's three sisters in the kitchen. All three of his sisters were older than him, making him the youngest, a fact he definitely hated. "Mrs. R, Bess Ann, Chrissy," Lizzy acknowledged the three women. Bess Ann was two years older than Chrissy who was 11 months older than Dwayne.

"Morning, Lizzy. It doesn't surprise me that you're up before Dwayne and the rest of them. It's the last days of your vacation, you should enjoy sleeping in," Mrs. Robertson said.

"I know, but I just can't, never been able to."

"Well, can I make you something? Cereal? Pancakes? Waffles?"

"I was hoping to go riding."

Mrs. Robertson frowned. "I can't have you riding alone, especially since you haven't been out in more than three years," she said.

"Mornin', Mama," Mr. Robertson said, coming into the kitchen and filling a thermos full of coffee. "Cowgirls," he added to his daughters as he pecked his wife on her cheek.

"Bill, you're going to check the fence this morning, right?" Mrs. Robertson asked. He nodded. "Liz, why don't you ride out with him, and you can take Saber." Saber was one of the few stallions on the ranch. He was also very temperamental with everyone except Mr. Robertson and Lizzy.

"Please, Papa R?" Lizzy asked, batting her big blue eyes at Dwayne's father.

"Okay, come on," he answered, grabbing his hat from the hook by the back door. Lizzy grabbed a slice of toast from the plate on the table and ran outside, following him to the barn. They saddled up their horse and rode along the fence line checking for anything that could be broken. When they got back, after untacking and cooling down their horses, then putting them out to pasture, Lizzy went inside to grab a quick bite to eat. Once she was full, Mrs. Robertson sent the girl outside to find the rest of the team. As it turned out they were playing football, though at the moment it looked more like a dog pile. She wasn't sure who was on the bottom only that Kenny and Adam appeared to be the only two smart ones not in the pile. She looked a little further around and saw Julie and Connie in lawn chairs sipping what looked like lemonade. Lizzy walked over to them and crouched between the two chairs.

"So who's winning and who's at the bottom of the pile?" Lizzy asked. Both girls turned to look at her, surprise evident on their faces.

"Lizzy," they said surprised.

"Girls."

"We're not quite sure, on either of those questions," Connie answered.

"And those two?"

"They were smart and didn't jump in."

"Well, I should jump in and break this up. At the very least to find Dwayne. You might want to cover your ears," Lizzy suggested. The girls shared a look but did as she suggested. She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and let out the loudest duck call she could. The pile was suddenly broken up as about half of it slid off and Lizzy smiled at Fulton standing up from it. There was something to be said about his ability to just stand up from the middle of a dog pile.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Connie asked.

"Taught myself. One long afternoon of hunting shows," Lizzy said. She stood just in time for Fulton to lift her clear up off her feet. "Well, hello to you too."

"Hey, glad you could make it," Fulton answered.

"So Port is on the bottom of that." Lizzy smiled, seeing him climb to his feet.

"Goldberg tried to take him down. Didn't quite work and it snowballed from there." Fulton put her down and the rest of the team came over.

"Dwayne." Lizzy grinned.

"Hey, Liz, wondered where you disappeared to. You missed breakfast," Dwayne said.

"Couldn't sleep so I got up early and your dad took me riding the fence line. Saber is so sweet; I've totally missed him." All through the time she had dated Dwayne while they lived in Texas she had gotten close to Saber. He was her absolute favorite of all the horses. A deep chestnut brown with a black mane and an ornery temperament.

"You okay?" Dwayne asked.

"Thinking about my grandfather. Don't worry," Lizzy said. She smiled convincingly and banished the boys back to playing football.

As always I'd love to hear what you think.