“Completely,” he promised in a hushed voice. “If you have a concern – ask – but let’s keep it behind closed doors. I’ve got nothing to hide from you.”
“But… but we live in a normal subdivision, drive normal cars, and everything is – well – it’snormal,” she stressed, completely at a loss for words. “You don’t have any fancy artwork, no eccentric collections, nothing – except an expensive, worn-out baseball mitt.”
“For charity,” he chuckled and winked. “I’ll give the receipt and documents to my financial advisor. He’ll shake his head, chide me about spending money, and then tell me that I need to spend a little more, so I don’t have to pay capital gains taxes on my stocks and investments.”
“What?” she gasped, stunned.
“We’re good,” he repeated once more, watching her. “Unless you divorce me and then I’m gonna be pissed, pout a whole heckuva lot, whimper, cry, and lawyer-up. I would not be a happy camper if you were done with me.”
“I’m not going to divorce you.”
“Because you love me?”
“I could throttle you right now – but yes,” she sighed, relaxing only slightly as she saw his dancing eyes and that slow smile on his face. “Please don’t spend chunks of money like that until I get used to it – and FYI? I never will.”
“Normal keeps you humble,” he agreed, and hesitated. “You know, I knew I needed to keep things normal for me when I realized that I had no idea how much a bunch of bananas cost.”
“What?” she chuckled, stunned. It was such an off the wall statement that seemed out of place - but that was Drake, wasn’t it? The car wobbled slightly as the limo started to move forward. “What do you mean?”
“When you make a ton of money, get obscene paychecks, or lose your grip on reality – it’s hard to get it back,” he admitted quietly, watching her. “I was talking with my mother after paying off her house, listening to her fret, and we were talking about the grocery list for the week. Sunday is her grocery day, right after church, and well, I wanted to pay for things,” he paused, hesitating and looking embarrassed. “I’ve never paid attention to things – if I wanted it, I simply bought it. So, I looked at the list, it said ‘bananas, eggs, and heavy cream’… so Ihanded her three hundred bucks,” he paused, smiled, and shook his head. “And she threw it at me, completely pissed off.”
“She did?” Steffi asked, stunned and choked out a laugh, picturing it in her head as Drake made a face.
“She said, ‘I didn’t raise an idiot’and told me that I needed to go outside, say a few prayers, and touch grass to get myself right again,” he chuckled, smiling. “So I did. I realized that to stay focused, to appreciate the blessings that had been given to me, that I needed to live simply… and touch grass.”
Her lips parted in shock as he grinned.
“That’s why I do my own yard work, my own dishes, my own cooking, and live simply because I think it would be much too easy to lose touch – and then you are left with so many debts that you drown in worries. I don’t want to be that person. I never want to struggle… which is why I’m telling you this, because I don’t want my wife ever to worry if her husband is hard-headed about some things.”
He lifted the glove and pointed at it, smirking. “This mark is when I caught a pop fly against Anaheim – and boy, did I get booed.”
She stared at him, drew in a shaky breath, and then pointed at the glove, a different mark in the leather. There was no way he could identify all these marks or remember how he got them, but this was his way of sharing, of justifying the expense, his way of being proud of himself… and bragging about himself, to her, because he wanted her to be proud of him too.
She understood.
“What’s this mark?” she whispered and met his beloved eyes, treasuring the way they crinkled at the edges when he smiled.
“Lemme tell you about that one,” he chuckled. “It was a muddy field, and I was so tired after not sleeping the night before – I believe we were playing Houston… or maybe San Antonio?”
“You don’t know?”
“Shh,” he teased, putting a finger against his lips – and then moving it to her mouth in a caress against her bottom lip. He was such a little twerp sometimes, and she loved it. “Let me focus… ah, yes, I was standing in the outfield on a windy day when a line drive came flying in my direction. You should have seen me. I dove, slid across the grass, stretched my arm, and…”
“Drake?” she interrupted softly, wanting him to kiss her.
“Yes, love?”
“You’re amazing,” she whispered, looking into his eyes. “I just wanted you to know that I think you are absolutely, one thousand percent, amazing…”
His eyes searched hers, his smile faded, and the intensity of his eyes was staggering. She could see the longing, the love, the spark between them that would forever be a flame that they would fan over the years… and it was moments like this where they shone so brightly. Oh gosh, she wanted to kiss him, to hold him close, and…
“You wanna touch my glove – don’t you?”
Steffi shoved him in the middle of his forehead.
16
Christmas