"Never Say Die" Jeff had to admit, he was pretty impressed with the whole set-up. Coach had said all along he wanted a simple affair, but the Roadhouse had sure pulled out all the stops: an entire row of chilled champagne bottles lined one of the tables in the back, and next to the enormous sheet of cake, there was even a spectacular ice sculpture of a man at bat. "Not a bad way to go, is it, son?" Jeff felt a familiar hand slap his shoulder, and he turned around to grab Coach's hand and shake it vigorously. "Hey, Coach!" "I'm so glad you and your beautiful wife could make it tonight." Coach turned to Ginger and tipped his head. "Good evening, Mrs. Metcalf." "Good evening, Coach. Is your wife here?" "Oh, she was feeling a little under the weather tonight. She wanted to come, but I insisted that she stay home and get some rest." "That's too bad--I hope she feels better soon!" He gave her a grateful smile and slapped Jeff on the back once again. "Well son, I think I'll be considered rude if I don't go and mingle some more, so I will see you two kids later." Jeff smiled back at him as he left and put his arm around Ginger's waist to lead her through the crowd. His eyes darted around as they made their way to an empty table--so far, so good: no sign of Arthur anywhere. "Jeff, you think you'll be a coach someday, after you're done playing?" "Hmm? Yeah, I... I guess..." Jeff cringed. Up ahead, he spotted Jay and Peach, and they seemed to be headed in their direction. "Oh no," he muttered. Ginger looked behind her to see what had Jeff's attention. "What is it-" "No, don't look!" Jeff pleaded. "Just... Just pretend we're talking." She glared at him. "We were talking." "Well then let's keep on talking 'cause I really don't want to-" "Hey, Buckeye!" Too late. Jeff pretended to smile and through gritted teeth, forced himself to be polite. "Hello Jay, Peach." "And a fine evening to you, Ginger." Ginger smiled back--God bless her for being so polite, Jeff thought. "Hi!" Peach pulled up a chair from the table next to theirs and sat himself down. "So, Metcalf, you hear the news?" Humor him, and maybe they'll leave. "What news?" Peach broke out into a Cheshire cat's grin. "Well, this is entirely on the QT..." "Notice anyone conspicuously absent tonight, Buckeye?" As a matter of fact, he had noticed, but he wasn't about to admit it to these two yahoos. From the corner of his eye, he spied Ginger trying not to laugh. The woman sure delighted in seeing him jealous. "Who?" "Mr. Law Books, who else?" "Oh," Jeff replied, as casually as he could manage. "S-so what?" Jay exchanged amused glances with Peach. "He's been traded, Buckeye. As of next season, he is officially a member of the Cincinnati Reds." Jeff blinked back in shock. "He... What?" "Don't tell me you're surprised," Jay said. "It's not like this came out of the clear blue." Peach snorted in laughter. "Yeah, the only surprise is why they waited this long to dump the sucker. I mean, he was nothing but dead wood all season long! The only guy on the team who batted below .200, had more errors than my high school term papers... Although I guess I can't blame the guy for not really trying." "Why not?" "Buckeye," Jay said, laying a hand on Jeff's shoulder, until Jeff's look of disapproval made him quickly take it away. "If your father was some Rockefeller, would you have a compelling reason to put your all in a ball career?" "I always hated that guy," Peach said in disgust. "All he ever did was go around bragging about how he'd be running one of his old man's companies someday by the time he was done playing. I heard ol' Daddy Big Bucks even bought him a company recently." Jeff was beginning to tire of this conversation, and by the way Ginger had been squeezing the life out of his hand in the last few minutes, he could tell that she too wanted to be anyplace else but here. "Well if you excuse me, fellas," he finally said, "I'd like to take my girl for a spin on the dance floor." "Sure, Buckeye." Thank goodness they bought it. Jeff got up to help Ginger out of her seat, and they exchanged conspiratorial smiles as Jay and Peach continued to gossip about Arthur. "... Yeah, every time the wife brings home one of those Fine Foods products, I can't help but think of how I'm lining that guy's pockets." Jeff stood motionless for a heartbeat and felt Ginger's hand grow cold in his. "What did you just say?" Jeff said, taking hold of Jay's arm. "Fine Foods, Buckeye," he said, glancing down at Jeff's hand. "You know, the company that sponsors your wife's show? And by the way, Ginger, my wife simply adores you--she was too shy to ask you for your autograph earlier, but she wanted me to-" "What about Fine Foods?" Jay smiled, probably coming to the realization that Jeff must not have heard the news yet. "He's the new owner, Metcalf. His father bought the company a few weeks ago--for him to run when he's done playing ball." Jeff felt all the blood drain from his face. |Previous| Next| Home| Kyle| Tammy| History| Transcripts| Quotes| Milestones| Episodes| Pictures| Fanfic| Links| Email List