Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury

the road, and the key worked. Sami had her grandfather’s credentials, which she showed to the groundskeepers on the way down to thefield. They snuck into the visitors’ dugout and sat on the bench, side-by-side.
    “Really, Sami? This is your life?”
    She laughed again. “What’d you call me?”
    “Sami.” He smiled at her. “Samantha’s too formal.”
    “Like my house.”
    “Yeah.” He chuckled. “Like your house.”
    The sun was setting, darkness falling around them, sprinkling stardust over the moment. “What does your girlfriend do when you’re out of town?”
    “Well, Sami. What makes you think I have a girlfriend?”
    Her shyness combined with her spunk made her irresistible. “You just look the type.” She laughed again. “And I like Sami. For the record.”
    He grinned. “For your information, I’ve never had a girlfriend.” He turned and faced her. “Never had time.”
    “Hmm.” She looked out at the field. “You want to play at a place like this one day? That’s your dream?”
    “It’s not a dream.” He narrowed his eyes and looked out at the pitcher’s mound. He could barely see it in the twilight. “I will play here one day, Sami. I already know. I made up my mind when I was twelve.”
    “Can I tell you something?” She pulled one knee up and hugged it to her chest. “I’m scared to death to be out here. My grandpa would send me to a boarding school straightaway if he found out.”
    “Great. He’ll send me to jail, no doubt.” Tyler laughed, but Sami’s statement confused him. “Why, then? Why’d you do it?”
    “I’ve lived nearly my whole life in that house doing everythingright.” She kept her voice low. “It just seemed time to have a little adventure.”
    Tyler couldn’t possibly have liked her more. They stayed in the visitors’ dugout till ten o’clock and then she took him to a park in her neighborhood where they sat on swings in the dark and talked about life. She told him how they had a second house in the San Fernando Valley. Where she attended school. “We’re only here in the summer. My grandparents don’t like me having too much free time around my friends.”
    “Sounds like my parents.”
    The longer they talked, the more they had in common. Their Southern California homes were only thirty minutes apart. And the top college courting him and his baseball skills was UCLA—the same school she’d already decided to attend. “So maybe we’ll be classmates.” Sami grinned, the moonlight in her eyes. “Who would’ve guessed?”
    They laughed about all the things they’d never done. Never dated, never held hands, never kissed. Sami didn’t have a curfew. Her grandparents had never had a reason to give her one. It was midnight when they pulled into the driveway, and all the lights in the house were out.
    “Good.” She looked relieved. “They’re asleep.” On their way from her car up the front walk, Tyler stopped halfway and turned to her. Then without saying a word he reached for her hand. He held it until they were inside at the base of the stairs.
    “You know what I think?” He took her other hand, but he didn’t look away, couldn’t break eye contact.
    “What?”
    “I think this was the best night of my life.”
    She giggled and put her hand over her mouth. Her grandparents’ room was at the other end of the house, but she didn’t want to wake them. “You’re funny. We didn’t do anything.”
    “Yes, we did.” He sounded offended, but he wasn’t serious. “We shared an adventure. That has to count for something.”
    “True.” Her eyes sparkled, but she looked suddenly shy. “Good night, Tyler.”
    For a moment he thought about kissing her. But that wouldn’t come till the end of the week. By then—between his baseball games—they shared a bucketful of firsts. They ran barefoot across the beach, ate nothing but ice cream for dinner one night, and twice they stayed up all night talking on the floor of his