by Susan Quilty

Created on: August 12, 2009

She arrived at the park 35 minutes after the game began, but Lola didn't really care. There were no trees around the ball park and the flat, dusty area felt at least 10 degrees hotter than anywhere else in town. Sweaty men and women tromped past Lola, beer cans in hand, laughing and kicking up dust.

The team was supposed to be playing on field C. Karin had told Lola it would be to the right, but the rightmost field was empty. Lola headed toward the second rightmost field where a game was in full swing. Before she saw the plastic "C" sign hanging from the back of the low bleachers, Lola saw Karin beached in her lawn chair alongside the bleachers. Her feet were propped on a large blue cooler and her bulging belly was covered by the bright red maternity shirt she had bought while shopping with Lola last week.

It was late afternoon and the slowly sinking sun seemed noticeably dimmer than it had just an hour earlier. Lola thought fondly about her solitary spot on the front stoop and hesitated before joining Karin at the edge of the field. She hadn't been spotted yet. It wasn't too late to turn around and walk back to her car. But Lola knew she wouldn't.

"There you are!" Karin shaded her eyes with one hand despite the fact that she was wearing a red visor to match her maternity tee. "The game started at 4!"

Lola nodded her acknowledgment without giving an explanation and sat on the empty bleacher beside Karin's chair. A few of their mutual friends - though really Karin and Dave's friends - called hello and Lola returned their greetings. She could feel Karin pouting beside her.

"I wanted you here before the game," she said with a frown. "Now you won't be able to really talk to Roger until after."

"That's all right," Lola told her, as if Karin's wishes had anything to do with her own. Somewhat mollified, Karin smirked and leaned toward Lola while lowering her voice.

"There," she jerked her chin in the direction of the man playing left field. "Cute, huh?"

Lola squinted at the figure in the distance. He was a man. Lean, somewhat thin. He wore a baseball hat and shirt, untucked, over jean shorts. At least he was untucked, but otherwise he seemed a bit too perfectly suited for Lola's taste. She liked a man with a lot of quirks and wasn't sure she'd find one playing slow pitch softball on a suburban beer league.

"Sure," she replied, though she couldn't see much more than his sunlight rimmed silhouette and a shadowy blur of features below the brim of his cap. Karin wasn't entirely

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