“You’re passionate about ferrets. You’re their advocate,” he says. “I admire that.”
A ferret advocate, I think. Now that would be a dream job.
As soon as the thought comes to my head, I quickly bat it away, as if it’s a gnat that’s bugging me.
“Why are you furrowing your brow?”
I blink. “I was?”
He takes two fingers and sweeps them across his brow to indicate a crease. “You had a worry line right here.”
My brain scrambles for an excuse, so I don’t have to discuss how his idea of being a ferret advocate is super appealing to me. One, it’s not exactly a profession that I went to the University of Virginia for, and two, my father would have a stroke if I told him I was giving up my corporate job to become a champion for ferrets.
“Okay,” Elisa says, returning and saving me from lying to Brady, “everyone is fine with moving you to the last spot of the day. Can you come back here around two?”
“Not a problem,” Brady says.
Elisa turns to me. “Addison, can you run out around one o’clock and get your ferret?”
I nod. “I can.”
“Okay, we’ll do it then,” Elisa says, smiling brightly at both of us. “It will be a first for our calendar, which, in thinking about it, might generate some different publicity for us.”
Brady’s mouth curves up in that hint of a smile again. “So that means I’m guaranteed one of the twelve months, then?”
Elisa laughs. “I guess you are.”
From what she told me about the shoot, not every player would be used. So when I release pictures from the shoot, we have to make sure it’s a player who will be featured. The biggest stars—like AJ, pitcher Chase McLeary, and Brody—are givens. But before the ferret angle, Brady was not a guarantee. It would all depend on how his shoot went and what kind of shots the photographer got of other players today.
“All right, well, I’m going to grab another cup of coffee,” Elisa says. “I’ll be right back.”
After she is out of earshot, Brady turns to me. “Can you bring both?”
I smile in delight. “You want to pose with Willy and Petey?”
“Why not? Unless Petey isn’t friendly or bites or something.”
I laugh. “Oh, no, he’s wonderful. Willy is my ambassador and loves people. Petey is a little shyer, that’s all.”
“Then bring him. Willy shouldn’t hog the spotlight,” he says. “In fact, I’m pretty sure they have the entire spotlight, and I’m just a prop for them.”
And then, the most amazing thing happens.
His face breaks out into a smile. Brady’s whole face lights up, with the smile reaching up to his pale-green eyes and causing them to crinkle in the corners.
Then I feel it.
There’s an undeniable fluttering in my stomach. Shock sweeps through me at the same time.
My God, Brady has given me butterflies.
I’m at a loss for words as I try to process the sensation sweeping over me as a result of his beautiful smile.
“So you’ll bring both of your boys?” Brady prompts.
My heart flips. He called my ferrets my boys. Brady, while barely knowing me, understands my connection to my pets. They are my family. Willy and Petey might not be conventional like dogs or cats, but I never wanted conventional. I fell in love with ferrets because they suit me.
And Brady somehow gets that.
I blink and come back to the moment. “Yes, I’ll bring both of them.”
“Excellent. I’ll see you back here at two.”
Then he turns and walks away.
I’m left breathless by his exit. I’ve met Brady before, but I feel as if I’ve met him all over again this morning. His willingness to champion a cause close to my heart, for someone he barely knows, has touched me.
And while I have to work this morning on a project I’m excited about, I’m already counting the minutes until Brady returns this afternoon.
* * *
The morning passes by in a whirl of activity. I’m taking pictures of the photographer taking pictures. Typing notes on my tablet for my article. Live-tweeting images from the shoot of the star players, as well as posting to Instagram Stories and Connectivity Story Share. The shoot has been phenomenal so far, with Soaring Eagles players bringing their animals or using some of our shelter ones to take pictures with. AJ posed in the outfield with his three dogs. David DeLeon posed with a shelter puppy in the clubhouse and bonded with him so strongly that he filled out papers to adopt him, which is going to be a fantastic story to push to the media. Juliette Stanhope, the Soaring Eagles show correspondent, covered it with her videographer for Soaring Eagles Insider, and I can’t wait to see it on-air next week.
My favorite was the last one before lunch, which was Brody and Pissy. Brody went behind the plate on the field and held Pissy while in his catcher’s stance. She cooperated without incident. Well, until anyone came within five feet of Brody. Then she hissed. Growled. And hissed some more. That cat truly hates anyone who is not named Brody or Hayley Jensen. If you are Brody or Hayley, however? You have the sweetest, most affectionate cat on this side of the Rockies.
But now is the part of the day I’ve been waiting for.
I carry Willy and Petey in their carrier as I head back inside the ballpark. I hope Brady likes them and we can get some good pictures for the shoot. This would be so incredible to share with ferret rescue groups, and that’s what I intend to do if all goes well.
“You guys have a big responsibility today,” I say to them as we walk. “You can be ferret ambassadors. Be your cute selves, and we’ll find some ferrets forever homes because of it, okay?”
As I wander back toward the clubhouse, I see players leaving with their pets. The shelter crew is gone as well because my pets are the last ones needed for the day.
I find Elisa outside the clubhouse doors and approach her. “I’m back,” I say, gently setting the carrier on the ground next to me.
She glances up from her phone. “Oh, fantastic. Neil said he wants the shot with the ferrets to be on the pitcher’s mound or in the dugout if you think they’ll be okay being outside.”
“They can handle that,” I say. “They’re also trained to return when I call them, so we’ll be fine.”
Elisa looks surprised. “They can?”
I nod. “Yep. I can call them to return, and I can also call them to go to their cage when they have to. They’re super-smart animals.”
“I honestly had no idea,” Elisa says. “Anyway, Brady is on the field. I came back here to see everyone else from our group off. I’m going to stop in the restroom before joining you all. I’m sorry, I should have texted you where Brady was so you wouldn’t have had to walk all the way back here.”
“No problem,” I say, picking my carrier back up. “I’ll head on out there.”
I walk back through the corridor and toward the field-level entrance. I enter into the sunshine, noticing how the wind is blowing the flags out, and step upon the sacred ground of the field.
And then I see him.
Brady is standing on the pitcher’s mound while the photographer frames his shot. Other media personnel are milling around with video cameras, along with some reporters, too, but they are all peripheral in my vision compared to the sight of Brady.