Arriving at the town’s little league baseball fields, Charlotte looked around, amazed at how nice they were. Worn out houses lined the streets of this neighborhood. Some even had rusty cars on blocks sitting in the over-grown yards, with lots of other junk laying around. But everything about this park was top-notch—green, manicured grass, shiny metal fences, and smooth, red-dirt infields with perfectly painted lines. How did a small town like Chester have a park like this?

“Come on, Mom. Why’d you stop?” Taylor pulled on her hand.

He had a point. They were already late for practice.

She looked around, trying to figure out where to go since there were teams on all three fields. Taylor was supposed to go to the southwest field, but she didn’t have a built-in compass like some people did.

“I’m guessing this is Taylor Mabry.”

Charlotte spun and saw the man from the sporting goods store leaning against the dugout. She groaned softly. This wasn’t good. “Yes. Is he on your team?”

“Looks that way. Hey, buddy. Come on through. We’ll get you sorted out.”

Taylor ran towards the gate and Charlotte faced the man. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize her.

He held his hand out to her. “I’m Nate Haverton. I had a feeling your son would be on my team.”

She shook his hand, and forgot to respond. The contact with his warm, slightly calloused skin was doing strange things to her sensory systems. She pulled her hand back, rubbing her fingers together as if it might dispel the sensation, and said, “I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t remember me.”

“Well, you made quite an impression.” He pressed his lips together and the muscles in his jaw flexed. After a brief pause, he said, “And I’m afraid I did too. I’m sorry for the whole thing.”

Charlotte studied him closely, and felt the sincerity of his apology. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Nate nodded and his shoulders dropped as if he was relieved. “So, you just moved in, huh?”

“A few days ago.”

“Well, we’re glad to have you.”

“Thanks, Mr. Haverton.”

“Nate.”

He smiled, and Charlotte wondered why so much male beauty had been concentrated on this one, aggravating male. Well, maybe he was less aggravating now that he’d apologized. She felt an urge to keep him talking and latched on to the first excuse her dizzy brain came up with. “I’d better warn you that Taylor has never played t-ball before. He’ll probably need a lot of coaching.”

“Your husband hasn’t worked with him any?” Nate asked, his eyes darting towards her hand.

“Ex-husband.” Charlotte raised her left hand and wiggled her bare fingers. “And no. He doesn’t spend any more time with Taylor than he has to. I would help him, but I’m terrible. Worse than terrible in fact—a danger to others.”

Nate grinned, and Charlotte nearly melted to a puddle in her shoes.

“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks,” Charlotte said, smiling as she forced herself to walk away.

She made her way over to the bleachers where the other parents were sitting. Two women sat on the front row, talking up a storm. A couple sat near the top, and a few other parents were sitting on folding chairs along the fence, facing out to the field. As she passed the women on the front row, she could feel their eyes on her, and they stopped talking.

She had to make friends sooner or later, so she met their eyes and smiled before climbing up a few rows to sit behind them.

The petite one on the end turned around and said, “Hey there, honey. Don’t mind us lookin’ you over. We’re just nosy like that.”

Charlotte chuckled. “It’s alright. That’s what I get for being new in town.”

“Yeah, and for being so pretty. Look at you. I swear you could be a model.”

The tall blonde next to her laughed. “No wonder Nate Haverton couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

“We were talking about my son, Taylor,” Charlotte said, very aware that she was blushing. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice her reaction.

“Well, I saw you make sure he knew you were single.” The woman waved her the fingers on her left hand around like Charlotte had done a few minutes ago. “And I don’t blame you one bit. Bless me, but that man is fine.”

The women burst out laughing. Had they been watching the whole time? “No, I wasn’t—”

But before she could explain, the lady said, “Don’t worry, honey. I’m teasing. I’m Delynn. My boy is that gawky thing out there with his cap on backwards.”

The first one who spoke to her said, “I’m Misty. Mine’s the short kid out there picking his nose.”

Sure enough, a short, big-cheeked kid was mining for gold while he waited for his turn at bat.

“Brady,” Misty yelled out, “You cut that out or I’ll jerk a knot in your tail.”

The boy’s head jerked towards the bleachers and he stuck his hand behind his back like he was hiding it.

“I’m Charlotte Mabry. Maybe you knew my grandma, Anne Goldman? I inherited her house, so my son and I moved in a few days ago.”

“Everybody knew Mrs. Goldman. Are you divorced?”

This lady cut right to the chase. “Yeah. For over a year now.”

Delynn gave her half a smile full of sympathy. “I’m sorry things worked out that way for you. Don’t let it ruin you for men though. I’m on my second husband, and he’s not perfect either, but much better than the first.”

Misty gestured toward Nate with her thumb. “We got a prize bull right here in town if you’re interested. Poor Justine isn’t going to like the competition.”

Glancing over to where Nate was adjusting the tee for one of the kids, Charlotte asked, “He’s single? But I saw him in the sporting goods store with a little boy.”

“Probably just helping out,” Delynn said. “He does a lot of that. But nope, he’s not married and he doesn’t have any kids. And besides having the tightest behind this side of the Mississippi, he’s rich.”

“We all grew up with him, but he moved away for college and went on to make a load of money.” Misty chimed in. “He moved back a few years ago and bought the old Sutton Mansion. Justine’s had her eye on him ever since her marriage went south.”

Delynn chuckled. “Girl, when he came over here before practice asking for volunteers to help with practice, her butt flew out of her seat. And now look at her, over there trying to boss the kids around. We all know she can’t even make her own kid mind her.”

Justine must be the woman in the outfield pairing up boys to practice throwing balls to each other. She looked frazzled, but determined. If Justine had a crush on the way-too-hunky t-ball coach, well, then she could have him. All six-plus feet of him.

Knowing he was wealthy was enough for Charlotte to make up her mind to turn off her wayward attraction. Even if he was patient and focused with the kids. Even if he had been perfectly pleasant and welcoming. Even if he was sinfully attractive.

She’d learned her lesson about men with money. No thank you.

Just then a ball flew over the fence past first base. Nate ran over with an easy stride and jumped the four-foot fence as if it took no more effort than blinking. Charlotte wasn’t the only one to raise her sunglasses for a better look when he jumped back over again with the ball.

“I might need to kick James to the curb,” Misty said, fanning herself.

“Ya’ll need to get some religion,” said a woman behind them.

“I have religion,” Delynn called back. “I need some of that. He is yummy.”

Everyone within hearing laughed, but Delynn only smiled and turned around to face Charlotte. “Hey, by the way…we’re going to order some Mom t-shirts for the games. Do you want one? Only twenty bucks, and it will have your kid’s name on it.”

Charlotte tried to look politely interested, but her muscles tightened. More money. “I’d like to, but…” Best to be honest. “Well, I won’t have any extra cash until I get my salon up and running.”

“Wait, what? You’re opening a salon?”

Raising her eyebrows at Delynn’s enthusiasm, she said, “Yeah. I worked at a high-end salon in Kansas City before I moved here. Now I want to open my own place.”

Delynn turned to Misty. “Did you hear that?”

“Oh, I heard, girl.” Turning to Charlotte, Misty said, “You can count on me to be one of your first customers.”

Charlotte smiled, looked over her layered, Ombre colored style, and smiled more. Just the kind of client that could help keep her business afloat. “I’ll give you first shot at booking an appointment.”

“What about me?” Delynn asked.

“You too, of course.” Charlotte couldn’t see much of her hair since it was in a messy bun and sticking out of a ball cap with a rhinestone star over the bill, but it looked color-damaged. Lots of work to do there.

Charlotte’s heart expanded with hope. If the rest of the women in this town were as enthusiastic as Delynn and Misty, she just might make her salon a reality.

As she turned her attention back to the field, she told herself she was watching Taylor—and she was. But with Nate standing out there in the sun, it was easy to let her eyes stray his direction. There was no harm in checking him out a little, right?

When it was Taylor’s turn to try batting, Nate stood behind him with his arms around his shoulders, adjusting Taylor’s hold on the bat and scooting his feet apart to correct his stance. And then began five minutes of agony for Charlotte as she watched Taylor either miss the ball entirely, or hit the tee, making the ball fall down and roll away. Nate would patiently scoop it back up, correct Taylor’s stance again, and make a few practice swings while holding the bat with Taylor to help him get a feel for it. Finally, Taylor connected, knocking the ball off the tee. It flew past second base and all six kids who were fielding went running after it. Nate hooted and gave Taylor a high-five before sending him off to first base.

Charlotte cheered. “There you go, Taylor. Way to hit that ball.”

Then Nate turned and grinned at her. He shook his head. “Well, he’s strong. The rest is just practice.”

She grinned until Delynn said, “I told you, honey. You done caught his eye.” Then she elbowed Misty. “This is gonna be fun to watch.”