Chapter Twenty-Four

 

Saturday evening came and it was the perfect night to kick some butt. Riley Insurance was going down. I was worried about Blake though, I could tell he was tired when he got home with barely enough time to change into his uniform.

“Tell Shane to keep you out of the rotations for the first few innings,” I said to Blake on the way over.

He reached over and held my hand. Of course he was driving, my Tahoe no less. It had become the “family” car. “Jess, I’ve got this.”

I squeezed his hand. “I just worry.”

He smiled my way briefly, sending my stomach into a tizzy of fluttering. It was doing that more often. I took it as a good sign. We were still taking things slowly, but we were making our way back, which was the important thing.

Cheyenne commented one time that Blake must have the patience of Job. I was surprised she knew who that was. I don’t ever remember her paying attention in Sunday school when we were growing up. She never came to church anymore. She said the church would probably get struck with lightning if she walked in. Abby tried to convince her otherwise, telling her that church was for sinners. That went over really well.

We walked across the parking lot together toward the baseball field with Maddie between us. I almost wished she were smaller so we could each take one of her hands and maybe swing her between us. It was a silly thought.

“Is Connor going to be here?” she asked me covertly.

“Uh-huh,” I replied.

“Are you talking about the Parker kid?” Blake asked gruffly.

“Yes,” Maddie replied innocently.

I put my arm around her shoulder. “He’s a cute boy.”

“He’s a boy,” Blake said.

“I think we’ve established that,” I laughed.

Maddie was pinking a tad, while her dad seemed to be coming to the realization he was raising a teen girl and may need to worry about that.

“Maddie, will you go grab us some seats near Cheyenne and Abby?” I asked her.

She took off quickly without a word.

Blake watched her go and his eyes drifted over to Connor, who sat near his sisters in front of their mom. He turned his attention back to me when Maddie settled near Avery. “Keep your eye on that boy.”

I took his hand and smiled. “Nothing is going to happen. Connor is so shy around girls. If he even says hi to Maddie, I’ll be shocked.”

“That won’t last forever.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’ll guard your daughter’s virtue at all costs.”

He didn’t respond to my sarcasm other than to kiss my cheek and head to the dugout. I enjoyed seeing this part of him. And I wasn’t just talking about the baseball pants.

My least favorite person was already in the stands when I walked up. She was poised in a too-short white sundress that accented her more than ample chest. I hoped she didn’t bend over, or we would all be in for another wardrobe malfunction. She even wore sky-high leather wedges. She scrutinized me and my appearance. I looked down at my sky blue Jessie Belle t-shirt, jean shorts that hit me mid-thigh, and my Keds. I was dressed for a baseball game.

“Well, didn’t you just take to dressing like a mom already?” she sighed sadly.

I was going to just walk away and not rise to the occasion, but Cheyenne had other ideas. I hadn’t noticed she had walked down our way.

“You may want to try it sometime.” Cheyenne pointed at her chest.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Veronica asked.

“Oh, honey, if you have to ask there’s no help for you,” Cheyenne said in a venomously sweet voice.

Veronica spluttered and wished us dead with her eyes.

Cheyenne laughed and grabbed my hand. “I need a Diet Coke,” she said as she dragged me toward the concession stand, laughing at her own wit.

“You really shouldn’t egg her on, you know.”

“Why? She deserves it. You shouldn’t let her get away with talking to you like that. She’s just jealous of you.”

“I don’t know why, but it’s more reason not to say anything back.”

“You’re too nice sometimes.”

“No, I’m just over high school games.”

“Why? We were so good at them, Jessie.” Cheyenne grinned mischievously.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “Probably too good.” I considered us good girls in high school, well at least Abby and me, but Veronica and Kathryn were exceptions to the rule. I’m not proud of some of our antics, but they were always in retaliation. We never started it. And by we, I mean Abby and me. Cheyenne had no qualms getting the trouble started. It was mainly harmless stuff, like TP-ing.

I sneaked Maddie and me a Dr. Pepper like I was moving contraband into the stands. Her eyes lit up as I handed her the drink. She was tired of all the water we drank at home. I had bought her flavor packs to compensate, but it wasn’t a good substitution for her. She missed soda and sugary drinks.

As soon as I sat down, I found Isabelle on my lap. She took my soda from me and took a long sip through the straw. I loved that kid. I again wished for Maddie to be smaller or at least that Sabrina would have been honest with us from the beginning. I could have had those types of moments with Maddie. I was still hoping to talk Blake into adopting. I wanted to experience all the milestones of raising a child, and I thought it would be good for Maddie to have a sibling.

“The kitties are so cute, and now I can play with them,” Isabelle informed me.

I kissed her soft cheek. “That’s fun.”

Maddie turned back our way. “Can I come see them?”

“We would love to have you come over,” Abby said.

I noticed that made Connor take note. I smiled to myself. Poor Blake.

“Aren’t you going to wish the guys good luck?” Cheyenne asked.

“I’ve been banned from the dugout. Apparently I’m a distraction. At least that’s what Shane says.”

Abby and Cheyenne laughed at me.

It was then our boys took the field. The cheers were loud on our side and the jeers almost as loud on the other side. That was tacky. That never happened unless we were playing Riley’s Insurance. I hoped our side would be classy and not lower ourselves to their level, but we had Cheyenne. Need I say more?

“I hope your batting averages are higher than your IQ’s,” she yelled as they took the field.

I almost laughed as they took the field. They had patterned their uniforms after our high school team. The red, black, and white uniforms were almost exact matches, except our old high school cougar logo was replaced with Riley Insurance written in red. Most of the guys on Landon’s team were the same guys he played with in high school, back when he was the star pitcher and top gun. They were obviously trying to recapture their glory days. Some guys never grew up.

What worried me was that some of Landon’s old cronies were the umpires for tonight’s game. Brett and Derek were oafs, and I was keeping my eye on them. My hope was that we would take the lead early and pull far enough ahead we could sail through the game.

That was nice thinking. The game was tight and ugly from the get-go. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I kept Isabelle on my lap to remind myself not to get overly excited or swear. I left that to Cheyenne. She had the four-letter words down. Maddie found her vocabulary amusing. She kept looking up at us and smiling.

Then things got really interesting during the fifth inning. We were tied three to three and Blake was up to bat. He had been playing well, and in the previous inning he had caught a ball hit by Landon in right field, which was an out for their team. Apparently, Landon was a little sore about it.

Landon, the pig, had the audacity to look up at me and wink before he threw the ball at my husband. And I do mean threw, not pitched. I was grateful Blake had good reflexes and was able to move deftly and miss being hit by the fastball.

I stood up and did my best to hold my tongue as I handed over Isabelle to Abby. I was even more ticked as Brett called it a strike. “What?” I yelled.

Our side was all calling foul. No pun intended.

It ended up not counting against us because the next ball came sailing and my man hit a line drive that went straight at the pitcher. Blake dropped the bat and took off running toward first and crossed the plate right before Landon’s throw made it to John, who was manning first base. Then it got interesting. Not only did the ump call my husband out, but John, in an after-the-call move, tagged Blake so forcefully he landed on his back with a horrible thud. For just a moment I stood frozen, waiting for him to get back up, but he didn’t move.

I heard Maddie gasp and she raised her hand to her mouth in worry.

“It will be okay,” I said to her, but more to myself, trying to comfort my heart. I couldn’t take it. I ran down, shouting instructions for Maddie to stay put. I knew Abby and Cheyenne would take care of her.

Veronica said something on my way down, but I was too focused on getting to my husband to listen to her. I’m sure it wasn’t worth my time, anyway.

I got to the gate and Larry already had it opened for me. I took off in a run toward first base. Easton and Shane were already there and the sight of them looking over my husband made my heart stop. “Please God,” I prayed silently. “Please let him be okay.” I hoped beyond hope that God was really there and listening. I was afraid of what I would see as I moved around our friends that were, thankfully, doctors. I dropped to my knees next to Easton and let out a huge sigh as soon as I could see my husband with his eyes open looking like his usual disgruntled self. A string of four-letter words were coming nicely out of his mouth.

That was until he turned toward me. “Jessica—”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he said as he tried to sit up. “The air was just knocked out of me.”

Shane and Easton gently pushed him right back down.

Some of those four-letter words almost came out again. He did his best to choke them down.

“Please, let them look you over.”

His eyes met mine and they softened. “Jess, really, I feel fine.”

I took up his hand and winked at him. “It won’t hurt to let Shane and Easton make sure.”

He growled at us, but let them check for a concussion. I knelt there and kept a hold of his hand even though my knees against the dirt didn’t feel all that great. The anger also was building inside of me. As soon as my husband was given the all clear, I leaned down and kissed Blake’s lips lightly. I heard the announcer from the box say, “Looks like number twenty-five, Blake Summers, just scored as he receives a little TLC from his wife and sponsor, Jessie Belle.”

Blake and I both rolled our eyes.

As soon as Blake was upright, my anger was unleashed. I left my husband’s side and made a beeline for the first baseman. He was standing off to the side with Brett and Landon. I marched myself right over to the triplet of idiots. I broke up their little group and got right in John’s face and poked him hard in the chest with my finger. “If you ever do that to my husband or anyone on my team, for that matter, I’ll personally make sure you never play in this league again.”

His eyes widened at my audacity. “I was just playing the game,” he said arrogantly.

“It was a fair play,” Brett jumped in.

I whipped around and faced him. “Don’t insult my intelligence or knowledge of the game. Even the announcer called it excessive and uncalled for. And I swear, Brett if you don’t start calling this game fair, I’ll—”

“What?” He smirked. “Will you try and get me kicked out of the league, too?”

I grinned evilly. “Oh, no. I’ll make sure everyone in this town knows why Allison left you last month.”

His arrogant smile diminished in an instant, replaced by worried eyes.

“That’s right. You don’t want to mess with me.”

Last was Landon. He wore a smile that said “go ahead, honey.” And I did.

“Throw another ball at my husband and I’ll happen to mention to the women’s club my suspicions about your secretary, Lucy.”

“And what would those be?”

“Let’s just say I have a feeling she’s doing more than filing in your office.”

“You have no proof.”

“Does that really matter in this town?”

That wiped the smirk off his face.

All three turned before I could respond. Blake, Shane, and Easton had joined the party.

Blake stood close enough to me to place his steady hand at the small of my back. “I hope none of you are giving my wife a hard time.” He said it so authoritatively, very Gibbs or Captain von Trapp-like. It didn’t hurt that he was at least two inches taller than the idiots.

None of them would squarely look at him, but they all kind of murmured that they weren’t and then dispersed.

I looked up to Blake, who was dusty from his fall, and smiled.

He returned it with one of his own. “You’re sexy when you’re on fire.”

“I think we better give these two a moment,” Easton laughed.

I shook my head at Shane and Easton.

“Like I said, wives should be banned from the field,” Shane returned.

“I’m leaving.” I smiled. “Just promise me you’ll cream these guys.”

“We’ll do our best,” Shane said as he walked back toward the dugout with Easton.

Blake tugged on my hand and pulled me toward him before I could leave. He was giving me that look again that made my toes curl, my stomach flutter, and my brain forget that anyone else was around. He didn’t say a word, he just leaned down and kissed me once, hard.

The stands went crazy. I could hear the cheering. Oh, this town.

When his lips left mine he had to steady me before I walked back to the stands. I was feeling a little weak in the knees.

“Well, folks,” the announcer said. “Looks like number twenty-five is feeling fine.”

I walked back quickly to the laughs created from the announcer’s comments. I could feel the heat in my cheeks. Blake and I had now turned into that couple that everyone thought couldn’t keep their hands off each other in public. I’m not sure how that happened. We weren’t that couple at all.

Veronica’s lips curled up into a contemptuous smile as I passed her.

I ignored her and made my way through the stands to Maddie while telling everyone on our side Blake was okay since several people were asking.

Maddie’s look was one of embarrassment. “Why do you have to keep kissing?”

I sat next to her and pulled her close to me. Her head ended up on my shoulder. “You know that’s what parents do. Even my parents still kiss in front of me.”

“Is my dad really okay?”

“He’s going to be a little sore and he may have a headache, but he’ll be as good as new.”

“What were you yelling at those guys?”

“Yeah, Jessie, what where you saying?” Cheyenne asked.

“Let’s just say we won’t have any more crappy calls this game.”

“That’s my girl,” Cheyenne said.

Blake didn’t get back to the plate during the fifth inning, but he made some pretty great plays in the sixth. He caught another ball for an out, and he and Easton made a sweet play tagging Landon out on second base.

The game was back and forth and back and forth. If we scored, they came back and scored equally. The tensions were high, but everyone kept it clean. There’s nothing like a little rumor to scare the living daylights out of grown men.

We made it to the ninth inning tied five to five. We started the last inning with a bang. Blake did us proud and started it off with a home run. I don’t think I’ve ever cheered so loudly. I particularly loved when he crossed home plate and looked up to both Maddie and me as we stood there cheering on our favorite guy. He smiled and waved at us both. It was one of those sweet moments that I felt connected us, as weird as it sounds.

I had to hold onto that sweet moment as the game ended on a sour note. We had pulled ahead, seven to five, when Riley’s team headed up to bat. I felt good about our chances, but I sat nervously holding onto Maddie’s hand. Shane struck out the first batter up and we cheered. Landon was up to bat next. The idiot ended up getting to second. Then it was downhill from there. The next player up made it to first, Landon moved to third, and then their best player, Danny, came up to bat. Two strikes, three fouls, and then the bat and ball met forcefully. It was like one of those perfect moments in a movie, but for our team it was a nightmare as the ball sailed across the fence. Not even Blake had a chance of catching it.

We all watched in horror as one, two, three idiots crossed the plate. The game was over. Their side cheered and our side sank pitifully into the bleachers. Another year and another loss.

Landon directed a smirk and a wink my way. I quickly turned from him.

“The guys played well,” I said to my friends.

“We would have won had they not cheated the first half of the game,” Cheyenne growled.

“It is what it is,” I sighed. “Let’s go get your dad,” I said to Maddie.

I hugged all of Abby’s kids, even though the twelve-year-old boy wasn’t that excited to hug me anymore. “I’m always going to hug you, Connor,” I informed him.

He gave me a half-smile. “Okay, Aunt Jessie.”

I tussled his light brown hair and he begrudgingly let me.

We all sullenly trudged down the stands. The other side had already rushed the field to congratulate their team.

“It wasn’t fair,” Maddie said on our way down.

“I’m sure you’ve heard this, but it’s true. Life isn’t fair, honey.”

She made disgusted noises just like her dad.

I hugged her to my side and she wrapped her arms around me. I found I quite liked it.

Our guys were tired, dirty, and ticked off. No one wanted to talk. Everyone wanted to disperse and nurse their wounded egos at home.

Blake was walking slowly and I could tell he was stiff. I felt bad for him. I would have offered to take his bag for him, but that would have been an insult. Instead I threaded my arm through his and held on as we walked back to our car.

Maddie took his other side. “You played really good, Dad.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

I squeezed his muscular, dirty arm. “You name it and I’ll make it for dinner.”

“Ugh.” Maddie said in response. She knew when her dad picked dinner it was probably not going to be to her liking.

Blake looked down at her and chuckled. “Anything sounds good to me.”

Maddie was securely wrapping her dad around her finger.

Blake placed his gear in the back of the Tahoe. Before he closed the hatch, I hugged him tightly. “Thank you for playing this year.” We still had a few games left, but I felt like I needed to say it now.

“I’m sorry we lost to those … uh …”

“Yeah, I know. I have some choice words for them, too.”

“There’s always next year.”

I looked up to him and he looked down at me in his way. “Are you saying you would play again next year?”

He kissed my forehead and lingered for a few seconds. “Yeah.”