by LuAnn McLane
“I want to look at you,” Pete said in her ear.
Maria felt a sudden flash of insecurity about her body. She’d resisted nips and tucks, and it had been such a long time since Pete, or any man for that matter, had seen her naked. But she squared her shoulders and shook her negative thoughts off. The stretch marks on her tummy were from having Pete’s child. They are stripes of honor and nothing to be ashamed of, she told herself.
“Maria?” Pete asked gently. “Do you want this?”
“Yes, oh, yes.” She nodded and then turned around. “It’s just been a while,” she said honestly. “And I’m … older.”
“And stunningly beautiful. I’m a lucky man to have you in my arms.” He put a hand on her cheek. “I always was. We have a past. We have a son, but this really is our new beginning, Maria. I was going to wait, but I’ll just go ahead and say it once more. My love for you is stronger than ever and I want to have you back in my life. I want to grow old with you,” he said and then grinned. “Well, older. I don’t want you in this high-rise. I want you to come home. Sit on the front porch.”
“Pete—”
He put a gentle finger to her lips. “I know it’s too soon for you to move back. I just want you to know what I want, so there’s no mistake. I’m gonna lay it all on the line right here, right now. Maria, we might have gotten divorced, but I never stopped thinking of you as my wife. I’ve not … laid down with another woman. It never even crossed my mind. You’re all I ever wanted and I want you back for good.”
“We can’t start over, Pete, but we can start fresh. Just give me time.”
“I’ll give you anything you want, anything you need. Just ask,” Pete said.
Maria reached for him. “Right now all I want is you in my arms.”
“You don’t have to ask twice.”
“But first things first.” She reached for the buttons on his shirt. “For once in your life, Pete Sully, you’re way overdressed. I need to fix that little problem.”
Pete laughed and Maria loved the deep, rich sound. She felt the troubled past get nudged away by happiness. She knew she had to go slow and get her footing. True, they’d lost so many years, but that only made what they had left even more valuable, and she intended to let the past slip away and treasure each day forward.
20
Glad All Over
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” CAT STOOD UP AND YELLED. “THAT was low and inside, Blue!” When Cat raised her hands skyward in protest, Jeff reached up and tugged on her Cricket Creek Cougars T-shirt, which she’d bought at the stadium and insisted upon instantly wearing.
“You’re gonna get kicked out of the ballpark if you keep riding the umpires like that,” Jeff warned with the shake of his head.
Cat sat down with a thump and nudged him with her elbow. “Am I embarrassing you?”
Jeff glanced left and right. “Yeah, kinda.”
Cat laughed. “Good, then I’m going to keep it up. You should have said no.” She reached for his soft pretzel and pulled off a big chunk.
“Why do you keep refusing food and then eating mine?”
“I feel less guilty eating bad-for-me food if you order it instead of me. It’s like it doesn’t count.”
Jeff adjusted his baseball cap and gave her a look. “That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Ah, but the day is early. I’ve got more where that came from, so stay tuned.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “We need a base hit!” When she reached for his pretzel again, he pulled it out of her reach, but when she gave him a pout, he sighed and handed it to her.
“Anything else you want me to order?”
“Nachos with extra jalapeños.”
“I thought you said spicy food bothers your stomach.”
“It does, but I’ll worry about that later. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment.”
“You know you’re crazy, right?”
“So you keep telling me.” She nodded and he thought she looked so damned cute in her baseball cap and ponytail swinging out of the back. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Jeff laughed. They had decided to go to a Cougars game when Mia gave them box seats behind the home plate up in the second deck, away from the crowd. She’d pretty much insisted that they attend and Cat was glad to get a break from the studio. With sunglasses and baseball caps they tried to keep their attendance on the down low, but when Cat started yelling, that blew their cover all to hell and back. They’d been seen around town the past week and Jeff knew people were talking, but he didn’t care. He was even starting to warm up to the whole Sweet Harmony thing, but Jax and Sam were still adamantly against the idea. Jeff refused to think about that right now and just enjoy a rare day without being in the studio. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“What? I thought all of my ideas were great.”
“Really? I seem to recall you trying to crawl through a bathroom window.”
“It was a great idea. I didn’t say that they all work out as planned.”
“It was a terrible idea,” Jeff told her. “But I do like your living-in-the-moment plan. I’ve never been very good at that one. Farming is all about planning for the future.”
Cat tilted her head and looked at him. “I was allowing others to plan my life for me. This is so much better. I like being in control for once,” she said in a rare serious moment. “Even if it doesn’t go as planned, it will be my choice, my mistake. I won’t get pushed around again.”
“Good for you.” Jeff didn’t like the idea of anyone taking advantage of her, but her good nature and trusting attitude meant that she was a prime target. No one would ever be able to do that again as long as he was in the picture. “I think you’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Cat.”
“I’m getting there,” she said with a smile and then turned her attention to the game. “I think we need a bunt to move the runner into scoring position, don’t you?”
“I’d rather see him swing away,” Jeff said, just to get her going. “I never did like playing small ball, but who am I to question whatever Ty McKenna decides to do? I was such a fan of his as a kid.”
“And you must have been so thrilled when Noah Falcon came back here and built this stadium.”
Jeff nodded. “Noah came back here to star in the local theater after he was killed off that soap opera he was on for a few years after his baseball career ended. The women of Cricket Creek all watched. Even my mother.”
Cat laughed. “I watched once in a while. Noah was a horrible actor.”
“That didn’t seem to matter,” Jeff said with a laugh. “No one thought he’d settle back down here, but he fell for Olivia Lawson, his costar in the play.” Jeff shook his head. “I know he wanted to help save the failing economy here in his hometown, but I think he built this stadium to impress Olivia.”
“A pretty grand gesture,” Cat said. “But hey, if you build it, they will come, right?”
“Apparently,” Jeff replied. “But it brought this town back to life.” He hesitated and then asked, “Do you like living here, Cat?”
“Oh, yes. I haven’t been this relaxed in years. I knew I had to make some changes in my life and when I drove to the cabin I immediately felt it was the right choice.” She looked at him and smiled. “Sometimes you can just know when something is right.”
Jeff felt a measure of relief. He wondered whether at some point Cat might get bored with small-town life and decide to head back to Nashville or even Chicago.
“It’s the bottom of the lineup with no outs. We need a sac bunt.”
Jeff leaned in close to her ear. “Do you know that it’s damned sexy that you know baseball so well?”
Cat grinned. “I watched tons of baseball with my dad. We are die-hard Cubs fans.”
“So you went to Wrigley Field a lot? What an awesome stadium.”
Cat’s grin faded. “No, we watched on television. My … my parents didn’t like to go out much w
hen I was a kid.” She looked out over the baseball diamond as if she didn’t want to elaborate.
Jeff nodded, but he didn’t really understand. He knew there was something in Cat’s past that she didn’t talk about, but he didn’t want to pry. He supposed she’d tell him when she felt the time was right. But he wanted to know. “Well, it’s on my bucket list to go to Wrigley Field. Will you go with me?”
“Yes!” When she nodded and gave him a bright smile, he put his hand over hers. Jeff got the feeling that, although she came from wealth, Cat Carson had lived her childhood cut off from the rest of the world.
“I even promise to order bad food and let you eat it.”
“Even better. And we have to get pizza at Giordano’s.”
“Chicago-style, I’m guessing?”
“The best stuffed pizza pie on the planet and always voted the best in Chicago. Yeah, the cheese is on the bottom and the sauce on top. One slice will fill you up.”
“Not likely,” Jeff said. “This country boy can eat.”
“So can this city girl,” she said and ate the last of the pretzel. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not really,” she admitted and then turned her head back to the game. A moment later the second baseman laid down a perfect bunt, advancing the runner to second. “Now do we pinch-hit for the pitcher?”
“It’s only the fifth inning and he’s still got some heat. I’d leave him in.”
“I agree,” Cat said with a slow nod.
“That’s a first,” Jeff said.
“Well, you softened me up with the Wrigley Field offer.”
“When will your parents be back in town?”
Cat sighed. “I’m not sure. I was able to text them last week, though.”
Jeff wanted to know more, but when the pitcher managed to get a rare hit Cat jumped to her feet and cheered. The man on second was being waved on by the third-base coach. “They’re sending him home! We’re going to have a play at the plate!” She tugged at Jeff’s hand until he stood up with her. When the runner slid headfirst and was declared safe, Cat started jumping up and down. She turned and gave Jeff a chest bump, making him laugh.
Jeff had never had more fun with any other girl. “You are one of a kind,” he said and pulled her in for a hug.
“I get that a lot. Wait. You mean that in a good way, right?”
“No,” he said, and when she gave him a shove he grabbed her hand and held it, not caring one bit who noticed.
“Liar. Hey, do you want some peanuts?”
“No, but I’ll pretend so I can eat some,” Jeff said with a laugh and then flagged down the peanut guy to come to their private seats just below the press box. When he looked at her and she smiled, Jeff felt a strong pull of something warm and amazing. In that moment he knew he couldn’t picture his life without Cat in it and it hit him that he was absolutely in love with her. He knew it must be love because she was always on his mind. He’d dated and had a couple of serious relationships, but no other woman had ever occupied his thoughts the way Cat did.
He had to admit that being in love felt pretty damned good. While Jeff considered himself a private person, he wanted to stand up, point to Cat Carson, and shout, “I love this girl!” Or better yet, put it up on the scoreboard. Have it written across the sky. The peanut vendor needed to know. Everybody did. His parents … his dogs.
“What in the world are you smiling about?” Cat asked.
“Just that … Oh my God, Cat … duck!” Jeff shouted after he saw the pop-up shoot up over the backstop.
Of course Cat, true to form, looked up instead of ducking. With a little squeal she put her hand up to catch the baseball before it landed on her face. At the last second she decided that her catching plan wasn’t smart and ducked her head to the side but kept her hands raised as if by some miracle she might still catch the ball. Jeff lunged for the baseball and caught it just before it smacked her hard. The crowd cheered.
“You can open your eyes now.”
“Did you catch it?”
“Yeah, I did.”
She opened her eyes and snatched the ball from him. “Awesome!” She raised it above her head while the crowd kept looking their way while cheering.
“You stole my pretzel—now you’ve stolen my baseball and my thunder!”
“Sorry,” she said with a not-sorry shrug.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“What are you going to steal?”
Jeff moved the bill of her baseball cap to the side. “A kiss,” he said and pressed his mouth to hers. When the crowd cheered louder he looked up and saw that they were on the big screen.
“Oh, no—busted.” Her eyes widened at Jeff. “Now what? Should I slap you to throw everybody off?”
Jeff felt a pull of disappointment, but then realized she was joking.
Cat pointed a finger at him. “Ha, gotcha.”
“No, you didn’t.”
She tossed a peanut at him. “I certainly did.”
“Okay, you got me. A first.”
“Ha! Not the last.”
“But you should know that having us kissing in public will spread like wildfire in this little town. In less than five minutes my mother will be calling to invite you to Sunday dinner, but not until she complains that she’s always the last to know everything.” He looked down as his phone beeped.
“Your mom already?”
“No, it’s Sara texting me. She’s with mom down at the reception barn planting flowers. She says that mom wants to know why she is always the last to know everything. Can I call it or what?”
“You know your family well.”
“And I want you to get to know them, Cat. Are you ready to meet the Greenfields?”
Cat popped a peanut shell open. “You want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve wanted to meet your family and see your farmhouse for a while now.”
“Really?” Jeff accepted the peanut that she put in his mouth.
“I’ve been all about you since the moment you saved me from the evil suitcase.”
Jeff felt a grin slide across his face. “Really?”
“Stop saying ‘really.’ Yes.”
Jeff reached over and took her hand. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and felt a strong pull of longing. “How bad do you want to see the end of this game?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Oh …”
Cat grinned and then leaned over and whispered in his ear, “But I want to be naked in your arms more.”
“Dear God … if you keep talking like that I’m going to have to put my baseball cap over what you’re doing to me.”
Cat laughed.
“It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is.”
Jeff squeezed her hand. “But it’s more than that, you know.”
Her smile faded and she looked into his eyes. “Tell me.”
Jeff leaned closer, glad that there wasn’t anyone sitting next to them in their box seats. “It’s more than just caring about you, Cat. I’m falling for you.”
She dropped the peanut she was holding but didn’t seem to notice. “Like, falling in love with me?”
“Yes … No—I take that back. I’m not falling, Cat.”
She frowned. “I wish you hadn’t. That was a quick turnaround.”
Jeff grinned. “I’m not falling. I’ve been doing that since the night of the suitcase attack. I’m in love with you.”
“Then say it.”
“Damn the complications.” Jeff took her hand. “I love you, Cat. There’s no doubt about it.”
“I love you too.”
“I didn’t mean you had to say it back.”
“No one makes me do anything. Those days are done.” Cat smiled. “You had me at ‘Are you hurt?’”
“I still think I need to wrap you in bubble wrap.”
Cat laughed. “You just have to shadow me. Save me from the big, bad w
orld of suitcases and baseballs and clowns.”
“Clowns?”
“Yeah, don’t let one near me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
“So are you ready to leave?”
Cat grabbed his hand. “I’m ready.”
21
I Feel Fine
“YOUR PLACE OR MINE?” CAT SAID AFTER THEY HURRIED to Jeff’s truck. “I’ve always wanted to say that—kinda like ‘Follow that car’ when I get in a cab.”
“I have a feeling you’ll say that someday just for shits and giggles, as Sara would say.”
“You’re getting to know me pretty well.” Cat laughed. “And you’re still hanging around? Amazing.”
“I’m not going anywhere. We’re stuck like glue, like the Sugarland song.”
Cat started singing it. “But not like the video. I’m not quite as crazy as Jennifer Nettles in that one.”
“You’re my kind of crazy.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet,” Cat said with a laugh. “Just like the Brantley Gilbert song?”
“You have songs for everything in life, just like me. So I guess I’m kinda crazy too.”
“We’re such a cute crazy couple,” Cat said.
When they stopped at a red light, he looked her way. “Are we?”
“Cute? But of course,” Cat said, knowing full well what he meant.
“A couple?”
“I think it’s time to make it Facebook official,” Cat said with a chuckle but then reached over and put her hand over his. “Yes, Jeff. I want to see where this takes us. And I’m so excited to meet your family,” she added, but felt a little flash of insecurity.
“Wait. What’s that look?” Jeff asked as he turned down Riverview Lane.