“True,” Patsy had to concede.
“Then it’s a date. You come watch the team next Saturday. I promise, I’ll be on the bench.” Ray grinned at her. “We’re out on the field behind the Youth Activities Building. We start at three. First game of the season. You can be our good luck charm.”
Not hardly, Patsy thought, but she’d go. Not because she was that interested in a bunch of grown men behaving like children, but to be certain that Ray kept his promise about staying off his foot. At least, that was what she told herself. “All right. I’ll see you there.”
“Saturday afternoon. Three o’clock.” Patsy wasn’t sure what she was getting into, but she convinced herself she was going to make sure that Ray didn’t reinjure himself.
Ray flashed her a little-boy grin that made Patsy feel all soft and mushy inside. Then he maneuvered himself out the door to collect his prescription from the pharmacy. Even on crutches and in pain, the man looked too good to ignore.
THE DAY WAS BRIGHT, the sky clear with only a few cotton ball clouds dotting the blue expanse. With a slight breeze, it was a perfect day for a baseball game. Only Patsy’s arrival would make it better, Ray thought.
He squinted in the bright sun, training his gaze away from the playing field and in the direction of the parking lot. Still nursing his tender ankle and propped up on his crutches, Ray watched to see if Patsy would really show up. He wasn’t at all confident. He was still making up for lost time regarding the man/woman thing.
The team was busy warming up, and there was still time for her to show up before the game started at three, but not much. It would have indicated a modicum of interest on her part. Ray hated the idea that it might be a mercy date.
Not that it was really a date.
Somebody tugged at his shirttail and Ray looked down to see his third-baseman. “Mr. Radar, Bwian keeps frowing the ball too hard.”
Davey, the tail-tugger, was the youngest boy on the team, just barely too old for tee ball, but not really ready to hold his own with the bigger boys. His big brown eyes welled with tears. “I can hit the ball, sir. I weally can.”
“All right, my man, we’ll just have to see about that,” Ray said, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the parking area. “You go over there and I’ll toss you some balls. You show me what you can do.”
Dragging the heavy wooden bat that was almost too big behind him, Davey trudged a few feet away. He parked his sturdy little body into batting stance and lifted the bat into position. Ray pulled a ball from one of his pockets and tossed one right at the bat. It hit the wooden club with a dull thud and bounced a couple of times, then rolled a few feet farther. You would have thought that Davey had hit a home run, though. The boy grinned a gap-toothed grin as Ray scooped up the ball.
“I knew you could do it, buddy,” Ray said, reaching out and tousling the boy’s thick brown hair. “Let’s try another one. Do you think you can step back a little farther this time?”
Davey stepped back and Ray tossed another one at him, this time not aiming quite so precisely at the bat. Davey swung and, to his apparent amazement, hit the ball with a resounding crack. It popped up high and Ray caught it with his bare left hand.
“Good shot, my man. Let’s do one more, then it’ll be time to start lining up to play.” He’d seen the other team gathering around their bench on the other side of home base. “Step back.”
Davey did and Ray threw. Again the boy hit the ball, this time sending it flying out into the field.
“Another good one. I knew you could do it.” He lifted his hand in a high five, then dipped it low so Davey could reach it. Still the boy had to jump up so his little hand could meet Ray’s, and Ray grinned. “Better go round up the ball and get ready to line up,” he said, then Davey scurried away.
Someone behind him began to clap. “Good show, Radar,” Patsy Pritchard said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coaching a peewee team?”
Ray spun around, nearly losing his balance on the crutches. It hadn’t occurred to him that Patsy would think otherwise. “Would it have made a difference?”
Patsy shrugged. “Probably not.” She glanced to where Davey had finally caught up with the ball. “That was a nice thing you did there,” she said.
“What? Tossing a ball with my guys? It’s part of the job.”
“Not that. Building the boy’s confidence like that. I saw the way you eased him into it.”
“Just as long as Davey didn’t.”
A dog yipped and Ray looked down to see a three-legged animal on a bright pink leash prancing around trying to get his mistress’s attention. “The world-famous Tripod?” he asked.
“The one and only,” Patsy confirmed as Ray reached down and allowed the dog to lick his open hand. “She wasn’t thrilled about being ignored.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Tripod,” Ray said, and Tripod wagged her stubby tail so hard the action threatened to knock her off balance.
“She likes you,” Patsy said, approvingly.
“Obviously she’s a very discerning canine,” Ray said, looking up into Patsy’s big blue eyes. She always looked great in her uniform at the clinic, and she’d looked equally good in the khakis and sweater she’d worn to the restaurant, but in white shorts, a peach halter top and a floppy, straw hat, she looked better than fantastic.
Patsy laughed. “Tripod likes everybody. It’s a good thing I had her fixed. She’s just a little too easy.”
“Ouch. You wound me,” Radar said, pretending to clutch at his heart.
“You’ll live.” She glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a whistle. “Uh, oh. It looks like they’re ready to start.”
Ray glanced back and saw that the other team was getting into position. “Well, gotta go.” Ray signaled for the guys to line up by their bench, then turned back to Patsy. “Will you and Tripod be here when we’re done?”
“We’ll be here.”
Ray turned and maneuvered himself toward the group of boys and grinned triumphantly. She had shown up. Patsy Pritchard had really come! Apparently, Prickly Pritchard wasn’t nearly as starchy as she pretended to be. She liked three-legged dogs and children. She might not want anybody to know it, but she was a real softy inside.
He liked that.
He liked it a lot.
FLIPPING UP HER sunglasses and shading her eyes with her hands, Patsy watched as a player from the other team hit a pop fly. The game had been tied until this point, but that one hit could change the score. As she watched the boy scamper to first base, making it possible for another hitter to get a turn at bat, she wondered how little Davey would take losing the first game.
Funny, she thought as she watched the final moments of the game, she’d always steered away from events involving children. And truth be told, if she’d known this was a kids’ game, she wouldn’t have come. She’d feared that being around children would dredge up feelings and emotions that had taken her years to suppress. Yet, sitting here in these splintery, wooden bleachers, all she felt was joy.
These boys were having the time of their lives. And so was Ray, if the grin that hadn’t left his face was any indication. He was loving every minute of the game, even if he had to love it on crutches. Patsy was glad that she hadn’t known that Ray was coaching a boys’ team. She would have hated to miss this. If she hadn’t come, she wouldn’t have seen this other side of Ray Darling.
The crack of yet another ball being struck pulled her attention back to the game. Little Davey, stationed way out in left field, caught the ball, much to his amazement, and the game ended. The other team had won, but to Davey it wouldn’t matter. Just catching the ball that put the final batter out and ended the game was enough to make him feel like a hero for the day.
She jumped up and cheered just as loudly as the rest of the spectators. Even Tripod joined in, barking happily along with the joyful noise.
Finally the tumult settled down.
She was glad she’d been there to see it. And she hadn’t
even known the boy before today.
“Are you up for pizza and sodas with us?”
She’d been so busy watching the grinning boy run to his parents that Patsy hadn’t noticed Ray come up behind her.
“I’m sorry. Did you ask me something?”
“Wanna join us for pizza?” He crooked his arm like he expected her to take it. “My treat.”
“Oh, yes. You’ve made an offer I can’t possibly refuse,” Patsy said, tightening her hold on Tripod’s leash, and taking Ray’s arm. She enjoyed the delightful tingling sensation that just touching him brought her. “Will Tripod be able to come?”
“The restaurant has a patio, so I’m sure our friend will be welcome,” Ray said, dropping one crutch and bending down to pet the dancing, tail-wagging dog.
“Works for us,” Patsy said. “Your car or mine?”
“Come with us. I’ll bring you back to the car after we eat,” he said as he scooped up his crutch.
“Us?”
“Gotta take a couple of kids with me. Not everybody’s parents could make it here for the game. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not as long as the kids don’t. You know how boys that age feel about…G-I-R-L-S!” Patsy said, spelling the word, then made an appropriately disgusted face.
Radar shrugged. “They’ll deal with it. Besides, pizza with the guys is a pretty good incentive for a kid to put up with a girl—cooties or no.”
“I guess. Never having been a boy, I wouldn’t know.” All she did know was that Sergeant Ray Darling was a very nice man, and the more she got to know about him, the more she wanted to know him.
“Trust me. I was. Pizza is a great incentive to get a guy to do anything. At any age,” he added as they strolled toward his vehicle, two sweaty, grubby boys cavorting as only boys could as they hurried ahead of them.
Patsy smiled. “Just one thing,” she said as they reached the familiar little CRV. “Don’t let it out that Prickly Pritchard likes little boys.”
Ray stopped, apparently startled, and balanced on his crutches. “You know about that?”
“The Prickly Pritchard thing? Of course. It doesn’t bother me.” In fact, she’d done everything she could to cultivate the nickname. “Just don’t let on. Please?” The last thing she needed was to suddenly have people thinking she was a soft touch.
“Sure,” Ray said. “Loose lips sink ships.”
“Whatever. Now, let’s hurry up and get to that pizza. I’m sure those kids are starving. And Tripod could probably do justice to a couple slices.”
“You sure it isn’t you who’s hungry?” Ray challenged.
“I’ll never tell,” Patsy said. And she’d never tell anyone that she was sincerely glad that Aunt Myrtle had fixed her up with Ray Darling. She certainly wouldn’t admit it to her aunt, but maybe it really was time that she started living again.
RAY SAT ON THE HARD cement picnic bench outside the Pizza Palace and watched the way Patsy interacted with the kids. If anyone was a natural, she was. He wondered why she wasn’t married with a bunch of kids of her own.
But then, if she were married, he wouldn’t be sitting here.
“What happened to Tripod’s leg?” Brian asked as he slipped another piece of pepperoni to the dog.
“She got hit by a car when she was a puppy and her bones were broken too badly to fix,” Patsy told him matter-of-factly. Ray liked the way she hadn’t tried to dodge the question, and she hadn’t given the kid more information than he really needed to know.
“Oh. She sure gets around good, though,” the kid said, then turned back to carefully plucking pieces of mushroom off the remnants of his slice of pizza.
“If you’re still hungry, we could order another one,” Patsy offered, watching the way the boy devoured his food.
“No, ma’am. I’m all full up.” He looked up and grinned delightedly. “Look, there’s my mom!”
Ray turned to see Brian’s mom, dressed in rumpled BDUs, get out of her car. Her tired face lit up and she smiled when she saw her son. She waved and double-timed it over to them.
“I’m so sorry I missed your game, Brian. How’d you do?” She squeezed him to her.
“Aw, Mom. I’m not a baby anymore,” Brian protested, pushing away from her embrace. “We were tied ’til the last minute, but the other guys won.”
“But they put on a great game,” Patsy interjected.
“I’m sure you did. Are you ready to go?” his mother said, her gaze sliding toward the pizza.
“Yeah.” Brain shoved the last of his slice into his mouth, gathered his cap and glove and hopped off the bench. “I’m ready.”
“Thanks for waiting with him. With Brian’s dad deployed, there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day,” the woman said.
“Any time,” Ray said.
“We’ve got a couple pieces of pie left, if you’re hungry,” Patsy volunteered, and her stock went up another couple of notches in Ray’s esteem. It was obvious that Brian’s mom was tired and hungry, and not having to go home and fix her own dinner would probably be greatly appreciated.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’d love some.”
Patsy wrapped the slices up in a couple of napkins and passed them across the table to the tired woman. “Have a good night,” she said.
And Ray was pretty sure she would. He watched the woman trudge tiredly to her car, Brian scampering along beside her, talking animatedly to her, telling her about the game. Ray turned to Patsy. “That was nice.”
“What? Giving her the leftovers?”
“Well, yeah. I didn’t think about it.” And he wondered why he hadn’t. He well knew what it was like to spend a full day out in the field and then to have to come home and scrounge for something to eat. Until recently, he’d lived in the dorms and could go to the chow hall, but now that he’d moved off base and was sharing an apartment with Danny Murphey, one of them had to cook. Or they both went hungry. A sergeant’s pay could only afford a limited number of meals out.
“I was just saving myself from them,” Patsy said flippantly. “I’m sure I ate enough this afternoon to make my clothes too snug for the rest of the week.”
“No, you didn’t. You made sure the kids were fed, the puppy was fed and then you made sure Brian’s mom was fed. Don’t you ever think about yourself?”
Patsy shrugged. “Sure. About once a week, I have a nice long, soak in the bath.”
“Oh, yeah. I bet that recharges your batteries,” Ray said, his tone heavy with irony. But just the thought of Patsy naked, surrounded with fragrant bubbles, was enough to have his shorts feeling a little snug. He reached for the pitcher on the table and poured himself another glass of ice-cold soda. He knew cold showers were supposed to work; but he didn’t know whether the cold drink would achieve the same result. All he could do was hope.
Just then, Davey and his parents—also eating at the pizza place, came over and stopped in front of him, and Ray’s interest in Patsy wilted. At least, the physical evidence of it did.
“You guys off?” Ray asked Davey.
“Yes, sir,” Davey said. “I sure had a good time today.”
“Yes, he did,” the boy’s mom interjected. “And we did, too. I don’t know how much we can thank you for what you did.”
“And what would that be?”
“You know.”
Ray did know. He’d just hoped it hadn’t been that obvious. It was enough to know that Davey had felt like a big man in spite of the team’s loss.
“Davey’s always the youngest, no matter what. His birthday falls in January, so though he’s old enough to do things according to the rules, sometimes it doesn’t work out in practice.”
Ray well knew how that felt. “One day, all that won’t matter anymore,” he said. “All we have to do is help him get through it now as painlessly as we can.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job.”
“I’m doing the best I can.”
Patsy punched him on the arm as Davey and hi
s parents walked toward their car. “Stop with that aw shucks, ma’am bit,” she said. “You did a good thing. Why don’t you just accept the thanks gracefully?”
“I don’t know.” Ray shrugged. “I guess I’m just not used to compliments.” When Ray had been growing up, nothing had ever been good enough. His own parents, well-meaning as they might have been, had never seemed satisfied. They had always wanted him to do more, to try harder. Being a smart kid had come with a lot of pressure. He sure wouldn’t inflict that on any kid of his.
If he ever had kids.
No, when he had kids.
He’d have kids, and he would not do any of the things to them that his parents had done to him. He didn’t want them trying to make up for lost childhoods when they were adults, as he was doing now.
PATSY WATCHED THE SHADOWS flit across Ray’s face. What could have him thinking so hard? “Penny for your thoughts?” she asked, holding her hand out, a penny on her palm.
“Huh?” Ray looked up at her and seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts.
“What has you in such deep thought?” She closed her hand over the penny and put it away.
“Nothing. Just thinking about how hard it’s going to be for Davey until he catches up.”
“Davey’s a trooper. He’ll catch up in no time, especially when he has somebody like you watching out for him.”
“I hope so,” Ray said. “Being younger than your peer group isn’t always easy, and those few months can make a big difference at that age.”
“Sounds as though you’ve had experience with that.”
“You could say that. I was always the youngest kid in my class. It can do things to the way you think about yourself.”
“Why?” Patsy said, as she began to gather up the stuff from the picnic table.
“It’s hard to explain,” Ray said. “It just does.”
Patsy stuffed the trash into a can, and looked at Ray. “Now what, coach?”
“Time to go, I guess,” Ray said, still looking pensive as he gathered up his crutches.
“So soon?”
Ray rewarded that remark with a smile. “Yes, ma’am. If you look, you’ll see that all the kids have gone.”
Sergeant Darling Page 5