by Linda Wisdom
“Oh, sure, Pee-Wee Herman!” Alex broke down in laughter. “I wasn’t at all surprised when he told me he was on the debating team!” she giggled.
Beth shook her head, still laughing. “I wonder what happened to him.”
Alex choked. “I saw him once.” She paused for effect. “On Saturday morning cartoons!” she literally howled.
“This is what I truly miss,” Marian told Patrick, settling on the edge of the couch listening to the two friends reminisce about their younger days. “Those two always had the most enjoyable times together. I only wish we could join in.”
“Don’t worry about Beth, too, Marian,” he told her in a low voice so Alex wouldn’t hear him. “Her parents are still alive and kicking. Let them worry about her. We have enough problems with Alex.”
“At least we have Beth unwittingly helping us. Didn’t you hear her say that that Dr. Duffy will be at the softball game? And even if Alex doesn’t want to admit it, her eyes did light up when Beth mentioned his name. I have a good feeling she’ll go to that softball game.”
Patrick grinned. “Only if she can play shortstop.”
“Come on, Alex, you know you want to go,” Beth coaxed. “Besides, if Jason calls and you aren’t home, he’ll realize you aren’t at his beck and call. It will do him good to worry a little about where you are and who you might be with. You always did a great job of making your men suffer.”
Alex laughed and held her hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, I’ll go.”
Beth looked sly. “And just maybe you wanted to be persuaded to go because Dr. Michael Duffy is going to be there?” She picked up her mug and walked into the kitchen to rinse it out. “I’m off.”
Alex followed her to the door. “Is Dr. Duffy going just to meet the others on a social basis?” she asked too casually.
Beth’s smile had brought many a man to his knees. “I told him you would be there.” The words followed her out the door.
Alex stared wide-eyed after her friend. “Age has made you even sneakier! Just for that, I won’t go!” She slammed the door.
“Yes, you will,” her smug tone floated through the door. “Because you want to see him again just as badly as he wants to see you. Plus, you know our team needs a good shortstop.”
Alex spun around to see just what she feared most. A pair of smiles too smug for their own good.
“I always had a soft spot for that girl,” Patrick announced, turning on the television to watch the ski championships on ESPN.
Michael was indecisive all week about whether he would go to the softball game. When Beth tracked him down Friday afternoon to remind him about it, he opened his mouth ready to use whatever excuse sounded most plausible, but none came to mind. Instead he merely nodded and accepted the sheet of paper she gave him listing the time and location of the game.
Boxes filled with who-knows-what remained filled while he enjoyed the pleasure of sleeping late, lingered over brunch and showered and dressed in jeans and a soft green T-shirt. One last look at his littered apartment was enough to make him exit quickly rather than stay home and unpack the rest of his boxes. In no time he arrived at the edge of the baseball diamond, where he found the large group picking sides.
“No, no way I’m taking Cathy,” Dennis objected loudly, waving his arms around.
“And what’s wrong with me?” the nurse screeched, her hands braced on her slim hips.
“You haven’t hit the ball once in three years, that’s what’s wrong. And you refuse to stay in the outfield, for fear you’ll catch a ball and break a nail,” he snarled.
She narrowed her eyes. “When you get sick, Doctor, I’m going to make sure you’re placed on my floor.”
“Okay, I’ll take Cathy,” Jay, the captain of the other team, interceded. “But I get to choose Alex as a consolation prize.”
“No way! She’s our best shortstop! Take Beth or Sheryl instead.”
“I want Alex.”
Nose met nose, as the two men glowered.
“Why not flip a coin to decide?” Alex suggested before war could erupt. “After all, this is only a game, guys, not a major debate.”
The men stepped back, looking sheepish.
“I left all my change at home,” Jay muttered.
“So did I,” Dennis admitted, staring down at the ground.
Mumbling something about little boys who never grow up, Alex dug into the pocket of her khaki shorts and pulled out a quarter. She tossed it high into the air. “Call it.”
“Heads,” Dennis said swiftly.
“That’s what I was going to call,” Jay argued.
The coin was snatched by a hand before it reached the ground. “It seems you need a different system here.” Michael walked over to stand beside Alex. “Why don’t you try odds or evens? Jay, you call it.”
Jay narrowed his eyes. “Evens.”
The two men closed a fist and pumped them up twice before each throwing out a certain number of fingers. The total was six. Dennis swore under his breath.
“Two out of three,” he pleaded.
“No way.”
Alex looked up at Michael. “This is the first time one of their arguments has been settled so easily.”
He tried to look everywhere but at the woman wearing a pair of shorts displaying a great pair of legs. A bright orange sweatshirt with a picture of the frizzy-haired Fritzi silk-screened on the front and a rainbow colored CHUCK-IT-ALL TOURS, WE SEND YOU WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO GO emblazoned underneath. With her hair tucked up under a baseball cap and scuffed running shoes on her feet she looked adorable. He’d never have the nerve to admit it out loud, though. Instead, he discreetly looked his fill.
Alex leaned over, talking out of the corner of her mouth. “I heard you were practically dragged here.”
There was something about her vivacious manner that brought a smile to his lips. “Kicking and screaming.”
She shook her head in mock sympathy. “Let me give you fair warning. One shortstop position is already spoken for.”
“Is that why they were arguing?”
“I’m the best in the business. They wanted me to go to medical or nursing school, so I could be an official member when they play other hospital teams,” she explained. “But I told them I can’t even remove a splinter without passing out.”
“No wonder you didn’t want to stay in the hospital overnight,” he murmured, looking into eyes that looked back at him so directly that he felt as if he was drowning in a blue haze.
“Michael, you playing?” Dennis called out.
He absently nodded, his attention still centered on Alex.
Dennis grinned broadly, stared up at the heavens and muttered a heartfelt “thank you.”
“It appears we’ll be competitors,” Alex murmured. “Why is Dennis so happy?”
“Probably because I went to college on a baseball scholarship.”
She looked ready to burst out grinning. “Don’t tell me. Shortstop?”
Canary feathers could have been plastered to his chin as he nodded. “I was also a pretty good hitter.”
There was nothing Alex loved more than a challenge. “We’ll cream you.”
“Private bet?”
“Loser has to eat anchovies on his pizza.”
“Suppose I like anchovies on my pizza?”
“No one in his right mind likes anchovies on pizza.”
“Alex, come on!” Jay called.
Alex ran backward, blowing a saucy kiss in Michael’s direction. “I’ll ask them to give you double anchovies.”
“Something tells me you’ve got a thing for my friend,” Beth murmured in Michael’s ear.
“A thing?”
“Yeah, fascinated, interested, all that good stuff.”
“She is different,” he admitted.
“And you’ve already made it over the first hurdle.”
Michael turned his head. “Hurdle?”
“Usually she won’t give a doctor the time o
f day. She’s not only given you the time of day, she’s made a bet.” She patted his shoulder. “Don’t deliberately lose the game. She loves nothing more than playing the role of the gloating winner.” Beth giggled. “I adore being the brains behind this.” She sauntered off to the outfield.
Dennis’s team was up first, so Michael took his place on the bench, where he could watch Alex take her assigned spot behind and near the pitcher.
Michael continued watching Alex during the first inning. He noticed how relaxed she was, her body slowly swaying from side to side. Not a lot, just enough to keep him from looking away. He was so involved in watching her he didn’t hear any of the teasing catcalls coming from both teams.
“Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, su-wingg, batter!”
“Yo, Hank took off his shirt!” Feminine wolf whistles shrilled overhead. “Be still my heart! Take it off, baby. Take it all off!”
Michael laughed and shook his head in wonderment. “Is it always like this?”
“Nah, usually we’re a lot wilder,” Dennis replied. “One night a bunch of us guys came out here about midnight for a quick game after treating about fifty victims from a multi-car pileup. We had a couple six-packs of beer and pretty soon felt the effects of the alcohol.” His eyes misted over. “Hell, that was a game.”
Michael remembered those kind of feelings. “How many did you lose?” he asked quietly.
“Five small kids and seven adults.” He shook his head to dispel the memories. “That’s why I can’t understand how you can work in Emergency full-time. It seems that’s all you would see. The hurt and dying.”
Michael shrugged. “There’s pluses, too. I delivered a baby girl yesterday. The mother never made it up to Maternity.”
“Yeah, I guess you do have to look at it that way.”
Michael could easily guess his colleague’s state of mind. Burnout, especially in emergency medicine, was very high. There were times he felt close to it. In fact, he’d been so tired lately he had seriously considered not coming today, so he could stay home and unwind. Now all he had to do was look at Alex Cassidy’s animated features and feel remarkably energized.
He wished he knew what there was about her to attract him so strongly. Several times she looked in his direction and gave him a hundred-watt smile that left him smiling back. Too bad they weren’t on the same team. He would have liked the chance to talk to her. Still, sitting here and looking his fill at her wasn’t all that bad, either.
“You didn’t have to catch that ball, you know,” Michael later told Alex as they traded places when the third out was announced.
“But, darling, I thought that was what I was supposed to do.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “You hit it right at me so nicely I had no choice but to catch it in my li’l of glove.”
“I guess then I’ll have to return the favor,” he bantered.
Alex looked over her shoulder as she walked toward home plate. “Maybe.”
“My, my, what a change in you today,” Beth commented as they sat down on the bench.
Alex looked puzzled by her friend’s teasing remark. “What do you mean?”
“You keep up that flirting much more and the guy’s tongue will be hanging on the ground.” Beth pulled off her sweatshirt and tied the sleeves around her waist. “What’s with you? Usually you don’t flirt so openly with any man, much less a doctor.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it when she realized she didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know,” she seemed to say as much to herself as to her friend.
Beth knew right away that Alex was being honest with her. “Then back off a little, if you’re just teasing. He’s a nice guy and you’re my best friend. I don’t want to see any unnecessary casualties here.”
Alex was startled by her words. “If anyone’s been hurt in the past, it’s been me.”
“Yes, but you’ve hardened yourself where men are concerned. You did it when you decided marrying Jason would be a good idea.” Beth looked up when her name was called. “Looks like I’m up next.” She stood up and walked toward the plate.
Alex was troubled by Beth’s blunt words. She knew her friend wasn’t trying to hurt her, but to help. Still, that Beth thought she was deliberately stringing Michael along for the fun of it did hurt. Between her parents’ candid observations and Beth’s comments, this week was turning out to be a revelation.
She looked across the field where Michael stood, utterly relaxed. As if feeling her gaze on him, he half turned his head and sent her the warmest smile she’d seen in a long time. This wasn’t like Jason’s smile, which never seemed to reach his dark eyes. No, Michael’s smile began in his eyes and radiated outward until it lit the world around him.
One look at that smile and Alex knew she was well and truly hooked.
Chapter Six
This can’t be happening! Alex forced herself back to earth with a bone-jarring thud. He’s a doctor. Doctors only mean trouble. She looked around with narrowed eyes. Therefore, there has to be a logical reason why I’m suddenly noticing a nice-looking man who could easily inspire lust if I’m not careful.
“It was just a smile, nothing more,” she whispered fiercely. “It’s going to take more than a smile to turn my knees to jelly. So get your hormones back on track.”
“What’d you say?” one of the men said, turning to her.
She forced a weak smile. “Just psyching myself up for the game.” Except she knew she’d need more than a good pep talk to do that. She began to wonder if her parents didn’t have something to do with what was going on. But they swore to her they couldn’t leave her apartment! No, this was just some kind of overload on her part that was all. She slowly released the breath she was holding. She looked up when a pair of legs appeared before her.
Jay crouched down, his narrow features intense. “Alex, this is our first chance to win a game against Dennis’s team. When you’re up at bat you’ve got to hit that sucker clear out of the park. I know you’re a strong hitter and you can do it.” He silently pleaded with her.
“It’s not going to be easy with Dennis as the pitcher. He knows all my weaknesses and you can be sure he’s going to use that knowledge against me when I’m up at bat.”
He threw his head back and groaned. “Can’t you outwit him?”
She felt so bad for him that she could only promise, “You know I’ll do my best.”
Jay’s face lit up. “Thanks babe.” He patted her knee and moved on to the next player to deliver another pep talk.
“I can do it. Just don’t look at him,” Alex muttered when she took her place at bat.
She hefted the bat and took several practice swings before approaching home plate. The first thing she saw wasn’t the pitcher but the shortstop watching her with those enigmatic deep blue eyes that she sensed saw more than she was comfortable with.
“Not him, you fool,” she mumbled. “Just concentrate on the pitcher.”
Alex swung the bat back to rest lightly against her shoulder. “Let’s go for it.” She looked grim enough to chew nails.
Easier said than done, Alex soon learned as she refused to look at Michael. Instead, she concentrated on Dennis. She’d played with him enough to know most of his moves, and hopefully could predict his pitch. Even softball had a few surprises in it.
Dennis stared at her a long time, probably in hopes of unnerving her. Alex narrowed her eyes and stared right back.
“Come on, Dennis, let’s see that wimpball of yours!” she shouted, flexing her back muscles.
With a growl he let loose with the ball. Alex waited until the right moment and let the bat fly forward. The wood hit the ball with a satisfying whack! With a grin of pure pleasure she took a split second to watch the ball sail toward center field.
“Run, Alex!” The scream was deafening.
Without hesitation she was off. Her feet flew over first base, tapped second base and she was on her way to third. She knew she had more than enough time to make it to home pl
ate.
“Pump it, Alex!” Jay yelled as she passed third base.
She put on a burst of speed as she saw home plate looming ahead and knew if she didn’t hurry she would have to slide— a painful prospect. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to pump her legs as hard as possible.
“There’s no stopping me now.” She sailed over home base.
“You’re out!” the umpire shouted.
Alex skidded to a stop, almost losing her balance in the process. “I’m what?”
The umpire shrugged. “You’re out, baby.”
She planted her hands on her hips, fully prepared to do battle. “Out? That ball is still out in center field.”
“Oh yeah? Then what’s this?” He pointed to the ball the grinning catcher held up.
Alex’s eyes almost bugged out. “Where did that come from?”
“Looks like you weren’t so lucky, after all.” The catcher, a technician from Radiology, gloated.
“This is ridiculous.” She stomped back to the bench. “There was no way that ball could get back here so fast. I practically hit it out of the park. And I hit it toward Janis, who ducks when a ball comes within ten feet of her.”
Hal, who played second base, shook his head. “Not this time. That ball dropped right at Janis’s feet. She scooped it up and threw it further than I ever thought she could.”
Alex saw red. ”Why did she have to pick now to improve her game!” She stalked down to the end of the bench.
Feeling someone’s eyes on her, she slowly lifted her head and found Michael watching her from his position as shortstop.
Good hit, he mouthed.
“Don’t worry about it, Alex,” Jay consoled, patting her on the shoulder. “Your hit helped get two of our guys in.”
She couldn’t contain her anger. “I should have slid in.”
“I don’t think it would have made any difference.” He looked up at the sound of collective groans. “Looks like Stan just got tagged out.”
“We can still cream them,” she vowed darkly, brushing past Jay.
“You were right,” Michael commented as they traded places. “You’re very good.”
Right about now, she wasn’t in the mood for any compliments. “Obviously not good enough.”