Chapter 12
Ava tightened the baseball mitt on her hand and hunched low as Memphis prepared to toss a softball-style pitch toward home base. Andie would be up to bat next on the opposing team, and they had lot of catching up to do. Which explained why Trenton was taking time to give her a little instruction.
The pause only let Ava’s mind rush back to the heavenly heated kiss she hadn’t stopped reliving since last night. Richard had kissed her like no man ever had. It felt as if years of connection, longing, and chemistry had weaved the passion behind that kiss.
And the bliss…tingles rippled over her body, an echo of the sensations that coursed through her last night. She couldn’t help but glance at Richard across the field and wonder if the same thoughts were in his mind.
“That’s enough practice for now,” Memphis blurted. He tossed the ball high over his head and caught it. “Let’s play ball.”
“Fine, fine,” Trenton said, giving Andie a playful swat on the butt as he stepped back.
Andie stepped up to home plate with the bat in her grip, determination in her eyes as she reared it back over her shoulder.
Trenton took a seat next to Emmitt where lawn chairs were lined up in place of a bench. “You’ve got this, baby!”
“No, youdon’tgot this, Andie,” Lee, the ranch hand who was playing shortstop, razzed.
Ava had questioned the wisdom of playing softball in the late afternoon hours; it was the hottest time of day and they were well into June. But she hadn’t considered the rolling hills with their tall and reaching pines. This part of Trenton’s property was perfectly shaded. And what a beautiful piece of land it was. The perfect place to start a family one day, she mused, imagining that very thing for herself.
Of course, it was Richard’s face who came to mind with the image. Richard Duran—the intelligent, honorable, respectful gentleman of a man who looked like a cross between a buff football star and a GQ runway model. Richard, whose kiss had swept Ava off her feet so high and so fast she’d be happy to relive it night after night until she died. Richard, who made her heart flutter every time she heard his voice or saw his face.
Andie struck the ball with a decent swing. Luckily, Ava was safe in left field, and the ball went far right. She hurried into place between first and second base in case Richard got the ball in time and Andie was brave enough to go for second; the teams were short and they were playing double duty. But Andie stayed on first as Trenton came up to bat next.
“Heavy hitter,” Memphis warned, waving an arm toward the far end of the field. “Step back.”
Ava caught eyes with Richard as he, too, hurried to the far end of his side of the field. He gave her a knowing grin, like he’d done a dozen times that day, silently acknowledging the delicious secret they kept.
“You’ve got this, baby,” cooed Emmitt from one of the lawn chairs.
The group broke out in laughter.
And Trentondidhave it, it turned out. He whacked the ball so hard and so high that it flew right over second base and toward the spot in between Ava and Richard. A cheap shot, considering they didn’t have enough players to fill in the gaps, but neither did their team, which was why they’d taken such a big lead in the prior inning. Andie darted toward second, Trenton ran toward first, and Ava and Richard hurried to the spot between them.
Richard’s arm was raised high over his head as he squinted into the sky. Ava wasn’t quite so brave or assumptive. Catching something coming at them with that kind of speed would terrify her. But if it meant that they’d win…
She followed the ball as it flew clear over the treetops lining the field. Hoots and cheers sounded from the remaining team on the lawn chairs as Ava followed Richard into the wooded part of the lot.
“Let’s bet on which one finds it,” Emmitt hollered. “My money is on Ava.”
Brittle pinecones crunched beneath the soles of Ava’s shoes as she ducked beneath the branches. The sounds of nature echoed throughout the trees, each piney branch and spiney structure a home for the surrounding wildlife. Birds whistled, chirped, and cooed while chipmunks and squirrels scurried about.
Ava stepped further into the rather mystical depths of the woods, glancing about the ground as she looked for the ball. She could tell, by the sound of Richard’s footsteps, that he was doing the same nearby.
“I’m not seeing it,” he said after a bit.
“Me neither,” Ava said, shifting direction as she nearly ran into a branch. It was an older tree. Mostly trunk at this point. Its low branches, with the exception of the dried one she’d brushed against, were gone. She looked up to find that green branches were growing higher up though. Quite beautifully, actually. The sight surprised her. Had she not stopped to look up, she might have assumed the tree had died. Yet as she glanced further about, she realized that most of the trees this deep into the area did a similar thing.
“Hey,” Richard came in a whisper. “Look at what I just found.” He held the ball up and spun it in his hand.
“Oh, good,” she said, turning to head back.
“Wait,” he said, voice still husky and low. “They’re taking bets out there. Want to be the one who found it?”
Ava grinned. “And risk crushing your male ego? No.”
Richard chuckled and took another step toward her. And then another, the expression on his face shifting to something more serious. After tucking the ball inside the mitt, he tore the Velcro strap at the back, slid it off his hand and onto the ground, the ball still clamped in its grip.
“I’ve been thinking about last night all day.”
