Luck Be A Lady (Destiny Bay Romances-The Ranchers Book 5) (12 page)

He didn’t smile. Suddenly it had been too long and she looked quickly away, murmuring something to Tammy who was just coming off the field. The Unicorns had accrued three outs and Kelly hadn’t even
noticed.

“Okay, girls,” she declared, not really knowing
what she was saying. “This is it. Our last chance. It’s
now or never. Get out there and show those dressed-up
dolls how to play this game!”

Tammy looked puzzled, but Kelly didn’t notice that
she’d acted out of character. Her mind was on the tall, dark man on the other side of the bleachers. Biting her lip, she cursed herself for an idiot and wished with all her heart that she’d thrown him a bright, cheery smile just to prove how little she cared that he hadn’t called
for two weeks.

So he wouldn’t smile at her.
Well, who needed him
?
She settled the batting order and sat down on the
bench, forcing herself to watch the game.

“I’m back,” said Glenn brightly, looking as
though he was about to slap himself down beside her.

“Uh... why don’t you go out and act as first base coach?” Kelly suggested, unable to bear him there
right now.

“Oh sure. Glad to help.” He trotted out toward first
base and she watched him pass Cody.

“Go away,” she whispered in Cody’s direction,
glaring at him. But he didn’t even look her way. She turned toward the game and struggled to pay atten
tion. People moved back and forth in front of her, but
her mind was on Cody. Out of the corner of her eye
she could see where he stood. She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
 

“Go away,” she whispered again. But when she opened her eyes, he was still there.

Glenn’s daughter Suzy walked. Niki bunted and
took first while Suzy went to second. Two on base. If they could just get home, the Rockin’ Robins would have the game won. Kelly began to pay more atten
tion.

Jeri struck out. Suzy tried to steal and got caught at
it. Two away. In desperation, the girls looked to the
next batter. Penny stepped up. Collectively, the bench
groaned.

“Quiet!” Kelly admonished them. “You give her the same respect you ask for yourselves.” But that
didn’t stop the grumbling.

One ball, then two strikes, and the mood was glum on the bench. Another pitch, and somehow, through
sheer wishing, Penny’s bat made a connection with the
ball that sent it spinning out into left field.

“Run, run!” the girls all yelled as Penny hesitated, not sure what had actually happened. “Run!” She ran as hard as her gangly legs would take her. The fielder
bobbled the ball. Penny made it to first base.

“Stick, stick!” the girls yelled, and surely Glenn
must have been advising the same.

But the girls on the Unicorns’ bench sensed a vulnerability, and in chorus, they gleefully yelled, “Run
for second! Run for second!”

Penny spun around. The fielder still didn’t have complete control of the ball. Uncertainty crumpled
Penny’s face. “Stick to first!” the Robins were screaming.

But they were being drowned out by the chant,
“Run for second!” from the opposing team.

Penny looked around, her face confused, and
started to run. She hadn’t taken more than four steps
before she realized her mistake. The second base
player had the ball. She came toward Penny, grinning
happily. Penny turned to look back. Suddenly, the ball was in first base’s hand and she was advancing as well.
Penny didn’t have the slightest idea of what she was
supposed to do. The yells and taunts from the crowd
confused her even further. She looked at the crowd,
helpless. Eyes filling with tears, she dropped to a crouching position, waiting for the inevitable tag—the final out that would lose the game for her team. The first base player made a flourish for the crowd, then tapped Penny with the ball. Penny squeezed her eyes
shut and tears slid down her cheeks.

The screaming all around was earsplitting. On the
Unicorns’ side of the stands, shouts of laughter filled
the air. From the Robins’ side came calls of outrage
and anger. Kelly tried to quiet the girls, but they were
beyond logic. Their frustration had found a target in
poor Penny. Kelly knew it would be only a few minutes before they would regret their unkind words, but for now, those words were spilling out in abundance.

Giving up the lost cause quickly, she tried to see
what was going on in the field. Surely Glenn would
be comforting Penny. But no. Penny was still in a heap
and Glenn was walking away, shaking his head in
disgust.

“Oh, poor Penny!” Kelly exclaimed, exasperated with everyone now. She struggled, trying to break out of the crowd that was pouring out of the stands. She
shoved and pushed, not caring who she slighted.

“Let me through!” she demanded, dodging around
the people who danced in front of her. Finally she
broke out of the pack and stopped to get her bearings. Where was Penny? She surveyed the mob
quickly, searching for her player. And then she saw
her, heading for the parking lot.

Penny was with Cody. His arm was around her and he was leading her away from the jeers of the crowd, his head bent over her, his shoulders wide enough to protect her. Something burst inside Kelly’s chest,
something hot and breathstopping. She ran to catch up with them, but then slowed her steps. She wasn’t
sure of her reception.

“You know what I think?” Cody was saying to the girl as Kelly got within earshot. “That was one fine hit
you had. You ought to work on developing that.”

“I lost the game,” Penny said tremulously.

“No, you didn’t.” He pulled her to a stop next to his
car and gazed down earnestly into the girl’s face. “Every player on your team who made a mistake, everyone who dropped a ball or struck out or had an
opportunity to make a good play and didn’t come
through—every one of them helped lose the game. No
one player can do it on her own.”

Penny blinked away her tears. “Really?”

He smiled and chucked her chin. “Of course, really.
You work on that hitting. Concentrate on that. The
rest will come.”

Kelly stepped forward. “Penny...”

The girl looked at her, stricken, then turned her face
away. Cody glanced down at Kelly. “I’d like to give her
a ride home,” he said. “Vouch for me. Tell her I’m
not a bad guy, so she won’t be nervous about my giv
ing her a ride.”

Kelly looked from Penny to Cody and back again.
“I... I’m not so sure she should go with you,” she began.

His face hardened. “Really?” he said coolly. “Am
I such a villain that you won’t even trust me to take a young girl home to her family in safety?” His tone was deceptively light, but his eyes flashed silver fire.

Kelly saw his reaction and shook her head. “No,
you don’t understand what I’m saying. I think she
should come back with the team. I want them to
apologize—“

Cody waved away the rest of her statement with a
grimace and leaned forward to say softly, “Not now. She’s too torn up. Let her face
them when she’s calmed down and cleaned up a little.
Let her have some dignity.”

Kelly hesitated. Maybe he was right.

Cody saw her uncertainty and his face relaxed a lit
tle. “Tell her
I’m
okay,” he said, gesturing toward
Penny.

She still hesitated. “Penny, this is Cody Marin, a
friend of mine,” she said quickly. Should she let him take her home? Not without her parents’ permission. But when she told Cody that, he was going to think things she didn’t want him to.
On impulse she reached out and touched
the girl’s shoulder. “Penny... that was a nice hit
you had. And Cody is right. It wasn’t your fault.”

Penny nodded, but didn’t look her in the face. Kelly turned and looked
up into Cody’s unreadable eyes. She wanted to tell him
what she thought of what he’d just done. There was a glow in her heart. Funny how he kept surprising her.

“I... That was...” Kelly shrugged helplessly. The
words stuck in her throat.

Cody watched her, not saying a thing.

She made a new attempt, but before she got another word out, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone was approaching.

“Hi,” said a young, gangly youth in a torn t-shirt, with a baseball cap on backwards. “I’m Jerry, Penny’s brother. I came to pick her up. Is it okay if I go ahead and take her home?”

Penny was suddenly all smiles. “Jerry. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”

He shook his head, looking at her with a slight smile. “I made it alright. Just in time to see you finally getting a hit.”

“Yeah.” She smiled again. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah.”
 

She turned to go with him and Jerry gave Kelly and Cody a wink from behind her back. “Good stuff, girl. Now we just need to teach you what happens next.”

“Okay,” she said. Turning, she waved back. “Thanks Coach. And Mr. Cody. See you at practice.”

Kelly watched them disappear into the parking area, relieved to have that settled and turned back to look at Cody.

“You…you did a nice thing here,” she said stiffly, staring at the top button on his shirt.

“So unlike me,” he murmured, his eyes narrowed, his head thrown back. “There must be a full moon on
the rise.”

Glancing up, she glared into his eyes. “I’m trying to
give you a compliment!” she said.

“It’s better to give than to receive,” he shot back, his eyes cold. “So why don’t you just keep it for
yourself?”

The man was impossible. When she’d first seen him
across the softball playing field, her heart had leaped
in her throat. She’d been longing to see him again for the last two weeks. Memories of the three short times
they’d had together had haunted her by the hour.
When she closed her eyes, she could feel his touch on
her skin, sense his breath against her neck. But he’d left her house so abruptly the other night, she’d been
sure he wasn’t interested. Then he’d turned up here at the game and she’d allowed herself to hope, just a lit
tle.

But he wasn’t interested in her. He was from a dif
ferent world. Coldness gripped her heart. She didn’t
want anything to do with him.

“Sorry I bothered you,” Kelly retorted, whirling
and striding away. Her first instincts had been right.
She should have stuck to them.

She sensed him behind her just before he spoke.
“Wait a minute!” He hooked her arm and spun her around to face him again. His fingers closed on the
sensitive skin of her inner arm. His gaze held hers. She
wished she could read what was going on in his mind
and heart in those eyes. His thoughts always seemed to be hidden by a cynical shield of sarcasm or humor. She
stared at him, yearning to see the real Cody Marin in
there somewhere. Why wouldn’t he let her in?

Yet he did bend a bit. “I’m the one who’s sorry,”
he said softly. “I shouldn’t have said that.” His mouth
twisted, almost a smile. “Thanks for the compliment.”

He was still holding her and Kelly wanted to curl herself into his arms. Just that much of a softening on his part and she was ready to melt. The urge took her breath away. Was she crazy? She felt light-headed,
dizzy.

“That’s all right,” she said, almost whispering. “I’ve said some things I regret, too.”

He didn’t speak, and he was still touching her,
looking down as though he wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. Something hot and scary was cutting
through her chest. She swallowed hard, desperate for
some topic of conversation to lower the tension be
fore that hot, scary thing exploded.

“I...I was surprised to see you here,” she man
aged to say brightly. “I didn’t expect you to be a Girls’
League fan.”

His eyes crinkled around the corners. He knew she
was trying to make chitchat and he was ready to let
her. “Most afternoons I take care of some business
out of town—a little property I own. I come right by
here. I noticed the game and decided to stop in and see
what was going on.”
 

Why didn’t he tell her the truth,
that he’d been watching her from a distance for days? Because he didn’t want her to know that. Why let her
know he’d agonized over whether or not to make contact with her again? He still wasn’t sure just why
he was doing it.

He shifted his weight, his hand moving on her arm.
“Mind if I stop by once in a while and watch prac
tice?”

Could he see how weak he made her? Kelly was
afraid her knees would buckle any moment.
 

“We’d
like to have you,” she said, breathless and hopelessly
aware of his touch. As though he knew that, he slowly
dropped his hand. She had to bite her lip to resist the
impulse to touch the spot where his hand had been, to
caress it.