Luck Be A Lady (Destiny Bay Romances-The Ranchers Book 5) (13 page)

Cody took a step backward. He was leaving her. She
felt relieved and sad all at the same time.

“What time is practice for you?” he asked, look
ing back. As if he didn’t know. As if he hadn’t seen
her day after day, arriving with a car full of girls sup
plied with bats and mitts.

She took a deep breath. “Four in the afternoon.”

His smile was slow and tantalizing. “Hey, that’s just
about the time I usually drive by,” he drawled.

She blinked, hardly hearing his words, still over
powered by his presence. “Is it?”

His grin was disarming as he turned away. “It’s
going to be,” he called back, then turned toward his car
.

She stood very still, watching him go. The sunlight
glistened on his black hair. He glanced back as he started the engine, gave her a jaunty wave and roared off.
 

“Well, what does this mean?” Kelly whispered as he
left in a cloud of dust. Was he interested? And if so,
was she glad?

                                  
###

Cody sat slumped behind the wheel of his sports car.
He was in the field parking lot watching Kelly and her girls practicing a few hundred feet away, and he was trying to figure out why he’d come. It wasn’t as though
he didn’t have plenty of other places to go. Hell, he’d turned down an invitation from the new star of the
Palace Dinner Follies Revue in order to come out here
and watch a bunch of youngsters play around in the
dirt!

He didn’t need this middle-class spring ritual. He’d
grown away from this, hadn’t he? He’d pulled away voluntarily and stepped into another world, where the
games were more consequential.

It was one thing, after all, to stop by here and watch
on his way back from working on the ranch in the
desert—the secret project no one but Monty knew
about. It was another to come here on purpose, to get
out and join in.

He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, then
looked at the field again. Kelly was in lavender capris
and a white jersey top that set off her neat little fig
ure. She looked no-nonsense, efficient. What had she said the other night? “I’ve seen the women you go for.
What do you want with me?”

She had a point there. Lavish looks and generous proportions had been a way of life for him for years
now. What on earth drew him so strongly to Kelly?

She was sure pretty enough. But in a town full of knockouts, let’s face it, she didn’t stand out. What was
it about that turned-up nose, those cool green eyes,
that round bottom that seemed so irresistible? Whatever it was had been tangling up his dreams lately.

Moving slowly, almost reluctantly, he opened the
car door and got out. Shrugging off his jacket, he threw it into the car and closed the door. He looked around, then threw back his head and sniffed. There was a scent in the air, a feeling.
What was it? He
frowned and suddenly the picture of a lovely spring day twenty years before came into his mind. A day in a dusty western town, on a bedraggled baseball field much like this one. He and his buddies hadn’t had real
uniforms, either. They’d made do with ragtag jeans and torn T-shirts. Funny. He hadn’t really thought
about those days in years.

But they came back with a rush of sensation. He could feel the way the ball had fit into his young hand as he kicked at the pitcher’s mound that day, re
member the look on the bulldog face of Muggs McGee
as he bent over the plate, the bat high at his shoulder.

The battles between the two of them had been classic. Muggs McGee had usually won, but Cody could still remember the thrill each pitch had given him. Youthful ecstasy. Few things ever felt that clean and true in
later life.

He shook his head, a slight smile on his face as he let himself remember. He could feel the sun on his
back, hear the other kids yelling.
And then an
other face swam in from his memory, a pretty face that
had watched him as intently as he’d stared down the
batter. Had it really been Muggs who’d driven him
that day? Or had it been little Suzy Hurlimeyer with
her big blue eyes and corn silk curls watching him
from the sidelines?

Nah, no contest. He really hadn’t noticed little Suzy
until later. Baseball had been all he’d thought about
that summer. Now things were reversed. He met Kelly’s gaze as she saw him coming toward her. He saw the leap of excitement in her eyes before she had a
chance to hide it. And he felt an answering response
in himself.

Yes, things were reversed. Now baseball was just the
icing on the cake.

“Hi.” Kelly was coming out to meet him. The girls were going through a fly ball drill behind her.

“Hi.” He stopped and let her come to him. He examined her in detail, enjoying the fact that she could
look so good with only sunshine on her face and no
makeup to speak of.

“What are you doing here?” Kelly wished she could
keep the happiness out of her voice, but it was no use.
She was glad to see him. She’d stayed up half the night
arguing with her own common sense about this, but
common sense had lost out. She liked Cody Marin.
She more than liked him.

“I told you I’d come. Didn’t you believe me?”

She smiled. “I believed you, but I still don’t know
why you’d want to.”

“I told you. I played when I was a kid. I’d like to
help out, if I could.” He gestured toward the girls. “I
see Penny is back in the action.”

Kelly nodded. “I gave them all a long lecture. They apologized and pledged to do better next time.” She
sighed. “People can be so cruel.”

“People can also be extraordinarily kind,” he re
minded her. His gaze went from her face to that of her daughter, who’d come up behind Kelly to see what was
going on.

“Here, Tammy,” he said, noticing the ball in her
hands. He quickly rolled up his sleeves. “Toss it here.”
He took the catch expertly and threw it back with a
smooth, fluid motion. There was no doubt about it.
He could play ball.

“You’re going to get dirty,” she warned, half
amused. Her gaze fell on his bare arms, the dark hair
bristling against smooth skin. Everything about him set
her pulse on fire.

“I’ve gotten a lot dirtier than this in my time,” he retorted. “Don’t you worry about me.” He started
toward where the girls were practicing, then looked
back. “You don’t mind if I get involved?”

She shook her head, her eyes shining. “Not at all.”

Over the next week or so he came every day. He was
helpful, enthusiastic, knowledgeable—and the girls
loved him. At first Kelly was overjoyed to have him
take over much of the burden of coaching. After all,
she’d never really wanted the job. She’d only taken it when there was no choice—it was either that or have
no softball team for Tammy to play on. But as time
passed and coaching was all he did, she began to
wonder.

Why was he here? Did he really love softball that much? What had happened to that special feeling that she’d been so sure was growing between the two of
them?

Confused, she’d turned to Sadie for an outsider’s
viewpoint. It was a slow morning at the nursery. The distributor had just dropped off a truckload of palms and bedding annuals and they were putting them out
on the tables.

“He’s friendly,” she told Sadie. “And he shows up for every practice. He smiles and teases—but...” She shrugged and reached down for another tray of rock-
roses. “He acts like that’s all there is. There’s never
even the suggestion that we might go out or be alone.”

Leaning across the counter while filling out price
stickers, Sadie shook her brightly colored hair.
“You’re sure this is the same guy who came in here the
other day and bought out all our florist stock just to
get a date with you? You’re sure this isn’t his less in
telligent twin brother or something?”

Kelly’s laugh was rueful. “Oh, it’s him, all right. I’m just not sure if he’s lost interest or is trying to
make a point. I mean maybe he’s bewitched by the
suburban life, the softball and Saturday barbecues or
something. Maybe he’s missed all that for years now
and that’s all he wants.”

Sadie straightened, hands on her hips, and scowled at Kelly. “Honey, if that man can be around you every
day and that’s still all he wants, he’s not worth hav
ing. Forget him.” She paused, gazing speculatively at Kelly. “Now what about that nice man, that Glenn
Waxman? What’s happening there?”

Kelly threw her a baleful look. “Nothing. Zero. And that’s exactly the way I want it.”

“Aw, honey.” Sadie sat on the bench and sighed.
“Listen, I know the gambler is more attractive. Believe me, I’ve been there. But for security’s sake, a
man like Glenn Waxman is the answer to your pray
ers. He’d be a wonderful provider. He wouldn’t dis
appear at odd moments and never explain where he’d
been. He’d be a great father for Tammy.”

Sadie went on and on, but Kelly wasn’t listening any
longer. She knew all the things that Sadie was saying.
She’d enumerated them often enough to herself. Af
ter the disastrous experience she’d had with Tim, she should have been ready to agree to every argument. Yet something deep inside kept rooting for Cody.

The bell on the front door of the shop jangled. Sa
die looked up, but her smile of welcome quickly faded
and she paled as she noted who their visitor was. “Oh no, I’ve got to get out of here!” she whispered, back
ing away toward the storeroom. “You’d better take care of this. Don’t let him know
I’m
here!”

“But...” Kelly’s head turned to see who had so frightened Sadie. She found herself looking into the
cool gray eyes of Monty Cross, the owner and man
ager of the Marquis Casino.

Chapter Six

“Hello, Mr. Cross,” she said pleasantly, brushing
the loose dirt from her hands. “What can I do for you?”

He gazed at her for a moment, eyebrows raised.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?” he inquired at last.

“Yes. I’m Kelly Carrington. I was with Cody Marin the other night. We had dinner served on the floor
of your casino.”

A smile softened the hardness of his handsome face.
“That’s right. Of course. I remember you now.” He took her hand in his large paw and shook it warmly.
“I hope you enjoyed your evening.”

“Oh yes, very much.” She had to return his infec
tious smile in kind. There was something pleasant
about this man, something she liked. “What is it I can
do for you today?”

“Well...” He shoved his hands into the pockets of
his thick western rawhide jacket and glanced about the
place, his sharp gaze probing every corner. “I wanted
to talk to Sadie. Is she in?”

Kelly licked her dry lips. She hated lying. “I’m
afraid she’s... stepped out for a moment. Can I help?’’

Monty Cross shook his head slowly, his gaze ap
praising her shrewdly. “I don’t think so,” he drawled.
“This is about those orchids she sold me.”

“Ah.” She smiled brightly. “Well, I might be able...”

“Look.” He brought his hand down hard on the
countertop, making Kelly jump. His eyes were flint-hard and his face was set. “I’ve called here three times and she’s never called me back. Now when I show up,
she’s suddenly stepped out for a minute. Something
tells me that that minute could get awful long if I de
cided to hang around here and wait for her. Am I right? Or am I right?”

Kelly was surprised and just a little shaken by the
vehemence of his words. Sadie was usually good about
returning customer calls. In fact, there were times she
was so solicitous toward customers that she practi
cally gave the place away. There had to be something
else at work here.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,
Mr. Cross,” she said primly.

He laughed shortly. “Don’t you? I’ll just bet.” He
turned suddenly, as though he thought he might catch Sadie peeking out from behind the stacks of planter
mix. But when that didn’t work, he swung back. “You
give a message to Sadie for me. Tell her I expect to
hear from her tonight. Okay?”

Kelly nodded. She waited until he’d walked briskly out the door, then called softly toward the storeroom.
“You can come out now. He’s gone.”

Sadie came out looking sheepish. “Thanks, honey,”
she said, craning to get a glimpse of Monty’s car.
“That was close.”