Jessie Belle: The Women of Merryton - Book One (28 page)

“She
agrees this is the best place for her, but please don’t say anything to
Maddie.”

“Why?”

“I
don’t want her to think her mom doesn’t want her.”

“Is
there a reason to think that?” My mom looked at me with concern-filled eyes.

“No
…”

“Jessie
Belle …”

“Mom,
let’s just say that Sabrina’s trying to do the right thing by Maddie.” That was
mostly true … I hoped. “Regardless, Blake is over the moon about it.”

She
grinned slyly. “Speaking of Blake, how’s it going with you two?”

“It’s
going,” I said as I looked down coyly at my task at hand.

“You
did the right thing staying. But I hope you know I would have supported you and
loved you either way.”

I
raised my eyebrow at my mother. “Sure you would have.”

“Young
lady, I believe marriage is worth fighting for.”

“I
know, and you’re right.”

“Yes,
I am, but no matter what, your happiness was my main concern. And the happiest
I’ve ever seen you is when you and Blake were together, really together.”

I
set down my small scooper and wrapped my arms around my amazing mother. “I love
you, Mom. Blake and I are working our way back to that happy place.” Then I
paused and thought for a moment. “Actually we are working toward a better
place. At least I hope.”

She
patted my back. “There’s no doubt you’ll get there.”

I
had to love her optimism.

By
the time Friday rolled around I was baked out. I never thought I would ever say
that, but I felt like we had been baking day and night for three days straight.
We had made so much, I had to lay down the seats in my Tahoe to fit it all.
That didn’t even count what had been made at the café.

The
bake sale reminded me why I loved this town. Despite the grapevine and
unhealthy interest in each other’s lives, when it came down to it, we took care
of our own. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people that came in. I would
almost say we were going against the fire code with all the bodies packed in
the café. We had so many people that my favorite mature women had to help box
up items along with Maddie and Katie. Cheyenne, Abby, and I handled the money,
and was there plenty of it. Several people donated above and beyond what the baked
items cost. Even the tourists jumped in and donated to the cause.

But
my favorite donor came in at the very end of the day, just as we were taking
down the folding tables we had used to showcase our sweet treats. He walked
through the glass door, looking dusty and nervous to be there. He took off his
baseball cap and ran his fingers through his dark locks.

Maddie
saw him and ran to him. He put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze
and kissed her head. I stood there and watched the scene. He was learning.

It
was then our eyes locked. His intense gaze had me catching my breath. It made
me forget that we were in a café full of people.

“Jessie.
Jessie—” Aaron tried to get my attention.

I
grinned at my husband from across the way and turned to a smiling Aaron. “Why
don’t you let me put these tables away for you?”

“That
would be terrific, thank you.”

“No
problem.”

“By
the way, you’re doing a wonderful job. Remind me to talk to you about a raise.”

He
raised his eyebrows. “I look forward to it.”

I
looked forward to something, too. I turned my attention back to my husband, who
was walking my way. Maddie and Katie had already skipped off and were sitting
at the counter talking to the café cashier. 

“What
are you doing here?”

“Why
do you always ask me that when I come here? I thought it was obvious by now.”

“I
know how you love dessert,” I teased.

He
shook his head at me. “I do love something here.”

“The
fireplace?”

“It
is nice.”

“If
you’re interested I can give you the name and number of the builder.”

“I
heard he’s busy with his wife.”

“She
can be a handful.”

“You
have no idea.”

I
loved the playful conversation, but I realized we were having it in front of a captivated
audience. My little ladies were still there and looking like they had landed
front row seats to the best show in town.

I
reached out and took Blake’s hand. “Follow me,” I whispered. I pulled him to
the hall that led to the back offices. As soon as we turned the corner I backed
up against the wall and looked up into those beautiful eyes of his that were
shining down on me.

“So
what are you really doing here?”

He
placed his hand above my head and leaned down toward me and barely brushed my
lips with his. “I’ve missed you this week.”

“Are
you done at the Andersons’ place?” I asked a little out of breath. His kisses
had that effect on me.

“Tomorrow.”

“You’ll
be done before the game, right?”

“I’m
not going to miss the game.”

That
was good news. We were playing Riley’s Insurance and I had a good feeling this
year. We hadn’t lost a game yet and this was the best team we had ever had.
“Are you working late tonight?”

“Unfortunately.
I have to head back in a few minutes.”

“I’m
glad you stopped by, then.”

He
leaned in and his lips found mine. My hands landed nicely on his chest as our
lips fell into sync and the pressure built until his mouth invited mine to
open. When the invitation was taken, he groaned low and pressed my body against
the wall with his own. My hands moved up his chest and back through his hair.
For a minute I forgot we were at the café and why I had any issue at all with
physical affection. I had missed us.

With
the sound of a glass breaking in the distance, we were brought back to our
senses and our lips unlocked. I let out a deep breath. “Uh, wow.”

His
hand found its spot back above my head as he leaned toward me, but there was
now some space between us. “I second that.”

I
bit my lip like we hadn’t ever experienced that kind of passion. “Maybe you
should stop by more often.”

I
barely caught his seductive grin before Maddie came around the corner. She
stopped in her tracks and her face registered first shock and then disgust.

Her
dad didn’t move away from me. All he did was turn his head her way. “Can we
help you, Madeline?”

“Katie’s
mom is here to get her,” she announced through her contorted face. 

“Okay,”
I said. “Let me grab the donations. I’ll be right out.” I had locked them up in
the vault in my office.

Maddie
rolled her eyes at us and walked off.

“Why
do I feel like we were just caught by my parents?”

Blake
smiled and reluctantly moved away. “I better get going.” He reached into his
pocket and pulled out ten one-hundred-dollar bills folded in his pocket. “Add
this to the donations, but please don’t tell them it was from me.”

I
took the money. “Heaven forbid people know what a good guy you are.”

“Your
opinion is all that matters to me.”

I
stood up on my tiptoes and kissed his scratchy cheek. “You’re all right in my
book,” I whispered in his ear.

He
laughed low.

It
was one of those moments that I felt that swelling emotion called love for him.

Saturday
evening came and it was the perfect night to kick some butt. Riley Insurance
was going down. I was worried about Blake though, I could tell he was tired
when he got home with barely enough time to change into his uniform.

“Tell
Shane to keep you out of the rotations for the first few innings,” I said to
Blake on the way over.

He
reached over and held my hand. Of course he was driving, my Tahoe no less. It
had become the “family” car. “Jess, I’ve got this.”

I
squeezed his hand. “I just worry.”

He
smiled my way briefly, sending my stomach into a tizzy of fluttering. It was
doing that more often. I took it as a good sign. We were still taking things slowly,
but we were making our way back, which was the important thing.

Cheyenne
commented one time that Blake must have the patience of Job. I was surprised
she knew who that was. I don’t ever remember her paying attention in Sunday
school when we were growing up. She never came to church anymore. She said the
church would probably get struck with lightning if she walked in. Abby tried to
convince her otherwise, telling her that church was for sinners. That went over
really well.

We
walked across the parking lot together toward the baseball field with Maddie
between us. I almost wished she were smaller so we could each take one of her
hands and maybe swing her between us. It was a silly thought.

“Is
Connor going to be here?” she asked me covertly.

“Uh
huh,” I replied.

“Are
you talking about the Parker kid?” Blake asked gruffly.

“Yes,”
Maddie replied innocently.

I
put my arm around her shoulder. “He’s a cute boy.”

“He’s
a boy,” Blake said.

“I
think we’ve established that,” I laughed.

Maddie
was pinking a tad. While her dad seemed to be coming to the realization he was
raising a teen girl and may need to worry about that.

“Maddie,
will you go grab us some seats near Cheyenne and Abby?” I asked her.

She
took off quickly without a word.

Blake
watched her go and his eyes drifted over to Connor, who sat near his sisters in
front of their mom. He turned his attention back to me when Maddie settled near
Avery. “Keep your eye on that boy.”

I
took his hand and smiled. “Nothing is going to happen. Connor is so shy around
girls. If he even says hi to Maddie, I’ll be shocked.”

“That
won’t last forever.”

I
rolled my eyes at him. “I’ll guard your daughter’s virtue at all costs.”

He
didn’t respond to my sarcasm other than to kiss my cheek and head to the
dugout. I enjoyed seeing this part of him. And I wasn’t just talking about the
baseball pants.

My
least favorite person was already in the stands when I walked up. She was
poised in a too-short white sundress that accented her more than ample chest. I
hoped she didn’t bend over, or we would all be in for another wardrobe
malfunction. She even wore sky-high leather wedges. She scrutinized me and my
appearance. I looked down at my sky blue Jessie Belle t-shirt, jean shorts that
hit me mid-thigh, and my Keds. I was dressed for a baseball game.

“Well,
didn’t you just take to dressing like a mom already?” she sighed sadly.

I
was going to just walk away and not rise to the occasion, but Cheyenne had
other ideas. I hadn’t noticed she had walked down our way.

“You
may want to try it sometime.” Cheyenne pointed at her chest.

“And
what is that supposed to mean?” Veronica asked.

“Oh,
honey, if you have to ask there’s no help for you,” Cheyenne said in a
venomously sweet voice.

Veronica
spluttered and wished us dead with her eyes.

Cheyenne
laughed and grabbed my hand. “I need a Diet Coke,” she said as she dragged me
toward the concession stand, laughing at her own wit.

“You
really shouldn’t egg her on, you know.”

“Why?
She deserves it. You shouldn’t let her get away with talking to you like that.
She’s just jealous of you.”

“I
don’t know why, but it’s more reason not to say anything back.”

“You’re
too nice sometimes.”

“No,
I’m just over high school games.”

“Why?
We were so good at them, Jessie.” Cheyenne grinned mischievously.

I
couldn’t help but smile back. “Probably too good.” I considered us good girls
in high school, well at least Abby and me, but Veronica and Kathryn were exceptions
to the rule. I’m not proud of some of our antics, but they were always in
retaliation. We never started it. And by we, I mean Abby and me. Cheyenne had
no qualms getting the trouble started. It was mainly harmless stuff, like
TP-ing.

 I
sneaked Maddie and me a Dr. Pepper like I was moving contraband into the
stands. Her eyes lit up as I handed her the drink. She was tired of all the
water we drank at home. I had bought her flavor packs to compensate, but it
wasn’t a good substitution for her. She missed soda and sugary drinks.

As
soon as I sat down, I found Isabelle on my lap. She took my soda from me and
took a long sip through the straw. I loved that kid. I again wished for Maddie
to be smaller or at least that Sabrina would have been honest with us from the
beginning. I could have had those types of moments with Maddie. I was still
hoping to talk Blake into adopting. I wanted to experience all the milestones
of raising a child, and I thought it would be good for Maddie to have a
sibling.

“The
kitties are so cute, and now I can play with them,” Isabelle informed me.

I
kissed her soft cheek. “That’s fun.”

Maddie
turned back our way. “Can I come see them?”

“We
would love to have you come over,” Abby said.

I
noticed that made Connor take note. I smiled to myself. Poor Blake.

“Aren’t
you going to wish the guys good luck?” Cheyenne asked.

“I’ve
been banned from the dugout. Apparently I’m a distraction. At least that’s what
Shane says.”

Abby
and Cheyenne laughed at me.

It
was then our boys took the field. The cheers were loud on our side and the
jeers almost as loud on the other side. That was tacky. That never happened
unless we were playing Riley’s Insurance. I hoped our side would be classy and
not lower ourselves to their level, but we had Cheyenne. Need I say more?

“I
hope your batting averages are higher than your IQ’s,” she yelled as they took
the field.

I
almost laughed as they took the field. They had patterned their uniforms after
our high school team. The red, black, and white uniforms were almost exact
matches, except our old high school cougar logo was replaced with Riley
Insurance written in red. Most of the guys on Landon’s team were the same guys
he played with in high school, back when he was the star pitcher and top gun.
They were obviously trying to recapture their glory days. Some guys never grew
up.

What
worried me was that some of Landon’s old cronies were the umpires for tonight’s
game. Brett and Derek were oafs, and I was keeping my eye on them. My hope was
that we would take the lead early and pull far enough ahead we could sail
through the game.

That
was nice thinking. The game was tight and ugly from the get-go. I was on the
edge of my seat the whole time. I kept Isabelle on my lap to remind myself not
to get overly excited or swear. I left that to Cheyenne. She had the
four-letter words down. Maddie found her vocabulary amusing. She kept looking
up at us and smiling.

Then
things got really interesting during the fifth inning. We were tied three to
three and Blake was up to bat. He had been playing well, and in the previous
inning he had caught a ball hit by Landon in right field, which was an out for
their team. Apparently, Landon was a little sore about it.

Landon,
the pig,
had the audacity to look up at me and wink before he threw the ball at my
husband. And I do mean threw, not pitched. I was grateful Blake had good
reflexes and was able to move deftly and miss being hit by the fastball.

I
stood up and did my best to hold my tongue as I handed over Isabelle to Abby. I
was even more ticked as Brett called it a strike. “What?” I yelled.

Our
side was all calling foul. No pun intended.

It
ended up not counting against us because the next ball came sailing and my man
hit a line drive that went straight at the pitcher. Blake dropped the bat and
took off running toward first and crossed the plate right before Landon’s throw
made it to John, who was manning first base. Then it got interesting. Not only
did the ump call my husband out, but John, in an after-the-call move, tagged
Blake so forcefully he landed on his back with a horrible thud. For just a
moment I stood frozen, waiting for him to get back up, but he didn’t move.

I
heard Maddie gasp and she raised her hand to her mouth in worry.

“It
will be okay,” I said to her, but more to myself, trying to comfort my heart. I
couldn’t take it. I ran down, shouting instructions for Maddie to stay put. I
knew Abby and Cheyenne would take care of her.

Veronica
said something on my way down, but I was too focused on getting to my husband
to listen to her. I’m sure it wasn’t worth my time, anyway.

I
got to the gate and Larry already had it opened for me. I took off in a run
toward first base. Easton and Shane were already there and the sight of them
looking over my husband made my heart stop. “Please God,” I prayed silently.
“Please let him be okay.” I hoped beyond hope that God was really there and
listening. I was afraid of what I would see as I moved around our friends that were,
thankfully, doctors. I dropped to my knees next to Easton and let out a huge
sigh as soon as I could see my husband with his eyes open looking like his
usual disgruntled self. A string of four-letter words were coming nicely out of
his mouth.

That
was until he turned toward me. “Jessica—”

“Are
you all right?”

“I’m
fine,” he said as he tried to sit up. “The air was just knocked out of me.”

Shane
and Easton gently pushed him right back down.

Some
of those four-letter words almost came out again. He did his best to choke them
down.

“Please,
let them look you over.”

His
eyes met mine and they softened. “Jess, really, I feel fine.”

I
took up his hand and winked at him. “It won’t hurt to let Shane and Easton make
sure.”

He
growled at us, but let them check for a concussion. I knelt there and kept a
hold of his hand even though my knees against the dirt didn’t feel all that
great. The anger also was building inside of me. As soon as my husband was given
the all clear, I leaned down and kissed Blake’s lips lightly. I heard the
announcer from the box say, “Looks like number twenty-five, Blake Summers, just
scored as he receives a little TLC from his wife and sponsor, Jessie Belle.”

Blake
and I both rolled our eyes.

As
soon as Blake was upright, my anger was unleashed. I left my husband’s side and
made a beeline for the first baseman. He was standing off to the side with
Brett and Landon. I marched myself right over to the triplet of idiots. I broke
up their little group and got right in John’s face and poked him hard in the
chest with my finger. “If you ever do that to my husband or anyone on my team,
for that matter, I’ll personally make sure you never play in this league
again.”

His
eyes widened at my audacity. “I was just playing the game,” he said arrogantly.

“It
was a fair play,” Brett jumped in.

I
whipped around and faced him. “Don’t insult my intelligence or knowledge of the
game. Even the announcer called it excessive and uncalled for. And I swear,
Brett if you don’t start calling this game fair, I’ll—”

“What?”
He smirked. “Will you try and get me kicked out of the league, too?”

I
grinned evilly. “Oh, no. I’ll make sure everyone in this town knows why Allison
left you last month.”

His
arrogant smile diminished in an instant, replaced by worried eyes.

“That’s
right. You don’t want to mess with me.”

Last
was Landon. He wore a smile that said “go ahead, honey.” And I did.

“Throw
another ball at my husband and I’ll happen to mention to the women’s club my
suspicions about your secretary, Lucy.”

“And
what would those be?”

“Let’s
just say I have a feeling she’s doing more than filing in your office.”

“You
have no proof.”

“Does
that really matter in this town?”

That
wiped the smirk off his face.

All
three turned before I could respond. Blake, Shane, and Easton had joined the
party.

Blake
stood close enough to me to place his steady hand at the small of my back. “I
hope none of you are giving my wife a hard time.” He said it so
authoritatively, very Gibbs or Captain von Trapp-like. It didn’t hurt that he
was at least two inches taller than the idiots.