Chapter 20

In olden days a girl who liked a boy always made sure he won when they played cards and board games. "Playing Rough" article for Chik

They changed out of their suits in time for Molly's tea in the gazebo, which she'd decided to hold at three o'clock instead of five because it would be better for the kids. She complained to Phoebe that the paper plates and store-bought cake disqualified her from a photo spread in Victoria magazine, but Kevin knew she cared more about having a good time than bringing out the good china.

He nodded at Lilly, who'd walked over with Charlotte Long and Charlotte's friend Vi. He'd already noticed the cottage residents shielding her from the curiosity of the more transient guests at the B &B. He thought about going over to talk to her, but he couldn't think of what to say.

Molly kept herself surrounded with scampering poodles and noisy kids. She had a red heart barrette in her hair, pink jeans, a purple top, and bright blue laces in her sneakers. She was a walking rainbow, and just looking at her made him smile.

"George!" Molly bounced up and down waving at Liam Jenner as he got out of his pickup around four o'clock and walked toward them. "George Smith! Thanks for coming."

Jenner laughed and walked over to give her a hug. He might be old, but he was a good-looking son of a bitch, and Kevin wasn't crazy about the way he and the bunny lady were hanging on to each other.

"You've got to meet my sister. She used to run a gallery in New York, but I won't tell her who you are."

Yeah, right. Molly's eyes flashed the mischief jitterbug, but Jenner was oblivious. Sucka.

As the artist headed toward Phoebe, he walked right past Lilly. Maybe Liam had gotten fed up with all her early-morning rejections at the kitchen table. Kevin couldn't figure it out. If Lilly didn't like being around him, why did she keep showing up for breakfast?

He glanced from Lilly to Molly and tried to pick the exact moment when his long practice of surrounding himself with low-maintenance women had exploded in his face. He slammed his ball cap down on his head and promised himself he'd watch game film tonight.

The men wanted to talk football, and Kevin and Dan complied. Around five some of the adults began to drift away, but the kids were still enjoying themselves, and Kevin decided he'd put up a basketball hoop tomorrow. Maybe he'd buy some rubber rafts for the beach. And bikes. The kids should have bikes while they were here.

Cody and the O'Brian boys came running up, their faces sweaty and clothes grimy. Exactly the way a kid should look in the summer.

"Hey, Kevin! Can we play softball?"

He could feel the smile spreading all over his face. A soft-ball game on the Common, right where the Tabernacle had once stood… "Sure we can. Listen up! Everybody who wants to play softball, raise your hand."

Hands went up all over the place. Tess and Julie raced forward, and Andrew started to yell and hop. Even the adults were interested.

"A Softball game is a wonderful idea," Charlotte Long chirped from her lawn chair. "Get everything organized, Kevin."

He smiled at her poking. "You want to be a captain, Cody?"

"Sure."

He looked around for another captain and started to pick Tess, but something about the way Hannah was sitting at her father's feet cuddling the poodles got to him. He'd seen her hand inch up, only to settle back into her lap. "Hannah, how about you? Do you want to be the other captain?"

Kevin was startled to see Dan drop his head and groan.

"No, Kevin!" Tess and Julie cried together. "Not Hannah!"

Molly surprised him most of all-the bunny lady, who was supposed to be so damn sensitive around kids. "Uh… maybe it would be better if you picked somebody else."

What was wrong with these people?

Luckily their callousness didn't faze Hannah, who jumped up, smoothed down her shorts, and gave him a smile that looked exactly like her aunt's. "Thank you, Kevin. They hardly ever let me be captain."

"That's because you-"

Phoebe laid her hand over Tess's mouth, but even she looked pained.

Kevin was disgusted with all of them. Nobody was more competitive than he was, but he'd never stooped low enough to make a little kid feel bad just because she wasn't athletic. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't pay any attention to them, sweetheart. You'll be a great captain. You can even choose first."

"Thank you." She stepped forward and surveyed the crowd. He waited for her to choose either him or her father. She surprised him by pointing toward her mother, a woman who played so badly that the veterans on the Stars' team had gotten in the habit of scheduling dental appointments just so they'd have an excuse to leave the team picnic before the annual softball game.

"I choose Mom."

Kevin bent closer and lowered his voice. "In case you weren't sure, Hannah, you can choose anybody you want, including guys. That means your dad. Me. Are you sure you want to choose your mom first?"

"She's sure." Dan sighed from behind him. "Here we go again."

Hannah gazed up at Kevin and whispered, "Mom gets her feelings hurt because nobody ever wants her on their team."

Tess cut right to the bone as only an eleven-year-old could. "That's because she sucks."

Phoebe sniffed and patted her team captain's shoulder, conveniently forgetting her earlier lack of support. "Pay no attention, Hannah. A winning attitude is far more important than natural ability."

Unlike Hannah, Cody was no fool, and he chose natural ability over that winning attitude. "I pick Kevin."

Dan rose from his lawn chair and moved closer to his daughter. "Hannah, honey, I'm over here. Don't forget about me. I'll get my feelings hurt if you don't choose me."

"No you won't." Hannah gave him a blazing smile, turned away, and fastened her eyes on Lilly, who'd been talking about gardening with some of the older women, and as far as Kevin could remember, hadn't raised her hand. "I pick you."

"Me?" Lilly looked pleased and stood. "Lord, I haven't played softball since I was a teenager."

Hannah smiled up at her mother. "This is going to be an exc'llent team. Lots of winning attitude."

Cody, not one to let any grass grow under his feet, chose Dan.

Once again Kevin stepped in, trying to help Hannah out by pointing toward the oldest of the O'Brian boys. "I was watching Scott toss the football around earlier. He's a pretty good athlete."

"Save your breath," Dan muttered, and sure enough, Kevin saw Hannah's third choice coming the minute he noticed Andrew's lower lip sticking out.

"I choose Andrew. See, Andrew, just because you're only five doesn't mean nobody wants you on their team."

"I'll take Tess," Cody countered, right on the mark.

"And I'll take Aunt Molly!" Hannah beamed.

Kevin sighed. So far Cody had one current NFL quarterback on his team, one former NFL quarterback, and one of the most athletic little girls in northern Illinois. Hannah, on the other hand, had her mother, the worst softball player in history; her little brother, who had a lot of heart but, at five, not much skill; and Molly, who was… well, Molly-the lady who tipped canoes, tried to drown herself, and in general hated sports.

Cody's next choices included the teenage girls who'd been kicking a soccer ball earlier with Tess, the middle O'Brian-who was built like a tank-and both his physically fit parents.

Hannah chose the six-year-old O'Brian, a kid Kevin was fairly certain he'd seen hiding his security blanket in the shrubs. She redeemed herself by picking her sister Julie, who at least was a dancer and coordinated, and then Liam Jenner, although her reasoning wasn't too sound. "Because he drew a beautiful picture of Kanga and Roo for me." While Cody filled in the rest of his team with the younger adults, Hannah chose every oldster who wanted to play.

It was going to be a bloodbath.

The boys ran to their cottages to get the equipment, Mr. Canfield-whose arthritis had been acting up-volunteered to umpire, and everybody soon settled into place.

Hannah's team was up at bat first, and Kevin found himself on the pitcher's mound facing the six-year-old who'd tucked his security blanket in the forsythia. Kevin made the mistake of glancing over at Molly and wasn't surprised to see her give him a look that clearly said, If you're the kind of man who can strike out Linus, then you're not the man I thought you were, and you can forget all about getting me naked anytime in the foreseeable future, comprenez-vous?

He walked the kid.

Hannah sent up Andrew next, and Kevin put a soft one over the plate. Andrew missed, but he had a great swing for a little kid, and as Kevin watched an expression of mulish determination settle over his face, he knew he'd just caught a glimpse of what Dan Calebow had looked like at the age of five. Because of that, his next pitch was harder than he intended, but Andrew was game, and he gave it his best.

Molly, on the other hand, shot him a look that had "dick-head" written all over it. He's five, you idiot! Just a little boy! Is winning so important that you're going to strike out a five-year-old? You're definitely not ever, ever going to see another pair of bunny panties for the rest of your life! No way, no how. Adiós, muchacho!

Kevin gave him another soft one, and Andrew banged it into short right. The oldest O'Brian kid didn't know how dangerous even a kindergarten Calebow could be, and he was caught napping. As a result, Linus made it to third, and Andrew settled in with his dad on second.

Dan ruffled his hair.

"Kevin?" Hannah called out politely. "Mr. McMullen's up next. He wants to know if it's okay if he uses his walker?"

And didn't that just say it all.

Finally it was Cody's team's turn to bat, and Kevin was up. Near the pitcher's mound he saw Little Hannah Goodheart huddled with the Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse: Molly, Phoebe, Lilly, and Julie. Finally the females dispersed, leaving their pitcher on the mound.

Molly, the bunny lady.

Kevin couldn't contain his grin. Now, this was more like it. And guess what, boys and girls? Benny the Badger was showing little Daphne no mercy.

Molly tried to stare him down, but he could tell she was nervous. Damn right. All-American. MVP. Heisman candidate. All-Pro. Good reason to be nervous.

He stepped up to the plate and smiled at her. "Just try to keep the ball away from my head, sweetheart. I like my good-looking nose right where it is."

"That," Dan said from behind him, "was a mistake."

Yeah, right…

Molly went through a few gyrations that were supposed to pass for a warm-up. Kevin tapped his bat to the ground and waited for the pitch, thinking how cute she looked. Better than cute. Her lips were all rosy where she'd bitten them, and her breasts pressed against her purple top the same way they'd pressed against his chest the night before. As she released the ball, her sweet little rear end wiggled inside those tight pink jeans the same way it had wiggled against-

The ball sailed past him while he was distracted. Whoa… what was that about?

"Strike one!" Mr. Canfield called out.

A fluke, that's all. A lapse in concentration brought on by too little eye on the ball and too much eye on the doll. He stepped away from the plate.

She knew it was a fluke, too, because she started gnawing at that bottom lip again and looking even more nervous than before. That made this a good time to start playing a few mind games. "Nice pitch, Daphne. Think you can do it again?"

"I doubt it."

She was definitely nervous. Definitely sexy. He loved the way that lady made love, with her whole heart and every part of her body.

Her butt wiggled. Oh, he remembered what that wiggle felt like.

The ball came fast, but this time he was ready for it-except it dropped unexpectedly at the last instant, and his bat met nothing but air.

"Exc'llent, Aunt Molly."

"Thank you, Hannah."

Kevin couldn't believe it.

"Nice going," Dan grumbled from behind him.

Molly stroked the inner slope of her breast with her index finger. The tip of her tongue flicked over that puffy bottom lip. God, she was making him hot! As soon as this game was over, he was dragging her back into the woods, family or not, and then he'd show her a real game.

She wound up, and just as she released the ball, looked right at his crotch. He instinctively stepped away to protect himself. As a result he missed most of it and tapped a feeble roller back to the mound. He started to run. She threw to Julie on first base, who caught it with something that looked like a pirouette from Swan Lake.