his wife. “I told her she’d regret it, but she insisted that if she could take a Rottweiler’s temperature, she could babysit our twins.”
Nic snorted. “And to think she’s near the top of her class in vet school.”
Cam Murphy and his son, Devin, showed up next and were followed shortly by Mac Timberlake and his sons, Chase and Stephen. That made seven players, enough for a team. Despite her better sense, Savannah’s hopes rose that the angels might smile upon her and Zach wouldn’t want to play softball with girls. He was a macho sort of guy, after all. Maybe he considered such activity beneath him.
By the third inning, she’d gotten caught up in the game and stopped watching for the sheriff. Her fellow players were a competitive bunch. She liked the way the guys didn’t go easy on their women—and the way the women used all the weapons in their arsenal, not only on-target throws but come-hither smiles and suggestive winks … and surely Nic Callahan hadn’t flashed her breasts at Gabe? Savannah must have imagined that.
She had just made a diving play for a pop fly that Ali had misjudged, stood up to her teammates’ cheers, and brushed the dirt off her shirt when she saw Zach arrive. He called a general hello and, with the inning over, loped out to cover second base. Sage batted first and struck out. Savannah batted next, and the way her luck had been running, she hit a line drive just beyond Colt’s reach at shortstop; as it rolled toward the fence, she had no choice but to stretch the single into a double.
In the outfield, Mac Timberlake scooped up the ball. Running hard, Savannah judged the throw. She could make it. She simply needed to properly time her slide. She eyed the ball, then focused on the base and threw her legs out in front of her just as the sheriff squared up to catch the ball, blocking second with his body. Her feet caught him at the side of the knees, and he tumbled down on top of her.
Or maybe it was a mountain. He weighed a ton. Had he caught the ball? Had she touched the base? Broken a rib?
He rolled over and his big right hand spread out over her breast. And lingered. They both froze. He gazed down into her eyes, his expression unreadable. Then his gaze fell to her lips and seconds passed like hours. No, Savannah thought. We are not doing this. Not again. Especially not in front of witnesses.
She lifted her chin, narrowed her gaze, and declared, “Safe.”
He scowled. “Don’t begin to believe that.”
He finally moved his hand and rolled back onto his knees. “I tagged you. You’re out.”
“I got to the base first.”
“No, Peach. You were slow. You’re out.”
Suddenly furious, she scrambled to her feet. “Safe!”
“Out.”
“Safe.” She looked to her teammates for help, but their expressions weren’t encouraging. Sarah said, “It happened too fast.”
Nic shrugged. “Sorry, I had a bad angle.”
“Looked like a tie to me,” Rose offered.
Savannah pounced. “Tie goes to the runner.”
Zach shook his head. “Umpire, can we have a ruling?”
“The runner was out by a feather,” Celeste Blessing called. “So sorry, Savannah dear. You’ll do better next time.”
It was all Savannah could do to refrain from sticking her tongue out at the old bat. She’d bet a hundred dollars that at some point in time Celeste and Francine had hung from the branches of the same family tree—upside down.
Savannah walked off the playing field, but rather than take a seat on the bench, she stood off to the side and stretched her arms, mimicking throwing motions, warming up her muscles. When Colt struck out his sister-in-law for the final out of the inning, Savannah was ready. She approached Sarah, saying, “Let me pitch. I’m good.”
Sarah studied her face. “Zach will take a turn at bat now.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“This game is just for fun.”
“Oh, I intend to have fun.”
“Savannah …”
“I won’t hit him. I promise. I’m not just good, Sarah. I’m very good. The man deserves to be put in his place. He’s a pig.”
“Zach? Our Zach? He’s not a pig.”
“He used our collision at second base to cop a feel.”
“No … Zach’s not like that. It must have been an accident.”
Savannah could have told her otherwise. She had plenty of experience with law enforcement officials who used every opportunity that came their way to take advantage of a woman who had no power to defend herself. “All right. Maybe