“Why don’t we just toss a few easy ones first, to get you warmed up?”
“Yeah,” Cody agreed, jogging a distance away from Jared. “That’s what Coach always says.”
Worn Levi’s hugged Jared’s long legs, and muscles flexed beneath his shirt as he tossed pitches back and forth with Cody on the green field. Cody laughed as Jared threw a miss and as her nephew ran to get the ball, she thought about their trip to the grocery store earlier today. He’d still thought they should go with pure junk food. She thought bottled water and a piece of fruit. They’d settled on Gatorade and chocolate chip granola bars.
“Looking good,” Jared said. “How do you feel?”
“Great,” Cody answered.
“Ready to take it up a notch?”
“Yeah.”
Jared positioned himself behind home plate and smacked the inside of his glove with his bare hand. “Okay. Let’s see what you got.”
Cody jogged out to the pitcher’s mound. He dug into the dirt, making a grove for his foot, and then with a windup move that reminded Jenny of a major league player, he nailed one right across the plate and directly into Jared’s glove. It landed with a satisfying thump.
“Nice one,” Jared said, standing and tossing the ball back.
Cody threw about a dozen more pitches that sailed straight down the middle. Several times after a pitch, Jared would shake his gloved hand.
“Whew. That’s some heat.”
“You wanna see my curve ball?” Cody hollered to Jared.
“Bring it on.”
Lifting his right leg high in the air, Cody brought his arm back and let the ball fly for all it was worth. It sailed a good six feet above Jared’s head.
Cody’s shoulders slumped, and he kicked at the mound of dirt. “Sorry,” he said as Jared retrieved the ball. “Guess I don’t have a curve ball.”
“Don’t give up, kid. You’ll get it.”
“You think so?” Cody asked.
“I know so.” With an easy toss, the ball sailed back into Cody’s mitt.
As Jenny watched Jared with Cody, something warm and unexpected nestled next to her heart.
Soon, Cody’s team and their opponents started showing up. People began to fill the seats around Jenny. She smiled and said hi, even though she didn’t know anyone. And just like when she’d had Maddy and the rest of the gang over, it felt good to be with a group of people.
As Jared jogged off the field, Jenny couldn’t help but notice how several of the women eyed him. A stab of jealousy took her by surprise. What did she have to be jealous about? He wasn’t hers. And she didn’t want him to be. Right?
Oblivious to the stares he was receiving, Jared climbed the bleachers two at a time and joined her. He smelled like the fresh outdoors and everything she knew she shouldn’t want. “That was really nice of you,” she said after a slight pause, trying to even her breathing.
He used the sleeve of his T-shirt to wipe his forehead. He shrugged off her words. “It was nothing. I promised him earlier I’d help him warm up.”
It wasn’t nothing. It was a major something that wrapped around her bruised soul and settled right next to her heart. She swallowed and looked away, only to come eye to eye with a gorgeous brunette staring hard at Jared. Jenny found a different spot to focus on, regained her equilibrium, then looked back to the emerald green field. “Sounded like you knew what you were talking about out there. You must have played baseball.”
“No.”
Cody’s team ran out onto the field. Nine kids in blue and white uniforms fanned out across the field as they took their various positions. Cody settled in on the pitcher’s mound.
“Football?”
Even though she was still looking straight ahead, she could feel his gaze on her.
“No,” he said again.
“What sports did you play?”
“None.”
She turned and looked at him, while her mind remembered every painful detail he’d told her about his childhood. She knew he didn’t want her pity—but would he accept her comfort? She wished she was brave enough to find out. Instead, she tried to joke her way past the emotions eating her up inside. “And here I thought all little boys couldn’t wait to get their hands on a ball.”
“Some of us preferred to get our hands on more important things.” His gaze went directly to her cleavage.
“Behave,” she reminded him under her breath while her heart did somersaults. “That was the deal, remember?”
“Your deal.” His grin was as wicked as it was inviting.