Close To The Heart (Westen Series Book 5)

by Suzanne Ferrell

  “That’s right.” Daniel grinned at her. “And you go second.”

  Lexie giggled. “First you have to teach me to hit.”

  “We’ll get to that. Right now, we’re teaching Melissa about scoring.” His eyes met hers and he winked.

  Heat filled Melissa’s cheeks and she wondered if he meant the soft innuendo he’d just made, because her mind quickly went back to the kisses they’d shared last night. As she stared into his blue eyes, they grew darker and full of sensual awareness. The air between them seemed to crackle, as she was drawn into the same energy coming from him.

  “What’s this diamond thingy?” Lexie said from beside him, breaking the silent connection between Daniel and Melissa and drawing their attention back to the scorebook.

  “That’s supposed to represent the baseball diamond.”

  “Like the one we saw at the tryouts? Geoff said this is home plate where the batters stand to hit the ball. That’s first base. That’s second base. And that one’s third base.” Lexie pointed to each corresponding point on the diamond. Then she drew her brows down in a puzzled manner. “Why don’t they call them plates like home plate? Or home base like the other bases?”

  “You know?” Daniel said, stopping to think about her question. “I don’t know. It’s just always been called that. For at least a century.”

  “What’s a century?” Lexie asked.

  Melissa tried to hide her smile, but Daniel caught her and gave her a help-me-out-here look. Knowing the six-year-old was capable of jumping from one question to another, switching topics faster than a chameleon changing colors in a florist shop, she shook her head in a no-way, get-yourself-out-of-this-yourself-buster manner.

  “A century is one hundred years. The twentieth century was nineteen hundred to two thousand. So, back to the diamond on the page,” he said, pointing back at the notebook in front of him and Melissa had to give him kudos for hurrying on before Lexie wandered further away from the subject. “Geoff is the first name on our list. If he hits the ball and gets to first base, the scorer, for our team, that would be Melissa, makes a dark line from home to first base.” He glanced up at her.

  Melissa nodded to show she was paying attention and leaned her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand.

  He proceeded to mark the line on the paper. “If he gets to second base, she makes another line.” Again, he connected the two points with a dark line. “What do you think the scorekeeper does if Geoff gets to third?” he asked handing Lexie the pencil.

  She quickly made a thick line from point two to point three and grinned up at Daniel.

  “Good girl. And if he makes it to home plate?”

  “She makes another mark on the page,” Lexie said and completed the outline of the diamond.

  “That’s not all she does,” Daniel said, leaning over to whisper in Lexie’s ear.

  She giggled and proceeded to color in the whole diamond shape.

  “When the diamond is colored in, the scorer knows our team has scored a run.” He proceeded to explain to them the little boxes were to mark if the ball was a strike or a ball and more nuances of the game.

  “So, does every score keeper do it exactly like this?” Melissa asked when she felt she understood all the details of marking hits, runs, balls, strikes and even how to show how a hitter got out by using the numbers one through nine assigned to each position of the defensive players to mark the play.

  Daniel shrugged. “There may be some special nuances that other scorekeepers use, but this is how my mom taught me.”

  “And this is how you want me to do it, so you can see how the game went without me having to translate something to you.”

  “Exactly.” He glanced at the clock. “School ends at three-thirty, right?”

  Melissa nodded. It was almost three.

  “Then we’d best head over to the field. You can practice keeping score while I put the boys through some defensive drills and batting practice.”

  “Do I get to hit the ball?” Lexie asked.

  Daniel shook his head. “Not this time, but I’ll let you practice catching and throwing with the boys to help them warm up, okay?”

  Once more Lexie looked at him curiously. “Are they cold?”

  This time, Melissa couldn’t help but laugh and Daniel chuckled.

  “No, they’re not cold. But to prevent them from getting hurt, the boys need to do exercises to get their muscles ready to play ball. We call that warming up.”

  “I’ll have to do that, too,” Lexie said with sincere seriousness.

  “Yes, you will.” Daniel pulled out her barstool for her. “Go get your glove. You also always have to bring it to the field with you.”

  She jumped down from her stool and ran full force towards her room.

  “Put on some jeans or leggings,” Melissa called after her.

  “Okay!” she yelled from the bedroom.

  “I think you have a baseball fanatic on your hands, and I doubt she’s ever seen a game.” Melissa said with a slight shake of her head. “You’ve intrigued her with the math and the rules, not to mention actually learning to play the game.”

  He blushed a little as he gathered up the scorebook and handed it to her. “Maybe next year we can sign her up for a girls’ softball team.”

  “You shouldn’t promise her that,” she said, the worry that had dissipated as he’d taught them about scoring a game came rushing back in. Blinking back the tears of fear and anger threatening to overtake her, she went back around the counter to adjust the temperature on her crockpot so it wouldn’t cook to quickly or overheat while they were gone. “We don’t know what will happen after this monster is caught. Or if he’ll be caught.”

  Suddenly, he was behind her, pulling her around to face him. He cupped her face in his big warm hands and stared into her eyes with a fierceness that should scare her but didn’t. “I won’t make promises I can’t keep. Not to her. Not to you. But I will not walk in fear. I believe we will do whatever we can to protect her. Me. You. Gage and the sheriff’s department. Even the boys. We’re all on alert. Can you trust me in that?”

  She nodded.

  He claimed her lips with his in a hard, quick kiss then pulled her into a hug. She clung to him, letting his strength meld into her, making her want to believe things would be okay. When she’d finally gotten free of her ex-husband, she’d promised herself she’d never put her trust in a man again. Somehow in the past six weeks, Daniel had found his way through that barrier. He’d made her feel strong. Made her feel respected. And he wasn’t asking her to fight for Lexie alone. He was willing to be there right beside her. He asked her to trust him. She’d have to put her fears aside and do just that.

  Galloping footsteps sounded on the wooden floors of the hallway.

  Daniel’s arms loosened and she broke away. He turned to intercept Lexie as Melissa dashed any residual tears from her cheeks. She didn’t want Lexie to wonder why she was crying.

  “I’m ready!” Lexie said, pounding her fist into the glove on her left hand, just as she’d seen the four boys do.

  “That’s good, but first I need to talk to you,” Daniel said, squatting down to meet her at eye-level.

  “What about?”

  “Well, you know we’ve been trying to find Gary.”

  She nodded. “That’s why I had to look at the cars on your tablet and draw the pictures of him.”

  “Right. Well, from this moment on, if you see Gary’s car or Gary, I want you to tell someone immediately. Me. Melissa. Bobby. Sheriff Justice. Even one of the boys. Okay?”

  With extreme seriousness, Lexie nodded again, making her pigtails bounce.

  “And,” Daniel said, taking her free hand in his. “Under no circumstances are you to go near Gary. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Promise me?”

  “I promise. Can we go to the school and throw the ball with the tosters now?”

  “We can if Melissa’s ready.”

&nb
sp; “I am.” She gathered up her bag and the scorebook from the counter. At the front door she stopped to set the alarm code and lock the door while Daniel and Lexie headed to the SUV. As she joined the pair, she marveled at how easily he’d not only gained Lexie’s cooperation, but made her responsible for helping assure her own safety. If she hadn’t lost her heart to him teaching a girl in a pink tutu how to throw a ball like a major leaguer, she certainly had today.

  She smiled as he drove down the road. “You know, I’m not unreasonable when it comes to safety.”

  There was quiet from the driver’s seat before he answered, as if he was considering how he should answer—sort of like a snake wrangler deciding how to approach a rattler. “I didn’t say you were.”

  “You didn’t have to make up an excuse to get me to bring Lexie to the ballpark to watch practice or a game.”

  “Ah,” he said, turning onto the main road that lead to the high school. “I did want you to have a reason to come to the practice and games, besides helping to keep you both safe while I coach. I didn’t want to force you to do something.”

  “All you had to do was ask and tell me why it was a good idea. I’d have agreed.”

  “I’ll remember that. Besides not only will the boys like having you there to support them with the other teammates’ moms, Lexie will get to see how the game is played. And I really do need the scorecard done, so I can see how they guys are doing. What they did right. What needs correcting.”

  Laughing, she held up her hand in mock surrender. “You win. I will be the official team score keeper.”

  “Good,” he said with a grin. Then his hand claimed hers and he held it firmly. “Just so we’re clear on something. Unless there’s emanant danger to you or anyone at Westen House, I will never force you to do something you don’t want to do and that’s a promise.”

  She squeezed his hand, too and prayed a time never came when he’d have to break that promise.

  20

  Thank goodness Daniel had a wool Army blanket in the back of his SUV for Melissa and Lexie to sit on. The weather might be getting warmer, but the metal bleachers hadn’t quite got the memo and their butts would be frozen without the extra padding.

  She smiled wryly. Not that Lexie’s butt had actually made enough contact with the bench in the hour they’d been at the ballfield to get cold. When they first arrived, Lexie had joined her on the third row of the bleachers and watched as Daniel talked with all the baseball players from both the varsity and junior varsity teams out in the outfield. Other adults hovered about watching the team, some of the dad’s voicing their thoughts on how the team would do this year. Tre’s mom, Maggie and his little sister, Sadie were seated close by, as was Duncan’s mother Glenna, along with her younger son Gavan.

  At first Lexie eyed the other two children, both about her age with a wary hopefulness, her natural shyness keeping her glued to Melissa’s side. Then the team had spread out to do their warm-up exercises and Lexie remembered her plan to warm-up just like the boys, asking to go join them. Melissa didn’t think she should get in the way of practice, no matter how much Daniel wanted her to learn to play, so she suggested she do the same exercises, but on the patch of grass in front of the bleachers.

  Lexie jumped down to the spot and began stretching like the boys. A few minutes later both Sophie and Gavan joined her, and the trio became fast friends. By the time the boys were practicing their drills for catching and throwing, not only had Lexie gotten her glove, but Gavan and Sophie had mitts too and they played their own game of catch with a ball Geoff had tossed to Lexie.

  “What does Coach Dan have you doing?” Maggie asked, scooting up to chat while the boys practiced fielding ground balls.

  “Learning to keep score. He says it’s to help him track the stats for the team…” she let her words drift off as she watched Lexie a moment or two and then scanned the road passing by the ballfield. With no sign of an old brown sedan anywhere near, she relaxed and focused on the ballfield once more.

  “You think it’s just an excuse to have you here so he can keep an eye on you two?” Maggie said, her voice lowered so the other adults sitting in the stands wouldn’t hear.

  As a member of the town council, Melissa assumed Maggie was kept informed of the heroin deaths, including Rose and wasn’t just repeating gossip.

  “I know he did. We actually talked about it. I’m just not sure he really needs me to do this. Other than keeping my mind busy and an excuse for Lexie and I to be at the practices and games, does it really matter?”

  “Does to me,” Glenna said, moving up a seat to join them. “Especially the stats of pitching against the other team.” She pulled a notebook out of her bag. “I keep them so Duncan can see how his curve ball is being hit or swung on and missed by opposing batters. Also, how well his fastball is doing. Scouts for college and professional teams are at some of the high school games, especially if the team does as well as they did last year.”

  Maggie nodded in agreement. “Tre needs both his batting stats and assists for put outs for the same reason. If that boy can get a scholarship for college, his dad and I won’t have to take out overpriced student loans or mortgage the farm to help him finish his education.”

  “I didn’t realize colleges or professionals started looking for players this early on.” Melissa sat up straighter, suddenly understanding that Daniel and his ball players needed the information he’d asked her to keep for very important reasons. He hadn’t asked her to do this just to make her feel useful. He was depending on her.

  “Baseball, football, basketball,” Glenna said. “They start scouting them earlier and earlier.”

  “Even soccer for boys and girls, volleyball, swimming. Some kids can get all their schooling paid for or even partially paid by being involved in sports.” Maggie sighed. “I just wish they’d scout them for academics, too. Tre’s a good shortstop, but he’s got perfect grades in math and is taking Calculous this year. His dad’s hoping he’ll be an engineer.”

  “Yeah, wouldn’t it be great if there were academic scouts?” Glenna said and they all chuckled.

  The team came together on the field with Daniel talking to them, then they split off into two teams.

  “What’ happening now?” Melissa asked.

  “They’re going to play a scrimmage game against each other,” Glenna said. “Coach Dan mixes the varsity and JV teams in together during practices so the younger kids can get some work in with the more experienced ones.”

  Melissa opened her scorebook. “How will I know which kid is which?”

  Suddenly Lexie, Sadie and Gavan ran out onto the field and Daniel talked to the trio a moment before handing Lexie a piece of paper. Waving it back and forth, she ran back to Melissa with her new friends right behind her.

  “Coach Daniel said you needed the batting…” Lexie looked at Gavan.

  “Order,” he said.

  “That’s how you know who’s hitting,” Sadie explained.

  “Thank you, that will come in handy,” Melissa said to the trio as they hopped down to the bottom bench and sat. “What else did he say?”

  “That we have to sit for the game so we won’t get hit by a ball or a big kid,” Gavan said and the girls nodded. “And everyone knows you have to do what the coach tells you to.”

  Melissa exchanged looks with the other women and they all laughed. It felt good to spend time with them and enjoy normal everyday activities without worrying about what her ex-husband might think. Wondering if she’d have to protect herself when she got home. It was also nice knowing that even if she didn’t get the scorebook exactly right, Daniel wouldn’t punish her.

  “Yea, Colt!” Lexie yelled, jumping up and down with Sadie as he hit the ball and ran to first base safely.

  Watching the little girl lose some shyness because of a game of baseball, she was glad she’d agreed to bring her to the ballfield. As much as she wanted to keep her safe, keeping her locked away in the house wasn’t good for her.
It would be the same as Frank isolating her from the world, even if it she meant it for good reasons.

  The hairs on the back of her neck rose as if someone was watching her. Slowly, she turned her head to study the group of people watching the practice game. No one new had joined those seated on the bleachers or the small group of men standing off to one side discussing the players. She scanned the field beyond where the players gathered for one last word from Daniel. Again, she didn’t see anyone fitting Lexie’s description of Gary. Dusk had started to settle as she swung around to scan the parking lot, but still enough light remained for her to tell no old Cadillac sedan was parked among the varied trucks, SUV’s and import models.

  “Are you okay?” Maggie asked as she gathered up her belongings.

  Melissa swung her gaze back to the ballfield and relief poured through her. Lexie was safe running around collecting the bases and balls for his duffle bag.

  “Yes,” she said shaking off the odd sensation. It was probably nothing more than her not used to being out in a crowd, even a small one since before she married Frank. The threat was only in her head.

  You promised me you’d deliver the package this week,” said the smoke-hardened voice on the other end of the phone.

  “There’s been a complication,” he said, tilting his head to the side to make his neck crack. Tension always landed in his neck.

  “Complication?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle. You’ll just have to wait a while longer for delivery. But trust me, it’s well worth the wait and you’ll definitely get top dollar.”

  “I’d better or you’ll pay the consequences.”

  The phone went dead.

  He pocketed it and leaned back in the soft leather seats watching the kids on the ballfield. Seething with frustration he ran his hands over his newly shaved head.

  For months he’d been bringing Rose along slowly, working to get past her protective barriers where the kid was concerned, making her need for heroin more important to her than protecting her daughter. Then the damn blizzard happened and everything went to shit.