They watched as he seemed to type something into the tablet. Shortly after, Maggie’s phone blipped. She checked the screen. “It’s from him.”
She read the message. “He says hello to everyone. And he says tell him something to say on the air.”
“Oooh, let’s tell him something!” Ben said.
“No, let’s not. I don’t want to get him into trouble,” Maggie said.
“Trouble? We won’t tell him to say something dirty. Just something...” Ben thought.
“Pineapple,” Nate said. “Tell him to say ‘pineapple’.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Nate says to say ‘pineapple’,” she texted back to Bobby. “You know that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”
The group abandoned the table to gather near the television. They watched as Bobby looked down at his tablet again, a grin spreading across his face.
“You know, Chet,” he said to one of the commentators in New York, “I’d like to thank the good people of Arizona for making me feel so welcome here. What you might not know is that one traditional symbol of welcome is the pineapple.”
Michael’s living room erupted into gales of laughter. “I give up. You’re all absolutely impossible,” Maggie said, shaking her head.
Chapter 32
Bobby called Maggie late that evening. “How was your night, cher?”
“It was good,” she answered. “You were the hit of the evening. I hope you didn’t get in trouble.”
He laughed quietly. “Nah, I was just being folksy. They love that kind of thing.”
“How about you? How was your night?”
“They paid me to talk about baseball. How can I complain? Actually, I need to study up a little bit for some interviews I’m doing tomorrow. And I imagine you probably need to get to bed.”
Emboldened by the privacy of her apartment and her distance from him, Maggie smiled wryly. “Did you say you imagine me in bed?”
His chuckle was low. “I imagine you in all sorts of places, cher.”
Maggie gasped as she felt a rush of heat that started between her legs and radiated throughout her body. “Well on that note, I’ll say good night.”
Bobby chuckled again. “Good night, Maggie. Sweet dreams.”
Maggie fell asleep smiling and woke up on Monday morning the same way. Cautiously hopeful, she checked her phone for a message from Bobby and she wasn’t disappointed.
“Happy Monday morning, cher. Have a great day. I’ll call you tonight.”
She giggled like a school girl as a warm happiness settled over her. She quickly texted him back before she got ready for work.
Later that morning, waist deep in documents for a new case Rance had passed her way, Maggie looked up to see one of the mail room interns standing in her doorway.
“These came for you, Maggie.” He set a clear pink glass vase containing a huge bouquet of multicolored tulips on her desk. Smile spreading across her face, Maggie reached for the attached card.
“Well, Maggie,” Rance said as he appeared in her door, “what have we here?”
Maggie read the card and carefully put it back in the envelope, smiling secretively. “We have some beautiful spring flowers from a very nice man.”
Rance raised an eyebrow. “Anyone I know?”
Maggie regarded him slyly. “Not as far as I know. Just...someone I met recently.”
“Invite Jason and me to the wedding, will you?” Rance tossed over his shoulder, chuckling as he walked away.
“Stop!” Maggie laughed as she blushed a bright pink that matched the vase. Alone in her office, she reread the card.
“I was thinking about you today and was reminded of something my Pop always says: A pretty lady should have pretty flowers. I hope you like them. I can’t wait to see you Saturday. Until then, I’ll just have to imagine. Yours, Bobby”
Maggie felt another warm rush that began as a little flip in her stomach and spread outward in all directions, creating a dampness between her thighs and causing her nipples to harden into sharp points.
Saturday. We’ll be spending the day together. She chewed absently at the edge of her thumb. But what about Saturday night?
A lazy smile played across her lips. Forgetting her court briefs for a moment, she dialed her favorite salon and made a Wednesday appointment for a mani-pedi and a full Brazilian wax. Just in case, she thought.
* * *
Bobby’s week in Arizona crept along. He’d been pleased at Maggie’s response to the flowers he sent. She’d mentioned them every day since he’d sent them. And they had talked every day, at least once, sometimes more than that. He found that they could easily chat for an hour before he realized that much time had gone by.
He’d made it a point to text her each morning, too. It was a small gesture, especially considering that his waking thoughts of the day seemed to be of Maggie anyway.
As he thought about his plans for heading out of the city on Saturday, a new idea occurred to him. Initially, he’d dismissed it. They hadn’t been dating for very long, hadn’t actually gone out at all, to tell the truth. Surely dinner at Michael’s didn’t count. But she was cheeky and flirtatious. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea. He ended up making the necessary arrangements.
We’ll just see how it goes on Saturday. If it doesn’t feel right, losing a deposit isn’t the end of the world.
Still, there was a tiny doubt nagging at the back of his mind. He wondered about her feelings for Michael. What if she’s in love with him?
Deanna’s infidelity had shaken him to his core. He knew he couldn’t go through that again.
* * *
Michael noticed a change in Maggie as she checked in on him throughout the week following her dinner with Beau. He was curious to know if they’d been in contact while Beau was away but knowing how stubborn Maggie could be, he stopped himself from pressing the issue. Knowing Mags, she’ll dump Beau just to spite me. But there was definitely a new sparkle in her eyes.
Maggie was later than he expected on Friday afternoon. Michael had just started to wonder if he should worry when he heard her key in the door.
“Hi, Michael. It’s me,” she called.
“Howdy Mags. I was just starting to get worried.”
“Sorry, I should have called,” she said, depositing a pair of shopping bags on the kitchen counter. “I stopped by the market after work. How are you feeling today?”
Truthfully, he’d developed a worrisome cough over the last couple of days but he didn’t want to mention it to Maggie. She’d insist on trundling him off to the hospital.
“I’m feeling good, a little tired though. I start the next round of chemo next week.”
Maggie grimaced. “I forgot it was time again. I’ll stock up on soup for you next week.” She turned and busied herself unpacking the bags. “I got you enough to carry you through the next day or so. I probably won’t stop by tomorrow.”
Michael noticed that she was intentionally avoiding eye contact. “You have plans tomorrow?” he asked, suppressing a smile.”
“Um, yeah,” she answered, studiously arranging food in the refrigerator, “Bobby and I are heading out of the city for the day.”
“Beau? I thought he was in Arizona.”
“He gets back late tonight,” she said. Maggie turned to face him, crossing her arms in front of her defiantly. “What?”
Michael shrugged innocently. “What nothing. I was just wondering, that’s all.” He grinned at her reaction. “Don’t mean to get you all riled up, Mags. I’m glad things are working out.”
“Yeah, well, just don’t...interfere,” she said more softly.
He shook his head solemnly. “I won’t, I promise.” His brown eyes softened. “I want you to be happy, Mags. That’s my wish for you.”
Maggie sighed. “Just concentrate on getting well, Michael. That would make me happy.”
* * *
At precisely 10:00 Saturday morning, Maggie heard the buzzer for the front door as she was slidin
g into her dark blue boot-cut jeans. Right on time.
“Come on up,” she said into the intercom as she buzzed Bobby in. “I’m almost ready.” She crossed to open the apartment door and returned to the bedroom to pull on the pale purple cami and grab her long eggplant cardigan.
“Knock, knock,” Bobby called from the doorway.
“Come in, I’m sorry I’m running a little late,” she said as she made her way into the living room.
Bobby came in and closed the door behind him. Maggie stopped and took in the sight of him. His blue eyes were accented by an azure blue cashmere v-neck cardigan over a white t-shirt and grey pants with dark brown leather boots. The lop-sided grin was firmly in place and she felt the now-familiar flip in her stomach.
“Hi,” she said simply.
“Hi yourself, cher,” he smiled. “You look amazing. I think purple must be your color.”
She looked down to see the grey scarf in her hands. “Oh! I was putting this on.” She quickly wound it around her neck to her satisfaction and slipped on her soft purple flats. “All ready,” she said, picking up her plain brown leather boho bag.
Bobby frowned slightly. “We forgot something.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “What did we forget?”
His blue eyes twinkled. “The strawberry wine, cher. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”
She smiled shyly. “Oh. Well. We can’t forget that.”
She met him as he moved towards her. With no hesitation at all, Bobby wrapped her in his arms and captured her lips with his. Maggie rested her left hand on his solid chest and tangled the fingers of her other hand in his wavy brown hair as she lost herself in his kiss. He reluctantly pulled away and leaned back to smile at her before he kissed her again, more lightly this time.
“Just as sweet as I remember,” he said. “Now we can go.”
Chapter 33
Bobby pulled away from the curb in front of Maggie’s apartment. He’d donned a pair of mirrored aviators when they’d gotten in the car. He glanced at her and, seeing her watching him, he winked. “We’ll just get this taken care of and be on our way.”
“Is this a work thing you have to do?” Maggie asked.
Bobby pursed his lips. “Sort of, I guess. There’s a family from Dallas and they have a son with leukemia. They’ve been flown into town for the weekend to see all the sights and stuff. I believe they’re going to the tonight’s exhibition game. Anyway, this is a kind of ‘meet and greet’ out at the stadium. I’ll hang out with the kid for a while, toss a ball around. It probably won’t take too long, I wouldn’t want to drag you to something that would take all day.”
Maggie frowned thoughtfully. “Is this a ‘Make-A-Wish’ kind of thing?”
Bobby nodded. “Um-hmm. The foundation made all the arrangements, sent me the letter from the dad. The boy’s name is Tyler and apparently he’s a big fan.”
Maggie smiled slowly, turning towards him. “You mean, out of all the things this boy could ask for, he wanted to meet you?”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s a hell of a thing, isn’t it?”
“I think that’s pretty special,” Maggie said. “Have you ever done this before?”
Again, he tilted his head uncomfortably, eyes straight ahead, and he sighed. “I think this is my twelfth one.”
Maggie straightened back in her seat, smiling out the front window. “Pretty amazing.”
The guard at the stadium gate directed Bobby to the players’ parking area where they were met by a pretty young woman wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard.
“Hi, Beau, welcome. I’m Natalie, we’ve been chatting back and forth all week. I’ll be working to make today’s event smooth.”
“Thanks, Natalie,” he said, blasting her with his high-wattage grin, “This is Maggie. She’s kindly consented to tag along with me today.”
Maggie smiled and said hello. Bobby stepped closer to Natalie. “That thing we talked about? Did that stuff get delivered?”
Natalie smiled. “It did indeed. We’ve got you set up in the locker room.” She checked her watch. “Okay, now the family is supposed to arrive in about fifteen minutes. Do you want to go get changed?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, we’ll head in that direction. Thanks, Natalie.”
He led Maggie through a series of doors and passages and finally into a huge locker room. The first thing Maggie noticed was the navy carpet sprinkled with the white NY logo with a huge white NY in the center of the carpet. All around the perimeter of the room were stations comprised of honey oak cabinets, a low counter, and a clothing rack. In front of each station was a white cushioned folding chair, again featuring the NY logo.
At the far end of the room Maggie saw a seating area made up of a large tan leather sofa flanked by a pair of matching leather armchairs. A low coffee table completed the seating group but it was draped in a navy blue cloth covering something on its top.
Maggie followed Bobby to the only station that seemed occupied. On the clothing rack hung a single uniform. “Here we go,” Bobby said. “I’ll just get changed.” He gripped the bottom of his sweater and pulled it over his head. Maggie stood clasping her hands, uncertain of what to do. Bobby grinned and unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned the fly of his jeans.
“Oh, hey now,” Maggie exclaimed, turning away from him. “I’ll just wander over here.” She heard Bobby’s low chuckle and felt her cheeks flush.
“Hey, what’s over here?” she asked, lifting the corner of the blue drape on the coffee table.
“What it should be,” replied Bobby as he pulled on his uniform pants, “is a bunch of Little League uniforms. Why don’t you take off the cloth so we can make sure?”
Maggie carefully lifted the drape from the table to reveal stacks of red child-sized jerseys and white baseball pants. There were also red socks and boxes of cleats. She noticed some cartons on the floor between the table and the sofa. “There are some boxes over here, too.”
Bobby came over, tucking in his blue jersey as he walked. “They look good,” he nodded approvingly. “And these,” he said, opening one of the cartons, “should be balls, bats, and gloves.” He frowned slightly, checking the other box. “Oh, and caps. Good, it’s all here.”
Maggie looked up to ask about the uniforms but found herself distracted. She was unable to stop what she knew was a goofy smile spreading across her face. Bobby grinned wryly. “What?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen you in a uniform before. It’s...” she stopped, blushing furiously. Bobby waited, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Well, I suddenly find myself strangely drawn to baseball,” she said, chewing absently on her thumbnail.
Bobby laughed. “We’ll make a convert of you yet.”
Maggie remembered her question. “What is all this for?”
“When I read the information about this kid, Tyler? The dad is the coach for his Little League team. He mentioned that most of the kids on the team come from single parent families, the kind that don’t have the money for uniforms and stuff. I ordered a bunch of things for them. Figure we’ll have to ship it all back to Texas but I wanted to be able to give it to them today.”
Maggie gazed up at him in wonder. “You bought all this equipment and stuff?”
Bobby shrugged. “You can’t play baseball without the essentials. And uniforms mean a lot. I know they did when I was a kid. It was a small thing to do.”
“You are a good man,” she said simply, leaning up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. He blushed uncomfortably and she laughed softly.
Bobby and Maggie left the locker room and entered the stadium. Natalie was talking to two men and broke off her conversation when she saw them. “Good, you found everything. We just heard that the family is running late. They should be here in about twenty minutes. I’m so sorry.”
“No worries, we’re fine. I’ll just show Maggie around a little,” Bobby said. He led her down to the front row of seats where they stopped a
nd gazed out over the field. He looked to Maggie and grinned.
“Come on.” He took her by the hand and opened a gate labeled Authorized Personnel Only, leading her out onto the field.
Maggie glanced around anxiously. “Are we allowed to be here?”
Bobby chuckled. “Are you always a rule follower, cher?”
“Well, not always,” she answered defensively. She followed Bobby to the pitcher’s mound where he stopped and again faced the stands.
Bobby sighed. “You know, I always loved getting to a stadium early, before the place fills up. It’s quiet, kind of like church or something.” She crossed to him and took his hand.
“You miss it.” It wasn’t a question.
He looked down at his hand in hers and nodded sadly. “I do, a little.” He met her eyes. “For most of my life I’ve been a baseball player. When I retired, all of the sudden I wasn’t sure who I was. That’s one reason I took my time driving up here.”
Maggie squeezed his hand sympathetically. “But you know, it’s the whole ‘when a door closes, a window opens‘ thing. I miss it sometimes, but I don’t regret anything.”
Natalie called to them from beside the dugout. “Here’s the family now,” she said, pointing to a helicopter that was circling the stadium in preparation to land.
Bobby grinned down at Maggie. “Showtime! This is gonna be good.” He walked her back to the grandstand and together they watched the helicopter land in the outfield.
Chapter 34
Maggie watched in awe as the scene unfolded before her. When the aircraft’s rotors slowed to a stop, Bobby and Natalie approached the helicopter, a camera man and a still photographer trailing along behind them. The door opened and a man climbed out, turning to help a woman, a young girl, and a boy manage the gap between the doorway and the ground.
Maggie couldn’t hear what was said but she watched as Natalie spoke to the adults and shook their hands. Bobby then shook hands first with the man and then the woman and young girl before he dropped to one knee to shake hands with the boy. Even from her vantage point, Maggie could see the look of disbelief on the boy’s face as he slowly reached out to take Bobby’s hand while his parents encouraged him. Natalie gestured toward where Maggie was standing and the group began to move in her direction.
Rannigan's Redemption: Complete Collection Page 36
