Page 136 of Lucky In Love

Chapter Six

Liam

Nine Months Later

It was opening day for the Lombard Stingers. After we sold Margot’s condo, it all came together quickly for the team.

I could hear a few people outside, but it was almost two hours before game time, so only a select group of family and friends were here yet, along with the teams. I knew more would come to watch what was supposed to happen. The Stingers had been drawing a steady but decent crowd, thanks in part to Margot’s expert marketing.

“You ready?” Donovan stepped into the owner’s box, his white tuxedo jacket showing only a peach rose in the lapel. We’d learned that peach roses were our finance’s favorite flower.

He handed me a matching one for my tux. “I can’t wait. It feels like my life has built towards this day,” I said.

When we got downstairs and walked to the pitcher’s mound, our family and friends cheered from their seats behind the dugout.

My sister Carrie was waiting for us in a purple dress. She’d become ordained online to do this for us. Our license showed that Margot was married to one of us. But no one would ever know which, and no one in our circle wanted or needed to know. We were a team.

The wedding march played via organ music from the loudspeakers.

Two team members rolled down the white carpet to home plate.

Margot came out of the locker room in a white wrap dress and stepped on to the field. Her parents joined her and helped her walk along the path.

She had a crown of multicolored flowers in her loose, dark hair. She’d wanted to wear things that reminded her of our first full night together in her old condo. We’d sold it and got a small mortgage on my family’s building. She was doing social media for the Stingers for free.

The bee mascot was dancing around, tossing a few flowers. Ok, that was a detail we didn’t ask for at our ceremony, but I could hear the gathering crowd was getting into the spirit. The college kid who wore the costume all summer helped Margot and was very fond of her.

Margot reached for our hands when she reached us, and everything else fell away as we got married.

The players crossed their bats over us as we walked out, married. Our friends and family cheered around us as if we’d won a game. She kissed Donovan, then me, when we reached home plate.

About the Author

Layla Rogue is the pseudonym for an author of cozy mysteries and paranormal romance. When she’s not writing, Layla loves attending minor league baseball games with her family.

Find her at www.laylarogue.com, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok

Copyright © 2024 by Laura Hawks

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Dedication: I’m dedicating this to my mom, who loved the Fighting Irish and to my Irish Mother-in-law who loves Ireland. As always, I also dedicate this to all my friends and family who encourage me to keep writing. Thank you all. Always.

Chapter One

Darkness. It was beyond black. He couldn’t even see the hand in front of his face, and Byron James did try. He felt a coldness creep into his bones. He had to get out of wherever he was. He tried to find a wall, and when he did, he yanked his hand back immediately. The wall was cold, slimy, almost like the inside of some great beast, and he was sure he felt something touch him.

His heart raced as he turned in circles, trying to find a way out.

Up ahead, he saw light. He smiled as he continued moving. He found the way out of this nightmarish place. In a hurry to get to freedom, he suddenly ran into a webbing. Without warning, he was entangled among the spidery webbing with hundreds of spiders crawling all over him.

A scream startled him from his slumber, sitting up with his heart pounding in his chest.

Rubbing his hand over his face, he tossed the covers off and headed to the bathroom. Peering at himself in the mirror, he looked pale. His dark hair was askew, and his usually bright blue eyes were dull and red with weariness. His tall frame was slightly hunched over from no rest. He hadn’t been getting any sleep since his trip to Ireland.

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