Page 130 of Rescued Heart

EPILOGUE

Saving lives mattered. Which meant sometimes, as a rescue firefighter, other things in Eddie’s life got benched for an extra inning. Even important baseball tournaments.

He leaned forward in the fire truck and tapped Ridge’s shoulder. “Just let me out here.”

Ridge furrowed his brow and held his attention on the road ahead. Far more vehicles lined each side of the street than normal. “You want to run the last mile to the field, be my guest. But we’ll beat you there.”

Eddie glared at one of the minivans that had its rear parked too far into the roadway. But even with Ridge’s slower driving speed, Eddie wouldn’t trade his team’s winning the draw to host the tourney. Plus, all the food trucks that Bianca had gotten were going to donate twenty percent of their night’s earnings toward the youth center’s fund. More money than he could have even imagined had entered their nonprofit banking account.

Beside him, Zack chuckled. “Give the coach a break. His team’s playing for the championship.”

Eddie drummed his fingers along his turnout pants. That and he hadn’t seen Bianca in two days due to their schedules.

As if hearing his thoughts, Bryce sent him a smirk over his shoulder. “I’m sure that’s the only reason he’s eager to get to the ball game.”

Eddie checked his phone. No new update since the game had been tied in the second inning. Thankfully, their last fire run had been in the ballpark’s neighborhood, and it had been a false alarm. “Maybe flip on the siren you love so much.”

Bryce shook his head as Ridge slowed the truck for a car that pulled out in front of them. “Speaking of love…”

Eddie’s neck no longer heated when the guys teased him about Bianca. “Yes, I’m anxious to get to the game. Yes, I’m nervous to see how the team’s doing. And yes, I want to see Bianca. But also, she’s worked extra-long hours on set so she could help coach tonight, and I want to be there for her.”

“How much longer on the jewel movie?” asked Zack.

“Not sure. However, they’ve already reshot the scenes that Carter was in.” Eddie leaned his head back.

Leo had been able to find another producer—one who’d signed Bianca to a new contract that allowed her to help out her family. Even if they still hadn’t thanked Bianca yet. But one couldn’t change another person’s heart. That was God’s department.

Ridge turned the fire truck into the ball field’s parking lot and stopped. “Get out of here, lover boy. Go win us a game.”

Eddie jumped out of the cab and sprinted for the home-side dugout while his turnout pants rubbed together. With the visitors in the field, that meant his team was up to bat.

The scoreboard announced the sixth inning. Still tied, one to one, which was the last score update text Bianca had sent. The bleachers held fans shoulder to shoulder with the fencerow tight with lawn chairs and canopies.

Bianca stood next to third base, her ponytail tugged through the back of her hat, a smile on her face, facing home plate. Her uniform shirt was paired with black shorts and tennis shoes—one of his favorite looks on her. Only her beloved flip-flops would make it better.

He swung open the gate and stepped into the dugout. All of his team stood at the fence, staring toward the batter’s box. “Hey?—”

“Shh!” A feminine voice that didn’t belong to Scarlette hushed him. When a uniform-wearing Grace glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widened. She grimaced and jogged toward Eddie with a clipboard in her hand. “Sorry, Coach,” she whispered. “I only wanted to make sure Scarlette got the sign.”

Eddie glanced at Bianca. “They wouldn’t need to talk or hear to understand…” Over the boys’ heads, he spotted Scarlette with Gregory Harrelson near the batter’s box. And just over the mayor’s shoulder, propped on tripods behind the backstop’s fence, were not one but two news station cameras focused on Gregory.

Eddie locked his jaw. “I can’t believe the mayor found his way into coaching. I thought Eli was helping.”

Bianca glanced over her shoulder, spotted Eddie, and waved for him to come onto the field.

Eddie held up a finger. He didn’t want to disrupt Scarlette’s focus.

Tank, the closest boy to Eddie, turned. “Greg’s kind of been cool.”

Will grabbed a helmet off the bench. “Yeah, he actually knows about baseball. He argued with the umpire when the pitcher tried to throw the ball to first when he’d already started pitching. He knew that he’d balked before the umpire corrected the call.”

Grace flipped a piece of paper over on her clipboard. “He apparently played college ball. Trust me, he was better than me out there. Eli had an emergency with one of his youth group kids. Will, don’t forget you’re next in line to bat after Scout.”

Will rolled his eyes. “It’s called being on deck. It’s what happens after being in the hole.”

Grace wrote a note on her paper. “Right. Deck and hole. Got it.”

Will smirked and then opened his mouth. Eddie had seen that look too many times and shot Will a glare. Instead of Will’s more-than-likely-sarcastic reply, a mumble came from someone farther down the dugout.

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