Page 107 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“One more word out of you, and I’m walking you before you even swing at a ball!” Bart yelled back.
Leah laughed. She’d forgotten how much she loved this game.
Over the past few days since she’d talked to Dan—really talked—Leah had felt lighter inside. She didn’t know what it meant for them and their future, but she knew that it could mean something, and for now, that was enough.
Hudson was happy and healthy here in Lyntacky, and he was starting to blossom too. Having Uncle Callum around made a difference. They were a family, and that felt right too.
“Strike two!”
Leah looked to the bleachers where the Lyntacky locals and a few tourists sat. They were cheering, eating, and making noise. Her eyes moved to Dan, who sat there in his sling, eating popcorn with Hudson and the rest of his family. Were his eyes on her? She thought they were, and smiled. She then waved, and he waved back.
SJ, Betsy, and Dr. Hannah were dressed in their bikinis and covered in body paint, and they were all chanting. “Give me an L!”
Crazy,Leah thought, and she’d missed all of it.
“I just can’t unsee that,” Ryder muttered, winding up for his next pitch.
Caleb connected with the ball, and it sailed toward the outfield, where Jed Knox and JD were. Thankfully, it was closer to JD, who caught it with ease.
Jed was hopeless but had been playing on the team for years, so no one minded he couldn’t bat or field, but was a really good guy.
“Out!” Bart called.
The next one Beau hit, and the ball came back to Ryder. He picked it up and fired it to Leah, who caught it with a toe on the base.
Ryder struck Phoebe out next, who told him he was now dead to her. He ran in and grabbed her. Picking her up, he swung her in a circle, then planted a loud kiss on her cheek, making her and the crowd laugh.
“Maybe we could focus on the game?” Beau muttered, walking by.
“Won’t do you any good, asshole. You’ll still lose,” Sawyer muttered.
“We’ll see, shithead,” Beau said.
“You guys need to get over that crap,” Leah said. “It’s growing old.”
Sawyer and Beau both stared at her as she walked by them to wait for her turn to bat. It was the man who was seated in the dugout now who made her smile.
Chapter 29
Dan Duke sat in the Leaders’ dugout, a bottle of water in his good hand, his right arm strapped tight in a sling. His fractured shoulder had him benched for the first time since he was twelve, and it was driving him crazy. He’d come down from the bleachers just to be near the action.
“Don’t tell me your mother said you could come down here?” Leah said to him as she dropped into the seat beside him.
Hot, sweaty, and distracting,he thought, looking at her black exercise shorts and Leaders top. Like Zoe, she had a team cap on with her hair pulled through the back. She looked different today. The tension had gone out of her, he realized. Leah looked happy, and it suited her.
“You’re up, Leah!” Jed called.
“Go get ’em, slugger,” Dan said.
She gave him a quick smile and picked up her bat.
JD jogged past. “You look shitty.”
“I’m fine,” Dan said, watching Leah. In fact, he was pissed. Just another reason to hate Grill.
So far no one had found him, and that unsettled Dan because that man could hold a grudge, and now that he’d lost everything, he’d be even more dangerous.
“What the fuck are you doing down here?” Sawyer demanded, glaring at Dan.
