Zoey walked to the edge of the practice field, her dog plodding beside her on the leash. She recognized several of the players. Jack swung at balls spewing from a pitching machine, while Levi, Monica Valdez, and a couple of others fielded them. Logan practiced pitching to a player in catcher’s gear on the far side of the field. Brad crossed from the dugout to greet them.
“Hey there.” He rubbed Lucy’s head, then held up a t-shirt he’d carried over. “Do you think our girl here could wear this?” It was one of the team’s HLPD sleeveless practice t-shirts.
Zoey eyed the dimensions. “I’ll have to modify it, but I can make it work.” She rubbed the back of her neck, scanning the few people in the bleachers. Something was making her feel jittery.
Brad pulled a large navy bandana from his pocket. “How about this?”
“That’s too small to fit around her neck, but if you have two, I can tie them together.”
“I’ll get you another one.”
Levi loped over, his glove on one hand, a ball in the other. “Hey there. This Lucy’s gear?”
Brad held up the t-shirt. “She’ll rock this. Since the Hoses are bringing their dog out onto the field on a fire truck, I thought we could have Lucy riding in on a cruiser. We’ll have the window down so she can hang her head out.”
“She’ll love that,” Zoey said, even though she figured she’d have to ride in the cruiser too. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d avoided the police for years, and she’d be riding in a police car to support them. Her social life was being taken over by all things law enforcement.
Levi tossed the ball and caught it and Lucy went on alert. She sat, her ears perked as she followed the movement of the ball.
“You want this, girl?” He tossed the ball and Lucy caught it neatly, looking at him with the ball in her mouth and her tail wagging.
“Lucy, drop.”
At the order, Lucy set the ball neatly on Levi’s foot, staring at it intently as if waiting for it to move.
“Did you teach her to fetch?” Brad asked.
“I didn’t have to teach her a thing, she was a natural with it. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was part lab. Her favorite thing is the Frisbee, and it’s even better if I throw it into the lake. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, she’ll run into the water to retrieve a Frisbee all day if I let her.”
Levi picked up the ball. “Will she run off if you unleash her?” Zoey shook her head and unhooked the leash. Levi made sure Lucy was following his movements and winged the ball across the field. Lucy was off like a rocket, chasing down the ball, at the same time Jack hit one into left field. When Lucy saw that ball arcing toward her, she outran Monica and managed to get it in her mouth along with the first ball.
Levi let out a whoop. “Way to go, girl. Bring them back, baby.”
“The balls are going to be all slobbery,” Zoey told Brad.
“No worries, this is great. During a break in the game, we can have her fielding balls. Maybe get the FD’s Dalmatian out there, too,” Brad mused. “I’ll have to work out the details, but the crowd will love it.”
After getting Lucy to drop the balls, Zoey attached her leash and led her to the bleachers so the guys could get on with their practice. They had to go behind the home dugout to the opening in the chain link fence. As she passed through, she recognized the thin woman with the bleached hair from the post office walking hurriedly away from her toward the parking lot.
After practice, Zoey joined the team for dinner at a Mexican food place that had recently opened on Main Street. Waiting in line to order, she overheard Brad on his phone, saying something about Levi and Zoey like they were a unit. Was that how people were viewing them, like they were a couple? The itchiness turned into a spike of panic.
She started chewing on her lip as they moved up in the line. Several of the players, including Brad, opted to order their meal as takeout. Zoey sat next to Levi under an awning in the outdoor seating area while they waited for their order. Brad carried out two large bags and stopped at their table.
Levi raised a brow at the bags. “Your kids eat tacos?”
“Tacos are Owen’s favorite food. He’d eat them for breakfast if we let him. Amaya is in a quesadilla phase.”
“Good choices. Guess you’re not joining us for a beer before heading home.”
“Not tonight. Latest news update is that Amaya got a hold of a tube of her mother’s lipstick and now both the cat and her brother are pink and everyone needs baths.”
Levi tipped his head back in a full laugh. “Have fun, brother. Glad it’s you and not me going home to that.”
“Never a dull moment.”
That evening as she readied herself for bed, Zoey found her mind refusing to settle. She brushed her teeth, used her facial cleanser, applied moisturizer, performing her nightly ritual, but found that the process didn’t calm her like it usually did. She couldn’t stop thinking about Levi. Levi telling Jack to look away so he could kiss her. Levi’s delight in Lucy’s ball-catching prowess. The strong column of his throat that had looked exceedingly bitable when he had laughed at his brother’s parenting challenges.
Maybe they needed distance. It was all too tempting to slip into a life that included check-in calls, impromptu dinners, and mind-blowing sex in the evenings. Not that there’d been more than that one night of mind-blowing sex, but still. They were acting like a couple, people were viewing them as a couple, and she didn’t know if she was ready for that. If she’d ever be ready for that.
She pulled down the covers and plumped her pillows against the headboard so she could lean back with the sheet over her knees. Once she was comfy, she picked up her phone and opened her favorites list. Seconds later the phone on the other end of the line was ringing.
“Hey, my girl.”
“Hi, Mom. How’s it going?”
As her mom talked, telling her about a student in her caseload, then about meeting Charlie’s girlfriend, Zoey felt some of her disquiet ease.
She smiled at the description of Charlie’s girlfriend. “A very nice girl,” according to Dawn Hardesty, who also had a brother with autism.
“She seems to get Charlie,” Dawn said. “Nothing fazes her. I met them for lunch and you know how he can be sometimes when there’s a crowd, and she rolled with it. If I could create the perfect person for him, she’d be it. And he’s over the moon about her.”
“That makes me so happy. All your hard work with him has paid off.”
“All our hard work. We three were a team. You worked as hard as I did to help Charlie become an adult who could cope with the world.” Dawn paused. “You know, sometimes I think you had it the hardest.”
“Me? You’re kidding. Charlie had it the hardest. Or you, a teenage mom, then mom to a special needs child. If Charlie and I are productive, somewhat well-adjusted adults, that’s due to you.”
“Thanks, my girl. But I worried about you too. You worked so hard to help me, to help your brother, that sometimes I wished you could’ve been just a kid. I allowed that bastard Paul Clauson in our house. I will never forgive myself for that.”
“He fooled everyone. He was working as a police officer and they didn’t have a clue he was a pervert. Or maybe they did but ignored it. He was skilled in presenting the image people wanted to see. He’s the one who did something wrong, Mom, not you.”
“I’ll always blame myself for poor judgment where he’s concerned.”
Zoey hesitated. Her mom wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “Mom, Paul is back in Hangman’s Loss.” Dawn already knew about the hit-and-run, so Zoey filled her in on the rest of what had happened.
“That evil man. You come home, right now. Call your work and tell them you’re taking a leave of absence, and you come home with Lucy until the police have this business figured out.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. Or I’ll go up there and finish up what you started when you stabbed that sorry excuse for a man. I’ll do what that one woman did to another guy and cut off his dick, maybe his balls, too, and see how he likes life then.”
Zoey laughed, she couldn’t help it. It seemed like mama bear instincts didn’t go away when your kids grew up. “I don’t want to have to visit you in jail, Mom. But seriously, the police are on it. Do you remember the Gallagher family?”
“Of course I do. You had a crush on the youngest son.”
“You knew that?”
“Moms know more than their kids give them credit for.”
“Good to know. Brad Gallagher, who also is my landlord, is now chief of police, and he’s taking my case seriously. In addition to the police investigation, he’s having an alarm system installed here tomorrow.” She plucked at the sheet on her lap. “You know the other house that’s on this property, a little cabin? Levi is living there.”
“Levi is the boy you liked?”
“He’s definitely not a boy anymore. Um, he’s a cop for the Hangman’s Loss PD, too.”
“Good. He lives close and he’s a cop. He can help keep an eye out for you.” Zoey was quiet, and moments later, Dawn asked, “Is he still as good-looking as he was back in high school?”
“Better. We’re, um, kind of going out together. Nothing serious,” she hurried to explain, “but, you know, hanging out sometimes.”
“Do you want it to be serious?”
“I told you, he’s a cop.”
“So?”
“Geez, Mom. It’s not like cops have been good to the Hardesty family.”
“We’ve run into a few bad ones, for sure. But there are many more who risk their lives to protect people. You have to judge the person, not the uniform. If Levi Gallagher’s a good person, he’ll be a good cop.”
It seemed so simple when her mom said it. Zoey lay in bed staring at the ceiling after saying good-bye. She didn’t know why it surprised her that her mother didn’t have the same issues with law enforcement Zoey did. She’d always felt her attitude about cops was reasonable and justified, but finding out that, despite what had happened in their past, her mom didn’t hold those same views challenged her own presumptions.
***
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. The Guns and Hoses charity softball game was scheduled to begin at ten. At nine, Levi was knocking on the cottage door.
Zoey answered and gestured to her attire. “This is all your fault.”
Levi took in her appearance, a grin spreading across his face. “You look cute. But what’s my fault?”
“That I’m wearing police-issued gear. It feels wrong.”
She hadn’t been able to say no when Brad had presented her with the official game-day baseball jersey. It was white with blue sleeves, with HLPD GUNS written on the back, and a police badge on the front in the pocket area. In a nod to the temperatures forecast to be in the high eighties, Zoey had opted for denim cutoff shorts, which, if judging from Levi’s extended perusal of her legs, might be a tad short.
He shrugged. “It’s actually Brad’s fault since he gave you the shirt, not me. And if you don’t like it, change. No big deal.”
“But it is a big deal. I could tell Brad thought I would like it. And I do, except when I get weird.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m making a big deal over nothing.”
“Brad’s not going to be hung up on a shirt. Change if you want, but if we’re going to drive together, we need to leave soon.”
Zoey picked up a daypack that held Lucy’s shirt and bandana, and her to-go gear. With Lucy buckled into the back and Levi in the passenger seat, Zoey drove them over to the ball field.
Levi got Lucy out of the car and secured her leash while Zoey retrieved her daypack from the back. She swung down the hatch and nearly jumped out of her Chucks when she saw the woman standing directly behind her.
“Excuse me.” Zoey took a cautious step back. It was the woman from the post office, and she looked awful. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun that emphasized the thinness of her face, while her application of bright red lipstick hadn’t been quite accurate, making her lips look too big and contrasting harshly with her pale skin. Her eyes were heavily made up, and when paired with the fake eyelashes, made her look more like she was going out to a nightclub than to a morning softball game.
“Are you okay?” Zoey asked.
The woman stared from Zoey to Levi.
“You drove here together.”
Levi stepped forward with Lucy, angling his body in front of Zoey. “Charissa, can I call someone for you?”
“You remember my name? Do you remember me from that time in Oakland?”
Levi frowned. “Sure I do. Are you here to watch the ballgame?”
“Yes. I want to cheer for you.”
“Ah, thank you. You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” She turned to follow a group of people making their way to the stands.
“What was that about?”
Levi looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure. She’s someone who’s always been around. I ran into her once at a gym in Oakland. She made a big deal about being from the same small town and meeting in the big city.” He shrugged, but his gaze stayed sharp as he watched the woman’s retreat.
A minivan pulled up beside them. Brad and Emma got out to unload their three kids and gear with practiced ease.
“Unca Levi! Unca Levi!” A little girl of about three with glossy black curls bounced up and down in her little white sandals. “Big dog, Unca Levi!”
“Lucy, sit.” Levi gave the order, and when the little girl would have launched herself at the dog, he dropped to one knee to wrap his arm around his niece. “Hold on, Amaya. You have to make sure a dog is friendly.” With Amaya’s big green eyes wide, Levi showed her how to hold out her hand for Lucy to sniff. When Lucy licked her fingers, Amaya erupted in giggles.
Happy toddlers were the best thing in the world.
“Her name is Lucy.” Levi smiled down at the enthralled child.
Amaya wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck, then beamed up at her father. “Her name’s Lucy.”
“So I heard.” Brad leaned down to lift up his daughter and set her on his shoulders. A dark-haired boy of about four or five stood beside Emma, who was securing a baby girl in a stroller that was packed full of what looked like every kid item that could possibly be needed.
Levi glanced inside the car as Brad pressed a button to slide the door closed. “You sure you didn’t leave anything? It looks like you’re hauling around enough gear to be ready for the apocalypse.”
“Your day will come, brother, so don’t get too smug. Let’s go.”
Zoey walked with Levi as Amaya asked with perfect pronunciation, “What’s the apocalypse?”
Once they settled themselves in the bleachers where puffy white clouds provided some shade, Levi and Brad left for the Guns dugout. Zoey found Lucy’s shirt, which she’d made into a cape since she hadn’t been able to get the arm holes to work for the big dog. Wearing her cape, and with the bandana around her neck, Lucy was ready for the day.
Maddy and her twins joined them, and then Dory arrived with her son, Adrian, and a tiny girl with chubby cheeks in a stroller. Trish and Landon were there, plus Levi’s other sister Jenny and her family. The entire group took up most of the first three rows. Zoey positioned herself at the end of the first row near the gate so she could bring Lucy out for her mascot duties when it was time. She was also saving a seat for Eva, who was currently working a shift at the concession stand.
People passing them to climb the steps to the seats higher in the bleachers stopped to pet Lucy, who wore a wide doggy grin and greeted them by raising her paw to shake. The announcer requested the mascots be brought onto the field, and Levi trotted from the dugout to open the gate for Lucy. A boy of about ten wearing a fireman’s helmet and a Hoses t-shirt with “Tank Jr.” on the back led out a Dalmatian puppy with a red bandana. The pup was at the gangly all-legs stage and tripped over itself walking out onto the field.
The dogs met at home plate and touched noses, then the pup started to dance around Lucy, who ignored him, more interested in the ball in Levi’s hand.
Zoey smiled and held out her hand to the young boy. “Hi, I’m Zoey and this is Lucy. What’s your name?”
“I’m Marcus. This is my dog. His name’s Sparky.”
Zoey glanced at Levi, half expecting him to roll his eyes at the predictable name. He didn’t, instead reaching down to pet Sparky, who promptly rolled on his back for a tummy rub. The rest of the players trotted onto the field as they were introduced. Sparky scrambled to his feet and reached up to tug on the bandana around Lucy’s neck. Lucy tolerated it for a minute, then opened her mouth in a wide yawn before lifting a big paw to knock Sparky to the ground and hold him there, which sent Marcus and the crowd into gales of laughter.
With the introductions over the game started. Zoey returned to her seat to find Eva there wearing a HLFD baseball cap and a red and white baseball jersey. While the rivalry between the teams may have been real, Zoey and Eva joined most of the crowd in cheering for both sides.
The contest was fun, especially because she got to watch Levi. That long, lean body stretching to catch a wild throw or swinging the bat to hit a ball over the head of the shortstop for a base hit was plain yummy. He moved with pure athletic grace, and she thought his enthusiasm reflected his sheer enjoyment in the game.
Enjoying the game, she was starting to understand the strategy of putting Monica Valdez at bat early in the lineup. Whenever she got on base, she challenged the pitcher and was a great base runner. Both she and Diego were fast and got the crowd excited when they stole bases. The crowd’s enthusiasm peaked whenever Jack or Tank came up to bat, because both men seemed to hit home runs with effortless ease. Lucy followed the ball, and Zoey had a tight hold on the leash to keep the dog from bounding onto the field after the ball.
The woman Levi had called Charissa cheered wildly whenever he made a play or came up to bat. She’d removed the jacket she’d been wearing before the game, and now sported the Guns jersey, and while team members’ jerseys weren’t personalized with their names, hers was. Across the back “Gallagher” had been stenciled in black lettering.
Toward the end of the sixth inning, Zoey exited the bleachers to be ready for Levi to drive her and Lucy onto the field in an HLPD SUV. They rode behind the fire truck driven by Tank; Marcus was sitting in the front passenger seat with Sparky on the boy’s lap, and the pup’s head hung out the window.
The official vehicles were parked at the edge of the field, and Zoey and Marcus led the dogs to home plate. Brad and the fire chief shared the microphone as they worked the crowd. Levi brought out a bag of tennis balls. He hurled balls one after another onto the field and Lucy took off after them, Sparky doing his best to keep up. The puppy tripped over his feet, sprung up again, and had the crowd roaring when he began to bark his disappointment as Lucy chased down the balls. The big dog snagged three tennis balls and trotted back with them in her mouth, Sparky trailing behind her.
When it was time for the game to get under way again, Zoey clipped on Lucy’s leash, whereupon she lay on her back, paws in the air, and refused to get up. Zoey cajoled, threatened, and tugged on the leash to no effect. Sparky sent Marcus into fits of laughter when the little dog imitated Lucy, rolling onto his back with his paws hanging.
“Come on, Lucy, time to go.”
Lucy sucked up the attention. She closed her eyes, her tail swishing in the dirt.
“Hang on,” Levi spoke in Zoey’s ear. “I’ve got an idea.” He trotted to the dugout, returning a minute later. He took the microphone from Brad. “Watch this, folks. Lucy, much like her owner, is after my own heart.” The “aww” from the crowd had warmth creeping up Zoey’s cheeks. She felt a little like a deer in the headlights. Levi held up the familiar red and yellow package for the audience to see. Lucy opened one eye when she heard the crinkling of plastic. “All I have to do is mention her favorite food, and Lucy will do anything. Watch this.” He eyed Lucy, then spoke again into the microphone. “Slim Jim.”
Lucy sprang to her feet, planted her rear to sit, her gaze riveted on Levi. Sparky must have figured something was up because he also jumped to his feet. Levi tore off a piece of Slim Jim, Lucy’s gaze following every movement. He tossed it and she snagged it from midair. Levi made sure Sparky got some, then lured both dogs off the field to the audience’s cheers.
Both teams came off the break with a competitive spirit, each determined to win. The score remained tied until the final half inning when Levi hit a double, and Jack followed it with his own double, allowing Levi to score the winning run. He crossed home plate to be met by a crush of his teammates, and then, instead of returning to the dugout, trotted to open the gate. With a flashing grin of triumph, he tilted Zoey’s head back for a searing kiss to the accompanying cheer of the crowd.
With Zoey’s hand in his, he led her and Lucy out onto the diamond, where both teams met to shake hands. Soon other family members and friends were spilling out onto the field.
Brad and the fire chief took the microphone to announce the dollar amount the fund-raiser had garnered to support local kids’ programs. This brought a round of applause, plus hugs and high fives. When the crowd began to break up, Levi had to run to the dugout to get his sport bag. Zoey made her way to the parking lot with Lucy.
She stopped short when she saw her car. “SLUT” had been scrawled in big red letters with what looked like lipstick on the driver’s window. She was starting to really hate that word.
Emma and her kids were coming toward the car. Zoey whipped out her phone and snapped a photo, then tugged off Lucy’s bandana to wipe away the lettering. No way did the Gallagher children need to see that foul word.
With Lucy secure in the backseat, Zoey folded the bandana so the lipstick was on the inside and stashed it in the glove box. By the time she’d helped Emma get the kids buckled in, Brad and Levi were back and helped stow the gear.
The plan was for the Gallagher clan to meet up at Emma and Brad’s lakeside home for an early evening barbecue. This gave Zoey a couple of hours to get home and put together the pasta salad she’d prepped, and for Levi to shower.
A barbecue would be fun, and she truly loved the Gallaghers, but she was starting to feel uncomfortable being constantly paired with Levi. He acted like they were a couple, other people saw them as a couple, and even in her own head she caught herself thinking in terms of her and Levi. And while she’d be damned if she’d allow herself to be intimidated, she was starting to think the choice of the word “slut” might have something to do with Levi.
What bothered her the most was that despite her efforts to limit their relationship, her feelings for him had deepened to something she wasn’t sure she wanted to put a label on. Maybe she needed to ease back a bit, let things with Levi ride until she had a better handle on them.
Levi dropped into the passenger seat, twisting around to pet Lucy. “You’re amazing, Luce. Taught little Sparky a thing or two.”
Zoey drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway. She glanced at Levi, then away when his gaze met hers.
“What’s going on?”
He was nothing if not perceptive. She picked up her phone off her lap and handed it to him, holding her thumb over the home button to unlock the screen. “Go to photos and look at the most recent picture.”
He did as directed, then stared at the screen. “What the hell? This was today?”
“It was on my car when I came out after the game.”
“You wiped it off? That was evidence.”
“Yes, I wiped it off. Your brother’s family was parked right next to me. I didn’t want those kids to see that.”
He grunted. “I can’t blame you for that. What did you use to wipe it off with? Did you throw it away?”
“I used Lucy’s bandana. It’s in the glove box.”
Levi retrieved the bandana, unfolding it to reveal the red smeared onto the fabric. He sniffed it. “Is this lipstick?”
“That’s what I thought.”
Carefully, he refolded it, setting the bandana on his knee. “We’re going to figure this out. That’s a promise.”