Banks Field, located on the university campus, was the home of the Iowa Hawkeyes’ baseball team and was only two miles from Maddie’s apartment. It didn’t take them long to make it to the game once they finally left Maddie’s. It took them a while, however, to arrive at her apartment because the Friday night traffic was heavier than usual due to all of the extra people in the city. All of this led to them missing the start of the game. Maddie really didn’t mind. She was enjoying talking to Rick.
After quickly changing their clothing at Maddie’s apartment, they drove together in Rick’s truck and caught up on each other’s lives as they drove. Maddie was happy to see that Rick seemed impressed that she taught kindergarten at the Coralville elementary school where his niece and nephew went to school. He even commented that he noticed when they were younger that she always had a nice way with children. A “born teacher and nurturer” was how Rick described her. The fact that he noticed that about her and remembered it after all of the years since she last saw him filled her with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. She remembered a lot of things about him, too.
When Rick began talking about his current career, Maddie listened with her full attention. It was apparent to her that he loved what he did for a living and was proud of it, too. He had talked about doing it when he was younger. But she had to wonder about the times during his monologue when she saw his jaw clench and his hands tighten on the steering wheel. He saw some things that no one should during the last eight years. She knew that. He had experienced things that would try the souls of even the strongest of men, and her heart went out to him as she remained silent and let him talk. He didn’t go into detail and chose only to skim the surface of his life and memories. She wouldn’t have known what to say, anyway.
He told her that he entered the Navy after he graduated from college and became a Marine Fleet corpsman in the Marine Fleet Force. He explained that corpsmen were the medical personnel who rendered medical treatments in the field with the Marines or served in Naval hospitals and on ships. She already knew that. She looked it up after his sister-in-law told her what he did and where he was. Then, two years ago, after serving two tours in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan, he came home to Iowa. With a few good words from his superiors and his friends, he was hired as a paramedic with the largest emergency medical service group in Iowa City.
After telling her that, he stopped talking and gave her one of his lopsided grins again before he changed the subject to lighthearted gossip about people they both knew and the changes that had taken place around town. The building boom of the 1990s and first part of the 2000s had added many new businesses and housing developments that changed the area landscape quite a bit. He was in town during the growth spurt, just as she was, and saw the changes. He missed watching the slowdown, though.
Because he changed the topic of their conversation, she knew that he no longer wanted to talk about himself and wanted to lighten the heavy mood that had settled into the truck cab. Although she wanted to hear more about his experiences, she didn’t push it and jumped into the subject change with both feet. Soon, she was making observations about the city and some people that they used to know that had Rick laughing and joking along with her.
The parking lot was full by the time they arrived at the stadium, and it took several more minutes to find a parking spot. Even more minutes passed before they were inside the stadium and in line in the concession area to get their food. The smells of hot grease, grilling hamburgers, and hot dogs wafted through the air and made Maddie’s mouth water in anticipation. A game wasn’t a game without concession stand food. The sound of the announcer introducing the name of the cleanup hitter for the visiting team let them know that, while late, they weren’t as late as they thought they would be. The good feelings that Maddie had about Rick and how the evening was going continued as they waited in line and continued their conversation.
A cheer went out that was followed with We Will Rock You by Queen. The Hawkeyes had survived the top of the first inning without allowing a run, and the crowd showed its approval. So far, so good! She was on a date with a man whom she had always liked and found attractive; they were at a baseball game with a happy crowd; and they were next in line to order their food. What could be better? As they waited for their hot dogs, a soda for Rick, and a beer for her, Maddie continued to talk happily about being a kindergarten teacher, her students, and her plans for the summer. She had found a summer position as a community education softball coach to supplement her income from teaching summer school.
* * * * *
She didn’t notice that Rick became quiet and a little preoccupied while they waited to order. He would smile at her and nod his head at the right times to indicate that he was listening, but he was also looking around him at the people and the various nooks and crannies trying to find anything unusual. He knew that it was just the hyper-vigilance that came over him when he entered a crowded area or a place with a lot of hiding places. The uneasy feeling that came over him in crowded places was becoming less severe with time. Thankfully, he never got it when he was working. When he was working, his focus was on the person or people whom he was called in to help, and the surroundings faded into the background. He wasn’t there to help anyone, now.
When he could see that everything looked clear, he took a deep breath and focused once more on Maddie. She was telling him about her summer work plans. She said something about coaching softball and summer school, and her cheerful enthusiasm and the sound of her laughter helped to ease the tension that he felt as soon as they entered the building.
Once they had their food and drinks in hand, they made their way to their seats in the first row along the third base line. The stadium was packed with Hawkeye fans and Gopher fans from Minnesota, but Maddie and Rick were still able to spot her brothers, Jeffrey and Kelly, sitting in her parents’ season ticket seats behind home plate. Her brothers were too focused on the game and on a couple of attractive females sitting in the row in front of them to notice Rick and Maddie. Once they found their seats, Rick spent a few minutes looking over the stands. He became tense again while he did so before he turned his attention back to Maddie and to the action on the field. Once again, he began to relax when everything looked normal. The last time he came to a game, which was a year ago, he had to leave after a few minutes. The stress was too much for his nerves.
But he knew that tonight would be different. Tonight, with Maddie beside him, he could feel her calming presence wash over him. She had a way about her that put him at ease. He didn’t know what it was about her that did it, but seeing her next to him, hearing her voice, and feeling the heat from her arm next to his on the shared armrest helped him. He watched her face as she watched the field and took bites of her hot dog without moving her eyes away from the action. Because he knew that he was staring at her, he turned his head forward and watched the action, too.
The Hawkeyes’ player at bat stood at a full count of three balls and two strikes. The pitcher threw a curve ball that was met squarely by the end of the wooden bat. Home run! Maddie and the rest of the crowd went wild when the ball flew over the right field fence, and Rick clapped along with them.
This was his sport, and he remembered the feeling of homering over that same fence when he played for the Hawkeyes. The Sullivan kids may be at home on the ice, but a baseball diamond was where he always shone as an athlete. On that and a football field. He had been a defensive end for the Hawkeye’s football team, too. Maddie was a warmer weather athlete, too, because she said that she earned a softball scholarship to college. He didn’t remember her playing softball, but he remembered her playing soccer. She was good. She burned him several times one afternoon when he had volunteered to be the goaltender during one of her practice sessions at her house.
He looked at her again and knew that he was staring. She glanced over at him, smiled warmly, and looked forward again to watch the next batter. She really was a nice person and a lot of fun. She was always cheerful and positive.
She was beautiful, too, in that wholesome and sexy way of hers. Her blue eyes sparkled impishly in her heart-shaped face with the slightly upturned nose that, even now, still had a few freckles. Her light brown hair was long and loose down her back, and a few strands fell over her shoulder to curl over her chest. He was glad that she wasn’t petite like her mom and her sister. He wouldn’t feel like he would break her if he were to take her in his arms. Not that she was heavy. She was just right, and that dress she wore earlier showed him that.
What a dress! Wow! The dress displayed her long legs, toned arms, and breasts perfectly. It was too bad about the shoulder strap incident because he would have liked to see her in it longer. But, what she wore now was nice, too. She was dressed in jeans and an electric blue knit shirt that made the color of her eyes pop. Her clothes were just right for a ball game.
To tell the truth, he preferred going to a game on a first date instead of going to a fancy dinner, anyway; although, most women would find it strange or unromantic. Spending your time dressed up and sitting in a fancy restaurant wasn’t real and often left people unable to be themselves. It was a waste of time because you are left not really knowing anything more about the other person than you did when you first arrived. Then, barring an annoying habit that was an immediate deal breaker, you had to go out again to find out if you even wanted to see that person again. It was a waste of time.
There were two ways to find out if a woman was worth dating regularly as far as he was concerned. If she would go fishing or go to a ball game, and enjoy herself to boot, then she was easy going and low-maintenance enough for his taste. He lost his appetite for the high-maintenance type after Clarissa.
“I thought that was you? I thought that you weren’t coming. What gives?” The sudden slap on his shoulder caused him to jump, and he caught himself just in time before he threw himself over Maddie to protect her. Once the surprise left, he cursed and turned to glare at his younger brother, Joe, who was at the game with his wife Mary. “Oops, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Joe continued. “I wish that I knew that you were coming, though. I’m done with your miter saw. I would have brought it along if I had known that you were planning on being here.”
“You coming out tomorrow to do some fishing?” Rick asked him. Donnie and Kathy were bringing the kids out to make a day of it. Joe and Mary hadn’t said what their plans were one way or another.
“Planning on it. I’ll bring it then. Mary and I will also pick up Gramps and bring him with us because we’re closest to his apartment. Man, will he be surprised with what you’ve done with the old place. He won’t recognize it. Hey, I remember you.” Joe finally noticed Maddie and turned his attention to her. Maddie and Mary were busy talking but stopped as soon as Joe interrupted.
“Joe, you remember Maddie Sullivan, don’t you?” Mary said when she heard Joe’s comment. “We were on the same softball team together. She was a year behind me in college. Remember? She won the conference MVP award in her junior year.”
“Sure, I remember. You’re one of the Sullivan clan. Rick and I used to hang out with Kevin and Mark when we were younger. Man, those two could play hockey. It’s not surprising that they both made it to the NHL. Mark won a bronze at the Olympics, too, if I remember right. It’s a shame about Kevin not going because of the injury that year. They would have taken the gold, for sure, with him on the team. I haven’t seen them in years. Your sister’s that figure skater, isn’t she? You know the one I’m talking about. She’s the one who won all of those medals. Or is she one of your cousins. I can’t keep all of the Sullivans straight. There’s too many of you.”
“She’s my sister,” Maddie answered with a grin. “It’s nice to see you again, Joe. Congratulations on your marriage. You’ve got yourself a winner in Mary.”
“So she tells me everyday,” Joe laughed.
“Don’t you forget it, either,” Mary responded with a laugh and a slap on Joe’s shoulder.
“As if I could, darling.”
“So how’ve you been?” Maddie asked Joe.
“Great! You remember my brother, Donnie, don’t you? He’s married to Kathy. A few years ago we bought out our dad and took over the overhead door company. It got a little tight with the recession, but we’re back to booming again. Storm damage may be bad for homeowners but it’s sure been good for business.” He laughed self-consciously and shook his head as he said the last part. There were still parts of Iowa City that were recovering from both the tornado and the flood that had hit the city a few years earlier. “Kathy told us that you’re a teacher at her kids’ school. That’s so cool! So Rick, are you and Maddie here together or what? Did you guys just run into each other and switch seats with someone so that you could sit together?”
“No, Joe. We’re on a date,” Rick told him with a steely glare. The look clearly told him to “get lost.”
“Really?” Joe’s tone indicated that he had his doubts about that. Because Rick hadn’t dated anyone in the two years since he came home and even longer if you counted the Afghanistan tour and hospital time, it was understandable that Joe would be skeptical. His brother’s tone bothered Rick, nonetheless.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go back to our seats and leave Rick and Maddie alone,” Mary said with a telling look at Joe as she took his hand. “It was nice to see you again, Maddie. We should get together and catch up. I’ll get your information from Rick. Have a nice evening.”
“Thanks, Mary. I’d like that. It was nice seeing you again, too,” Maddie said warmly before Mary and Joe began to walk away. After they were gone, she turned to Rick and said, “So Mary Anderson and your brother, Joe. They make a cute couple, don’t they?”
“I guess.”
Maddie grinned at his expression and went back to watching the game. His brother could be a pain in the ass, and Rick just knew that he would make something of he and Maddie going on a date. Some brotherly ribbing was in store for tomorrow. You could bet on it. A few minutes later he heard her say, “That hot dog was good, but I should have ordered two of them.” Rick chuckled at that. Good! She wasn’t afraid to let a man see her eat. Definitely, not like Clarissa!
“I could go for another one, too. Wait here, and I’ll get two more and a couple of malt cups.” He began to stand up but was stopped when she reached out and put her hand on his forearm. She kept it there with her palm spread over the bald eagle tattoo, which allowed the warmth from her hand to seep into his skin. Was it his imagination? Was there an electric shock when she touched him? Damn! Her hand touching him felt good.
“Ooh, why don’t you wait here? I can see the girl coming around.”
Rick resettled himself in his chair and got comfortable. Then she moved her hand away, and he felt like he had lost something important. Ridiculous thought. For the rest of the evening he tried to shift his focus to the game, but he was drawn over and over again to watching Maddie. She would catch him staring from time to time but always smiled warmly at him. They talked about their lives in between the long stretches of watching the players and the breaks in the action. A few more people stopped by to talk to them. They were either parents of Maddie’s students or former classmates of his or hers.
Despite the initial problems with the dress and his hyper-vigilance issues, it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening. Rick was certainly glad that it didn’t go as originally planned, and he would have to tell Steve later to thank his girlfriend, Lisa, for the loan of the dress. If it had not been for that dress, then the evening would have been completely different. He enjoyed himself, and he enjoyed being with Maddie. She certainly passed the test for someone he would like to see again.
A sudden and uncomfortable nervous feeling entered his belly at the thought of dating Maddie. A single date was one thing, but it had been a long time since he had seriously dated anyone. Was he ready to date anyone? Was he ready for a relationship? He wasn’t sure about that. If this was something meaningless, if they were just passing a good time together, then ok. He could do that. He could handle a meaningless fling. When it didn’t matter, sex and a few laughs were easy.
But this was Maddie. He couldn’t have sex and a few laughs with her. For starters, she wasn’t the type of woman to have flings. She was the type of woman a man dated when he was serious about wanting a relationship. Would it be fair to her to date her?
He had issues. He had several issues, in fact, that he was still dealing with that would put a strain on any relationship. He was attracted to her and wanted to keep seeing her, but he had to consider what she would have to deal with being with him. A relationship with him wouldn’t be easy, and she deserved better.
Then there was the whole mess with Kevin that still remained unresolved. The last time he saw Kevin was when he came home after basic training and before he went to the Naval Hospital Corps School. Kevin had married Clarissa, and they were getting ready to move to Pittsburg for the start of the hockey season. He went to talk to Kevin to wish them well. As far as Rick was concerned, Kevin was going to need it with Clarissa. But Kevin was angry with him and acted like he couldn’t get rid of Rick fast enough. After Kevin said some things that didn’t make any sense, he showed Rick the door, and that was that.
Their friendship was over.
Rick still didn’t know what had set Kevin off, unless that was Kevin’s way of dealing with the guilt. He did, technically, steal Rick’s girlfriend even though both Rick and Clarissa knew that their relationship was all but over when he left for military training.
The Hawkeyes scored again, and Maddie cheered along with the crowd. Rick watched her face with regret. No, dating Maddie would be a bad idea. If they started dating, it would drive a wedge between Maddie and Kevin, and he didn’t want to be responsible for that. He and Maddie dating wouldn’t go over well with the rest of her family, either. It was best for her if he said “goodbye” at the end of the evening and left it at that. She would be better off without him in her life. The thought hurt like hell because he wanted to see her again, and let’s face it, he wanted to take her to bed. He was very attracted to her. A part of him knew that she was what he needed in his life.
When the game was over and the cheerful crowd dispersed, Rick decided to take Maddie straight home. There wasn’t any point in prolonging the evening when he knew that he wouldn’t be seeing her again after that night. But as Maddie chatted cheerfully on their way back to his truck, he listened to her and watched the way the parking lot lights cast a glow over her hair and face. He could feel himself being drawn in again.
Her voice was soft. Her eyes were warm, and he couldn’t help it. He stared at her. When she reached out and took his larger hand in hers, the electricity shot up his arm. He softly squeezed her hand to make sure that it was real.
He supposed that the silence in the truck on the drive back to Maddie’s apartment would be called companionable by anyone but him. Each second that ticked by was leading him closer to saying “goodbye.” Each second caused his nerves to fray a little bit more. This was what was best for her. There was too much water under this bridge and too many rapids to deal with for a relationship between them to work. Remember that.
When he found a place to park in her parking lot and turned off the engine, he turned to look at her and tell her. But her beguiling smile stopped him, and the desire to kiss her just once was such a physical force that he had to use all of his strength to open his door and get out.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” he told her roughly when he opened up her door and helped her down from the high seat.
“I’d like that,” she answered with that soft look back in her eyes. “Would you like to come in for a few minutes? I can make some coffee or tea. If you prefer something else, I can see what I have on hand.” Rick gave her a wry smile. A few more minutes with her wouldn’t hurt.
“Coffee would be fine. Thanks.” He walked beside her up the sidewalk and into the building. Her apartment was on the second floor. He could feel that his nerves were ready to snap with each step that he took. Everything in him was telling him not to tell her, that she was exactly what he needed, that she was what he had been looking for. But he had learned as a Marine corpsman to swallow the pain and fear so that he could do what needed to be done. Duty came first. When they reached her door, she gave him a shy glance and unlocked the door.
“You know, Maddie, maybe I shouldn’t stay for coffee after all,” he said as soon as they were inside. Tell her. Tell her. She turned and looked at him with a warm, bewitching gaze. Her lips were turned up in a smile that drew his eyes to their shape. Tell her, and get it over with! Then one of her hands touched his chest, and he was lost. Before he could stop himself, he leaned over and kissed her. Softly at first, just to test the texture and taste of her lips. When her lips parted under his, he deepened the kiss and invaded her mouth with his tongue. His arms went around her to pull her closer, and her breasts flattened against his chest.
He felt like a man dying of thirst who had been given a cool drink of water. He wanted more. She kissed him back with the same hunger that he felt for her, pulled him closer, and rubbed her body against his in a way that would leave her with no doubt that he wanted her. Eventually, they both had to come up for air, and when they did, he removed his arms and stepped away as if he had been burned. Tell her. You have to tell her now.
“Goodnight, Maddie,” was all that he managed to say when he was able to find his voice again. Awkwardly, he reached behind him and felt the doorknob. Good God! She was beautiful with her eyes full of desire and her lips swollen from his kiss. He needed to get out of there before he wouldn’t be able to leave.
“Goodnight, Rick,” she answered in a dreamy voice. He nodded his head, opened her door, and stepped over the threshold. Once he was on the other side of the closed door, he ran his hands over his face in frustration. It took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Rick Davidson, you are such a chicken shit!