Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2 (28 page)

“With her camp gear, yes.”

She finished the notation in her phone and moved toward him. “Done, and I hope you don't mind me tagging along. I think it will go quicker that way.”

“Mind? No, I don't mind. Not in the least, Kimber. Thank you.”

He took her hand, sweet and polite, his tone laced with simple gratitude, and then...

Oh, then...

His gaze went tighter, wondering, as his eyes met hers. His eyes strayed to her mouth, but he didn't pause to ask permission.

She didn't want him to. The Drew she remembered, the guy she'd been attracted to for years, made decisions and stuck by them, and that's just what he did now as he lowered his mouth to hers.

Was it as wonderful as the teenage Kimberly imagined?

Better.

Unbelievably better.

And when he finally broke the kiss and pulled her into a long, warm hug, the rich, smooth beat of his heart felt as if she'd finally come home.

“I won't apologize.” His voice sounded gruff and endearing, rolled into one deep, dear tone.

“I'd smack you if you did.”

She felt his face move as he smiled. “And I'm not saying it won't happen again, Kimber.”

She tried to pull back, but he kept her right there in his arms, against his heart. “Except—”

“Nope.” He released her then and took a step back as he heard Amy and Rory approaching. “Remember the rules. I get final say in everything.”

“Those rules referenced Shelby's wedding,” she scolded.

“I've upgraded them to an all-inclusive mandate. Hey, kid.” He stepped back to make more room for Amy. “Coach called, and you're on the team. Are you ready to head home, get changed and hit the practice field tonight?”

“Yes!” Delight spiked Amy's tone. “I can't believe I'm getting the chance to play on the same fields you did. Do you have any idea how cool this is?”

“Let's see how cool you think it is after tonight,” Drew warned her. “Coach is a great guy, but I watched him last week. He's tough.”

“Well, I'm a Slade,” Amy told him, as if that said it all. “So no worries.”

They turned to go, but before Drew followed her out the door, he gave Kimberly's hand one last squeeze, just enough to say he hadn't forgotten the beauty of their kiss.

Neither had she.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“A
ll right, Slade. Let's see what you've got.” Coach Cutler motioned Amy over, waved Drew off and tossed Amy a jersey to use for the scrimmage. “You think you can handle second base?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We'll give it a look.” He jerked his head toward the field, and Amy trotted out to the center of the infield, looking confident.

“You scared?” Kimberly whispered as she came up behind him and poked him in the back.

“I'm currently fighting the urge to either throw up or go out there and help her.”

Kimberly laughed softly. “That's good parenting, then. Let 'em fall, let 'em fail. It builds character.”

“I heard your parents say that all the time.” He dropped his gaze to hers, let it linger long enough to see color rise to her cheeks, then smiled. “They did well.”

The scrimmage started. They found seats just below Corinne and Tee. When the first batter grounded out to second, Amy scooped the ball and sent a bullet to first base. When the batter was called out by a step, she gave a casual nod, made the “one out” sign with her pointer finger and reassumed her position.

Drew breathed.

His girl knew the game, just like he did. She was a Yankees fan, she had pinstriped pillows on her bed and her favorite gifts were tickets to Yankee Stadium.

“Smooth moves,” Corinne said above him. “Watching those two out there takes me back twenty years or so, Drew.”

He was just about to reply when the next batter hit a line drive toward Callan at shortstop. He fielded the ball cleanly, threw to first, then plowed into Amy as she was moving behind him for backup.

Amy hit the dirt hard.

Callan didn't stop to offer a hand up or apologize. He moved back to his position, held up the hand signal for two outs and pretended as if nothing had happened.

Drew had to hold himself in his seat. Amy had played in tough leagues from the beginning. She'd taken her share of hits, but not from her own teammates. At least not intentionally, and Drew had seen the whole thing. Callan had mowed her over on purpose, showing disrespect. Was it because she was a girl or his daughter?

Drew didn't know, but Callan outweighed Amy by an easy twenty pounds, and there was no room for bullying tactics in baseball.

“I'll kill him later,” Corinne promised. Her firm tone said she was only half kidding. “He knows better, Drew.”

Drew stayed quiet, watching, and when their team hustled in after the third out, Coach Cutler pulled Callan aside. His face and hand motions said Callan was getting the dressing-down he deserved. The boy's face darkened, and then he broke all the rules of baseball deportment by throwing down his glove and cap before he stomped off the field and toward the parking lot.

Corinne stood up, and Drew fully expected her to dash down the bleacher steps and race to the car to comfort her son.

She surprised him by yelling, “Batter up!” and then reclaimed her seat.

Drew turned. “You're not going after him?”

“And reward his bratty behavior? No, sir.” She shook her head and handed him a bin of pretzels. “I came to watch a ball game, and that's what I intend to do. He can stew in the car all he wants, but it's way more fun being in the field or up at the plate.”

“He'll be in big trouble when he gets home,” Tee predicted.

“Hush, you. I'll handle your brother. You have your own host of interesting behaviors to contend with, I believe.”

Tee grinned, and when she did, it was her father's smile and easygoing attitude that shone through. “Grandma says I'm a piece of cake compared to Callan. Of course, she also says Callan reminds her of Aunt Kimberly sometimes. Is that true, Aunt Kim? Did you have a temper like Callan?” She leaned down around Kimberly's shoulder, making it impossible to ignore the question.

“There might be a slight family resemblance.” Kimberly reached up and tugged Tee's short hair. “Luckily we mature. Eventually.”

“I can hardly wait,” Corinne added. “But if he follows his aunt's footsteps, I've got a long road ahead of me.”

“Worth it, though.” Drew kept his gaze forward but nudged Kimberly's shoulder to let her know she was most definitely worth it. “Your cop buddy's here again.”

“I see him. Working the crowd, a born politician.”

As he watched Brian circulate among the folks watching the scrimmage from the sides of the baseball diamond, Jandro's invitation came back to him. Two men he respected thought he could do the job. So did he, and the timing was perfect. Amy glanced his way as she hustled off the field at the end of the next inning. Her beaming smile convinced him.

He might not get chosen to fill Pete's shoes for the remaining years of his term, but he'd lose nothing by putting his name in for consideration.

“How come you didn't bring Rocky?” Tee wondered. “Everybody thinks he's a cool dog.”

“He is,” Drew agreed. “But when he's out in a crowd, he's working.”

Tee frowned.

“He's a police dog,” Drew explained.

“Right, a K-9 partner.”

Duh, Slade. The kid's from a cop family. She knows the drill.
“He can't turn it on and off automatically. So if he needs downtime, I leave him home.”

“And when Rocky stares out the window, Mags goes ballistic, jumping up and down, barking like crazy.” Kimberly held up her cell phone. A picture of Mags showed her paused, midleap, a flustered bundle of fur.

Drew winced. “I didn't know that. Sorry.”

“We have video proof.” Kimberly touched the screen. Their section of the bleachers heard the Yorkie's protective yapping, and then Emily had zeroed in on Rocky's classic stoic countenance in the upstairs window. Cool, calm, unflappable, much like his owner.

“He totally ignores her.” Tee laughed out loud. “And drives her crazy by doing it.”

“It's a man thing,” Kimberly assured her. She didn't look at Drew, but it felt like she had. “Although every now and again, it's good to let down your guard.”

He'd let his guard down today, kissing her. And thinking of that kiss made him wonder when they might be able to try a repeat performance, which was exactly why he shouldn't be thinking of it.

A text from Daryl pushed his thoughts aside.
Trouble.

He stood, palmed Tee's head with a smile and moved to the aisle. “Duty calls. Kimberly, can you get the kid home for me?”

“Glad to. Everything okay?”

“Daryl needs to go over a couple of things.” He moved down the stairs and waved to Amy. When she nodded, he knew she understood.

He started his car, pretended not to notice Callan's glare from two cars down and headed south when he hit East Lake Road. Below the Abbey, where the tapering lake brought roads together, Daryl waited in a graveled pull-off near a state-operated boat launch.

“What have we got?”

Daryl pointed up. A majestic view of the Abbey rose above them, the broad yard tapering to the tree line below. “Narrow water means someone could take target practice on the motorcade or guests. But how do you close down East Lake Road on an autumn weekend when we're already closing down West Lake Road and blocking boat traffic? This whole town's gonna hate us. And they're going to hate Rick.”

Small businesses depended on summer and fall season weekends to make their living. The people living along the upper and lower lake roads might like to get out of their homes at some point. “And it's peak season for fall tourists, even without a festival that weekend.

“Temporary shutdown as people gather?” Daryl wondered. “A two-hour window?”

“Not enough,” Drew replied. “We're going to make some people mad, Daryl. The downside of high security in modern times.”

“Let's plug it into the computer model tomorrow,” Daryl suggested. “Didn't Kimberly say they were picking up the flowers on this side of the lake and transporting them in?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that can't happen,” Daryl offered mildly. “We need everything in place forty-eight hours prior so we have full security shut down.”

“Agreed. And we need to see the reverend tomorrow. I want all principal players sheltered in place on Friday. We'll give them the full wing of the retreat center so none of the family or attendants are on the buses.”

“But we deck out two of the transport buses to look wedding-friendly.”

“Yes.”

“You gonna tell Kimberly?”

“No.”

“She's not going to like that.”

“She'll understand after the fact.”

Daryl's wince said he wasn't so sure. Neither was Drew, but security ranked first on the priority list. Kimberly was great at her job, but the size of the Gallagher family alone meant one wrong word could leak information. Nothing was going to go wrong with this wedding, and not just because it was a presidential candidate's daughter getting married.

It was his friend's kid, and Drew would do whatever he needed to make sure Shelby had a beautiful day. The only way he could keep Kimberly in the dark was to back away from his growing attraction to her. After sharing that downright amazing kiss, the thought of pushing Kimberly away made September seem ridiculously long.

* * *

“Thanks for bringing her home.” Drew slung an arm around Amy's shoulders and tweaked her ball cap once Kimberly parked the car that evening. “How'd the scrimmage go?”

“Two walks and two pop-ups.” Amy's disgusted tone said she was mad at herself for not hitting well. “We're playing this team again tomorrow night, then practicing three days in a row.”

“You'll find your sweet spot,” Drew told her. “New place, new pitching.”

She yawned. “I'm grabbing a shower and going to bed.”

“No ice cream?”

“Too tired.”

“You did okay tonight, kid.” Kimberly fist-bumped Amy. “It was pure Slade, through and through.”

“Can we go to the batting cages tomorrow?” Amy asked as she reached for the screen door handle.

“No time. Sorry.”

“Okay.” She went inside, lugging her equipment bag over her shoulder.

“She's pretending not to be disappointed.”

“Welcome to the life of the single parent.” Drew shrugged one shoulder. “If it doesn't work on my schedule, it doesn't happen. Unless her grandparents are in town.”

“What if I take her?” Kimberly suggested. “Maybe a few rounds with the pitching machine will boost her confidence.”

His expression shifted slightly; then he shook his head. “Amy knows she wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. She made choices that put her in this position. She knows I have to work, that I'm not at her beck and call, and that's the consequences of changing the game.”

“Oh.” It took every bit of Gallagher gumption for Kimberly to shut her mouth and not say more. “Okay, then.”

She started up the rock path her parents had created two decades before, waiting for him to call her back.

He didn't.

That stung.

She'd spent the day thinking about Drew and that kiss, the sweetness of old and new feelings converging to make a fresh beginning.

His cool brush-off brought that all to a dead stop.

She walked into the house, determined. She'd been tossed aside by her former fiancé. She'd been dismissed by the company she'd served for seven years. She wasn't in the mood to be shrugged off again by anyone. From this point forward, she'd work with Drew as needed, and nothing more than that, because no one would be allowed to treat Kimberly Gallagher casually ever again.

She thought the public humiliation of being dumped personally and professionally had smartened her up. Not enough, it seemed, or Drew wouldn't have claimed that kiss.

She didn't stop to chat with Rory as she cruised through the living room and climbed the stairs. She went to bed scowling and woke up pretty much the same way, and that wasn't Drew's fault. It was hers. But she'd make sure she wouldn't be tempted again. And if she was tempted?

She'd shrug it off as bad news, all around.