I said, you don’t have to make a federal case out of it,” she snapped. “What’s wrong with you? I was trying to be considerate, that’s all. I love my daughter, but kids can be exhausting and Kara isn’t any exception.”
“Sorry.”
She looked at him suspiciously but he seemed sincere. His fingers gentled, stroking the soft inner skin of her arm.
“Did I hurt you?” he whispered.
“No…of course not.”
“I’m just sensitive about that article.” Tyler grinned lopsidedly. “I thought the magazine was going to write a real story about the importance of dedication and hard work, instead they made it sound like I did nothing but eat caviar and chase women all day.”
“Not exact—”
“Mo-o-om, aren’t you guys coming?”
The insistent shout from the softball diamond made Megan jump. “They probably want to get started,” she said.
“Er…right.”
Tyler shook his head as he followed Megan toward the other players. Lord, he was losing his grip. Two hours of exposure to the woman and he was acting like a raving lunatic. On the other hand, it didn’t excuse his behavior, or the things he’d said.
“Hey.” He caught up in two long strides. “Am I forgiven?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not.”
The careless answer tightened his gut, but Tyler gritted his teeth rather than say something else he’d regret. It was much harder than he’d expected to pretend Megan didn’t mean anything to him. Though…male hormones and pride being what they were, he should have realized seeing her again wouldn’t be easy.
Hell, why couldn’t she have grown a third eye or something?
Glancing down at Megan, Tyler knew that wasn’t the answer. He had a dismal feeling she would attract him no matter what. It was as if she exuded some type of chemical that messed with the normal functioning of his brain.
“You’re on our team,” Kara said the minute they got close. “I already told Reece.”
“I see.” Tyler smiled at the child. One of his friends had a daughter close to her age, so he had some experience with kids. Not that much experience, but at least he knew better than to ruffle her hair or treat her like an infant. “How good are they?” he asked, gesturing toward the group clustered around Reece O’Bannon.
“We beat ’em two out of three times last year,” Grady declared. “Nobody gets a run off one of my pitches.”
“Granddad, you know the doctor said you couldn’t play so soon,” Megan scolded. “You’re benched.”
“I can pitch. The shoulder is as good as new.”
“You don’t want to tear that rotator cuff again, so go sit with Grams.” She pointed toward the small stand of bleachers with a no-nonsense look on her face.
Grady muttered something beneath his breath about uppity youngsters who thought they knew better than their elders, but Tyler detected a twinkle in the old man’s eyes.
“I heard that,” Megan said. “And it was your idea to make me captain this year. Now go.”
Grady retreated, though not before offering another protest.
“Eleanor writes every couple months, but she never told me Grady had had surgery,” Tyler said. “He’s what—at least seventy-five? How did he get hurt?”
Megan smiled. “He did it golfing, only he won’t tell us the whole story. And he’s eighty-one.”
Tyler looked toward the bleachers and whistled. If he could be that active at the age of sixty he’d consider himself lucky.
“All right,” Megan said. “Let’s get set up.” She swiftly gave directions to the team, assigning them positions and a batting order.
Good-natured jeering passed between the two teams, and they tossed a coin to determine who would bat first. Megan’s team lost the toss and they scattered to their positions on the diamond.
From his spot at first base Tyler watched her take her place as shortstop. He shouldn’t have taken her comments so seriously, but he didn’t have good sense when it came to Megan.
He was so deep in thought that the crack of a ball hitting wood made his head jerk around. A teenager he didn’t recognize was charging toward first base, determination in each step. There were shouts of “hurry,” “run” and “easy out” from all sides.
The right fielder scrambled after the moving ball and threw it in time for Tyler to tag the first out of the game. The next two outs weren’t so easy, and they barely prevented the other team from scoring, tagging the runner as he rounded third base, headed for home.
“Told ya we’d get you,” Megan told the other captain as they exchanged places on the field.
Reece tugged the braid that had fallen forward over Megan’s shoulder. “It’s just the first half of the first inning, kiddo. We have six and a half to go.”
“I’m not worried. By the way, I like your fiancée,” Megan said, nodding toward the slender blond woman by third base. “She seems really nice.”
“Thanks.” Reece looked uncomfortable for some reason, but there wasn’t time to ask questions, so Megan gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the idea of being married,” she murmured, guessing it might be cold feet affecting him.
“Right.”
He didn’t sound convinced and Megan supposed she wasn’t the most reliable source on the subject of wedded bliss. Most of the family knew about Brad and the way he’d played around. She squeezed Reece’s hand, wishing she could promise him happily-ever-after. Problem was, she didn’t believe in happily-ever-after. She wasn’t sure she ever had.
As for Tyler…Megan watched as he leaned against the fence, ten feet away from the dugout where the rest of the team was waiting. His arms were crossed over his chest and his posture reminded her of someone braced for something.
What?
A blow?
An unwelcome overture from the family? That seemed most likely considering the way he’d never visited. He probably didn’t want to get too friendly.
A small frown gathered between Megan’s eyes.
Tyler confused her; he always had. And his continued resistance to the O’Bannons confused her most of all. Eleanor and Grady loved him and worried about him. They wanted Tyler to be part of the family, but he acted as if they were little more than strangers.
Against her better judgment, Megan walked around the backstop and headed straight for Tyler.
“Why don’t you come over and sit with the
