Wren stopped in front of him, still avoiding eye contact. Her lower lip trembled. “I’m sorry, Lee-by.”
Oh, this kid. Everything about her made his heart ache. He sank to the ground until he was eye level. “Wren, I’m not upset with you. Everyone makes mistakes. Would you like a hug?”
Wren drew in a ragged breath, then nodded.
Levi stretched his arms wide, and Wren ran into them.
He hugged her gently, then closed his eyes. Thank You, Lord.
They still had miles to go in establishing trust, but this felt like a win. A tiny one, anyway.
Wren pulled back, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Can we go home now?”
Nodding, he stood and swallowed against an unexpected lump lodged in his throat. Dad and Jasper could easily handle the store that afternoon. Wren needed him.
She slipped her hand into his.
He stole a quick glance at Savannah. Sniffling, she wiped at the moisture on her cheeks. When she met his gaze, he offered a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Together, they crossed the street to their cars parked in the library lot. He never would’ve known how to handle this without Savvy’s help. Guilt swept in. He shouldn’t have dismissed her insight about story time so quickly. Sure, he’d hired her to babysit and decorate the parade float, but he hadn’t anticipated relying on her to coach him through scenarios like this. If Wren stayed with him through the fall, what would he do when Savvy found a teaching job?
Chapter Seven
The ninth inning of the softball game couldn’t end soon enough.
Savannah stood in the outfield, dragging the toe of her sneaker through the grass. She fiddled with a loose thread on Wyatt’s well-loved mitt and tried to pay attention to whatever was happening at home plate. Her thoughts wandered easily. Since the story-time debacle on Monday, the week had flown by in a blur. She’d kept Wren occupied and put in long hours on the parade float. There was still so much work to do before the parade next week. She’d rather be up to her eyeballs in papier-mâché than spend one more minute playing softball.
Mainly because this particular reunion activity reminded her way too much of her high school PE class. How ironic that she stood here on the field as an adult with almost the exact same cast of characters. The only highlight of the afternoon? Well, two highlights actually—it wasn’t raining, and she had a great view of Levi’s muscular shoulders.
He’d been roped into playing shortstop, and for all his protests that he didn’t want to be part of this particular reunion activity, he’d played well. One of his at-bats had brought in a teammate who’d scored a run, and he’d caught the ball once, making an out for the opposing team. She, on the other hand, had cost her team dearly when the ball dropped onto the grass and rolled between her legs, allowing a runner to get to second base. Then she’d struck out twice. Three cringey details Candace had broadcast to anyone and everyone. Savannah glared at Candace, who was waiting on deck to bat. Why did the woman care so much about winning a casual softball game? And why did Savannah let Candace get to her so easily? Levi glanced over his shoulder and smiled, pulling her from her spiral of negativity. Wow, he was handsome. And such a good sport. Still smiling in spite of his brother and Candace’s juvenile behavior.
“Yay, Lee-by!” Wren’s adorable cheer drew chuckles from the handful of spectators sitting on the metal bleachers outside the fence.
“You’ve got this, Candace,” Jasper called from the dugout. Their teammate had just struck out. Candace strode toward the batter’s box, already yammering at the man who’d volunteered to be the umpire. Jasper and Candace had conveniently been placed on the same team, and they’d made it very clear they fully intended to win. Savannah had never cared about the score in any game in her life. At least, not any sporting event in recent memory. But today she sort of cared. Mostly because she wanted Levi to smile at her again.
“What are you, twelve?” she scolded herself quietly.
The pitcher tossed his first pitch to Candace. Please not to me, please not to me, Savannah silently pleaded. Thankfully, Candace swung and missed. Savannah resisted the urge to pump her fist. That wouldn’t go over well.
Levi glanced over his shoulder again. “Get ready. This ball might be coming your way.”
“No, no, no.” Savannah shook her head. “That would not be good. Wanna trade places?”
Levi chuckled. “Nope. Too late. Just keep your eye on the ball and catch it.”
Right. Like it was that easy. But she punched her glove with her fist like she’d seen some of the others do.
Levi grinned. “That’s my girl.”
Her breath hitched. The words on his lips sounded so convincing. Had he said that because he meant it? Or so others would buy into their fake-dating scheme? Tori had been sitting in the bleachers for most of the game, although Savannah didn’t risk looking for her now. Just in case the ball did come her way.
Candace’s second swing propelled the ball across the baseline toward her own team’s dugout. Foul ball. Candace turned and said something to the umpire. He shook his head. The pitcher caught the ball, then wound up and lobbed the next pitch toward home plate. Candace swung again with a dramatic grunt. This time, her bat connected with the ball and sent it sailing into the air. Anticipation swirled in Savannah’s stomach as she squinted into the sun. She never wanted to be the heroine of a softball game, but her fear of the ball coming to her suddenly morphed into something decidedly different. Something that felt a little like determination.
“Oh dear,” Savannah said, squinting as she lost sight of the ball in the sun.
“This is you, Savvy,” Levi called out.
“I know—that’s the problem.”
The ball filled her vision again, hurtling toward her. Don’t mess this up. Somehow, she shuffled her feet to get under it. She squeezed her eyes shut just as the ball landed with a satisfying thunk in her mitt. The stinging sensation in her palm was so worth it. A cheer erupted, and Savannah stood perfectly still, afraid to look. But then she opened her eyes, glanced down at her mitt and then blinked in disbelief. Really?
Levi jogged toward her, his face split wide with a proud grin.
“I got it.” The words left her lips with a gusty breath. She thrust the softball in the air. “I actually caught the ball.”
“Way to go.” Levi flung his glove to the ground and scooped her into his arms. She held on to the ball with one hand while her brother’s mitt slipped away. Levi spun her around in a dizzying circle. Oh, he smelled good. Like the outdoors, sunshine and spicy aftershave. Her heart pounded in anticipation as he nudged back the brim of his cap. Then he set her on her feet, and his eyes dipped toward her lips. She swallowed hard, the sound of their teammates celebrating fading away as he slowly leaned in for a kiss. His lips were soft against hers, but doubts crept into her mind. Was this really what he wanted? Was this just a ploy to further their fake relationship? She pushed back these thoughts, allowing herself to enjoy the warmth that spread through her body when his palm rested at the base of her neck.
His touch was gentle yet reverent, which made her pulse quicken even more. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. But then a callous comment about their public display of affection snapped her out of the moment. Wren must have seen them kiss. Had Tori? Panic flooded every inch of her body, and she reluctantly pulled away from Levi.
“What have we done?”
Wow. Okay. He stepped back and tugged his baseball cap back into place. “I’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t—”
“Kiss her again!”
The teasing phrase bellowed from somewhere in the dugout deepened the pink splotches on Savvy’s cheeks.
