Chapter One
Ten Years Ago
The edge of the hard wooden bench made Lizzie Barton’s butt go numb, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have missed this game for the world. It was the last one of the season and the last one of her senior year in high school. Of course, it would have been an even better game if Cole Ryan was still in town. Just the thought of him sent her heart racing.
As she sat the batter swung hard and missed. The pitch had been high and inside. If he’d only let it go without swinging it would have been called a ball instead of a strike. However, Jared Gordon was never one to give in on anything, even a bad pitch. She shook her head. Typical Gordon behavior. Cute, stubborn and definite heartbreakers—that described all three Gordon brothers—Jared, Jack and Jimmy.
Even Mary Sue, Lizzie’s sister, had enjoyed a few steamy dates with Jack Gordon once upon a time. That was before Jack had followed his older brother Jimmy into the service. Lizzie didn’t blame the brothers one bit for wanting to get away from Pigeon Hollow. As far as small towns went, this one was among the smallest. A person could suffocate around here.
Jared finally connected with a pitch. She jumped to her feet when it sailed into the outfield, right over the head of the center fielder. Clapping, Lizzie cheered along with the home-team crowd as the players on the loaded bases ran home. With a wide, triumphant grin, Jared rounded the bases and brought up the rear of his grand slam. He was a cutie all right, often the discussion of girl talk in school. Too bad Lizzie felt about as romantic toward him as she did about her older brother, Bobby.
Sadly there wasn’t a single boy in this town who made Lizzie’s heart go pitter pat since Cole had left for college two years ago. He’d gotten a baseball scholarship, left town and hadn’t looked back. Not that it mattered. That little crush was totally one-sided on her part. He was a friend of Bobby’s. What guy would want to date his friend’s little sister? She firmly told herself Cole steered clear of her out of respect for Bobby. It was easier to think that than admit he just hadn’t been attracted to her. She was younger than him, and back before he’d left she’d had a mouthful of braces, baby fat and no boobs to speak of.
But this year was a whole new ballgame for her. The braces were off and Lizzie had finally outgrown her tendency to be chubby, helped along when she’d joined the school’s track team. Not to mention she’d finally rebelled against her mother’s constant insistence that she “pull that hair back off her face”. Now, scowls from her mother or not, she wore it long and sexy, like a woman should.
College was out for the summer and Cole should be coming home soon. More importantly, today was Lizzie’s eighteenth birthday. Now she was a legal, brace-free adult. She was old enough to vote and she was old enough to do whatever she wanted with Cole Ryan. All she knew was Bobby better not get in the way if he knew what was good for him.
The bench beneath Lizzie bounced as Savannah Jordan, Anna for short, plopped down in the empty space next to her. “Why are you looking so angry?”
If Anna saw it, Lizzie must have been frowning pretty badly while thinking about how she’d kill Bobby if he got in between her and Cole. Lizzie’s best friend rarely noticed anything besides guys.
“I’m not angry. It, uh, must be the glare from the sun.”
“That’s why I wear sunglasses. Frowning gives you wrinkles.” Anna reinforced her statement by sliding the glasses farther up her nose. “So, what’d I miss?”
Lizzie hadn’t seen her own sunglasses in a few weeks, not that she’d bothered looking for them too hard. Besides, she wasn’t sure frowning gave a person wrinkles anyway. “You just missed Jared hitting a grand slam.”
“Darn. I love watching his cute little buns run around the bases. I knew I shouldn’t have been late.” Anna pivoted her
Ten Years Ago
The edge of the hard wooden bench made Lizzie Barton’s butt go numb, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have missed this game for the world. It was the last one of the season and the last one of her senior year in high school. Of course, it would have been an even better game if Cole Ryan was still in town. Just the thought of him sent her heart racing.
As she sat the batter swung hard and missed. The pitch had been high and inside. If he’d only let it go without swinging it would have been called a ball instead of a strike. However, Jared Gordon was never one to give in on anything, even a bad pitch. She shook her head. Typical Gordon behavior. Cute, stubborn and definite heartbreakers—that described all three Gordon brothers—Jared, Jack and Jimmy.
Even Mary Sue, Lizzie’s sister, had enjoyed a few steamy dates with Jack Gordon once upon a time. That was before Jack had followed his older brother Jimmy into the service. Lizzie didn’t blame the brothers one bit for wanting to get away from Pigeon Hollow. As far as small towns went, this one was among the smallest. A person could suffocate around here.
Jared finally connected with a pitch. She jumped to her feet when it sailed into the outfield, right over the head of the center fielder. Clapping, Lizzie cheered along with the home-team crowd as the players on the loaded bases ran home. With a wide, triumphant grin, Jared rounded the bases and brought up the rear of his grand slam. He was a cutie all right, often the discussion of girl talk in school. Too bad Lizzie felt about as romantic toward him as she did about her older brother, Bobby.
Sadly there wasn’t a single boy in this town who made Lizzie’s heart go pitter pat since Cole had left for college two years ago. He’d gotten a baseball scholarship, left town and hadn’t looked back. Not that it mattered. That little crush was totally one-sided on her part. He was a friend of Bobby’s. What guy would want to date his friend’s little sister? She firmly told herself Cole steered clear of her out of respect for Bobby. It was easier to think that than admit he just hadn’t been attracted to her. She was younger than him, and back before he’d left she’d had a mouthful of braces, baby fat and no boobs to speak of.
But this year was a whole new ballgame for her. The braces were off and Lizzie had finally outgrown her tendency to be chubby, helped along when she’d joined the school’s track team. Not to mention she’d finally rebelled against her mother’s constant insistence that she “pull that hair back off her face”. Now, scowls from her mother or not, she wore it long and sexy, like a woman should.
College was out for the summer and Cole should be coming home soon. More importantly, today was Lizzie’s eighteenth birthday. Now she was a legal, brace-free adult. She was old enough to vote and she was old enough to do whatever she wanted with Cole Ryan. All she knew was Bobby better not get in the way if he knew what was good for him.
The bench beneath Lizzie bounced as Savannah Jordan, Anna for short, plopped down in the empty space next to her. “Why are you looking so angry?”
If Anna saw it, Lizzie must have been frowning pretty badly while thinking about how she’d kill Bobby if he got in between her and Cole. Lizzie’s best friend rarely noticed anything besides guys.
“I’m not angry. It, uh, must be the glare from the sun.”
“That’s why I wear sunglasses. Frowning gives you wrinkles.” Anna reinforced her statement by sliding the glasses farther up her nose. “So, what’d I miss?”
Lizzie hadn’t seen her own sunglasses in a few weeks, not that she’d bothered looking for them too hard. Besides, she wasn’t sure frowning gave a person wrinkles anyway. “You just missed Jared hitting a grand slam.”
“Darn. I love watching his cute little buns run around the bases. I knew I shouldn’t have been late.” Anna pivoted her
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