Lakeside Romance by Lisa Jordan Page A

hand and squinted against the sunshine beating down on the field. The air was thick with humidity. Gray clouds clustered overhead. Rain would cool things off a bit. Sarah took a swig from her water bottle, enjoying the refreshing coolness of the icy liquid.
    â€œSarah, you’re up.” Nate stood at the backstop and nodded toward the field.
    She capped her water and set it on the dugout bench. Approaching home plate, her eyes connected with Alec’s as he crouched into the catcher’s position. Knowing he’d be watching tightened the knot in her stomach, but she tried to focus on the field and not on his muscular arms. He’d arrived wearing a red T-shirt advertising his sister’s early learning center and gray shorts.
    Even though things had been tense between them the past few days, he continued to show up at the community center to share his cooking skills with the teenagers. When one of them asked him to join their team against the other half of the teens in a friendly game of softball, and he’d said yes, she hadn’t been able to contain her surprise. All he’d said when she asked about it was “maybe it was time to give them a chance.”
    Hearing her name being cheered behind her, Sarah donned a batting helmet and took the bat Daniel held out to her. The helmet glued her sweat-soaked hair to her scalp. The scent of grilling hot dogs caused her stomach to roll.
    After waking up with a major headache, the last thing she wanted was to play softball, but the boys had been looking forward to playing...and attending the picnic that was to follow.
    And now she and Alec played on opposing teams.
    Positioning her feet in the dirt, she moved into a batting stance. She wiped her clammy hands on her shorts, then tightened her grip on the aluminum bat. Tuning out the noise, she nodded to the pitcher to let him know she was ready.
    One hit. That’s all she needed.
    He threw the ball underhand. As it came toward her, Sarah swung and missed. The ball thumped into Alec’s mitt.
    â€œStrike one!”
    She shuffled her feet, lifted the bat into position again.
    â€œCome on, Miss Sarah. You can do it!”
    Her stomach rolled again. She wasn’t so sure she could do it. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, then regained her focus on the pitcher. The only thing she cared about was hitting the ball. Then she could go home and lay on the couch with an ice pack over her eyes to dull the throbbing headache.
    The pitcher tossed another underhand ball. She swung and missed.
    â€œStrike two!”
    Okay, this was getting ridiculous. She didn’t want to strike out in front of Alec. Her pride was at stake. Sweat rolled down between her shoulder blades. She tapped the bat against home plate the way she’d seen the pros do it. Tightening her grip, she crouched into position with her bat ready to connect with the ball.
    The pitcher stepped forward and tossed the ball. As soon as the ball was within range, she swung hard. Aluminum connected with leather, the momentum reverberating up her arm. Stunned, she stood watching the ball sail across the field. The outfielders ran like jackrabbits to retrieve it.
    â€œRun, Sarah! Go! Go! Go!” Her team screamed behind the backstop.
    She snapped out of her daze and dropped her bat. Pumping her arms, she charged for first base. She touched the bag with her toe. A quick glance showed the other team rushing deeper into the outfield, so she continued to second. Hearing cheers and her name called out by her teammates propelled her feet toward third.
    Exhilaration pulsed through her. Despite playing softball in high school, she’d never made it past second base.
    A stitch pierced her side, and her chest burned. She tagged the bag and slowed until her team’s windmilling arms drew her home.
    Alec stood at the home plate with his glove open above his head. She had seconds to master this home run. A scurry of activity out of the corner