The Bridal Path: Danielle by Sherryl Woods Page B

in all, they were beginning to fit in, not only in Riverton, but in Dani’s life. She built her days around the arrival of the boys in the morning and the arrival of Slade at day’s end. She might have forced herself to be content with that if she hadn’t seen the potential for so much more. As it was, her day of reckoning was drawing closer, the day when she’d have to speak up and make her wishes known. Otherwise the boys would be back in school and the need for a full-time baby-sitter would have passed. Her daily contact with Slade and his sons would taper off until she had nothing left.
    Sara and Ashley were living proof that taking risks paid off. Dani refused to consider what might happen if she was the one sister whose risk-taking cost her everything.
    She glanced toward the dugout across the field, where Slade was surrounded by eager boys and one intrepid girl. It was the bottom of the ninth inning and the team was very close to its first victory. The bases were loaded and the next scheduled batter was Hattie McDonald. Dani could just imagine the debate going on as the boys tried to convince Slade and their other coach that a substitute should be sent in.
    She jumped up and began to yell for Hattie. Soon other mothers around her were doing the same. Slade shot a glance her way and grinned. He leaned down, whispered something to the freckle-faced girl and sent her toward the plate.
    Kevin stared, wide-eyed. “He’s going to let a girl hit?”
    “It’s her turn at bat,” Dani said, defending the decision.
    “But she’s a
girl.
”
    “If she was good enough to make the team, then she’s good enough to play.”
    “You liberated females make me sick,” Lonny Hinson announced, glaring down at her from the row behind her in the bleachers. “That little brat is going to cost us the game. He should have sent in one of the twins.”
    Lonny’s twin boys had been warming the bench all afternoon because they’d missed the past two practices. Lonny had been seething ever since he’d heard what their punishment would be. He was especially peeved that Hattie was replacing one of them.
    “Would you rather win or do what’s right?” Dani asked, undaunted by his scowl. “Isn’t this supposed to be about kids having fun and learning about following the rules and about team spirit?”
    “It’s about winning,” Lonny declared, just as the smack of the bat making contact with the ball sounded.
    Their gazes flew to the field, where the ball was dropping into a huge space between the left fielder and the center fielder. Neither of the boys had been paying much attention. Clearly they’d been convinced that Hattie would never get a ball out of the infield, if she hit it at all. It was a full five seconds before either of them even reacted to the ball coming their way.
    As two runs scored on the hit, Dani turned a triumphant expression to the chagrined man behind her. “Any comment?”
    Lonny, whom she’d known since high school when he’d been a macho bore as well, was plainly torn. “Okay, so she’s got some power,” he conceded grudgingly.
    “Remember that next time you want to see her plucked from the lineup in favor of a boy who’s been skipping practice, even if he happens to be one of yours. Maybe this will be a wake-up call to the guys that they’re not indispensable,” Dani told him with a grin, then gazed at Kevin, who was obviously dumbfounded. “You remember that, too, sport. Your dad knew what he was doing sending her to the plate.”
    She and Kevin made their way to the winning side of the field, where a victory celebration was already under way. They arrived just in time to hear Slade announce, “Pizza for everyone.”
    “Us, too?” Kevin asked his father.
    Slade’s gaze met Dani’s. “Of course, you, too. If you’d like to come.”
    Dani couldn’t imagine any place on earth she’d rather be, not even when the noise level in the pizza shop reached deafening decibels. Or when twenty