Jake releases her and gives me a slap on the shoulder. “Brady here is the only guy in Whispering Pines who played in the Majors. In Los Angeles, right?”
I nod at Sammy’s cap. “For the Sharks.”
“You played baseball for the Sharks?” Lara asks, looking up at me with the child’s adoration everyone wants, and no one deserves.
“For one season. Then I got injured and that was it.”
“Oh, that’s terrible, horrible, awful.” Lara's brow furrows in a way that reminds me of her mother.
“But now I get to coach T-ball, so it all worked out in the end.”
“I love T-ball,” Lara declares.
“Then let’s get started.”
Sammy gives Lara a quick hug. I watch from the corner of my eye as her shoulders sink when she takes a seat on the bleachers. I’m glad she feels safe coming to the field and letting us take care of Lara for an hour. If nothing else, I can show her daughter a few things about T-ball.
“Coach Brady,” Lara says after we give the kids their final instructions and release them to their parents. “What position did you play for the Sharks?”
I smile down at her. She’s a bright one and very serious about her hitting. Her warmup swings were as methodical as half the guys I played with. “I was on third base.”
“Did you like it?”
“Sure did.”
“Isn’t third base dangerous?” The question comes from behind me.
I turn and find Sammy. A smile tugs at my lips. How pumped am I that she’s curious about the sheer violence involved in fielding at third? “Some people think so. The balls come at us pretty fast.”
“I got hit by a T-ball once,” Lara says as Sammy swings an arm around her small shoulder.
“Was that when you were playing first base?” I ask.
“That’s right.” She grins. “It didn’t hurt.”
One boy taps Lara on the shoulder and tells her she’s “it.” She takes off like a bullet across the field toward the other kids scattered around, playing tag.
Alone with Sammy, I find myself folding my arms across my chest and switching into fireman mode. “How are things going?”
She shakes her head, the happy-mommy expression giving way. “I suppose things are going as well as they can be. I still can't believe it’s….” She looks around. “The fire was set on purpose. I’m still in shock.”
“I wish we could’ve done more to save the structure.”
She shakes her head. “You all did everything you could. You stopped the fire from spreading. That’s the most important thing.”
“I heard the insurance investigators have been to the property.”
“They agree with the Fire Authority about how things happened. So that makes it a crime.” She shakes her head disbelievingly. “But no one has a clue who did it. The police haven’t made any progress.”
She’s right on that one. Our inspector, Dec, said there’s no way to tell if the arson was targeted at Sammy's B&B or an instance of pyromania. The evidence is thin. “Do you and Lara feel safe?”
“We do. We’re only a few minutes from my parents’ house. I haven’t told Lara the full extent of what happened. I don’t want to cause too much disruption in her life.” She looks over at Lara dodging every which way to avoid the tagger. “The police say there’s no reason to think the arsonist was targeting us in particular.”
“Even so, you’ve got to be careful.” The police are driving through Sammy’s neighborhood at all hours, checking for anything suspicious. “If you need anything….” My face gets warm. Where the hell was I going with this? Am I trying to give her my number? “Well, you’ve got family and friends around town. So, I’m sure you’re well taken care of.”
Sammy smiles like she knew exactly where I was going. “Yeah, it’s good having family around.”
“Hey, you guys.” Jake’s wife, Daphne, comes up to us. “Oh, Sammy.” She gives her a long hug. “I know you’ve got so much on your plate, but tomorrow we're having our final barbecue night of the season. Jake and I would love if you and Lara could join us. There’ll be a lot of familiar faces.”
