Page 119 of This Heart Of Mine (Chicago Stars 5)

The men wanted to talk football, and Kevin and Dan complied. Around five some of the adults began to drift away, but the kids were still enjoying themselves, and Kevin decided he’d put up a basketball hoop tomorrow. Maybe he’d buy some rubber rafts for the beach. And bikes. The kids should have bikes while they were here.

Cody and the O’Brian boys came running up, their faces sweaty and clothes grimy. Exactly the way a kid should look in the summer.

“Hey, Kevin! Can we play softball?”

He could feel the smile spreading all over his face. A soft-ball game on the Common, right where the Tabernacle had once stood… “Sure we can. Listen up! Everybody who wants to play softball, raise your hand.”

Hands went up all over the place. Tess and Julie raced forward, and Andrew started to yell and hop. Even the adults were interested.

“A Softball game is a wonderful idea,” Charlotte Long chirped from her lawn chair. “Get everything organized, Kevin.”

He smiled at her poking. “You want to be a captain, Cody?”

“Sure.”

He looked around for another captain and started to pick Tess, but something about the way Hannah was sitting at her father’s feet cuddling the poodles got to him. He’d seen her hand inch up, only to settle back into her lap. “Hannah, how about you? Do you want to be the other captain?”

Kevin was startled to see Dan drop his head and groan.

“No, Kevin!” Tess and Julie cried together. “Not Hannah!”

Molly surprised him most of all—the bunny lady, who was supposed to be so damn sensitive around kids. “Uh… maybe it would be better if you picked somebody else.”

What was wrong with these people?

Luckily their callousness didn’t faze Hannah, who jumped up, smoothed down her shorts, and gave him a smile that looked exactly like her aunt’s. “Thank you, Kevin. They hardly ever let me be captain.”

“That’s because you—”

Phoebe laid her hand over Tess’s mouth, but even she looked pained.

Kevin was disgusted with all of them. Nobody was more competitive than he was, but he’d never stooped low enough to make a little kid feel bad just because she wasn’t athletic. He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t pay any attention to them, sweetheart. You’ll be a great captain. You can even choose first.”

“Thank you.” She stepped forward and surveyed the crowd. He waited for her to choose either him or her father. She surprised him by pointing toward her mother, a woman who played so badly that the veterans on the Stars’ team had gotten in the habit of scheduling dental appointments just so they’d have an excuse to leave the team picnic before the annual softball game.

“I choose Mom.”

Kevin bent closer and lowered his voice. “In case you weren’t sure, Hannah, you can choose anybody you want, including guys. That means your dad. Me. Are you sure you want to choose your mom first?”

“She’s sure.” Dan sighed from behind him. “Here we go again.”

Hannah gazed up at Kevin and whispered, “Mom gets her feelings hurt because nobody ever wants her on their team.”

Tess cut right to the bone as only an eleven-year-old could. “That’s because she sucks.”

Phoebe sniffed and patted her team captain’s shoulder, conveniently forgetting her earlier lack of support. “Pay no attention, Hannah. A winning attitude is far more important than natural ability.”

Unlike Hannah, Cody was no fool, and he chose natural ability over that winning attitude. “I pick Kevin.”

Dan rose from his lawn chair and moved closer to his daughter. “Hannah, honey, I’m over here. Don’t forget about me. I’ll get my feelings hurt if you don’t choose me.”

“No you won’t.” Hannah gave him a blazing smile, turned away, and fastened her eyes on Lilly, who’d been talking about gardening with some of the older women, and as far as Kevin could remember, hadn’t raised her hand. “I pick you.”

“Me?” Lilly looked pleased and stood. “Lord, I haven’t played softball since I was a teenager.”

Hannah smiled up at her mother. “This is going to be an exc’llent team. Lots of winning attitude.”

Cody, not one to let any grass grow under his feet, chose Dan.

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