Page 16 of Almost Priest

Luke threw another slow ball and she swung again, this time without as much zeal.

“Strike two!”

Before he realized he left his seat, Colin yelled, “Come on, Sammy. You can do it!”

She turned sharply to look back at him, a surprised expression on her face. Was she not used to encouragement? She looked back to Luke and adjusted her stance.

Luke opted for an underhand pitch this time, which wasn’t allowed, but no one seemed to complain. Colin didn’t miss the silencing look Braydon gave Jen when she noticed the exception being made.

When the bat hit the ball Samantha stared as it bounced across the field.

“Run!” the team shouted all at once.

Samantha gave a startled yelp, dropped the bat, and hauled ass to first base. Colin actually heard himself laugh out loud. By the time she was halfway there the other team already fielded the ball and was sending it toward first base. Luckily Braydon was manning the base. When Finn threw him the ball with ridiculously obvious bad aim, Braydon ran in almost slow motion to retrieve it.

“Get the ball!” Jen shrilled.

By the time Braydon had the ball in hand Sam was safe at first. He earned a severe scowl from Jen when he gave Samantha an encouraging swat on the rump. Oddly, the act seemed to startle Samantha as if she were not used to Braydon’s touch.

Were they a couple? Had he misinterpreted their relationship? Perhaps they were just friends.

The ball went back to Luke and Kelly stepped up to bat. After Kelly’s turn Sam had moved all the way to third. It wasn’t until Kelly was actually close enough to whisper in her ear that she realized she needed to move past second, but she made it to third all the same.

She was really quite beautiful. Nothing like what Colin imagined was Braydon’s taste. His brother’s usual type was Jen Miller, but nicer. Samantha was the exact antithesis of Jen.

Samantha was soft and sweet, an obvious degree of honesty shone clear in her eyes. She appeared up for anything, quite agreeable, and was refreshingly trusting. She had that girl next-door kind of beauty, yet Colin could think of no one who remotely resembled her. The way her deep brown hair hung and swayed from her ponytail made him want to smile. He liked the way the finest dusting of freckles crested her cheeks, like cinnamon sprinkled over velvety whipped cream. Her lashes were thick and without make up, making them a unique shade of dusty brown.

The sound of the bat cracked again and Colin was distracted from his thoughts. What had he been thinking anyway?

Samantha ran home and Kelly crossed home plate moments after her, colliding with her and practically knocking her to the ground. Sam laughed and Kelly swung her around as they each jumped up and down. Samantha’s smile took over her face and Colin felt his own lips curving in happiness.

“I did it!” she shouted, holding Kelly by the shoulders, still bouncing like a child. “I did it! I got a home run!”

Colin regretted being outside of the moment. He wanted to run out of the dugout and celebrate with them. He wanted to swing Samantha around in his arms.

A small shiver of excitement knifed through his stomach, causing an unfamiliar tingle inside of him. What was he doing? Samantha was Braydon’s girlfriend and Colin was in seminary. The longing that pulled deep in his body was so unwelcome and took him so off guard he found himself in a panic. Turning his back on his teammates, he quickly said a prayer.

CHAPTER4

The game ended when Luke hit a home run with bases fully loaded. Sam’s team kept up well, but still lost by two points. She thoroughly enjoyed playing with the McCulloughs. The only person she didn’t enjoy was Jen Miller.

Jen Miller was one of those girls who needed to constantly be the center of attention. At first Sam was only mildly offended by the brazen way the girl touched Braydon right in front of her. It was unexpected and insulting, as if she were sayingsee he likes me enough to disrespect you.

Sam didn’t care if Braydon liked the other girl and wanted to rekindle an old flame. She just wasn’t going to stand there and be made to look like a fool. Oddly, the idea of Braydon with another woman didn’t bother Sam at all.

It didn’t take long to realize the way Jen was acting had nothing to do with Sam personally. By the end of the game Jen Miller had run her hands over Luke, Finn, Pat and anyone else unattached.

Sam didn’t miss the growl Sheilagh let slip when the blonde laid her hands on the guy named Tristan. She wondered if Braydon’s little sister was sweet on the older man. Not that he was old, just older than Sheilagh’s eighteen years. Tristan looked to be in his mid-twenties.

The one thing Sam was grateful for was that Jen never openly flirted with Colin. Sam shouldn’t have even been paying attention to what Colin was doing, but she couldn’t help herself. Where there were no jealous emotions connected to Braydon, she fought a sickening dread during the game every time the other woman stood anywhere near Colin.

She assumed women saw Colin as taken. Which he was. He was making the sacrament of holy orders. In other words, he was marrying God. Only an idiot would indulge a crush on such a devoted man. Clearly, Sam was Center County’s new village idiot.

A loud smack sounded and a stinging sensation radiated from her behind all the way to her shoulders. She turned and Kelly was grinning at her. “Way to go, slugger. Come on. We’re going to O’Malley’s.”

Sam had a moment of displacement as Kelly jogged off to the parking lot. The older McCulloughs were all gathering their items off the bleachers. Katherine yelled for Ant, who was carrying their youngest daughter Hannah out to the car.

Sam scanned the people surrounding the dugout in search of Braydon. For once he didn’t have a blonde hanging from his side. She began to head in that direction.

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