Megan's mate

Are you blind or just stupid?

C.C. tossed down her bat in disgust.

A sock in the

eye's no excuse for missing that call. That ball was outside a half a mile.

Nathaniel clamped his cigar in his teeth.

Not from where I'm standing, sugar.

She slapped her hands on her hips.

Then you're standing in the wrong spot.

Jenny

took the opportunity to attempt a cartwheel over home plate, and earned some applause from the infield.

C.C, you've got one of the best-looking strike zones I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. And that was strike three. You're out.

If you weren't already black-and-blue...

She swallowed a laugh, and sneered instead.

You're up, Lilah.

Already?

In a lazy gesture, Lilah brushed her hair away from her face and stepped into the box.

From her position at short, Megan glanced at her second baseman.

She won't run

even if she connects.

Suzanna sighed, shook her head.

She won't have to. Just watch.

Lilah skimmed a hand down her hip, cast a sultry look back at Nathaniel, then faced the pitcher. Sloan went through an elaborate windup that had the children cheering.

Lilah took the first strike with the bat still on her shoulder. Yawned.

We keeping you up?

Nathaniel asked her.

I like to wait for my pitch.

Apparently the second one wasn't the one she was waiting for. She let it breeze by, and earned catcalls from the opposing team.

She stepped out of the box, stretched, smiled at Sloan.

Okay, big guy,

she said as

she took her stance again. She cracked the low curveball and sent it soaring for a home run. Amid the cheers, she turned and handed her bat to Nathaniel.

I always

recognize the right pitch,

she told him, and sauntered around the bases.

When the game broke for the feast, Nathaniel eased down beside Megan.

You've

got a pretty good arm there, sugar.

I coached Kevin's Little League team back in Oklahoma.

Her gaze wandered to her

son, as it had dozens of times during the afternoon.

He doesn't seem any the worse

for wear, does he?

Nope. How about you?

The bats in my stomach have mellowed out to butterflies.

She pressed a hand to

them now, lowered her voice.

I never knew he thought about Baxter. About... any of it. I should have.

A boy's got to have some secrets, even from his mother.

I suppose.

It was too beautiful a day, she decided, too precious a day, to waste on worry.

Whatever you said to him up there, however you said it, was exactly right. It means a lot to me.

She looked over at him.

You mean a lot to me.

Nathaniel sipped his beer, studied her.

You're working up to something, Meg. Why don't you just say it?

All right. After you left yesterday, I spent a lot of time thinking. About how I'd feel if you didn't come back. I knew there'd be a hole in my life. Maybe I'd be able to fill it again, part of the way, but something would always be missing. When I asked myself what that would be, I kept coming up with the same answer. No matter how many ways I looked at it or juggled it around, the answer never changed.

So what's the answer, Meg?

You, Nathaniel.

She leaned over and kissed him.

Just you.

Later, when the sky was dark and the moon floated over the water, she watched the fireworks explode. Color bloomed into color. Waterfalls of glowing sparks rained from sky to water in a celebration of freedom, new beginnings and, Megan thought, hope.

It was a dazzling display that had the children staring upward, wide-eyed and openmouthed. The echoing booms shivered the air until, with a machine-gun crescendo, color and light spewed high in the finale. For a heart-pounding interlude, the sky was bright with golds and reds, blues and blinding whites, circles and spirals, cascades and towers, that shattered into individual stars over the sea.

Long after it was over, the dregs of the party cleared away, the children tucked into bed, she felt the power of the celebration running through her blood. In her own room, she brushed her hair until it flowed over her shoulders. Anticipation vibrating inside her, she belted her borrowed robe loosely at her waist. Quietly she slipped out the terrace doors and walked to Nathaniel's room.

It hadn't taken much pressure to persuade him to stay another night. He'd been tired and aching, and he hadn't relished even the short drive home. But the long soak in the tub hadn't relaxed him, as he hoped. He was still filled with restless urges, and with flashing images of Megan's face, lit with the glow of rockets.

Then he stepped into the bedroom and saw her.

She wore a silky robe of deep blue that flowed down her body and clung to her curves. Her hair glinted, golden fire, and her eyes were as dark and mysterious as sapphires.

I thought you could use a rubdown.

She smiled hesitantly.

I've had a lot of

experience loosening stiff muscles. With horses, anyway.

He was almost afraid to breathe.

Where did you get that?

Oh.

Self-consciously she ran a hand down the robe.

I borrowed it from Lilah. I

thought you'd like it better than terry cloth.