There was a community baseball game in full swing on the diamond. Picnic blankets dotted the grass and families settled in for a long day that wouldn’t end until after the big fireworks show. Kids raced through the park, laughing and shouting, oblivious to the heat that was already beginning to wilt their parents.
Dozens of game booths were scattered around the park, each of them offering chances to win everything from goldfish to teddy bears. And at the far end of the parking lot, a small carnival had set up shop and the taped calliope music was fiercely cheerful.
Amanda grinned at the little boy in front of the booth she was manning. He was about six, with a missing front tooth, hair that was too long and a T-shirt already stained with what looked like mustard. At the moment, he was biting his lip and considering the last softball he held. He had already gone through most of his pocket money, buying chances to knock over bowling pins with the softball to win a prize.
“It sure is harder than it looks, ma’am,” he said with a shake of his head.
“It is, isn’t it?” Amanda was trying to figure out a way she could “help” the boy win, when Nathan walked up.
A now familiar flash of excitement zipped through her at just the sight of him. He wore a beige uniform shirt, with the sheriff star on his chest glittering in the sunlight. His jeans were faded, his boots were scuffed and his hat was pulled low enough on his forehead to throw his eyes into shadow.
It had been a few days since their night by the river and since then, things had been…different between them. Well, of course—they’d had sex. Things would be different, not that they’d slept together since. But there was less tension between them. And, she thought wistfully, more confusion.
“Afternoon, Amanda,” he said, then shifted his gaze to the boy. “Carter, how you doing?”
“Not so good, Sheriff,” the boy answered and scowled at the one softball he had left to throw. “I figured I’d win one of those teddy bears for my baby sister.” He shrugged. “Girls like that sort of thing, but like I told Miss Amanda, it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
“What’re you doin’ running around on your own? Where’re your folks?”
Carter pointed over one shoulder at a young family sitting on a blanket under a tree. “They’re all right there.”
“That’s good.” Nathan dropped one hand on the boy’s narrow shoulder, then ruffled his hair. “Maybe we can try together, what do you think?”
The boy looked up at him as if Nathan were wearing a cape and had just swooped in to the rescue.
Amanda watched Nathan with the child and swallowed a sigh. If she hadn’t lost their baby, it would now be about this boy’s age. Boy? Or girl? It had been too early to know at the time, but that hadn’t stopped her from wondering. From picturing what her child with Nathan might have been like. And in this boy, with the light brown hair and brown eyes, she saw…what might have been. And the tiny ache that settled in the corner of her heart felt like an old friend.
“How about I give you a hand?” Nathan asked, then flashed a smile at Amanda. “That is, if Miss Amanda doesn’t mind.”
“That’d be great, Sheriff,” Carter answered, then turned to Amanda and asked, “Is it okay?”
“Well, you know, back when the sheriff was in high school, he was the star pitcher.”
Nathan smiled at her as if pleased she remembered. How could she forget? She’d spent hours in the bleachers at Royal high school, watching Nathan play ball. And every time he went up to bat, he’d look at her first, as if he were checking she was still there, still watching.
“Really?” Carter brightened up even further.
“No pressure,” Nathan muttered with a shake of his head.
“C’mon, Sheriff,” she said and stood back as Nathan took the ball from Carter and tossed it in the air a couple times to get its weight. “Show us what you’ve got.”
He nodded at the boy then winked at Amanda. “Well, now, let’s see what we can do.”
He wound up, threw the ball and sent three bowling pins clattering to the floor. Carter whooped with delight and even Amanda had to applaud.
“You won, Sheriff!” Carter clapped, too. “Nice throw!”
Amanda picked up one of the teddy bears lining the prize shelf and handed it to Nathan, who gave it to Carter.
“My baby sister’s gonna like this a lot. Thanks, Sheriff!” Clutching the bear, the boy took off and was swallowed by the crowd moments later.
Amanda looked up at Nathan and smiled in approval. “That was nice of you.”
“Carter’s a good kid.” Nathan shrugged and leaned one hip against the edge of the booth. His gaze swept up and down her body thoroughly until she felt a heat that had nothing to do with a hot Texas day.
“So,” he said, “how’d you come to be running the PTA booth?”
“Patti Delfino had to take care of the baby so I offered to help.”
“Falling right back into life in Royal, huh?”
“It wasn’t that hard,” she said. Although being around him was. She didn’t know where they stood. Didn’t know what was going to happen next. They’d had that one incredible night together and since then…nothing. Well, except for him stopping in at the diner a few times a day. But they hadn’t been alone again and she was hungering for him. Did he feel the same? Or had he considered that night a one-time thing? A sort of goodbye to the past?
The questions running through her mind were driving her crazy.
A little girl ran up and patted Nathan’s thigh to get his attention. When he looked down at her, the girl’s big blue eyes fixed on him. “I wanna teddy bear, too.”
“You do, huh?” He grinned and looked at Amanda. “Apparently Carter’s bragging how he got hold of his bear.”
“And what are you going to do about it, Sheriff?” Amanda teased.
He dug in his wallet and slapped down a twenty-dollar bill. “Guess I’ll be throwing softballs.”
The little girl clapped and bounced up and down in excitement. Amanda handed him three softballs to get him started and then stood back and watched as he mowed through the prize shelf. Over and over again, he threw the balls at the bowling pins and soon he had a crowd of kids surrounding him, each of them waiting to be handed one of the stuffed bears.
Amanda watched him, saw his eyes shining with pleasure, heard him laughing with the children and a part of her wept for what they might have had together. He was so good with kids. He would have been a wonderful father if only.
By the time it was over, the bears were all gone and the last of the children had wandered off, clutching their prizes. When it was just Nathan and Amanda again, he said, “Looks like you’re out of business. What do you say we find Patti and hand over the cash box, then you and I go join Jake and Terri for some lunch?”
“Aren’t you on duty?”
“I can keep an eye on things—and you—at the same time.”
Pleasure whipped through her as she grabbed up the metal cash box and swung her legs over the side of the booth. “I think I’ll let you.”
He took her hand in his and as they walked through the mob of people, Amanda felt that sense of rightness again. Did he feel it, too?
The rest of the day went by in a sort of blur. It had been so long since Amanda had really enjoyed a Fourth of July. When she was away, she would sit