Playing Without Rules: A Baseball Romance Read online

  I almost believe he cares.

  Slowly, he guides me toward the taxi, his right hand protective on my lower back. The driver leaps out and opens the door, and I slide numbly across the vinyl seat to the left side, away from Zach. My lower jaw shudders and I hiccup, quickly dabbing my eyes with my sleeve. Fortunately, my hair hangs like a curtain over my face, a black silken shroud.

  That fateful night runs through my mind, over and over. Papa had to go because of something I saw. Something bad.

  But, Papa, why didn’t we call the police?

  You didn’t see anything.

  I watch the traffic blur. My stomach lurches over every bump and around every corner. I peek at Zach, and he gives me a friendly smile.

  “I’m sorry about your father,” he says. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  My heart’s beating a mile a minute, throbbing. I have to end this before I get mired in too deep. I don’t want to talk; I want to forget.

  One last evening and then I’ll let him go.

  I give his hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay. Let’s watch the show.”

  We get out of the cab in front of the War Memorial Opera House. Well-dressed patrons mill around in tweed jackets and designer gowns, speaking in hushed tones. I thread through them as if they were phantoms, catching foreign accents and phrases in French, Russian, Japanese.

  After the ticket check, Zach pulls me through the white columned foyer and up a flight of stairs. We rest against the plush velvet curtains lining the seating platforms.

  He offers to buy food but I have no appetite. I need time to think through how to tell him, so I visit the powder room. My hand trembling, I dab the smeared mascara with a napkin and touchup my makeup.

  We can’t see each other anymore.

  Why?

  Because … My father …

  Zach’s been through so much; he doesn’t need another shock. I reapply my lipstick and shut my purse.

  Some secrets are best untold.

  … killed your mother.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author