Bluestone Song by MJ Fredrick Read Free Book Online Page B

going to go to bed. I’ll see
you in the morning.”
    Linda’s expression was incredulous as Beth
walked past her, into her bedroom, and closed the door.
     
    ***
     
    The town had come alive the last few weeks,
and it was more than the warmth and sunshine of June. The people of
Bluestone seemed to want to spend time together, as witnessed by
the Friday night movies and the formerly-impromptu-now-weekly
baseball games on the field by the church.
    Beth walked past the field on the way home
from the grocery store, where she’d had to go buy the next size
diapers for Jonas. Honestly, the old ones had fit just fine
yesterday. If Beth didn’t know better, she would have suspected
Linda of bringing home the wrong baby. But no, one look into those
sweet brown eyes and she knew it was her boy. He’d just turned into
a little pig, and the diaper tape had barely fit that fat little
belly. So she had walked to the store, adding wipes to her purchase
as well—one could never have too many—and walked home behind the
back stop where a game was in full-swing. She paused, knowing Dale
liked to play and thinking she should probably say something to him
after that kiss last night. What she’d say, she had no idea. It had
been a nice kiss, one she’d replayed over and over in her head when
she couldn’t sleep last night, but…
    But what, she had no idea. A relationship
with the town doctor would be respectable, and she liked him, liked
talking to him. That should be enough. So why wasn’t she more
excited?
    A familiar gimme cap caught her attention and
she stopped despite herself. Maddox Bradley was on the field. He
was on third base, legs spread, ready to run, his attention on the
batter. She heard someone call, “Strike!” and Maddox relaxed a
little, pulling the tail of his T-shirt up and wiping his face with
it.
    Ho-leee…Despite her better judgment, Beth let
her attention fall to his flat stomach above the low-riding
waistband of his jeans. Maybe not a six-pack, but some definite
definition there, accented by a treasure trail he hadn’t had when
he’d gotten her into the back seat of his car. Her tongue stuck to
the roof of the mouth as she remembered exactly what it pointed
to.
    “Foul ball!”
    She registered the words milliseconds before
something smacked her on the side of the face, sending her
sprawling in the dust. She heard cheers and shouts of alarm, and
looked up into Dale’s concerned eyes. Her cheek stung like hell and
she lifted a hand to it.
    “Did the ball hit me?”
    “No, I did.” Quinn crouched on her other
side, holding the ball in his gloved hand, a kind of triumphant
smile twitching his lips. He reached out to touch her cheek with
the tip of his finger. “Sorry about that. Better a glove than a
ball. Should get some ice on that.”
    “Thanks, Doc,” she muttered as she let Dale
help her to her feet, to a scattering of applause. “I’m sure
there’s something in the boss’s code of ethics that says you can’t
beat up on your best waitress.”
    “It’s going to leave a bruise,” Dale said
with a sigh, pressing a blue ice pack from the first aid kit
against her cheek and holding it there, even when she reached up to
hold it herself. He grinned at her, a kind of testing grin, either
to make sure she wasn’t hurt too badly, or to see if she’d given
any thought at all to the kiss. She had just bolted last night
afterwards.
    “I’ll have a matching one on my butt,” she
muttered, shifting to rub the spot where her bottom had hit the
ground.
    “I’ve got two ice packs and two hands.” Dale
winked.
    She gave him a rueful smile. “Nice try.” She
drew away and glanced about. Great, everyone was watching her,
including Maddox. She wouldn’t notice the way his shirt was
stretched out, or the way his jeans hugged his slim hips or—was he
wearing biker boots to play baseball?
    “Come on, we’ll go into the bar and sit
down,” Dale said, letting her take the ice pack and closing