Suddenly a Bride by Kasey Michaels Page A

said, relieved that she and the dog weren’t going to be immediately ejected from the field.
    Will turned his attention to her. “You’re kidding, right? And you call him that? Not Sam? Sam The Dog?”
    “He’s Richard’s dog. Officially, he’s Samuel Thibold Devonshire, I think it is, but Richard thought that was too long, so now he’s Sam The Dog. I don’t know. It fits somehow.”
    “True, I guess. But it’s so obvious. I mean, if you called him Sam The Deer that wouldn’t be so obvious. Sam The Donkey? Sam The Duck? Or, to make it simple, you could just call him STD.”
    At this, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “STD? I don’t think so.”
    Will smiled, covering his mouth with his hand. “Oh, right. That would seriously cut down his chances with the lady dogs, wouldn’t it?” He took two steps toward the field. “Mikey! No dogs on the field. Bring him over here.”
    There were protests from the team, all of whom seemed to be almost as enthralled with Sam The Dog as he was with them.
    “Come on, put some hustle into it. We’ve only got the field for another hour or so.”
    Elizabeth took the leash from Mikey, telling him to get Danny and run back up the hill to get their equipment and her chair. “Once again, Will, I’m really sorry. But Richard is gone, and Sam The Dog looked so forlorn as I was leaving that I thought it wouldn’t hurt to bring him along.”
    “Richard’s gone? Richard as in your boss—that Richard?” Will asked, as if that was the only thing he’d heard. “For how long?”
    “We’re not sure. His publishing house keeps wanting to add new cities to his tour. A week, ten days—more? Why?”
    “No reason,” Will said, taking Sam The Dog’s leash from her. “I think the pooch here will enjoy himselfmore if I tie him up next to the team bench. And I just thought that might mean you’re pretty much on vacation, with your boss gone.”
    Elizabeth mentally, figuratively—please, Lord, not physically, because that he could see—backed up a pace. “I have a few things to do, routine things. But yes, I suppose you could say I’m on vacation.”
    “Then you’ll be staying here in town, not going anywhere. Not taking the kids to the shore or anything?”
    She shook her head. “No, I hadn’t planned on it. Why?”
    He seemed to mentally pull himself up short. “No reason. It’s just that we need to field ten kids—we have four outfielders, cuts down on the coaches having to chase balls—and we only have fifteen on the team. I’ll be down two for a week when Jason and Drew Keglovitz leave on vacation. So…so it’s good to know that Mikey and Danny will be available. Sam The Dog, huh?”
    Elizabeth nodded. “Sam The Dog. Right. Well, um, I should go find a place that’s out of the way and let you get back to work.”
    “Okay, good. I’ll…I’ll see you after practice.”
    She turned away, her eyes momentarily widening in a “what the heck was that all about?” way before she picked up her lawn chair and headed for the grassy area where other parents were congregated.
    “Here, put your chair down next to mine,” one of the women, a striking redhead, said, motioning for Elizabeth to join her. “Cute dog. I’m Annie Lambert. MyTodd is the one with the bright orange hair—no surprise there, right? Which little darling is yours?”
    Elizabeth introduced herself as she unfolded her chair and sat down. “I’ve got two here, actually. Mikey and Danny. They’re twins.”
    “Oh, how neat. Unless you’re the one up all night with them while they’re newborns, I guess. I swear, my Todd never slept through the night until he was three—years, not months. Where are they?” Annie asked, shading her eyes with her hand as she looked out over the ball field.
    Thanks to her evening at the IronPigs game, Elizabeth was able to answer with some authority: “Danny’s standing at first base, and Mikey is at third.”
    “Really? You have to mean the