Striking Out In The Mountains (Greene Mountain Boys)

“I’m so sorry, Cara,” my neighbor Arabella says as she rushes out of her car. “My car battery died and I had to wait for someone to come along and give me a boost.”

“No worries,” I say as I grab my baseball glove and bag. I quickly say goodbye to Daniel and rush to my Jeep. I knew babysitting my neighbor’s five-year-old this morning would be risky time-wise, but Arabella was desperate after her babysitter canceled on her last minute.

My new boss—the big tough Sheriff of the Greene Mountains—has been talking about this softball tournament for the entire three weeks I’ve been working at the station. The whole force has. Apparently, it’s a big thing in town—the cops versus the firemen. I guess small towns like this one don’t have too much going on, so a softball game is a pretty big deal.

It’s kind of nice. Especially after being a cop in Chicago for the past seven years with all of the chaos I had to deal with on a daily basis. A little change of pace is very welcome.

I knew I needed a change of scenery after taking a bullet in the field. It went into my thigh and out the back. I recovered, but the event shook me and I knew I needed a change to somewhere a little less dangerous. So when I discovered there was an opening in the Greene Mountains in Montana, I jumped at the opportunity.

“Bye, Cara!” Arabella waves as I pull out of my driveway. “Sorry again! Have fun at the game!”

I wave to them through the window and hurry down the street.

I’m so late. This is horrible.

I’m supposed to be pitching for the team. Sheriff Gray was ecstatic when I told him I played softball in college and used to be one of the best female pitchers in the state.

It’s been a while since I’ve played, but it’s going to come back to me fast. I doubt any of those firemen are better than me on the field. I’ll be surprised if any of them can hit my fastball.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter as I race through town, heading to the field.

The parking lot is packed when I arrive a few minutes later.

Oh my god. This is a bigger deal than I thought.

I know I won’t be able to find a spot close by, so I just park on the grass, grab my bag, and sprint over to the field.

“Cara!” Sheriff Gray says, waving me over from the dugout. “What happened? I said eleven!”

“I had to babysit my neighbor’s kid!” I say as I rush over, putting my cap on. “She showed up late. I would have brought him with me but I didn’t have a car seat.”

“Well, you’re here now,” he says as I hurry into the dugout and throw on my cleats. “It’s the second inning and we’re already down nine to two. They’re hitting everything I throw at them.”

The firemen are in the field and we’re at bats. My partner Henry is a runner on second base and Emmanuel is batting now.

“You’re up next,” Chief says. “One out. Please hit something.”

I grab my bat and take a few quick warm-up swings as Emmanuel finishes up. He strikes out and slams his bat onto the plate before storming back to the bench. He’s a beast of a man and has the temper to match.noveldrama

“You’re late,” Emmanuel grunts as he stomps past me.

“I got here as fast as I could,” I say to his broad rigid back.

I shake it off and head to the plate, ready to show these mountain men what a city girl can do.

My heart is pounding as I dig my feet into the dirt and take a few practice swings.

The huge burly guy from the Search and Rescue who always has that adorable bloodhound by his side—Colin, I think—is pitching.

“New blood,” he says with a grin as he runs his glove down his beard. “Do you want it fast or slow?”

I knock the end of my bat on the plate and roll my neck as I glare at him. “Give me some heat.”

“Alright,” he says with a grin. “One fastball coming up.”

He winds his arm and launches it.

I want to laugh. This ball is arching it’s coming so slowly.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fast and I understand why a brute like Emmanuel can’t hit it, but I’ve faced off against pitchers way faster than this and I have a ton of home runs on my old stat line.

It flies high, so I let it go.

“Ball,” the umpire behind the catcher says.

“Yeah, that’s it!” a lady shouts behind the fence. “Take her head off!”

“What the fuck?” I whisper as I turn around to look. Oh my god, there’s two of them.

Two twins are sitting on the grass, eating hot dogs while they heckle me.

“Right between the eyes,” the other one says right before she licks a gob of mustard off her bun.

I shake it off and get back into the game, focusing on the pitcher as I swing the bat and stay loose.

“Too fast for you?” Colin asks with a grin.

“Too high,” I tell him. “I’m not swinging over my head.”

“Alright,” he says as he steps back. “Try this one.”

He launches another fastball at me and I’m surprised at how much straighter and faster it is. I react immediately, swinging with a grunt as I put my whole body into it. The ball nails the sweet spot and it takes off like a meteorite. Home run. Fuck yeah. I drop the bat and start jogging.

“Holy shit,” Sheriff Gray says as he watches the ball disappear over the fence into the forest.

“Who are you?” the first baseman asks as I round the base.

“Officer Finch,” I say, tipping my cap. And your worst nightmare for the next seven innings…

I stomp on second base and someone in the outfield catches my eye. It’s the centerfielder. He’s staring right at me all slack-jawed like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. The other two outfielders are hopping over the fence to find the ball, but all of his focus is on me. I stumble a little as I stare back at him.

He’s hot. Like really hot. He looks older than the others. Probably in his early fifties or so. A total silver fox.

But why is he looking at me like that?

“Nice hit,” the shortstop says, jerking my attention away from the man. “You probably knocked the stitches off the ball.”

“Thanks,” I say, smiling shyly as I round third and jog home.

The rest of my team pours out of the dugout, cheering and waving me on as I jog to home plate. I stomp my foot on it and they all slap my shoulders and tell me how amazing that hit was.

Everyone on my team looked so defeated when I got here, but I think my hit just gave everyone a burst of life. You can feel the energy crackling amongst them as we head back to the dugout.

“We’re going to win now for sure,” Sheriff Gray says, grinning as he flashes the centerfielder a bitter look.

I look at him too and my body gets all hot and tingly when I see that man’s dark simmering eyes still locked on me. He’s staring at me with a deep lustful look like I’m all his. Like he owns me. He looks like he wants to take me away from here and get to third base.

“How’s that arm?” Sheriff Gray asks. “Are you ready to pitch?”

“I’m ready, Sheriff Gray,” I say, warming my shoulder up.

“Call me Ryland.”

It’s the first time he’s told me that. Everyone on the force was calling him Ryland but me. I was always calling him Sheriff Gray and he never corrected me. I guess I’m finally in the club now.

It feels good.

Ryland grabs a bat and heads over to the plate.

I link my fingers on the fence and watch with a smile on my face as he talks shit with the pitcher, but it’s friendly.

This is just the most perfect day. This place is even better than I dreamed of when I first heard of this small mountain town in Montana. The sun is shining and this park is just unreal. The jutting mountains in the distance give the place the most ethereal feel, like I’m in some kind of fantastical far-off fantasy land. It’s stunning.

Colin throws a pitch and it hits the home plate, bouncing up before the catcher grabs it.

“Don’t you dare walk me,” Ryland says, shaking his head.

“You think I’d walk you on purpose?” Colin says with a laugh. “Who do you think you are? Barry Bonds?”

“Just throw the pitch. Above my ankles this time.”

Everyone is chuckling as they keep heckling each other. Colin throws a fastball and Ryland cracks it.

It heads straight to center field and my heart starts racing when I look at the silver fox hottie.

He’s still looking at me…

I’m distracting him for some reason because the ball goes sailing over his head. He could have caught it and probably would have if he wasn’t too busy checking me out.

“Come on, Graham!” the guy at second base, a short chubby guy with big ears says as he throws his arms up. “Get your head in the game!”

Ryland takes off running, sprinting around the bases with his muscular legs pumping. He gets to third before the left fielder grabs the ball and launches it to the catcher at home plate.

“Hey, who’s that guy in center field?” I ask my partner Henry in the most casual way I can. “I haven’t seen him around.”

“That’s the fire chief,” Henry says. “Graham West.”

Fire chief, huh? Interesting…

“He’s single,” Henry’s wife Natalie says with a knowing grin.

“She didn’t ask that,” Henry says, frowning at her.

Natalie laughs. “She didn’t have to. Her eyes did.”

I look at Mr. Graham West the hot fire chief, and see him looking back at me.

I smile.

He smiles back.

Interesting…