Free Belonging by Samantha James Page B

beckoned him. Why, Matt couldn't have
said. He knew only that he felt it very strongly, and he was a man
used to trusting his own feelings, his instincts. So many times
they were all he had to rely on.
    Most of the youngsters had already assembled
at the park when they arrived. With Kim and Nancy in tow, Angie and
Janice headed toward the rest of the team.
    There was a small set of bleachers behind the
first and third baselines, and it was there that Bill and Matt
directed their steps. Bill carried the baby, and Matt was a little
surprised when Casey skipped readily along beside him.
    "Wait till you see these girls play," Bill
said with a grin. "Funniest thing you've ever seen in your life.
Nancy plays because Kim does, and those two are thicker than
thieves. But Kim... well, Kim's pretty good."
    Matt's eyes squinted thoughtfully against the
bright glare of the afternoon sun, watching the pigtailed,
ponytailed crew take their positions on the field. He'd been a
baseball fan for as long as he could remember, and as always he
found it hard not to get involved in the game. He bounded to his
feet more than once, startling Casey the first time, but then she
giggled when he shot a sheepish grin down at her. He groaned, he
cheered, but as the game wore on, he discovered Bill was right. He
found it harder and harder to contain his laughter.
    In the batter's box one young girl
continually swung her bat after the softball had been caught snugly
in the catcher's mitt and tossed back to the pitcher's mound.
Another chased a base hit halfway around the outfield before she
finally scooped it up in her hands, only to drop it at least three
times before she sent a determined lob that landed no more than
three feet away.
    Bill was also right about Kim. She hit a
double and a home run, and made several good fielding plays at
second base. As young as she was, she handled both ball and bat
with a deftness that surprised Matt. After the game he went up to
her.
    "Good game, Kim," he congratulated her.
Tilting his head, he peered at the number emblazoned on the
royal-blue jersey. "Fourteen, huh? Just like Ernie Banks."
    He'd been about to lay a hand on her
shoulder, but the sudden stiffness in her small body stopped him.
He smiled encouragingly instead. "Do you know who Ernie Banks
is?"
    She shook her head. The movement was barely
perceptible.
    "He played for the Chicago Cubs when I was,
oh, not much older than you." He stopped, hoping she would say
something. Instead, she just stared up at him, her hands still
clutching her baseball glove. Something about her reticence
reminded him of Angie, but at least she hadn't shied away from him
as she had with another father who came up and clapped her on the
shoulder.
    "He was quite a home-run hitter, Ernie was."
His smile widened. "Just like you."
    A spark blazed in the wide brown eyes that
stared up at him before a hint of wariness replaced it. "I better
go back to my mom," she hedged, then ran off to where Angie was
still surrounded by parents and children.
    Angie had watched the incident from a
distance. Kim looking a man straight in the eye was rare; in fact,
she couldn't remember the last time it had happened. Usually she
hung her head shyly. It surprised her that the child hadn't flown
away like a trapped bird that had been set free. She was pleased at
Kim's response, small though it was, yet it vaguely disturbed her
that it had happened with Matt Richardson.
    It wasn't like her to be so petty, and it
occurred to her that she was trying very hard not to like Matt. She
wasn't, she decided, being fair. She owed him a chance, that much
at least. Just don't let him get too close.
    "So what'd you think of our game?" Janice's
cheerful voice came to her ears. Angie saw that Matt had walked up
beside her, and it was him that Janice addressed. Most of the other
parents and children had dispersed to their cars. The dusty field
was almost deserted.
    Matt raised his eyebrows, as if considering.
"It was quite an