Read Home Field Advantage for Free Online Page A

attracted
to a struggling single mother who couldn't remember the last time she'd
bothered with makeup or worn anything more elegant than jeans. But if he was...
Dear God, what was she going to do?
    Her panic must have showed on
her face, because his smile faded and his expression became guarded.
    "I'll call tomorrow
night."
    She bobbed her head
nervously. "Fine. Emma looks forward to that."
    His voice was soft, sending a
shiver up her spine. "I look forward to that."
    Marian refused to remember
the last time he had called. Instead she said only, "Emma needs the
reassurance."
    "You'll take good care
of her?"
    It sounded like an entreaty,
and she reacted instinctively, reaching out to touch his arm. "Of course I
will."
    Before she could withdraw,
he'd captured her hand in his. The clasp was light, allowing for escape, but
she was paralyzed by the strength she felt in his long fingers. For an instant
she quit breathing as she stared up at him with wide eyes.
    A frown gathered between his
brows. "Do I scare you?"
    "No, I..." She bit her
lip. "Yes, I guess you do. I'm just not used to..."
    When her words trailed off,
he arched one brow. "What aren't you used to?"
    Marian tugged her hand free,
in a rush of defiance saying more than she wanted to. "I'm not used to
having a man look at me the way you do."
    Again he frowned.
"You're a beautiful woman."
    She held herself very
straight, although she had to twine together her trembling fingers. "Right
now I'm more interested in being a good mother. And a good baby-sitter for your
daughter."
    Their gazes held for a tense
moment before his mouth tilted wryly. "That's pointed enough even for me.
I'd better get moving, anyway, or I'm going to miss my plane. Damn, I hate
L.A."
    Marian struggled to sound
normal. "But didn't you live there?"
    "That's why I hate it.
Oh, well. See you Monday morning?"
    Again there was that hint of
vulnerability in his voice. What was he asking? Whether she would want to see
him? But Marian didn't let herself examine the question. "Monday,"
she agreed.
    She made herself turn away as
he started his car. Before he had backed into the street, she circled the
corner of the house. She didn't have to watch him drive out of sight, anyway.
That last quizzical smile was frozen in her mind's eye like a butterfly in
amber.
    Marian stopped in the long,
late-afternoon shadow behind the house. Outside Esmerelda's pen, the three
children were hunkered down in a row with their backs to Marian. Something
about the sight squeezed her chest with tenderness. But as though she had
opened herself to emotion, a wave of desperation washed over her, pulling
little bits of her along as it receded, like sand being swallowed by the tide.
She couldn't bear to be hurt again like Mark had done to her. It seemed that
John McRae could hurt her without even intending to, just by his existence, by
the possibilities he made her want to believe in. But that was impossible. He
was impossible.
    Somehow, in the next three
days, she had to make herself believe it.
     
    *****
     
    Stretched out on the hotel
bed, John cradled the telephone receiver between his shoulder and ear. He still
wore slacks and a dress shirt, but his tie was flung over a chair and papers
were strewn across the flowered bedspread.
    "Did you ride the
pony?" he asked.
    "I made Snowball
trot," Emma told him with great satisfaction. "It was kind of bumpy
and I bounced around, but I held on tight and it was fun. Marian said I did
great. And Snowball stopped the minute I wanted to. Marian says I can trot again
tomorrow if it's okay with Snowball. But I know he will."
    John carefully kept the
amusement out of his voice. "That's terrific. You're going to be my show
rider before you know it."
    "Can I be in the costume
class? I could dress up in purple and silver and..."
    "Sure, why not?" he
said recklessly. Actually, he'd always thought the dressy costume class at Arabian
horse shows was tacky. The intent was to present the graceful horses