Cole: Red Hot & Blue Book 5

  Dedication

  For my readers.

  Chapter One

  Ten Years Ago

  The edge of the hard wooden bench made Lizzie Barton’s butt go numb, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have missed this game for the world. It was the last one of the season and the last one of her senior year in high school. Of course, it would have been an even better game if Cole Ryan was still in town. Just the thought of him sent her heart racing.

  As she sat the batter swung hard and missed. The pitch had been high and inside. If he’d only let it go without swinging it would have been called a ball instead of a strike. However, Jared Gordon was never one to give in on anything, even a bad pitch. She shook her head. Typical Gordon behavior. Cute, stubborn and definite heartbreakers—that described all three Gordon brothers—Jared, Jack and Jimmy.

  Even Mary Sue, Lizzie’s sister, had enjoyed a few steamy dates with Jack Gordon once upon a time. That was before Jack had followed his older brother Jimmy into the service. Lizzie didn’t blame the brothers one bit for wanting to get away from Pigeon Hollow. As far as small towns went, this one was among the smallest. A person could suffocate around here.

  Jared finally connected with a pitch. She jumped to her feet when it sailed into the outfield, right over the head of the center fielder. Clapping, Lizzie cheered along with the home-team crowd as the players on the loaded bases ran home. With a wide, triumphant grin, Jared rounded the bases and brought up the rear of his grand slam. He was a cutie all right, often the discussion of girl talk in school. Too bad Lizzie felt about as romantic toward him as she did about her older brother, Bobby.

  Sadly there wasn’t a single boy in this town who made Lizzie’s heart go pitter pat since Cole had left for college two years ago. He’d gotten a baseball scholarship, left town and hadn’t looked back. Not that it mattered. That little crush was totally one-sided on her part. He was a friend of Bobby’s. What guy would want to date his friend’s little sister? She firmly told herself Cole steered clear of her out of respect for Bobby. It was easier to think that than admit he just hadn’t been attracted to her. She was younger than him, and back before he’d left she’d had a mouthful of braces, baby fat and no boobs to speak of.

  But this year was a whole new ballgame for her. The braces were off and Lizzie had finally outgrown her tendency to be chubby, helped along when she’d joined the school’s track team. Not to mention she’d finally rebelled against her mother’s constant insistence that she “pull that hair back off her face”. Now, scowls from her mother or not, she wore it long and sexy, like a woman should.

  College was out for the summer and Cole should be coming home soon. More importantly, today was Lizzie’s eighteenth birthday. Now she was a legal, brace-free adult. She was old enough to vote and she was old enough to do whatever she wanted with Cole Ryan. All she knew was Bobby better not get in the way if he knew what was good for him.

  The bench beneath Lizzie bounced as Savannah Jordan, Anna for short, plopped down in the empty space next to her. “Why are you looking so angry?”

  If Anna saw it, Lizzie must have been frowning pretty badly while thinking about how she’d kill Bobby if he got in between her and Cole. Lizzie’s best friend rarely noticed anything besides guys.

  “I’m not angry. It, uh, must be the glare from the sun.”

  “That’s why I wear sunglasses. Frowning gives you wrinkles.” Anna reinforced her statement by sliding the glasses farther up her nose. “So, what’d I miss?”

  Lizzie hadn’t seen her own sunglasses in a few weeks, not that she’d bothered looking for them too hard. Besides, she wasn’t sure frowning gave a person wrinkles anyway. “You just missed Jared hitting a grand slam.”

  “Darn. I love watching his cute little buns run around the bases. I knew I shouldn’t have been late.” Anna pivoted her head, searching the field for Jared’s butt. Unfortunately for her, he had already high-fived the entire team and was back and sitting on the team bench, hiding the particular part of his anatomy Anna was looking for.

  “Why are you so late? When I talked to you on the phone, you said you were on your way.” Lizzie turned her attention back to her friend.

  “Well, maybe you’ll forgive me, Miss Punctuality, when I tell you why. I stopped to get gas on my way here and guess who was there?”

  Lizzie’s eyes opened wide. The Ryan family, as in Cole Ryan, owned the local gas station. She swallowed and tried not to let Anna see how excited she was. Better to keep her intentions for this summer secret just in case she was being delusional about the possibility of Cole being interested in her now that she looked more like a woman than a child.

  “Hmm, let me guess who…Cole?”

  “Yup, and he’s looking hot.” Anna made the one syllable word into more like two or three.

  “Did you talk to him?” As usual, Lizzie was envious of Anna. The girl had never gone through an awkward stage. Her hair and teeth and body seemed to have been perfect since the day she’d been born. Typical cheerleader. Slim in all the right places, but curvy where she was supposed to be. And now, on top of it all, Anna had gotten to see Cole before Lizzie.

  “What do you think? Of course I talked to him. I’m not crazy. You wanna know what he told me?”

  Lizzie couldn’t even imagine what Cole could have told Anna. It was killing her not to know, but she wasn’t about to let Anna know that. Jealousy reared its ugly head at the thought of Cole telling Anna anything.

  “I bet you’re going to tell me.” Lizzie inwardly cringed when she heard the bitterness come across clearly in her tone.

  Anna let out a burst of air. “Maybe I won’t tell you. What are you, PMSing or something?”

  “No. I’m just not in the mood for intrigue.” Lizzie waited as long as she could stand it then turned back to Anna. “So are you going to tell me or not?”

  “Oh, so now you’re interested?” One auburn brow rose high above the rim of Anna’s glasses.

  Lizzie shrugged. “I don’t care either way.”

  This pretending she wasn’t interested in Cole was harder than she thought it would be. Luckily for Lizzie, she knew Anna would never be able to keep anything worth telling quiet for very long. It would come out eventually, if Lizzie didn’t die first from the anxiety of waiting.

  “He’s dropping out of college,” Anna finally announced. She delivered that piece of information like it was the best news in the world.

  “What?” Lizzie nearly choked. “Is he crazy? He’s on a full-ride scholarship for baseball to one of the best colleges in the country and he’s dropping out? Why?”

  Anna smiled, as if enjoying she had details about Cole’s life that no one else had. Why was Lizzie best friends with Anna again?

  “He got picked up by a minor league team. He’s going to play pro-ball starting this summer. He only came home to visit his parents before starting training.”

  Amazed, Lizzie tried to absorb it all. A career with a big team. Cole had just gone from an old school friend of her brother’s home from college for the summer, to an adult with an actual career far away from this small town. Now he was so far out of her reach she could barely comprehend it. “Jeez. Wow. I guess that’s good.”

  Anna turned her gaze from the boys on the field to Lizzie. “Why don’t you sound happy for him?” Her tone was accusing.

  “I’m happy.” The lie came out sounding awkward. Of course she was happy for him, but this meant him moving away for good. She guessed it would have happened eventually, but she wasn’t ready for it to happen so soon. “I just think he should probably get an education first. You know, to fall back on just in case anything happens. Professional athletes get injured or dumped by their teams all the time.”

  Anna, Miss Live-for-the-Moment, shook her head. “You’re crazy. Chances like this don’t come along every day.”

  “Neither do full-ride scholarships.” Lizzie countered Anna’s logic with some of her own.

  “You only think college is so important because you’re a geek.” Anna didn’t even look at Lizzie while delivering that insult. She was too busy scanning the field of guys.

  Lizzie frowned. “I am not.”

  “Uh, yeah you are.” Finally, Anna turned to face her. “You got into your first choice with an academic scholarship.”

  Lizzie had worked hard to make that happen, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a life too. Though studying every night instead of going out and taking on a heavy course load of college prep classes did impinge upon her social life. Anna was right. She was a geek, but Lizzie would rather eat dirt from the pitcher’s mound than admit that to Anna.

  Anna continued, undaunted. “The rest of us normal people don’t think that going to college is everything in the world, but whatever. So, what do you want to do for your birthday tonight?”

  It was pretty mind-boggling how Anna could go directly from being rude to her to making plans to celebrate Lizzie’s birthday. Which brought up what Lizzie had been thinking about a lot lately. What to do for her birthday?

  The drive-in theater was about the only entertainment around Pigeon Hollow besides the bowling alley. Although, given the choice between being the third wheel at the drive-in with Anna and her current boyfriend while they made out or going bowling, she probably should choose bowling. Neither seemed good enough to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. Her parents were throwing her a family party the next day, but for tonight, she kind of wanted to do something memorable.

&nb
sp; Anna jumped in and interrupted Lizzie’s dilemma. “You know what we can do? I almost forgot about it in all the excitement over Cole’s news, but I heard there’s a party in the woods. Some of guys home from college got a beer keg and everything.”

  “The sheriff always catches kids partying there.” Lizzie frowned. She wasn’t much of a beer drinker, but then again, Cole might be there if other college kids were.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m so not in the mood to be lectured by the sheriff again. I can’t wait for your brother to officially become a deputy so we’ll be exempt.”

  “Exempt?” Lizzie laughed. “Yeah, right. He’ll only be twice as hard on me as he is on everyone else in town.”

  Anna nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. But anyway, the party is going to be way off in the woods so the sheriff won’t find it.”

  Lizzie thought that was doubtful, but since it was a better idea than any of the other options, she agreed. “All right. What time you wanna go?”

  Enjoying the wind in his hair, Cole Ryan steered the convertible probably too fast around a sharp curve. Even though it was a few years old and used, the car was new to him, a gift from his father for getting picked up by a minor league team.

  Cole might be starting out in the minors, but he could feel it in his gut he’d be playing in the big leagues soon. Then he’d be buying his parents brand-new cars as gifts, instead of them driving the used ones they bought broken and fixed up at the service station. Maybe he could even talk his father into selling the business and retiring.

  The stars shone brightly in the dark sky as Cole edged closer to the woods that bordered the river on his way to some keg party. The deal was that everyone attending this secret gathering—that every kid in town seemed to know about—was to park far away and walk in. That was so the sheriff wouldn’t find them. Cole hated to leave his car like that, but he had no choice. He reluctantly parked on a dirt road beneath a tree and put up the roof.

  Cole locked the door and pocketed his keys. He heard sounds of a party all the way from where he was parked. Yeah, this plan to avoid the sheriff was going to work real well.

  Following the noises, he began to walk. As he got closer, Cole realized he was actually looking forward to this party, in spite of the likelihood of it getting broken up early. He couldn’t wait to tell some of the guys he’d graduated with the good news. Although, Pigeon Hollow was so small and everyone was in everyone else’s business, he was pretty sure there was no one left in town to tell. Even so, he would enjoy having a few beers and relaxing with some friends before he went off to start the career that awaited him.

  He smelled the bonfire before he saw it. Thinking that starting a fire was not only a hazard, but also a good way to lead the sheriff right to them, he stumbled out of the trees and into a clearing. The moment the group of guys circling the keg saw him, a cheer rose. Smiling, he ambled over. A beer cup was thrust at Cole and the group took turns shaking his hand and congratulating him.

  “Hey, Cole.” One of the guys bumped Cole’s fist with his own. “You should have been at the game today. Jared here hit a grand slam. Maybe he’ll be joining you in the majors one day.”

  “Sounds good.” Cole slapped Jared on the back. “I wouldn’t mind another local boy there in the city with me.”

  Jared shook his head. “Nope, big-city life’s not for me. I’m staying right here. But it was nice to rub it in the other team’s faces today that Pigeon Hollow doesn’t lose to anybody.”

  Another cheer rose and Cole shook his head and laughed. He better drink his fill fast, because as noisy as these guys were, this secret party was on borrowed time already.

  Cole scanned the clearing and noticed that scattered amid the guys were a few girls milling around. Among them, tucked off in a corner looking embarrassed while holding a cup but not drinking, was Bobby Barton’s little sister, Lizzie. Only she didn’t look like she used to. Somehow since he’d been away she’d absolutely blossomed. Her dark hair was still long and wavy, but it wasn’t in pigtails anymore. She still wore the T-shirts and denim mini-skirts he was used to seeing her in, but boy-oh-boy, she really filled them out nicely now.

  She’d always been a good kid—kind, smart, sweet, but that was it. She’d been a kid. Now… Wow.

  A wave of guilt hit him. If Bobby ever saw him looking at Lizzie like this he’d slug him. Cole took a closer look around the clearing and realized that although Lizzie was here, Bobby wasn’t.

  Cole poked the guy closest to him. “Hey, where’s Bobby at?”

  “He’s always busy now. He’s been working at the grocery store and taking classes at the community college. Getting a degree in criminal justice or something so he can join the sheriff’s department.”

  Cole nearly choked on his beer. “Really? The sheriff’s department? Wow.”

  He felt guilty he’d lost touch with his best friend from high school while away at college. It wasn’t intentional. It was just tough playing ball in college while trying to keep up with classes. Weeks had turned into months, and before he knew it the whole school year had flown by.

  He glanced at Lizzie again. Even as a child she’d always had the trademark Barton dark hair and brilliant blue eyes that made all three distinguishable as siblings. Now, Lizzie had the body of a woman too. What a change from the little rug rat who used to trail along behind him and Bobby for as long as he could remember. Smiling at the memory, Cole started to work his way over to her. Hell, it couldn’t hurt to say hi and ask about Bobby.

  When he reached her side she smiled up at him—right as all hell broke loose.

  Spotlights flashed on, making the clearing bright as day. The sheriff and two deputies strode out of the trees, yelling for everyone to stay right where they were. Cole didn’t think twice. After flinging both his and Lizzie’s beer cups into the bushes, he grabbed her and pulled her into the shelter of the trees.

  They ran, Cole leading Lizzie by the hand as he tried to avoid tripping over stumps and getting whipped in the face by branches. When they’d managed to get a good distance away from the clearing, he stopped and listened for anyone who might be pursuing them.

  The only sounds he heard were Lizzie breathing and his own pulse pounding. “I don’t think they saw us leave.”

  He barely saw her nod in the dim moonlight filtering through the pines. “Thank you for getting me out of there. I can’t tell you how much trouble I would’ve been in if my parents or even worse, Bobby, had to bail me out of jail. And on my birthday too.”

  “Happy birthday. How old are you?” Cole tried to remember if she’d been two or three years behind him and Bobby in school.

  “Eighteen.”

  Wow. Could she be that old already? He figured she could be and decided he was happy about it. Cole turned fully toward her and grabbed both her hands in his.

  “Your eighteenth birthday is important. We can’t have it ruined by the sheriff. Come on. My car is parked not far from here. We’ll celebrate, the two of us.”

  “I’d like that.” She smiled and then hesitated. “But…”

  “But what?” He gave her hands a little squeeze.

  “I’m worried about Anna. She was at the party with me.”

  Anna and Lizzie were still friends? That was a surprise. He’d never seen two more different people.

  “Savannah Jordan? I wouldn’t worry about her if I were you. She can definitely take care of herself. Besides, if we go back to look for her, chances are we’ll get caught.” Cole seriously doubted Anna was worrying about where Lizzie was. From what he knew of her, Anna was probably off sucking face with some boy in the woods by now.

  “You’re right.” Lizzie sounded reluctant but nodded, glancing behind them nervously. “We should go.”

  “Come on.” Still clutching her small hand in his, he blazed a path through the moonlit woods to the road where he’d left his new gift.

  He’d loved the car before, but he was even happier now that he had his convertible to impress Lizzie Barton with.

  Chapter Two

  Lizzie worked hard to slow her breathing as she sat next to the guy she’d had a crush on for as long as she could remember. The one she never ever thought would look at her as anything other than Bobby’s little sister.