Shelter for Quinn Read online

  A hard smack on his ass made him whip around and stare at Quinn in surprise.

  “Knock ’em dead, stud. And get a home run, would ya?”

  All the women laughed raucously and cheered her on. There was a blush on Quinn’s unblemished cheek, and Driftwood didn’t think he could like her more than he did at that moment.

  Dropping his bag, he went back to her in a rush. The expression on her face turned from smugness to surprise. She shrieked when he caught her around the waist and dipped her backward. She held onto his biceps for balance and he kissed her even as she was laughing.

  He didn’t do anything to hide his growing feelings for her. He took her lips as if they were lying in bed about to make love. Passionately and without holding back.

  By the time he stood upright, they were both out of breath. He barely heard the catcalls from their audience. He brushed a lock of hair behind Quinn’s ear and kissed her marked cheek. Then, without a word, he turned and picked up his bag and headed for the dugout once more.

  “Giiiiirl!” Sophie said as she fanned her face. “That was hot.”

  Quinn knew she was blushing, but didn’t really care. Smacking John’s butt had been spontaneous, but if she’d known what kind of reaction he’d have, she might’ve done it before now.

  Sophie patted a space on the bleacher next to her and Quinn climbed up. She recognized most everyone there, and said hi to Adeline, Blythe, and Jen.

  “As you can s-see, Beth isn’t here,” Sophie said. “Cade s-said s-she’s having a rough day, but he brought a camera and s-set it up over there.”

  Quinn glanced over and saw what looked like a go-pro zip-tied to the fence.

  “S-She’s watching from home. And I think you’ve m-met everyone else here at one time or another. M-Mackenzie, M-Mickie, Corrie, Laine, Erin from The Sloppy Cow, M-Milena, and Hope and her s-son, Billy,” Sophie pointed out each person as she said their name.

  It was a lot of people, but luckily Quinn had met most of them before. “Hey, everyone,” she said with a little wave.

  “It’s great to see you again, Quinn,” Mackenzie said enthusiastically. “I just love these games. Not only do we get to watch a bunch of hot men running around getting sweaty, we get to hang out together. I don’t see enough of you guys. Oh, and I should say that most of the time I love these things, but Adeline, if you please, no passing out this time, okay?”

  Everyone chuckled. Quinn knew the last time the men had played a softball game, Adeline had an epileptic seizure and had to be taken to the hospital.

  Smokey, Penelope’s donkey, chose that moment to start braying.

  Jen wrinkled her nose and asked, “What’s his problem?”

  “Nothing,” Sophie said. “His m-mama’s up at bat!”

  Quinn looked and, sure enough, Penelope was stepping up to the plate.

  “Show those boys who’s boss!” Laine yelled.

  “Hey, whose side are you on?” Mackenzie asked her best friend.

  Laine smiled. “I’m all about supporting women, especially when they’re outnumbered like she is. So that means I cheer really loud when Penelope and Hayden are at bat. I don’t care who wins the stupid game. I’m here for the hot guys…and to watch our women kick some ass.”

  Quinn turned her attention back to the game just in time to see Penelope hit the ball hard enough to make it to first base.

  She stood up and cheered along with the rest of their group.

  Maybe being out and social wouldn’t be so bad…especially when she was surrounded by some of the most interesting and strong women she’d ever met.

  An hour later, Quinn was rethinking her premature assessment of the outing.

  First, it was hot. Which wasn’t exactly a surprise, since it was Texas, but Quinn wasn’t someone who liked to be hot. She never wore her hair up, in order to help hide her birthmark, and feeling her sweaty hair on the back of her neck was irritating and gross. Secondly, the firefighters were losing. By a lot. And she didn’t think John would be in the greatest mood when they left as a result, and that sucked.

  Third, she was tired of listening to Jen complain.

  Quinn was pretty much miserable, but she was sucking it up and trying to have a good time despite the heat and occasional bugs. Besides, if Blythe wasn’t complaining, and she was pregnant and still sitting out here on the hard bleachers, Quinn didn’t feel as if she had any room to bitch.

  But Jen had complained that her butt hurt, she was hot, her back was sore, she was hungry, she didn’t understand what the rules were. She bitched about Dax cheating by holding back Taco when he went to steal a base, and lastly, that she was bored.

  Finally, Adeline had had enough and said what they were all thinking. “Jen, if you’re so miserable, why don’t you just go home?”

  “Because Hudson needs me,” she answered with wide eyes.

  “He hates being called Hudson,” Sophie said. “His name is Taco. And he’s out there on the field. He doesn’t exactly need you.”

  “He doesn’t mind when I call him Hudson. Besides, Taco is a silly name. I’m his moral support,” Jen said, her lip trembling.

  “Oh Lord,” Mickie said under her breath from behind Quinn.

  “I think I saw an umbrella in John’s truck,” Quinn offered.

  “That’s not going to make this seat any more comfortable,” Jen said with a pout.

  “It’s not, but it might make you cooler,” Adeline said. “And it was nice of Quinn to offer.”

  “Aren’t you hot?” Jen asked Quinn.

  “Of course I am,” she replied.

  “But you haven’t put your hair up or anything,” Jen said.

  Quinn couldn’t decide if Jen was really that stupid, or if she was purposely trying to make her feel awkward. “I never put my hair up,” she told her.

  “Why?”

  “Because s-she doesn’t like it when people s-stare at her,” Sophie said. “When her hair is up it exposes her birthmark. And if you’d used your brain, you would’ve thought about that.”

  “Oh…I…just thought you weren’t hot,” Jen stammered.

  “I’ll go with you if you want to go get a Coke,” little Billy offered.

  Hope looked down at her son with pride. “You thirsty?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. But sometimes walking around makes my back feel better when it hurts. And you always tell me that sitting too long can make your butt numb and walking makes it better.”

  “That it does, son,” Hope said.

  “So…you wanna go get a Coke?” Billy asked Jen again.

  She heaved a long sigh. “I guess I might as well. This game doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon, especially with everyone cheating as badly as they are. They shouldn’t cheat. It’s not right.”

  “It’s just a game,” Milena told her. “Lighten up.”

  “Here’s some money,” Hope told her son. “You can have a soft drink, but only a small size, okay?”

  “Okay, Mom. Do you want anything?”

  “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

  Billy hopped off the bench and looked at Adeline. “Can Coco come with me?”

  “Sure,” Adeline told him, handing over her leash. “Just hold on tight.”

  “I will!” he answered happily.

  “Isn’t she afraid Coco will run off if Billy drops her leash?” Quinn asked Sophie.

  “No. Coco is very well trained. S-She wouldn’t run off. No way. If anything, s-she’d just come right back over here to Adeline…or s-she’d go to Crash.”

  The second Jen was out of earshot, the women let their frustrations fly.

  “Is she serious right about now?”

  “What in the world does Taco see in her?”

  “You’ve seen her tits, right?”

  “She’s so annoying.”

  “The game is for charity…who cares how long it takes?”

  “If she sighs in that dramatic way she has one more time, I’m gonna have to hurt
her.”

  Quinn kept her mouth shut. She felt kind of bad for Jen. At least she’d known Sophie for a while, so she’d been semi-part of the group before officially dating John. It had to be hard trying to integrate yourself into an established group of friends. Jen was definitely not fitting in, though.

  Instead of joining in the bashing, she turned her attention to Hope. The other woman wasn’t watching the game; she had her eyes glued on the concession stand.

  Quinn leaned forward. “He’ll be okay,” she said softly.

  “I know,” Hope said without taking her eyes off her son. “I’m just making sure.”

  Quinn admired Hope. She’d had a hell of a time, and her son had been snatched from her not once, but twice. Well, maybe one and a half times, since the last time he’d actually run away from the person who’d tried to kidnap him. If that had happened to Quinn’s child, she wasn’t sure she’d ever take her eyes off him again.

  But Billy had taken everything in stride and, from what Quinn understood, was actually flourishing now that they were living with Calder and the boy had a more stable life.

  Quinn took a deep breath and pulled her hair up into a messy bun at the back of her head for just a second. The air felt good against her nape, and she closed her eyes in momentary relief.

  “Holy shit, look at that thing on her face,” a voice said from nearby.

  Quinn reflexively dropped her hand and let her hair cover her neck and cheek once again. But it was too late.

  “Gross,” a second teenage boy said.

  “If I looked like that, I’d kill myself,” the first boy said.

  Quinn looked out at the field and pretended she didn’t hear their conversation.

  But Mackenzie wasn’t so reticent. “At least she doesn’t have ears that stick out for miles like yours do,” she said, glaring at the teenagers.

  “Yeah!” Laine agreed. “And if you’re so stupid that you can’t recognize a birthmark when you see it, and don’t realize she’s dating one of the men you’ve had a man-crush on for the last hour—who would squash you like a bug if he heard you talking about his woman like that—then you’re going to have a hard time doing anything but working at minimum-wage jobs for the rest of your lives.”

  Quinn gaped at the duo. “I don’t think you’re allowed to make fun of kids like that,” she whispered.

  Mackenzie looked her in the eyes. “If they’re old enough to make fun of other people, then they’re old enough to take what they dish out.”

  “You’re a bitch,” the first teenager called out to Mackenzie.

  “Yeah. What do you know?” the second one asked Laine.

  Just then, Smokey let out a series of brays and honks that startled everyone. He even lunged on his lead, which was tied to the bottom of the bleachers. The boys looked terrified and scurried away from them, making their way down the steps and going over to another set of bleachers nearby.

  “Thank you,” Quinn told the other women.

  “Whatever. Their parents should’ve taught them manners. Seriously, I don’t understand why people feel like it’s okay to be like that.”

  “I’m used it,” Quinn said. “But I appreciate your support all the same.”

  “You shouldn’t have to be used to it,” Adeline complained. “No one with a disability should. I got made fun of when I’d have seizures too. People have actually laughed at how funny I looked when I was in the middle of one. What in the world makes people think they’re that much better than everyone else?”

  “The same thing that makes people laugh when I run into something,” Corrie said softly.

  Quinn turned to look at the shy blind woman who hadn’t said much up to this point. She’d wondered why she was there, since she couldn’t watch the game, but then she’d overheard some of her conversations with Mickie and Mackenzie. Corrie could hear when Quint was up to bat, and she could tell how he’d done by the sound the bat made when it hit the ball, and how loudly the crowd cheered.

  Milena spoke up then. “TJ told me a story about how they’d gotten a call about a woman inside a locked car in a parking lot. The person calling said that she was in the backseat with a blanket over her head, and he thought she might have overdosed. They all raced to the scene expecting to find a dead body. When they got there, they found the car but it was empty. When they questioned the caller, he said he’d last seen the woman two days ago. TJ was pissed. He was still upset when he got home hours later. He couldn’t understand why the man hadn’t called for help the second he saw the woman in distress. Why he’d waited two days to call and tell someone that he thought there was a woman in the car. People are just too busy to care about others anymore. They’re so caught up in their own lives and their own issues, that they forget other people have feelings. The anonymity of social media hasn’t helped.”

  “And they’re so concerned about taking selfies and putting pictures on Instagram and showing others that they have a perfect life, that they forget their lives are actually flawed and not as perfect as they’re trying to portray,” Erin chimed in.

  “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who spit on me when I was homeless,” Blythe added. “Not all homeless people panhandling are scammers. Sometimes we just want a buck so we can buy a hamburger.”

  “Maybe we can’t change the world,” Mackenzie said. “But we can change the perceptions of the people we come into contact with. We can at least educate them a little bit. And if we can’t change their minds, I say we shame them into thinking twice before making fun of someone in the future.”

  Quinn’s throat felt tight and she did her best not to cry. All her life she’d felt like an outcast. She’d never found friends she could trust like she felt she could trust this group of women. They’d had her back automatically. Without hesitation. Taking the job at the Burn Center had been the best thing she’d ever done. She’d met Sophie, and in turn had been embraced into the fold of these amazing women.

  Jen came back then, and the first thing she said was, “That line was so slow! I swear I could’ve run home and gotten a drink and made it back before I made it to the front of the line.”

  Quinn felt sorry for her. Instead of enjoying the moment, she was too busy complaining about things she couldn’t control.

  “Here, Quinn,” Blythe said, leaning over and holding out her hand. “I have an extra.”

  Sitting on the other woman’s palm was a hair tie. A plain black, elastic hair tie.

  An hour earlier, she probably would’ve insisted that she was fine and didn’t need it, even though she definitely did. But after being reminded that the women around her were just as flawed as she was, and they embraced their differences instead of trying to hide them, Quinn took a deep breath and reached for it. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Blythe said.

  Quinn bent her head and gathered her hair up with both hands. She made a sloppy bun at the back of her head and wound the hair tie around it.

  “Sunscreen?” Adeline asked, holding out a small tube.

  Again, Quinn could’ve been embarrassed and assumed Adeline was only asking because of the blemish on her face, but she pushed that thought back and accepted the offer. She liberally applied the lotion on her birthmark, making sure to cover it completely.

  Feeling eyes on her, Quinn turned to see Jen staring at her from the seat to her left. Deciding not to take offense, she held out the sunscreen to her instead. “Need some?”

  Jen leaned back as if Quinn was holding a live spider or something. “No, I’m good, thanks.”

  Shrugging, Quinn handed the tube back to Adeline. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” the other woman said.

  With Jen’s reappearance, talk once again turned general and everyone watched the game. At the moment, Taco, Chief, and Moose had surrounded Penelope and were escorting her from one base to the next, making sure no one could get close enough to tag her out. Everyone was laughing, and soon it was a free-for-all on the fiel
d. With the law enforcement guys doing what they could to tag the small firefighter, and the firefighters doing what they could to keep everyone away from their teammate.

  Quinn smiled as she watched the mayhem on the field.

  For the first time in a really long time, she felt as if she belonged somewhere. In this band of misfit women, she was just one of the group. She wasn’t the weird one, wasn’t the disabled one. They were all weird in their own way, and most of them had their own disabilities they were living with. But the bottom line was that they were all people. Attempting to get through life as best they could…with incredible men at their sides.

  Chapter Seven

  “You’re quiet,” Driftwood said. “You okay?”

  “I’m good,” she said. “Are you okay? You guys lost today.”

  He chuckled. “Emmy, we didn’t just lose, we got slaughtered. They beat us twenty-seven to ten.”

  “And you don’t care?”

  “Not one bit. We had fun. They had fun. Who cares who won?”

  “I thought you would,” she responded.

  “Nope. Truth be told, we all pretty much suck at softball. We all cheat to cover up that fact. Getting money for charity is what it’s really about. We get to hang out together, watch our women chat and smile in the stands, and generally forget about the real world for a while.”

  Quinn smiled at him. “That’s awesome.”

  “Yeah. I like your hair up.” He wasn’t going to bring it up, but she seemed extraordinarily mellow for some reason. He’d never thought in a million years she’d put her hair up like she had. In all the time he’d known her, she’d never worn it any other way than down around her shoulders.

  “Thanks. It was hot today.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So…” she began with a coy look under her lashes. “You didn’t get a home run today.”

  He chuckled and winced. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Not even a double,” she pouted.

  Driftwood laughed out loud. He couldn’t help it. She looked so cute with her bottom lip stuck out.

  “It’s not for lack of trying, Emmy. Believe me. I even tried bribing Conor to let me run to second after that pathetic hit I made, but it was a no-go.”