Summer on Lovers' Island (Jewell Cove 3)

“I figure I’ll finish that bunting bag by the time I need it this winter,” Charlie joked.

Babies and knitting … Lizzie really did feel out of place. But now that she’d had an official invitation, it would be rude to refuse. “No need to d

rag me anywhere,” Lizzie informed them both. “I’ll go, for a while, anyway.” She offered a smile. “Girl’s gotta eat.”

The Old Dogs took the field again and Lizzie watched as Josh took to the pitcher’s mound. The score was close, with the Young Pups ahead by a single run. The game was getting serious now, with less trash talk and more honest-to-goodness cheering. Josh had the count at two-and-two when the young man at bat cracked one straight down the third-base line.

The third baseman caught it easily and sent it humming to first. Lizzie recognized her landlord, Tom, playing first and smiled as the big man stepped forward to catch the ball, anticipating that the throw was slightly short. But he stepped right on the baseline just as the runner came barreling toward the bag, his foot extended.

Tom held his spot, his glove hand extended, focused entirely on the ball.

The collision knocked him back a step, but he was a big man, well over six feet and sturdy as an ox. The kid didn’t stand a chance, particularly when his knee hit Tom’s thigh.

The kid went down like a rock, while the crowd fell silent.

Josh dropped his glove and went straight to first base while teammates on both sides crowded around. Lizzie and Charlie both stood, and then Lizzie raised her eyebrow. “You stay. I’ll go.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yep.” Lizzie hopped down off the bleachers and made her way to the field.

“Excuse me,” she ordered, pushing her way through players to where Josh knelt next to the runner. She tapped Josh on the shoulder just as he was pushing up the player’s pant leg to examine the knee. “What’s up, Doc?”

It was easy to see that the boy was in a lot of pain. The moment Josh eased up the fabric past the knee, they both knew what had happened. The kneecap was dislocated, shifted to the outside of the leg. “Ouch,” she said lightly, looking down at the player. “Hey, sparky,” she said, kneeling down. “Take a deep breath for me and relax.”

He did and opened his eyes to look up at her. “You a doc?” he asked. “Nothin’ against Josh and all, but it’s kind of humiliating to have the enemy fix me up, you know?”

“You guys and your pride,” she responded, giving a little laugh. “Hurts like hell, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She looked at Josh and nodded, and he nodded back. “Don’t call me ‘ma’am,’ it makes me feel old, and I just turned thirty last month. And don’t say thirty is old.”

“No, ma’am. I hurt it bad, didn’t I?”

“It could be worse. You dislocated your patella, but that’s easily fixed. Let’s see if we can get your leg straight, first.”

He shouted as they manipulated his leg, and Lizzie tried not to wince. “Hey, guys? Can someone go get an ice pack or two?” There were too many people around, hovering. Still, this wasn’t the first time she’d seen one of these. When she was working in the emergency room, all sorts of sports injuries came through the door. This was pretty straightforward.

She looked back at Josh, and once again he nodded. Now was the time to trust him. “You wanna switch spots?” she asked quietly.

“I got this,” he answered. For a moment her ego flared to life, but she reminded herself that Josh had been a doctor in a war zone. He could handle an itty-bitty kneecap.

“So, what’s your name?” she asked. “Might as well make some small talk while we wait for that ice.”

“Shawn.”

“Okay, Shawn. It kinda hurts running into a big bruiser, doesn’t it?”

“Tom’s like a friggin’ tree.”

She laughed. “Did you run right into his leg or what?”

“I could see him there. At the last minute, I tried to pivot out of the way—”

Ah, that was it. He’d planted and twisted and pop! She put her fingers behind her back and started counting down from three.

“So you planted your foot?”