Match Me If You Can (Chicago Stars #6)(44)

“Brother…,” Molly muttered. “She really does hate your guts.”

Half an hour later, a group of tired princesses headed home with giant goody bags stuffed full of treats for themselves, as well as for their brothers and sisters.

“It was a very nice party,” Hannah said from the front step as the bus disappeared. “I was worried.”

Phoebe looped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head, just behind her tiara. “You made everybody feel right at home.”

And what about me? Heath wanted to say. He couldn’t see that he’d gained an inch of ground with her, even though he’d cleared tables, taken photos, and dealt with the pi?ata, all without making a single phone call or catching one lousy inning of the Sox game.

Annabelle braced her hand on the porch railing and wiggled out of her fairy godmother dress. “I’m afraid it has some grass stains and a punch spill, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to use it again.”

“One Halloween was enough,” Molly replied.

“Thanks so much, Annabelle.” Phoebe gave her the genuine smile she didn’t offer him. “You were a perfect fairy godmother.”

“I loved every minute. How are the twins feeling?”

“Sulky. I checked on them half an hour ago. They’re upset about missing the party.”

“I don’t blame them. It was quite a party.”

A cell rang. He automatically reached into his pocket, forgetting for an instant that he’d turned off his phone. He came up empty. What…?

“Hey, babe…,” Molly spoke into her own cell. “Yes, we survived, no thanks to you and Dan. Luckily, your valiant agent came to our rescue …Yes, really.”

He slapped his pockets. Where the hell was his BlackBerry?

“Wanna talk to Daddy!” Pippi squealed, reaching for Molly’s phone.

“Hold on a minute. Pip wants to say hi.”

Molly lowered the phone to her daughter’s ear. Heath headed for the backyard. Damn it! She couldn’t possibly have stolen two of them in one afternoon. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was running around with the pi?ata.

He looked under the tree, in the grass, everywhere he could think of, and came up empty. She’d picked his pocket when he’d crouched down to talk to her.

“Are you missing something?” Phoebe cooed, coming up behind him. “A heart, perhaps?”

“My BlackBerry.”

“I haven’t seen it. But if I find it, I’ll be sure to let you know right away.” She spoke with all kinds of sincerity, but he suspected if she found it she’d toss it in her swimming pool.

“Much appreciated,” he said.

Annabelle and Molly had returned to the backyard, but Pippi seemed to have gone off with Hannah. “I’m exhausted,” Molly said, “and I’m used to being around kids. Poor Annabelle.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Studiously ignoring him, Annabelle began gathering up the paper plates.

Phoebe waved her off. “Leave everything. My cleaning service is coming by soon. While they work, I’m going to put my feet up and recover. I haven’t started the new book for the book club, and I have to make up for not finishing the last one.”

“That book was a stinker,” Annabelle said. “I don’t know what Krystal was thinking of when she chose it.”

Heath’s ears pricked up. Annabelle and Phoebe were in a book club together? What other interesting secrets was she hiding from him?

Molly yawned and stretched. “I like Sharon’s idea of giving the guys a book of their own to read when we go on our retreat. Last year, whenever they weren’t in the lake or with us, they were rehashing old games. I don’t care what they say. That’s just got to get boring after a while.”

Every cell in Heath’s body went on full alert.

“Don’t let Darnell choose,” Phoebe said. “He’s hung up on Márquez now, and I can’t see the rest of the men getting too excited about One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

There was only one Darnell they could be talking about, and that was Darnell Pruitt, the Stars’ All Pro former offensive tackle. Heath’s mind raced. What kind of book club had Annabelle gotten herself involved in?

Even more important…Exactly how was he going to use this to his advantage?





Chapter Ten




Annabelle collected a few more paper plates, even though Phoebe had told her not to bother. She dreaded the idea of being closed up in the car with Heath for the ride home. Phoebe scooped a dab of pink icing from the mangled castle cake and popped it in her mouth. “Dan and I are both looking forward to the retreat at the campground. We love any excuse to go to Wind Lake. Molly definitely lucked out when she married a man with his own resort.”

“With training camp coming up, it’ll be the last break any of us have for a long time.” Molly turned to Annabelle. “I almost forgot. We had a cancellation on one of the cottages. You and Janine can share it, since you’re both singles, or would you rather keep your room at the B&B?”

Annabelle thought it over. Although she’d never been to the Wind Lake Campground, she knew it had both a Victorian bed-and-breakfast and a number of small cottages. “I guess I’d—”