Over the Fence: Lyssa Layne's Baseball Romances (45 page)

Wailing on him, each fist taking their turn, I scream at him on repeat. “I will kill you, Asher Thompson. Don’t you ever come near her again!”

A hand grabs my fist from behind and I spin around to see who’s attacking me. Grant stands there, shaking his head. “Tate, it’s done.”

Glancing below me, I see Asher’s not moving, just letting out low groans, bruises already forming on his face. I take a deep breath and Grant helps me up.

“Get your girl, she’s in bad shape.”

Looking at Grant, I see blood on his shirt. My pulse pounds and I run over to Mia who is being helped by a paramedic. Behind her, I see the cops have arrived. The medics raise the gurney she’s on and begin to wheel her out of the house. I run beside her and take her ice cold hand.

“Mia. Mia! Oh God, is she okay?” I ask frantically to a paramedic wheeling her out of the house.

“Sir, one of the other ambulances will check you out and you can meet us at the hospital.”

“No. No! Is she fucking okay? That’s my…” I stop, tears filling my eyes. “That’s my life right there. Please tell me she’s okay.”

Lightly her hand squeezes mine and although I can’t make out her facial features, her steely grey eyes lock on mine. The tears fall down my cheeks as I kiss her hand and climb into the ambulance with her. The medic starts to object, but doesn’t say a word when Grant tells him to back off. The sirens scream above us as we head to the hospital and Mia’s eyes flicker open and close.

“Mia, baby, stay with us. I’m so sorry, God, I should have never let you go to that closing alone. Stay with me and I promise I’ll never leave your side.” I ramble nervously, just trying to talk to keep her eyes open, to keep her with me. My lips touch her hand softly. “Mia, marry me. I want you to be my wife, I want you to be Toby’s mother. I want us to be a family. You, me, and Toby. Mia, baby, what do you say?”

Her eyes flicker wide open and her lips turn into a smile.
She’s going to be okay
, I tell myself. Kissing her hand again, I grin. “Is that a yes?”

Before she answers, the machine beeps and the medic yells, “She’s flatlining!” He shoves me to the side. My heart races and it’s so fast I think it might beat of my chest and I’ll be flatlining too. The medical staff starts CPR and all I can do is watch as my life slips away from me.

EPILOGUE

Tate

1 Year Later

“Dad, do you think she would have been a good mom?” my son asks as we stand by the grill on the back porch. I cringe at the question. He’s been asking about her a lot lately and it’s never easy to answer.

Nodding, I tell him, “I do. You’re an easy kid to fall in love with.”

“Did you love her?”

I tousle his hair and lift him up to my hip. “I love you and that’s all that matters.”

He rests his head on my shoulder, contemplating his next question. I pat his back and lean my head against his. We’ve had a lot of change in our life the past two years and there’s only more to come.

The sliding door opens and a barrage of people parade onto the deck, greeted by Shadow, our black lab puppy and the newest member of our family. Toby pokes his head up as a smile creeps over his face. I set him down and he runs over to greet our guests. Quick hugs to my parents and Colie and Grant and then he finds who he’s looking for.

“Mom!”

My wife smiles down at our son and puts her arm around his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. Toby squeezes her hard and then both his hands go to her stomach, which is what started all of his questions about his birth mom.

“Do you think the baby is a boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out next week,” she says with a kiss to his forehead and she begins to set the table. She is the most amazing, beautiful, loving woman I know. Our family was broken until she entered our lives and she is what has made us complete, despite all the past heartache we’ve endured.

Beside her, Colie rubs one hand on her extremely pregnant belly, the other supporting her back. “At least you didn’t have to plan your pregnancy around baseball season and be as big as a house during the hottest time of year.”

Grant comes to her side and takes her arm, leading her to a seat. “Sure, Cole, blame it on baseball season and not our wedding night,” he says with a laugh. There’s a month left in the season and her due date is the day after our last game. They really did time it perfectly so neither of them will have to miss any of the season.

The woman who once intimidated me, and still does to a degree, nods at my son. “Get over there and help your momma. She doesn’t need to be standing that long,” Arlene orders.

Toby grumbles, but jumps at the chance to please his mother.

From the grill, I smile as I watch my son and my gorgeous wife, who is glowing from carrying our child. She takes a seat at the table and gives Toby instructions on how to set the silverware. My father slaps my back.

“Nice looking family you’ve got there, son,” he compliments me.

I nod with that smile still on my face. “They are, aren’t they?”

I set the tongs down and help my son finish his chore then I move to my wife and squat between her knees. My hands rub over her belly and I kiss her slightly off-center on her swollen abdomen, right where the scar is. My eyes cast upward as she runs her fingers through my hair, both of us smiling.

Taking her hand, I brush my lips over the back of her knuckles. “Babe, you saved our family and keep me wanting more…more of you, more of us, to be more of a man for you.” I rub her belly and smile. “More of this.”

She laughs. “I’m not sure how much more of this will be happening.”

I smile and kiss our miracle baby inside her stomach. We both are in awe that it even happened, but after everything we’ve been through, nothing surprises us anymore. With my hand on her cheek, I say, “Baby, love conquers all things.”

She smiles and leans her face into my hand. “Let us surrender…”

I nod and stand up, pulling her with me and kissing her softly, increasing with intensity. “Let us surrender, baby,” I repeat. My hands move to her hips, her arms slide around my neck as we sway to the music over the speakers.

“Mia James, you are amazing. I love you more than life itself,” I whisper as I kiss her below her ear.

She nuzzles her nose on my neck and her warm breath on my ear sends shots of electricity throughout my body. “I love when you call me that.”

“Mia James, my wife,” I say softly and kiss her neck. Mia gave me the best birthday present this past July. The day Asher Tomko was put behind bars was the day we became husband and wife.

“Mia James, my lover.” Mia barely survived Asher’s last attack. All I remember from that night was so much blood and praying that Mia would survive. Our love conquered the prognosis and Mia pulled through with a quick recovery despite what doctors had told us. I still beat myself up for not having found her sooner, but she constantly assures me that it wasn’t my fault. Every day, I make it my responsibility to let Mia know how much I love her and that nothing bad will ever happen to her again.

“Mia James, successful owner of James Realty.” The court was generous in the ruling, awarding Mia with all her assets that were rightfully hers. Asher had damn near iron-clad contracts that wouldn’t allow Mia to take anything of her own. Since the judge was sending him away for a long time, Mia was allowed to pretty much take anything and everything she wanted, including their business and dropping him as co-owner.

Pulling my wife against me, I rub her back and kiss her softly. “Mia James, mother of our children.” We’d never used protection, not from day one. Mia had been told by multiple doctors that she’d never be able to carry a child. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when she was safely out of her first trimester that she shared the unbelievable news with me. Next week, she’ll be over halfway through the pregnancy and we’ll find out if the baby is a boy or a girl.

Elated, excited, ecstatic doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel and Toby is even more thrilled about being a big brother. Mia’s become the mother that I’ve always wanted for him, the mother he’s always needed. The two of them love each other more than words can describe, which only makes me love her even more.

She grins as she nods. “Love conquers all, baby.”

My lips capture hers, our tongues roll together, and Mia pulls back with a look of surprise. Her hand grabs mine and places it on her stomach where I feel the tiniest flutter. Grinning from ear to ear, I nod and mumble, “Yes, it does.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I couldn’t have published this book without my amazing beta readers: Isabella Bearden, Amanda McNary, K.S. Thomas, and Chantel Rhondeau. As soon as I finished
The Right Pitch
, I cruised right through this story thanks to Rachelle Ayala’s Romance in a Month “support group.”

As always, much appreciation to the wonderful,
Melissa Keir
for her amazing formatting skills. To Tami Adams of
Magic of Books Promotions
, thank you for proofreading and to Heather Kirchoff, thanks for your editing.

The cover-I absolutely LOVE the cover and it couldn’t have been done without the help of many friends. This is the first time that I actually took the pictures myself, but I couldn’t have done it without these people...First off, to my amazing models,
Stephie
and Richard, you are both two amazing people that I am lucky enough to call my friends. To the beyond talented
Katie Beach
, who is not only a photography wizard, but always supports my crazy ideas. And to
E.J. Kellan
, my cover designer, thank you for putting up with my multitude of emails that give instructions like “a smidge to the left.” You are all beyond awesome!

To my lovers of Lyssa Layne, my loyal fans and readers, thank you for your continued support. I love that you are always requesting more and I’m doing my absolute best to deliver.
Fear of Striking Out
is my favorite of my books so far and I hope you enjoyed the love that Mia, Tate, and Toby shared. Happy reading and stay tuned for more!

~~~~

I hope that no one ever goes through anything Mia experienced although I know that is only a wish. If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, please reach out for help. You are beautiful, you are strong, and people are out there that can help. For help and resources, check out this websites:
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
,
National Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
, or
Safe Horizon
. Remember:
Violence is not the solution. It’s the problem.

Another at Bat

Baseball always offers you a second chance. It’s called another at bat.