PITCH PERFECT by LuAnn McLane

PITCH PERFECT by LuAnn McLane

A Cricket Creek Novel

Cricket Creek, Kentucky, is a sweet river town known for its theater, shopping, and cuisine. But tough times are crushing tourism - until a hard-swinging baseball team and three hometown heroes begins to revitalize the community one inning at a time….

Determined to prove her independence, Mia Monroe is no longer Daddy’s little rich girl. Buying an old car with the last of her money, she sets out for who knows where… until her clunker clunks out in Cricket Creek. With no plan and no credit cards, Mia has to find more resilience than she’s ever never needed before. And a little help from an attractive new acquaintance wouldn’t hurt…

As first baseman for the Cricket Creek Cougars, Cameron Patrick has two jobs: win games and stay out of trouble. If he can do both, he might just make it back to the minor leagues. He knows Mia is trouble from the moment she catches his eye - but he can’t stop looking. And maybe her kind of trouble is exactly what he needs.

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Excerpt:

“Oh no, not now!” Mia scowled at the red check engine light and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Come on, I filled you with premium gas you old clunker. What more do you want from me?” she grumbled but when the light flickered and then went out she managed a slight smile.  “That’s more like it.” She patted the battered dashboard making the miniature hula dancer swing her ample hips. “Okay, I take the old clunker part back,” Mia added in a soothing tone and then settled back against the worn seat.

An only child raised by a long string of disinterested au pairs, Mia Monroe was no stranger to talking to herself or to inanimate objects. Since she had often been left alone to entertain herself, Mia’s possessions became treasured friends and admittedly were probably one of the reasons that as an adult she had become a shopaholic. “Dad just doesn’t understand.” She sighed and glanced over at her shiny black Prada purse that appeared ridiculously out of place perched on the worn cloth seat that must of have been red at one time but had faded to a dusty rose. The lack of credit cards inside of her matching wallet made her shiver even though the battered Camry’s air conditioner had failed her two states ago. “Shopping is my therapy,” she explained defensively.

Mia flipped her long platinum blonde hair over her shoulder only to have the warm wind from the open window blow it right back across her face momentarily blocking her view of the road. She swerved into the right lane drawing the deep angry honk of a massive truck.

“Sorry!” Mia winced as she jerked the car back into her own lane. The hula dancer’s hips bounced like crazy and Mia giggled in spite of her dire circumstances. She decided that when she purchased a new car the happy hula chick was coming with her. Oh and she would purchase a brand new car with her very own hard earned money. “And I’ll pull up that circular drive and park it right at my father’s front door!” she announced to the hula dancer who wiggled her head as if in disagreement. “Oh don’t go shaking that head of yours. I will if it’s the last thing I ever do!” Of course Mia didn’t have anything ironed out like where she would live or a really super job lined up or anything of that nature. Minor details, she thought with a lift of one shoulder but then frowned when she recalled her last conversation with her dad. “You’ll be back by the end of the summer,” Mia mocked in her father’s deep tone of voice. “Labor Day,” he had added, “Something you’ve never had to do.”

“Ha!” Mia said and smacked the steering wheel hard enough to make her hand smart. “I have… skills! And just who does he think is going to plan his lavish parties at his house? Huh? Entertain his clients?” She flipped one hand in the air and swerved again. “And just who will find impossible to get Cubs and Bulls tickets to seal the deal?” She gave her hair another toss only to have it fly back once more across her face. She gave it an impatient swipe but several strands clung to her lip gloss. “I was his personal assistant and did it for free!” she grumbled. “He’ll never be able to replace me. I have connections all over Chicago.” She glanced at the hula dancer. “So what if I ran up a few credit cards? Bought a few things here and there and well… everywhere? I’m helping the economy right? ” She waved her French tipped fingers back and forth and the sunshine glinted off her diamond tennis bracelet.

When the hula dancer stared back at her with accusing brown eyes Mia sighed. “O-kaaaay, so I abused the credit cards a tiny bit. Traveled a little too much in the company jet.” She lifted one slim shoulder. “But that jab about me never having a real job was uncalled for. And my fine arts degree is not worthless! I worked hard for my father. He just didn’t appreciate my efforts.” She pressed her lips together in an effort not to cry. “I should have been on the official payroll!” she sputtered but it wasn’t that tired old argument about her working that had driven Mia away from her home and out into the cold, cruel world without credit cards or her baby blue Mercedes coupe. It was overhearing her father negotiating a ruthless business deal that had turned her blood cold. When her father had calmly explained that deals like these had paid for Mia’s lavish lifestyle she’d hotly declared that she no longer wanted his money and would fend for herself from this day forward!

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CATCH OF A LIFETIME by LuAnn McLane

CATCH OF A LIFETIME by LuAnn McLane

A Cricket Creek Novel

Desperately missing baseball, retired superstar Ty (Triple Threat) McKenna jumps at the chance to coach the Cricket Creek Cougars. After years on the road he's charmed by small town life and wants to settle down. He sets his sights on Chicago transplant chef Jessica Robinson owner of the upscale Wine and Diner.

But Jessica remembers Ty from his baseball days and is reluctant to trust the self proclaimed bachelor. Ty, however, is persistent and he's determined to win her heart. He's tired of playing the field and wants to prove that there's more to him than meets the eye. And although he might be retired he's about to show Jessica that he's still got game...

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CHAPTER ONE


Fighting Forty



“Lordy, lordy Jessica Robinson is forty!” Madison announced in a sing-song voice. “So, mom, how does it feel to be turning the big four-o?”

“It’s just a number, Madison,” Jessica answered evenly and gave her daughter a little flip of her hand for good measure. Of course it was a big fat lie.

“Well, you certainly don’t look it, that’s for sure.” Madison plopped down on the sofa and patted her mother’s leg.

“Thank you sweetie.” Jessica smiled but didn’t look up and continued to flip through the Modern Bride magazine knowing that her eyes would give her away. Madison had an uncanny way of reading people, which was one of the reasons her daughter was an amazing writer. Her sweet and poignant play Just One Thing was a smash hit at the Cricket Creek local community theater last summer and had landed her a job teaching creative writing at Cooper College, a small but prestigious liberal arts school just outside of town.

“I just hope you’ve passed those good genes along to me,” Madison added making no mention of the father she never knew or the grandparents who were mortified when Jessica ended up pregnant at sixteen. But when she had shown up on Aunt Myra’s doorstep in Cricket Creek, Kentucky her feisty, free-spirited aunt had welcomed her with open arms. “I want to be a cougar just like you.”

“You can’t be a cougar if you’re married.” Jessica flicked her daughter an amused glance. “Or at least you shouldn’t be.”

“A MYLF, then.”

“Madison!” Jessica shook her head so hard that her golden blonde ponytail shook from side to side. “Wait, what is that?”

“A mother you’d like to f-”

“Okay, I get it. I swear you’ve got more of your outrageous Aunt Myra’s genes than mine!”

“That’s because her outrageous genes overpowered your calm ones. Like little gene sword fights.” She made little swishing motions with her hand.

“You are truly crazy.”

Madison lifted one shoulder and grinned. “I’m just sayin’. But really, mom, I would never peg you as forty. You truly don’t look it but…” Madison swallowed and then nibbled on the inside of her lip.

Jessica inhaled a deep breath and then had to prompt, “But what?”

“You need to get out more often.”

Jessica drew her eyebrows together. “I am out.” She sliced her hand through the air.

Madison tilted her head downward and rolled her eyes up. “Mom, coming over to my condo isn’t going out. I mean going out… out.”

Jessica tried not to squirm in her seat. “Madison, Monday is the only day Wine and Diner is closed. You know how demanding the restaurant business is. I like to kick back and relax during my time off. Oh… did you see this dress?” Jessica tapped the glossy page with her fingertip in an attempt to change the subject. “I Love the simple yet elegant design, don’t you?” she continued. “You should really say yes to a dress soon.”

“Mom, Jason and I haven’t even set a date yet.”

“And you’ve been engaged for nearly nine months!”

Madison tilted her head and sighed. “With all of the riverfront construction going on Jason barely has time to breathe much less worry about a wedding. When things settle down with the baseball stadium we’ll set a date. We’re thinking next spring. But anyway, about going out…”

“Madison,” Jessica warned in a low tone.

“Mom, it’s your birthday!”

“Just another day as far as I’m concerned and I am so grateful that you didn’t throw me one of those cheesy parties with droopy boob gag gifts.”

“You made your thoughts on the subject crystal clear.” Madison leaned over and looked at the wedding dress. “But what do you say we head over to Sully’s and grab a bite to eat and a martini? Celebrate just a little?” Madison held her thumb and index finger an inch apart.

Jessica scrunched up her nose. “I don’t think so.” She nonchalantly turned another page of the magazine but had to swallow a stupid lump forming in her throat. Flipping through the bride’s magazine reminded her of the fact that at forty her chances of a fairytale wedding were getting slimmer and slimmer. She put out the vibe that she was happy as pie with her single status and treasured her independence but seeing her feisty Aunt Myra blissfully in love and Madison happily engaged had Jessica suddenly getting hit with bouts of loneness. It sure didn’t help that sexy as sin Ty McKenna, manager of the Cricket Creek Cougars, ate at Wine and Diner several times a week. And he didn’t simply eat the food, but savored and appreciated her culinary efforts, carefully choosing the perfect wine to go with his meal. For Jessica there wasn’t a better turn on. Ty McKenna had awakened a yearning she had thought was long gone but she knew him from his pro baseball days when he’d frequent Chicago Blue Bistro where she had been head chef. She had never seen the hot shot athlete with the same woman twice so he could flirt until he turned blue in the face but she wasn’t about to let him break her heart.

“Earth to mom? Are you getting hard of hearing in your old age?” Madison teased and gave her arm a playful shove.

“What?” Jessica cupped her hand over her ear but then mustered up a chuckle. “Sorry, I was thinking about the summer menu,” she fibbed.

“Well, give yourself a break! It’s your birthday!”

“So you keep reminding me.”

“Because you seem to keep forgetting, old lady.

Oh, she had not forgotten. “Madison, thanks so much for the lovely necklace. Nicolina Diamante makes such beautiful handmade jewelry. It was so sweet that you remembered how much I adore her creations.” Jessica put the Modern Bride magazine on the glass coffee table and dusted her hands together. “Now, I really should get home and start working on the menu. Summer will be here before you know it. I’m thinking about adding a mango salsa, cold corn and black bean dip-”

“Come on, Mom! We should celebrate!” Madison pleaded firmly.

“Sweetie, I love my gift but it’s no big deal.”

Madison pressed her lips together which was a sure sign she wasn’t giving up. “Well then, let’s go out and celebrate my teaching position at Cooper. You promised to go out and clink glasses together but we never did.” Her chin came up in challenge.

Damn… Madison had her there.

“Besides, I’m hungry and I don’t have anything in the fridge to fix.”

“Imagine that.” Jessica cocked one eyebrow. “You really need to learn your way around the kitchen, Madison. Jason is a small town boy used to home cooked meals.”

“I can’t believe my ultra independent modern mother just said that to me,” Madison muttered.

“The boy’s gotta eat… and so do you.”

Madison bounced around on the sofa cushion to face her mother. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Come with me to Sully’s and I’ll find some time this week to come over to the diner for some cooking lessons.”

“Oh…” Madison really wasn’t playing fair and she pounced on her slight wavering.

“Come on, Mom. Jason is working at the baseball stadium. I’m bored. Hungry!”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Girl, you want some cheese with that whine?” She kept her voice light but she truly didn’t want to celebrate. What she really wanted was to go home, get into her pajamas and wallow with a bottle of merlot. The fact that this milestone was hitting her hard took her by surprise! But deep down she knew the reason why.

Tyler McKenna.

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