He paused at the door. “You coming?”
“No,” Kane said, his eyes on the papers. “Somebody better stay here and . . . ” He looked up. “Hell, yes, I’m comin’. How far can a body hit that ball with that bat? I’ll put a hundred on it that I can beat you and anybody else out there.”
“You’re on,” Edan said, leading the way out the door.
Kane took to baseball like a child to candy. It took three swings before he first hit the ball—and no one had the nerve to tell him of the three-strikes-and-you’re-out rule—but when he hit it, the ball flew through the air and smashed a second-story window. He was disgustingly pleased with himself and from then on proceeded to give everyone advice.
Once, Kane and Ian almost went after each other with bats, but Houston managed to separate them before it became bloody. To her consternation, both men turned on her and told her to mind her own business. She retreated to Sherwin’s side.
“Ian will feel at home now,” Sherwin said. “He and Rafe argued all the time. He misses the discussions.”
Houston groaned. “Discussions are what Kane calls them, too. You don’t think they’ll hurt each other, do you?”
“I think your Kane has too much sense to let it go that far. It’s your turn to bat, Houston.”
Houston didn’t care for trying to hit the ball that came flying at her, but she very much enjoyed it when Kane put his arms around her and snuggled up against her to show her how to hold the bat. Ian shouted that Kane was giving the opposing team an unfair advantage and, while Kane was shouting at his young cousin, Houston slammed the ball past second base.
“Run!” Jean shouted. “Run, Houston, run.”
Houston took off as fast as she could, holding her skirt up almost to her knees. Edan, on first, just stood there grinning at her with delight, but Kane tore across the field, grabbed the ball and went running for Houston. She looked up, saw him coming and thought that, if he hit her, she’d never survive the impact. She started running faster, hearing in the background everyone shouting at Kane to stop before he hurt Houston.
He caught her at home base, grabbing her by the ankles and slamming her face down into the dirt. But she stretched out her arm and touched the plate.
“Safe!” Sherwin yelled.
Kane jumped up and started yelling at his smaller uncle and Ian, on the same team as Kane, joined in the shouting. Sherwin just stood there quite calmly.
Jean helped Houston up and examined her for cuts and bruises. Houston looked fondly at her shouting husband and said, “He does like to win, doesn’t he?”
“Not any more than you do,” Jean said, looking at a huge tear in Houston’s skirt, and the dirt on her face.
Houston touched her husband’s arm. “Dear, since we’ve beaten you so badly today, perhaps we could stop now for refreshments, and you can try again tomorrow.”
For a moment, Kane’s face darkened, then he laughed, grabbed her in his arms and twirled her a
round. “I’ve beat ever’ man on Wall Street at one time or another, but you, lady, I ain’t never beat at nothin’.”
“Stop bragging and let’s get something to eat,” Edan said. He turned to Jean and held out his arm. “May I?”
The two couples walked toward the house together, Sherwin and Ian behind.
Chapter 21
It was as if the baseball game broke the ice with the entire family. Kane stopped staying in his office during meals, and Ian stopped being quiet. Kane told Ian he was a dreamer and didn’t know anything about the real world. Ian, who considered Kane’s words a dare, suggested—in language that made Houston threaten to make him leave the table—that Kane show him some of the “real” world.
Kane began to introduce Ian to the world of business, showing him stock-market reports and teaching him how to read a contract. In only days, Ian was talking in terms of thousands of dollars being paid for land in cities he’d only read about.
One day, Houston saw Sherwin doodling on a scrap of paper. Later, she saw that it was a very accurate rendition of one of the Colorado mockingbirds. She ordered, from Sayles, a large, portable watercolor kit and presented it to Sherwin with an elaborate lie, saying that she’d found it in the attics, and did he know anyone who’d want it? She was afraid of the Taggert pride and thought he might refuse the paints.
Sherwin had laughed so knowingly that Houston’d blushed. He’d accepted the paints and kissed her on the cheek. After that, he spent most of his time in the garden painting whatever took his fancy.
Twice, Houston visited Blair at the new Westfield Infirmary for Women, staying for hours and getting to know her sister again after all the years of separation. And one day, Leander called her to ask about hiring servants for Blair and him. Lee was cautious and hesitant about talking to her, and she remembered the time he’d tried to speak to her in the church when the engagement had been announced, and how rude she’d been.
“Lee,” she began, “I’m glad the way things worked out. I’m really happy with Kane.”
He was slow to answer, “I never meant to hurt you, Houston.”
She smiled into the telephone. “I was the one who insisted that Blair trade places with me. Maybe I knew that the two of you were better as a couple than we were. Shall we forget it and be friends?”