Excerpt of Playing For Keeps by LuAnn McLane

CHAPTER ONE

Sweet Southern Comfort

“Welcome to Cricket Creek, Kentucky, birthplace of Noah Falcon,” Noah read as he drove his red Corvette convertible past the city limits sign.  He had won several awards as a major league relief pitcher but this little bit of hometown pride never failed to bring a smile to his face.  Of course he’d never dreamt he would be returning home to audition for the community theater of all things but then again lately his life wasn’t exactly going as planned.

But Noah’s smile faded as soon as he turned onto Main Street.  The once thriving little town was all but deserted even on a Saturday afternoon.  Several of the shops had for lease signs in the window and other store fronts were in need of a fresh coat of paint.  “Wow,” Noah whispered with a slow shake of his head.  He supposed that the sluggish economy had taken its toll on the quaint river town that depended upon boating and tourism.  He guessed that here, like everywhere else, it was difficult for the local stores and restaurants to compete with nearby suburban chains.  Some of the antique shops had survived and he smiled when he stopped at the red light and spotted Myra’s Diner where he had consumed many a cherry Coke, double cheeseburger and giant onion rings with his rowdy teammates after Cricket Creek Tiger baseball games.

As Noah idled there at the light he took a trip down memory lane and had to chuckle.  Myra Robinson, as feisty as she was tiny, had somehow managed to keep Noah and his cronies pretty much in line.  All she had to do was raise one eyebrow in their direction and they would pipe down… well at least for a minute or two.  He also recalled having a huge crush on Myra’s niece Jessica who caused quite a stir when she showed up on her aunt’s doorstep pregnant at sixteen.  But free-spirited Myra lived by her own rules.  She took her niece in without batting an eye and after sweet little Madison was born she charmed the town with her mop of blonde curls and big blue eyes.  Noah shook his head thinking that here he was twenty three years later auditioning for a play that Jessica’s daughter wrote.  As he passed the diner he did notice that there seemed to be some construction going on inside and hoped it meant that the restaurant remained on solid ground.

“Yes!”  Noah shot a celebratory fist into the air when he saw that Grammar’s Bakery, home of the best butter cookies on the planet was still in business.  “Thank God for small favors!” he said to the blue sky and then slid his sleek red car into a parking spot directly in front of the bakery.  Noah glanced at his watch.  If he was lucky they would still have a few cookies left.  He unfolded his jean clad legs from the driver’s seat and eased his road weary body to a standing position before stretching.  At least nobody in Cricket Creek would poke fun at his cowboy boots or western cut flannel shirt.  It was a bit on the cool side to have the top down but on a bright, sunshiny day like this, Noah couldn’t resist.  “You can take the boy out of the country…” he said under his breath and then grinned.  Man, it felt good to be back home.

A bell jingled when Noah tugged the door open and he had to stop in his tracks and take a deep breath of air scented with cinnamon and yeast.  “Please tell me you have some butter cookies left.”

“I think so.”  A teenage girl with a pale blonde lopsided ponytail glanced up from wiping the counter and gave him a bored smile.

“Sweet.  I’ll take them all.”  Since it was Saturday afternoon the shelves were already mostly bare but he glanced in the glass display case and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted a couple dozen butter cookies dotted with pastel icing.  A fat cinnamon cake topped with mounds of crumble called his name and so did a flat, crispy elephant ear.  Oh and he needed a loaf of white and a loaf of marble rye…

“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” boomed the big voice of Mabel Grammar.  She stood there with her hands on her ample hips and grinned while the double doors to the kitchen swung back and forth behind her.  “Noah Falcon?”

Noah pushed his mirrored aviators up onto his head and grinned back.  “The one and only.”

“No truer words were ever spoken.”  Mabel laughed causing her double chin to jiggle.  “Well, aren’t you just a sight for sore eyes.”  She dusted floured hands on her apron and ambled out from behind the counter.

“And so are you, Mabel,” Noah told her and gave her a big bear hug.  “It sure smells good in here.”  After he stepped back he noticed that the teenager’s jaw had dropped.

“Noah, this is Chrissie.”

“Nuh-uh…”

“You mean you’re not Chrissie?” Noah asked with a grin.

“No, I mean… yes.  Really?  You’re Noah Falcon?”  She stood up from her slouch and suddenly appeared less bored.

“Yep.”  Although Noah bestowed his best Dr. Jesse Drake soap-opera smile upon her it grated a little that he wasn’t worth the time of day until she knew he was famous.  He had experienced much of the same after he was no longer a major league baseball player and now that he had been booted off of Love in the Afternoon his net worth had taken a nose dive once again.  No one wants a has-been, only a right-now and it was beginning to wear on him but he kept his smile in place and gave her a wink.