Epilogue

Damn. It smelled like a ballpark. Mal breathed deeper as he stood at the edge of the field, trying to ignore the headache that was fighting back against the ibuprofen he'd downed earlier. He closed his eyes and let the grin spread across his face. It smelled like his ballpark. Like Deacon Field.

Still the same heady mix of grass and sweat and old beer and stale popcorn and wood and metal and leather that spelled baseball.

Home.

"How are you feeling?" Alex said.

Mal opened his eyes, glanced at his friend sitting in the first row of seats a few feet back from where Mal stood by the railing. "Slightly worse for wear. You?"

Alex toasted him with the bottle of bright yellow Gatorade in his hand. "I have a certain leaning in that direction. I think we're getting too old for that kind of party."

"It was certainly a party," Mal agreed. He wasn't going to admit to feeling old. Not today.

"If every end-of-season party is like that," Lucas said from where he lay across several seats, next to Alex, "remind me to get into training a few months ahead."

"Not sure surgeons are encouraged to do that much drinking," Mal said.

"I could write myself a prescription," Lucas said. Then closed his eyes again.

"Next year will be worse," Alex said cheerfully. "Next year we're going to make the play-offs."

Mal shook his head. "Don't remind me about that." The Saints had lost their final game last night. The final game that stood between them and a play-off spot. Lost by two lousy runs to the goddamned Yankees, just to add an extra sting to it all. Things had been pretty quiet back in the locker room.

"Like I said last night?—"

"As I remember," Mal said, cutting Alex off before he could start making another speech. "It went something like, this is our best result in decades, so fuck it, let's celebrate."

"I'd like to think I was a little more eloquent than that," Alex said.

"Yeah, yeah, you were inspiring," Lucas said. "Stop talking so loud."

Alex's speech had been inspiring. Mal had to credit him with that. He'd marched into the locker room, Maggie in tow, climbed up onto one of the benches, and then made one of the best damned speeches Mal had ever heard. At least, what he could remember of it had been good.

After that, the mood had flipped and everyone had charged onto the buses for the trip back to Deacon Field. Everyone except Maggie and Alex, who'd vanished.

Back at Deacon, the field had been transformed with a giant marquee and the booze had been plentiful. The party started with a bang and just grew crazier from there. When Alex and Maggie reappeared, Maggie had been smiling so widely, Mal thought she might blind people.

Then Raina, who'd been leaning against him, having done him the honor of taking a night off from Madame R for the last game of the season, had said, "Oh my God look at that rock, it's bigger than Sara's." And Mal had suddenly cottoned on to why Maggie looked so happy despite the loss.

Raina had squealed and rushed over to Maggie, along with every other female in the room. As the news had spread through the marquee, the party went to a whole other level. Culminating in Maggie's announcement that she wanted them all to celebrate her engagement the next day with a staff and players game, "before the weather turns completely crappy."

It had seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. But now, the thought of having to run around a baseball diamond was kind of appalling.

"Everyone's going to be arriving soon," Alex said.

"Shut up," Lucas groaned and Mal laughed. At least he wasn't alone in his suffering.

An hour later, Raina watched Mal standing at home plate grinning like a lunatic while he shouted something rude at Lucas. Who promptly replied with a fastball that made Mal duck. Which earned him a slow clap from all the players and a triumphant grin from Lucas. That might have been why Mal slammed the next pitch out over the practice field boundaries.

"Go Mal," Raina yelled. "Show that surgeon boy." She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled as Mal began a slow saunter around the loaded bases.

Besides her, Sara groaned. "You're as bad as they are. Look at them all. Don't they know how to lie down and recover quietly from a night of debauchery like normal people?"

"Is that why Lucas is off his game?" Raina asked innocently. "Did you wear the poor boy out last night?"

Sara went pink. Raina thought it was pretty funny that someone engaged to someone as hot as Lucas still blushed so easily.

"No comment," Sara said.

"I know what that means," Raina said, laughing. "Mal was very … enthusiastic when we got home last night. That man can hold his liquor. Among other things. My grandma would so have approved of him."

Maggie, having just gotten a free ride from third base to home courtesy of Mal's hit, jogged over to them after doing a little victory dance in front of Alex, who was catching for Lucas's team.

"You sure you don't want to play, Raina?" Maggie said, panting a little.

Raina passed her a bottle of water. "I'm sure," she said. "I have a show tonight. Besides which, Sara got lessons before she had to play. I want lessons first. I haven't played anything resembling baseball since junior high."

"Lessons can be arranged," Maggie said, waving her left hand magnanimously. Sunlight sparked off the massive diamond that graced her ring finger.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing," Raina said, pushing her sunglasses up her nose to stop the glare. "It's dangerous."

Maggie just grinned at her. "It's gorgeous and you can't make me stop admiring it. Not for a few months at least. Alex has good taste."

"I'm surprised either of you can walk around upright with those rocks weighing you down," Raina said.

Sara laughed. "Well, you just wait. Mal's very competitive. You'll end up with the biggest one of us all."

"Early days," she said.

Maggie and Sara both looked like they didn't believe her.

"So what do you girls do around here for fun when it's not baseball season?" Raina asked, desperate to change the subject. Mal was hers and she had no intention of letting him go but she wasn't quite ready for the M word.

"Well, Shelly's getting married in Hawaii in ten days," Maggie said. "And then Sara and Lucas on New Year's Eve."

"Ooh, do you think you and Alex could organize your wedding before spring training starts?" Sara said.

Raina made her escape before the wedding bug rubbed off on her. She walked over to where Mal was standing by the edge of the field looking very pleased with himself.

"Good hit," she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. She'd intended for it to be quick but apparently Mal had other ideas. The kiss went on and on until she started to see stars and everyone around them started applauding.

It took her a minute to catch her breath when he let her go. A minute during which she tried to figure out if there was anywhere they could sneak off and take that kiss a bit farther. But she didn't think she had much chance of enticing Mal away from his game. Not just yet, anyway.

"I take it you're feeling better?" she said, putting her arms around his waist.

"I am," he said.

"You're not upset about losing?"

He bent down and kissed her again, this time soft and slow. "We lost the season but I'm thinking I still came out a winner," he said. "After all, I got you. Have I told you today that I love you, Raina Easton?"

"No, but flattery will get you everywhere," she said with a grin, feeling her heart expand. She hooked her fingers through his. "Just how much better are you feeling?"

He wriggled his eyebrows at her. "You'll just have to wait, woman, there's a ball game to win."

She laughed. "You're really not mad about losing, are you?"

He shrugged. "We did good. Better than anyone expected. And like I said, many good things have happened in the last twelve months. Besides…" He grinned and kissed her. "Next year we get to do it all over again."

Want more New York Saints?