Brom turned and tapped on the gla.s.s part.i.tion that separated the chauffeur from the pa.s.sengers. When the man turned, Brom gave the signal. " " Okay, Harold, take her back to the house. "

"House?" Nik raised a brow quizzically as he looked at Brom. " " I thought you said we were going to tour the restaurant"

"All in good time, Nik, all in good time," Brom a.s.sured his brother-in-law. He grinned secretively as he exchanged looks with Julia. "I've got a surprise for you."

Nik eyed Brom suspiciously. He wondered if there was something wrong at the restaurant that Brom was trying to break to him slowly. After all, Sinclair'sl Tahoe was part his.

"I'm not sure I like surprises."

"You'll like this one," Julia promised him as she strapped A. J.

securely into her car seat.

"All right, what's the surprise?" Nik asked Brom as he walked into the sprawling ranch house.

"I've got a baseball game lined up for us to play." He checked his watch. "In about half an hour. You'd better hustle."

" " Baseball? " Nik echoed in disbelief. The sport, once so important to him, was the farthest thing from his mind these days.

Brom grinned at the stunned look on Nik's face. Nik had probably forgotten that they shared a pa.s.sion for the game. "I told you that I get together with a bunch of guys regularly" He narrowed his brows comically. "We play some very serious ball."

Julia walked in behind them, carrying the baby. "Very serious." Julia echoed, lowering her voice to approximate Brom's. Her whimsical expression told Nik that she was humoring Brom.

A fondness sprouted within Nik as he remembered his college games.

Still, he was more than a little rusty. "I haven't played in years."

There had just never been enough time.

Nik's protest failed to impress Brom. "Good, then you can play on the other team." Brom grinned broadly, as if he was antic.i.p.ating the outcome of the game. "I told you to pack old clothes," he reminded Nik as Jennifer and Kane entered the house.

The instruction had seemed a little odd at the time. "I thvught maybe you wanted us to do some cleaning," Nik cracked.

"Maybe later, after you lose. Now change your clothes. They're probably all waiting for us on the field now. Addison

Park, remember? " Brom asked Sara.

Sara remembered. She nodded her head as a bittersweet feeling wound its way all through her again. That was the site of the last family outing she'd ever attended with her parents.

Nik looked uncertain as he stood, debating. "I don't know about this."

"Yes, you do," Julia a.s.sured her brother. She placed her hand on his back and shoved him toward one of the guest rooms. Brom followed behind her, bringing Sara's suitcase as well as Nik's. "Once a jock, always a jock."

Nik shrugged and let himself be pushed along.

"Your room's right next to his." Brom placed Sara's suitcase inside the door.

She merely nodded as she entered. She was trying to brace herself for the event ahead. It would seem odd if she didn't go along and yet, going to the park, remembering happier times wasn't going to be easy for her.

She wished Brom had picked out another place.

"And this is your room. Now hurry up," Brom instructed' Come on, you, too, Kane. "

Kane raised a brow. He'd been following with their two suitcases and was caught completely unaware by this new twist. "I don't play baseball."

"You'll learn," Brom promised. "We're one man short."

Nik grinned as he closed the door. There was no arguing with the man.

And maybe he didn't really want to. Once , before reality had chewed away at his dreams with sharP, pointy teeth, he had entertained thoughts of trying out for a professional ball club. He had a pretty distinguished record behind him both in high school and college.

But once his parents had died, he'd put aside his dreams and shut them out of his life. There were his sisters to care for and responsibilities to live up to. Baseball was a dream others could go on to pursue, not him.

He grinned to himself. It would be good to have the feel of a bat in his hands again.

As per Brom's instruction, Nik had packed the oldest shirt he owned, a jersey that had two small holes bitten out of it, courtesy of an overactive washing machine. He pulled it on now. The jeans he took out of the suitcase were equally worn, with one knee threatening to break through the thin webbing of white threads at any moment.

When Nik walked out into the hallway again, he almost collided with Sara. She looked like a teenager in her white shorts and hot pink T-shirt. All she needed was a ponytail.

His eyes swept over her legs. He'd hate to see them dirtied , sliding into home plate. "Are you playing?"

All through school Sara had been hopelessly inept when it came to team sports. She shook her head emphatically as she leaned against the wall. "Nope. Your sisters and I are strictly the cheering section."

Nik braced one hand against the wall as he looked down at her. There was a skylight directly overhead and it bathed her in sunlight. He began to think of a different sport than baseball.

"Which side are you cheering for?"

Her eyes were mischievous as she raised her chin. "I haven't made up my mind yet. Let me see how well you play, first "

Jennifer emerged from her room down the hall. "The coach at college thought that Nik was the team's most valuable player." Glancing first at Sara, Jennifer gave her brother a very supportive wink as she pa.s.sed them and went on.

Nik knew Jennifer had something on her mind other than the game. And so did he.

Sara shrugged, unimpressed. "Must have been a pretty poor team ."

The light played on her lips and he wondered if there was going to be any more through traffic in the hallway to interrupt him. "UC Irvine had a very good baseball team that

"She smirked, her dark eyes teasing him. " If you say so. "

He braced his other hand on the wall, bracketing her. Sara's eyes held his, waiting. "Did I ever tell you that you have an irritating smirk?

"Probably." She raised herself up on her toes, teasing him with the nearness of her mouth. "A ballplayer with something to prove always plays a lot better."

He could feel her breath on his face, on his mouth. His hands flattened on the wall and he inched a little closer to her. "Andsince when did you start coaching?"

She could feel the heat from his body. She tried not to let it affect her. Or at least not show him how much it did.

l5g Christmas Every Day

"Since now. I've decided that you need someone in your corner, since everyone else will probably be rooting for Brom's team."

"Oh?"