Ezra smiled as he walked into his townhouse. Drew was back. And he wanted her on his volleyball team. Unfortunately, there was one little problem. A problem by the name of Cindy Simmons. Cindy had not been a good player, but she was very enthusiastic. And she'd been flirting with him. Trina didn't like the girl at all, having arrived at a practice session just as Cindy threw herself on Ezra after a particularly good volley.
Ezra figured he had two choices. He could go for the direct route and ask her to drop. Or he could be subtle and convince her. The question was, which should he use?
Ezra picked up the phone and dialed. Cindy answered after just a couple of rings.
"Hello, Miss Simmons?"
"Ezra? Is that you, you cutie? Oh I was hoping you'd call! When are you gonna start calling me Cindy, huh Sugar?"
"Miss Simmons, I regret that this is not a social call."
He could hear the disappointment in her voice. "Then why are you callin?"
"I must ask a favor of you."
"Me? Anything you ask, sweet cheeks. But you'll owe me." She giggled.
"Miss Simmons, you are aware I am engaged, correct?" Ezra said, trying to be courteous, but also getting a little frustrated by the woman's advances.
"You are? Who to?" Cindy sounded genuinely shocked, and Ezra wondered how she could possibly have missed his relationship with Trina.
"Trina MacKinnon. Anyway, my sister is back in town, and she's a wonderful volleyball player."
Cindy sighed. "She can play then."
"I do apologize, Miss Simmons."
"It's okay, Mr. Standish." She hung up before Ezra could say anything else. He felt badly for her. But it was going to be a relief to not have to deal with her any longer.
Buck smiled contentedly as he held Drew in his arms the next morning. After Ezra and Trina left the previous evening he called the others letting them know she had returned. But they were left alone that night so the couple could catch up on lost time. And that they did.
Buck grinned as Drew opened her eyes. “Morning Sunshine.”
Drew purred softly as she kissed his chest. “Morning stud.”
Buck laughed, “well it´s just after eleven. I figured after last night it wouldn´t be a bad idea to sleep in. Gal you wore me out. It´s a good exhaustion a pleasing one indeed.” He waggled his eyebrows as his hands started to explore her body. “And--- I think I can go at it again. How bout you?”
Drew laughed and was about to answer him when the phone rang.
Buck muttered “damn it I should have kept that off the hook.”
Drew winked to him and tried not to laugh as she lifted up the receiver, “Wilmington´s!” She said with a smile.
Buck laid back and watched her. It was her brother probably wanting to get together again later. He almost wished the two could just stay home and make love again all day but Drew was anxious to see the others and had already told Laura she´d help out with the pageant today. Ridley and Trina were going to be there too. Buck and Chris had some things to go over with the rodeo and he wished she would have just tagged along with him but understood.
Drew giggled as she hung up the phone.
“Well Sunshine?” Buck smiled to her.
“Ezra wants me on his volleyball team. I accepted. We´re gonna kick ass.” She teased him.
Buck nodded, “well that´s good. I was debating on whom to boot from my team so you could play.”
“That´s against the rules Buck.” Drew raised her eyebrow at him. But was touched non-the less.
“Ah hell. I know but if you weren´t going to play then neither was I. I don´t have to worry about that now.” He pulled her down to him kissing her neck. He wished she could be on his team but some moron made it a rule that significant others could not compete on the same team. ‘Could be fun though,´ he thought.
Drew sighed contentedly; she wasn´t in any hurry to leave her husbands arms anytime soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura ran to the door as the bell rang again. She opened it and squealed seeing her brother and sister-in-law with their kids. They all hurried in, chattering excitedly to her as they all gave her a hug. She kissed the kids on the cheek. Nathan came out of the kitchen where he had been cooking brunch and greeted the Fitzpatrick´s as they came in.
"Dad!" Mark Fitzpatrick, the oldest boy, called as he walked over and hugged his father. They immediately began to discuss the business. Laura shook her head and led everyone into the dining room/kitchen for brunch.
~~~~~~~~
Trina smiled to Ezra. "I'm off to help Laura."
"I do wish you could have entered, my sweet," Ezra smiled, wrapping his arms around her.
"You're the Queen of my Heart, though."
"Aye, but if I had, you couldn't have been a judge."
"My dear, if you were not ineligible, I would never have volunteered."
"I dinna mind." She looked up to him. "I've no lived here long enough to qualify. Besides, I thought I was too old."
"Residency has nothing to do with it. You're not tall enough."
Trina looked confused and hurt.
"No. You're perfect." He hugged her. "It is just that all contestants must be 5'4" tall. It's just a stupid ruling." Ezra smiled to her. "It is too bad. You'd have won with ease."
"I dinna know about that."
"I do. Dwayne even said so." Ezra winked.
Trina looked at him a moment. "Ezra? Mrs. Landry isn't that tall."
Ezra shrugged. "I believe that this ruling was established in 1968. Something political, I am sure." He smiled and held her.
"Will you drive me?" Trina asked.
"I'll be happy to." Ezra leaned in and gave her a kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura clapped her hands loudly. “Listen up!” She called. “I want to go through the entire show before we move onto the full dress rehearsal. Ladies, once your interview segment is done with your business suits, I want you off the stage and putting the sheets on as if you were putting your gowns on. Your backstage volunteers will assist you. Treat this like tomorrow night! Places everyone!”
“Hey!” Drew said as she snuck up behind Laura.
Laura whirled around and smiled. “Hi!” she said, pulling the girl into a tight hug. “I´m so glad you are back! Welcome home!” Laura grinned and waved to Trina and Ridley who had obviously come with Drew.
“I´m glad I´m back to,” Drew said.
“I hate to sound like a terrible friend, but we need to get this practice underway,” Laura said. “Drew, you can work backstage with the girls. Trina knows all about it, so she can tell you.”
“Hey Laura, sound´s ready!” the sound man called.
“All right,” Laura said. She grinned at her volunteers as they got into position. Nodding the master of ceremonies, the rehearsal began. Introducing the pageant and himself, the master of ceremonies went over the script and soon the girls were on stage dancing.
Laura walked over and checked the sound before moving to those that were doing the lights to make sure everything was good. She walked back and forth through where the audience would be, making sure the stage looked good and ran smoothly. Every now and then she´d call out something to one of the volunteers or to the girls, making notes on a
clipboard as she went.
“Everything seems to be running smoothly, Eeyore,” Nathan said as he walked up to her.
“Some of the girls are missing their marks still, but it´s probably nerves,” Laura said looking up. The first rehearsal was winding down. “All right, dress rehearsal starts in twenty minutes. Get some water or some snacks then get into your positions!”
Nathan grinned. “Like a little drill sergeant,” he said.
Laura grinned at him as Drew, Trina and Ridley came over. “How were things backstage?” Laura asked.
“A few squabbles, but that´s probably from the nerves of it all,” Ridley said. “I don´t know if I could do this.”
“There´s one girl that´s been somewhat uppity, but I´m trying to be patient with her,” Laura said. “Her mother was a former queen, so she has high hopes of winning.”
“Probably the troublemaker backstage,” Drew said. “Everything´s running great though. I´m glad I wasn´t going to miss this.” Drew knew all about that considering the year she won homecoming queen she beat out a ‘legacy.´ A legacy was the daughter of a former queen.
Laura grinned. “Me too,” she said. “Are there any questions about what you are doing backstage?”
“Nope,” Drew said. “Trina explained it all. And I´ve been picking it up as we go. The others keep letting me know what´s up when the girls are on stage too.”
One of the volunteers walked over to the four women. “The girls are ready, Laura, if you wanna get dress rehearsal started,” she said.
“All right,” Laura said. “Ladies, on stage! Let´s begin dress rehearsal.” She quickly went over some of the things she had written down. Dress rehearsal began. Laura sat down this time to watch the entire show, Nathan beside her. A few times Laura would write something down, but she stayed still through the entire rehearsal. Once the rehearsal was done, and a mock crowning was done, Laura stood.
“All right ladies, I want you to go home and rest, you have a big day tomorrow,” Laura said. “See you tomorrow afternoon. Remember, 4:00 and no later. You should at least have your hair done if not your hair and your make-up.” The girls gathered their things and said goodbye to everyone. Some of them stopped to speak to Winifred Landry who came to the rehearsal to practice helping the reigning Queen, Tina McDonaugh, crown the new winner. After saying goodbye, all the girls left.
“I think the pageant is going to be a wonderful thing,” Winifred said.
“Thank you, Mrs. Landry,” Laura said. “Thank you for letting us use so many of your pictures for the anniversary slide show.” The Widow Landry had been someone who had made sure to have pictures of each queen from the past fifty years of the pageant, and they had created a slide show in honor of the pageant´s anniversary before the new queen would be crowned.
“It was my pleasure, dear,” Winifred said. “I will see you tomorrow during the parade.”
“All right, Mrs. Landry,” Laura said. She waved to her.
“So tell me again when I announce the winner?” the master of ceremonies asked.
I will go back stage once the judges have made their decision. The girls will be told the results back stage, then Mrs. Landry hand them to you back stage," Laura said. "While you're reviewing the results, the girls will return to the stage. They will be joined by the reigning queen and court. You will recognize the reigning court and announce the finalists. The finalists will take their position on the stage. After the finalists have been announced, you will announce who has been selected as Miss Congeniality. Miss Congeniality will take a walk and then return to her position. If she is a finalist, she'll rejoin them. If not, she'll stand in front of the outgoing court. Finally, the outgoing queen will take her last walk. You will announce the runners up, who will be presented with sashes and flowers. Lastly, you'll announce the new Arizona Queen, who will be crowned by Mrs. Landry and Tina. After she's received her crown, sash, and flowers, the Arizona Queen will take her walk and then come to you to make her acceptance speech."
“All right,” the master of ceremonies said with a smile. He had been jotting down some notes before he closed the folder that held his script. “See you tomorrow then.” He waved to them and headed for his car.
“Hey Laura,” Mike, the sound man, said as he came over. “Everything is broke down for the night and ready to be set up again tomorrow. We´re gonna start setting up around two, is that all right?”
“That should be fine, I´ll come and make sure everything is running smoothly, but then I´ll be at the parade,” Laura said.
“We´ll be fine,” Mike said. “We are gonna head out. See you tomorrow.”
“See ya,” Laura said. She looked at Drew, Trina and Ridley. “I think that´s about it. I´m gonna head home and change, so see you all at Softball Practice?” Laura hugged each of the women, thanking them for all the volunteering they were doing with the pageant. Trina, Ridley and Drew left while Nathan helped Laura gather her things before they too left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josiah looked around and saw everyone gathered. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Alright I'm going to assign your positions. Chris your pitcher, Nathan is catcher, JD your 1st base, Karol is 2nd base, Drew your shortstop, Buck 3rd base, Trina left field, Ezra left center, Laura is center field, Vin right center and Ridley your right field.”
Buck placed his arm around Drew, “got my Sunshine right next to me at shortstop.” He smiled broadly.
Drew kissed Buck´s cheek and looked over to Trina noticing she looked a little nervous grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze. “You´ll do just fine. You need some help let me know. Maybe we can play some catch after practice?” Drew said loosening up her softball glove.
Trina nodded to Drew. "Does it hurt when you catch it?"
"Heck no! Well, not unless you don't do it right," Drew admitted with a grin. "It's called softball."
"What do I do with it?"
"Throw it to the person the runner is running to. If the runner is on his way to first, throw it to JD. If he's on his way to second, give it to Karol," Ezra started to explain.
Trina looked nervous.
"And whatever you do, don't DROP the ball," JD put in.
"Don't worry, Trina. I'll teach you all about it after practice. You just get the feel of the ball, all right?" Drew asked.
Trina nodded. "Thanks." She hoped no one hit the ball to her. She knew she was a liability, but she was glad that they were letting her play anyway.
After all questions were answered Chris went to the pitchers mound and warmed up for hitting. Each person took a turn at hitting. Buck was their power hitter.
Karol stepped up to the plate to take her place at bat, she grinned at Josiah as he winked at her. She then nodded to Chris that she was ready. She manage to hit a few near the fence, one came close to hitting Chris' face."Oh sorry Chris."
"Better watch her Josiah she's wild one." He grinned.
Josiah grinned back and put his arm around her."That´s my girl."
She grinned and handed the bat to Buck.
Drew watched with pride as Buck took his turn at batting practice. The man could hit and he looked damn good swinging that back. Well to her he always looked good. He even managed to hit a few over the fence.
Drew watched Ridley and Vin throwing the ball back and forth in the outfield. The two seemed to be having fun and looked very happy together. Drew was happy for her friends they all had found true love. She had missed them all so much when she was away. She laughed as Buck strutted over to her and whistled under her breath.
Buck swung the bat and waggled his eyebrows at Drew as he approached her.
“Nice hitting Pard.” Chris commented from the pitchers mound.
Buck looked back at him “well if I had a REAL pitcher--” He laughed as Chris pretended to move towards him.
Buck smiled to Drew and handed her the bat, “your turn slugger.” He patted her bottom as she took the bat from him.
Drew went over and took her turn at batting practice. Buck clapping and hooting most of the time. She almost always connected with the ball and would have had several base hits had it been a real game. She had some pop ups too but other than that she did real good.
Buck lifted her up and spun her around once she was finished. “That´s my girl! You done good Sunshine!”
Drew laughed, “well I didn´t hit any home runs.”
“You still did really well,” Buck placed her down on her feet and they smiled to Trina who reluctantly took the bat that Ezra handed her.
Drew stood and watched.
Trina stepped up to the plate holding her bat. Ezra soon walked up to her and adjusted her grip. He smiled to her, then winked and walked back to the dug out.
Chris threw a ball and Trina swung at it. Josiah stepped up and told her what she did wrong. Chris threw another pitch. This time, Trina didn't swing. Ezra came out and talked to her. Chris threw another pitch. Trina swung at it and missed again.
She walked dejectedly back to the team. Drew came out and gave her a hug.
"Don't worry. You've never played. It takes a while to get the feel of the zones," Drew commented.
Trina nodded and looked to Ezra. She saw him force a smile as he walked over to her.
"That wasn't too bad," Ezra said. But Trina knew he was disappointed.
The County Sheriffs Department wanted to win this year. Last year, they'd lost to the State Police, and this year they had a bit of a grudge match going.
Ezra finally pulled her to him and hugged her. "It's okay Trina. I know you're doing your best."
She nodded. Ezra and Drew were both very competitive. Drew just understood better how it felt to be a disappointment than Ezra did.
After they hit a few balls they spent a little time throwing them from their positions.
Buck was amazed he had no idea Drew was such a good softball player. She hit pretty fair and was a darn good fielder successfully throwing the ball to Nathan at catcher several times.
After practice everyone either laid around or sat on the ground bottle water in hand. "I think we are going to do really good at the game. Everyone did great."
.