Clutch Hit, Faith O'Shea [read along books TXT] 📗

on Mariposa’s face was evident. The smile was radiant.

Allie watched her mother-in-law with more interest than she watched the game. Mateo was flawless at his position, snagging a ball that could have given up a run. He made two double plays with ease, and at bat, well, that’s where his true strength was. He knocked one out of the park and earned another three RBIs, adding to his growing number. He now led the league in them, his knack for coming up with key hits a significant part of his game. He also had a knack for coaxing the best out of people.

Just look at her.

To My Readers

I had read a lot of stories about Cuban defectors and how they’d risked life and limb to come to America to play ball for Major League Baseball. So, when I was deciding who my new Greenliner third baseman would be, I decided it might be interesting to tap into the Cuban story. As I created Mateo’s biography, I had to answer the question how did he get here? Did he have one of those harrowing midnight boat rides, was he held for ransom or did he slip quietly into a Mexican port, having learned from the ones who’d come before?

While debating that, Alicia Nilsson entered the storyline. As VP in charge of Player Development, she’d have an important role to play in Mateo’s assimilation. So why not have her meet him in Mexico and come to the conclusion the only way to get him on her roster for the current year was to do something far outside of her comfort zone?

The inclusion of Rumi was not initially part of the plot. I had picked up a copy of his teachings and found his tenets to be divinely inspired and just the right sentiments for Mateo to espouse. And they were part of the allure that Allie could not deny.

This book was a pleasure to write. I did a lot of research on Cuba and after learning so much about the country and the people, I’d love to see the island, feel the pulse, and experience the culture. I can only hope someday that will be possible.

I hope you enjoy.

Faith

About Faith

Faith O’Shea is a contemporary women’s literature writer who admire strong women, truth, justice and love stories that touch the heart. Writing has always been her passion, but she had to wear many hats before making it her life’s pursuit. Through her work in banking, real estate, teaching, and retail she has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the human condition, creating depth in her unforgettable characters.

Faith resides in Massachusetts with her husband Jeff, her two dogs, Cooper and Molly, and cat Isis. Her adult children live close by and she visits weekly for grandma time for her five grandsons. In her spare time, she reads for research and pleasure, walks Cooper, dabbles in the kitchen, and has dinner with friends. A member of Facebook, and Twitter, you can visit her on any of her social apps or find her through her website at www.faithoshea.com.

Books by Faith O’Shea

The Greenliner Series

Thrown for a Curve

League of Her Own

Clutch Hit

Out in Left Field

The Scalera Family Series

Cold Sweat

Edge of Forever

Thin Blue Line

Coming Home to You

Finding Joy

Fire and Ice Series

Consumed by Fire

Skoli on Ice

Heart on Fire

Heart of Ice

Tendril of Ice

Rekindling the Fire

Out in Left Field

Casey Calipari has a secret and she knows with her move to Sanford for the Greenliner’s spring training, it’s bound to come springing out of the jack-in-the-box. Okay, so she’d agreed to the big reveal when her father took the job as manager, but she was still stalling.

Sebastian Layden, rookie left fielder for the Greenliners, is looking forward to his first spring training with the Boston baseball team. What he isn’t looking forward to is seeing his high school sweetheart there. He’d broken her heart when they were just teenagers, something he’s begun to regret. And it wasn’t just because she was the manager’s daughter.

When Seb finds out what he’s been missing for the last seven years, he begins to see what else he’s lost. He wants to go back and pick up where they left off but Casey’s not so eager to repeat the past. Can he convince her he’s in it for good this time, or will he find himself out in left field for good?

Excerpt from Out in Left Field

Casey Calipari sat gazing at home plate from one of the offices at Citrus Field, watching her father lob some balls to a pint-sized batter. Even from here she could see the intensity on Charlie’s face as she swung away, trying hard to make contact.

She groaned, snatching her finger from out of her mouth. She’d been nibling on her nails, a habit she thought she’d left behind a few years ago, but the stress of the last few days had finally caught up and she’d reverted to her old soothing technique. In the background, she could hear Allie, talking on her cell. Her friend was putting the final touches on the upcoming travel days that would take the Greenliners to different cities in the area, as they geared up for the upcoming spring baseball season. Casey had invaded her space, agreeing to come to the field early, in order to avoid another confrontation with Charlie, who’d become intractable, and to satisfy her father’s incessant demands that get some time with his granddaughter.

She wondered again, for maybe the hundredth time, what the hell was she doing here.

Her father, the new manager of the Greenliners, Boston’s national league professional baseball team, had requested her presence, but it was becoming apparent he didn’t need her for much more than social secretary. She’d thrown her life into a tailspin, accompanying him to Florida for spring training to be more gopher, rather than right hand. Mac Calipari, Greenliner icon and legend, had been depending on