Left Field Love

Left Field Love Copyright © 2023 by C.W. Farnsworth All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Cover design by Mary Scarlett LaBerge CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Acknowledgments About the Author Also by C.W. Farnsworth LEFT FIELD LOVE Lennon Matthews has been looking forward to the end of senior year since the first day of high school. She’s sick of the stares and whispers that follow her around, of balancing staying at the top of her class with all her other responsibilities. And she’s especially over interacting with Caleb Winters. The town golden boy who refuses to ignore her existence, no matter how hard she tries to remain invisible. The star pitcher with a bright, shiny future in front of him, very different from Lennon’s path after graduation. But Caleb’s life isn’t as perfect as it appears. His family is fractured beneath the facade and the pressure of high expectations is constant. He had no interest in moving to the small, horse-racing-obsessed town of Landry, Kentucky, and no say in the matter either. And the one girl he’s interested in stubbornly refuses to give him the time of day. Until persistence finally seems to shift Lennon’s perception of him. But one thing that doesn’t change as graduation creeps closer? Her insistence that their lives are too different for anything serious or lasting between them. Caleb’s professional baseball aspirations are more present than ever, and he hasn’t hidden his desire to leave Landry. Between caring for the only family she has left and managing what’s left of their farm, she’s tied to Landry with no intention of that ever changing. Lennon has spent years eager to see Caleb leave. She’s the only reason he wants to stay. Together, they’ll have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice. For themselves…and for each other. LEFT FIELD LOVE C.W. FARNSWORTH CHAPTER ONE LENNON Freshman Year Any hope of today being better than I expected dies a slow death as soon as I step inside the open doors of Landry High School. The soles of my ratty sneakers squeak against the scrubbed linoleum as the smell of grass and sunshine is replaced by the scent of ammonia and new notebooks. I only catch glimpses of the gray lockers that line the walls between the hordes of teenagers crowding the hall. My heart travels up to my throat, lodging in an uncomfortable lump that expands with each side glance and every whisper. My gaze remains straight ahead as familiar faces flash by. Eyes dart away. Heads tilt together. I keep my expression impassive. I woke up prepared to face stares. This is the first time I’ve been inside Landry High, but I know where I’m going…I think. It takes a special kind of idiot to get lost in what is essentially a cinderblock rectangle. Walk long enough, and you’ll end up back in the same exact spot. My steps don’t slow until I arrive at the glass door that leads into the main office. Once I do, I suck in a deep breath. The wrinkled paper I’m clutching makes a crinkling sound as I attempt to smooth it against my thigh before pulling the heavy door open. The hinges groan, announcing my arrival to the school secretary. The middle-aged woman glances up with a prepared smile that falters slightly when she registers my face. The curse of living in a tiny, pretentious, nosy town. No secrets exist in Landry. I feel the weight of her sympathy settle over my shoulders like a lead-lined blanket as I shuffle up to the front desk. The worst part of grief is the expectations. How everyone thinks they know exactly what grieving should look like. How they’re uncomfortable when it’s displayed yet judge its absence. I keep my face blank, although I’m tempted to wrinkle my nose in response to the lemon scent saturating the air. The aroma is overpowering. I cast a nervous glance over my shoulder, chewing the inside of my cheek as the two girls across the hallway don’t bother to hide the way they’re staring at me through the glass. “Hi. I just need to drop this off.” I rush the words out, anxious to have them expelled. Eager to be rid of this form and be one step closer to getting through this day. According to the state of Kentucky, the school year is one hundred and seventy days. High school is four years. After today, I’ll only have six hundred and seventy-nine days to get through. Six hundred and seventy-nine days. Rather than comforting, the countdown sounds…long. I set the paper on the counter, watching the secretary’s brown eyes dart between me and the wrinkled sheet. “Of course. I’ll add this to your file.” “Thank you.” I whirl around, eager to leave. “Lennon?” “Yes?” I take my time spinning back toward the desk, uneasy. I’m so sick of sympathies, especially forced ones. “We have a new student starting today. I just pulled up your class schedule, and you two have the same homeroom. Would you be willing to show—” The wooden door