19

So, do you understand what’s going on?”

By the time everybody got settled and seated and the attention had turned from Kaitlyn and Steven’s engagement to the game on the field, Jess was sitting next to Lainie on the end.

“Nope, not really.” Lainie propped her feet up on the back edge of the bleacher in front of her. “My high school years, brief as they were, didn’t include pep rallies and football games. The first football game I ever saw, I was sitting right where I am now. To tell the truth, I don’t know a whole lot more now than I did then. And that’s okay with me. It just takes a few hours, it makes Ray happy, and at least I get to sit down.”

Jess looked back at the field. Yep, they were all running into each other and falling down. “I was hoping by watching a game, I could learn something about it, but it’s not happening.”

“Wait till Sarah and Chris get here, and make sure Sarah sits by you. She could write a book. Meanwhile, I can give you the basics, if you want.”

“Sure. Anything would help.”

“Okay. See the guys in black and gold? They’re our team, and we cheer for them. When they get the football past all those guys in red and gray and clear to the end of the field, we score. They post the score up there on the scoreboard so you can keep track of who’s ahead.”

“I’ve got that part down. It’s the middle part I don’t get. If everyone’s just running around bumping into each other, how do you know when to cheer?”

Suddenly, everyone around them jumped to their feet with a roar that had to be rattling the windows at Elizabeth’s house. Lainie leaned in so Jess could hear her. “That’s how you know when to cheer.”

“But what happened?”

Lainie leaned to her other side to ask Ray, “What happened?”

“Interception.”

Lainie leaned back. “Interception.”

Jess opened her mouth to ask what that was but closed it again. What was the point? Lainie would just ask Ray, and he was trying to watch the game. If they kept that up very long, he was bound to get annoyed eventually, even if he was too polite to show it. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the small pad and pencil she always carried and flipped to a clean page. She wrote “Interception” at the top.

When the crowd went wild again a few minutes later, Jess had no trouble figuring out what had happened. One of the boys wearing black and gold had the football and had somehow gotten around all the boys wearing red and gray and was running for the goal line as fast as he could go, with everybody else chasing him down the field. When he crossed the goal line, Jess found she was screaming just like everyone else and looking around for strangers to exchange high fives with.

While Jess was watching the first score of the game going up on the Last Chance side of the scoreboard, someone kicked the ball over the goalpost, and another point got added to the score. It now stood 7–0, Last Chance.

She turned to Lainie. “What was that?”

“The extra point. After they make a touchdown, they get to try to kick it over the goalpost for an extra point.”

“Why do they do that?”

Lainie shrugged, and Jess got out her little pad and wrote “Extra point” under “Interception.”

By the time the halftime whistle blew, the score stood 21–3, and Jess’s list had grown to include punt, fair catch, and field goal. As the team trotted off the field, followed by the coaches, and the marching band marched on to the quick beat of the drum, Jess tucked her list in her bag. Lainie had assured her that Ray would be happy to answer any question she had during halftime, but she always learned best from books, and anyway, if they ever got back on speaking terms, she’d like to ask Andy. She had either mocked his vocation or dismissed it as trivial almost from the day they had met, and except for the Gabe issue, he had just let it roll off his back. She still didn’t get football, but, even if they’d never be more than friends, she wanted him to know that she was sorry she had so summarily dismissed it.

“Here you are. Did you save us any room?” Sarah, followed by Chris, came up the steps. “That’s some score. I hope the second half is as exciting.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Lainie leaned back to give Sarah and Chris a better view of Steven and Kaitlyn. “Look who turned up. Show them your hand, Kaitlyn.”

Kaitlyn extended her hand again, and Sarah smiled. “It really is gorgeous. I didn’t know you had that kind of taste, Steven.”

It took a second for the truth to dawn on Lainie. “You already knew! When did you find out?”

“They stopped in the Dip ’n’ Dine on their way here to tell Chris. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. So I got to hear about it too.” Sarah blew a little kiss down the row to Kaitlyn.

“I had to share my happy news with my brother as soon as possible. I couldn’t just spring it on him at a football game.”

Ray glared at Steven. “You sure didn’t have any problem with that.”

Steven held up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m just doing what you said I should do when you gave me all that advice before I left for the academy. You said, ‘If it comes to that, just keep your mouth shut and do whatever she wants. All you really need to do to keep the peace is put on a tie and show up.’”

“Seriously?” Lainie was the one who spoke, but Sarah and Kaitlyn both turned to stare at Ray too. Even Jess was curious as to what Ray would say about that.

“Wait a minute, don’t get mad at Ray. I was just paraphrasing.” Steven couldn’t have looked more innocent. “What he really said was, ‘Your lovely bride deserves to have the wedding of her dreams, and it is your job to move heaven and earth, if need be, to see that everything happens just the way she wants it.’ That’s pretty much what you said, right, bro?”

Jess had only met Ray a few times, but if he had ever in his life said anything remotely like this, Jess was immensely sorry she hadn’t been there to hear it.

Ray just shook his head. “You are on your own on this one, Steven. You have us both dug in so deep we’ll never see daylight again.”

“While you all are sorting this out, I think Olivia and I will make another visit to the restroom, and we might stop at the concession stand on our way back. Anyone want anything?” Kaitlyn took Olivia’s hand and edged past everyone on their way to the aisle.

Ray winced when Olivia squeezed by him. He watched them head down the stairs before turning to Steven. “I think we need to move things around a little bit. You and Kaitlyn and Livvy need to sit on the end. I know it’s got to be hard for a little kid to sit still very long, but she must have made four trips during the first half, and she managed to step on both my feet every time she went by, going and coming.”

“When did your toes get so sensitive? She probably doesn’t weigh fifty pounds.” Steven bristled at the very implication of criticism of Livvy.

Jess smiled to herself at how protective Steven was of his little family. It looked like Kaitlyn and her daughter were in good hands. And from everything Kaitlyn had told her, they had it coming.

By the time Kaitlyn and Livvy came back, Steven had moved them to the end of the bleacher, though he was still glowering a bit.

“Well, this is smart.” Kaitlyn kissed his cheek. “I don’t know why we didn’t do this earlier. Thanks for thinking of it.”

“Well, no point in you having to climb all over everybody.” Steven slid his arm around her shoulders.

Lainie and Ray exchanged glances, and Lainie grinned as the Last Chance Pumas took the field again while the crowd cheered.

The second half of the game was as satisfying as the first, if not quite as exciting. Each team scored another touchdown with its extra point, and when the final whistle blew, the score was 28–10, Last Chance.

As they all made their way down the steps of the stands, Steven grabbed Ray’s shoulder.

“Look, down there at the bottom, just now walking in front of the first bleacher at the thirty yard line. Who is that?”

Ray looked. “I don’t know. Some old guy. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him before.”

“Something about him . . .” Steven’s eyes narrowed in an effort to focus better. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that was Andy’s dad.”

Ray looked again. “Nah, can’t be. If he was back, someone would have said something. Besides, that old boy looks about ten, fifteen years older than Andy’s dad would be.”

Steven gave another hard look before shrugging and looking away. “I guess, but I don’t know, something about him . . .”

So that’s Andy’s dad. Jess, on the stadium stair just above Steven, said nothing. This was Andy’s business, and if he wanted to say his dad was back in town, he would. She watched the old man shuffle along, one hand deep in the pocket of his denim jacket, the other lightly running along the top rail of the fence that separated stands from field, and couldn’t help wondering if Andy knew his dad had finally come to a game.

“You don’t have to tell me who won the game. I’ve been listening to those horns honk for the last fifteen minutes.” Elizabeth opened the front door before they reached the porch. “Come in. Steven and Kaitlyn, you come over and give me a big hug and tell what all this mystery is about.”

Olivia ran past them all and tackled Elizabeth with a hug around the waist.

“Careful!” The adults all spoke in unison, but Olivia didn’t even seem to notice.

“Look!” She held up her locket for Elizabeth’s inspection. “Steven asked me if he could be my dad, and I said yes, and he gave me this.”

“My goodness, Livvy, I do believe that is the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever seen. So this is the reason your mom said you wouldn’t be coming over this afternoon!” She looked up and over Olivia’s head, and tears had already begun to find their way down her lined face. She reached in her pocket for a handkerchief. “I had a feeling, of course, that you were going to bring me this happy news when you called earlier. I just had no idea that it was going to affect me this way. Livvy, honey, help me get to my chair before I trip over the cat again or something. I’m not seeing real well right now.”

With Livvy on one side, complaining that she could help Elizabeth all by herself, and Steven on the other, they helped her back to her recliner. When they got her settled, Steven knelt at her side.

“What’s up, Gran? I expected a few happy tears, maybe, but folks usually smile when they’re crying happy tears, and you’re carrying on like someone burned your house down and ran off with the dog, or the cat, in this case. What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? How can you possibly think anything’s wrong? I’m as happy this minute as I’ve ever been in my life.” Elizabeth took a deep breath and swiped at her nose with her handkerchief before resting her hand on his arm. “You know, honey, I pretty much talk to the Lord all day long. The first thing I do every morning is to thank the Lord for waking me, and I’m still talking to him when I turn out the light at night. Then there are other things that come up that need special attention, like someone getting sick or going on a trip. But in my long life, there have been a few—surprisingly just a few—things that I have taken before the throne of God and left them there, so brokenhearted that I had to let the Holy Spirit do my praying for me. We almost lost the ranch in the early days, due to drought and the bottom falling out of the cattle market, and we almost lost your Uncle Joe Jr. to pneumonia when he was about six months old. In both cases, the Lord gave me what I prayed for.” She paused to draw a shaky breath. “But there were other times, like when I prayed for your mama to get well, and for your Uncle Jerry, who you never knew, to come home safe from Vietnam, when I had to accept that what I was asking for wasn’t part of his plan. And I have been at peace with the way God answered my prayers all this time. But there was one thing left, and that was you. Oh, honey. The hours I’ve spent praying for you, I’m surprised the carpet where I’ve knelt by my bed isn’t worn through. If you added them all together, I imagine it would be years.”

“Years? Really?” Steven looked a little disconcerted.

“I’ve had nearly ninety. I can spare you one or two.” Elizabeth’s face was still pink and a little damp, but she was smiling now. “But anyway, here you are now, a handsome state police officer, bringing me a beautiful and godly new granddaughter and a precious great-granddaughter. My heart overflows.”

Jess tried to understand what Elizabeth meant when she talked about being at peace no matter how God answered her prayers. It sounded a lot like the conversation she’d had with Kaitlyn about why Elizabeth rejected the concept of luck. It all came down to believing that God was in control and knowing that meant all was well. She smiled to herself as she remembered Sarah saying that family was only Elizabeth’s second favorite topic of conversation. At the time Jess couldn’t imagine what number one could be. Now she knew.

“Can I call you Gran now?” Olivia, at the first sign of tears, had attached herself to the other arm of Elizabeth’s recliner, her face screwed into a worried frown.

“Of course you may call me Gran.” Elizabeth held Olivia’s hand to her face and kissed it. “You too, Kaitlyn. Now come give me a kiss and show me that beautiful ring you’re wearing.”

“The coffee’s about ready.” Lainie came in from the kitchen. “And who wants cake? It’s Gran’s applesauce cake.”

The room, which had been a frozen tableau while Elizabeth spoke to Steven, dissolved again into the slightly chaotic family Jess had spent the evening with.

“None for me, thanks.” Chris reached for the door. “I need to get home and get to bed. The Dip ’n’ Dine opens at 6:00, and that alarm goes off awfully early in the morning.”

“See you at home, honey. I won’t be late.” Sarah gave him a hug before turning to Lainie. “Let me help you with the cake.”

Steven pulled Kaitlyn down on the sofa next to him, and the two bent their heads in conversation while Olivia still leaned on Elizabeth’s chair. Jess was about to get up and go see if Sarah and Lainie needed any help when the front door opened and Andy stuck his head in.

“Knock-knock. I saw Chris outside and he told me to come on in. Hope it’s okay.”

Jess froze.

“Certainly! If you don’t mind my not getting up, I surely don’t mind you coming in—even if you hadn’t run into Chris outside.” Elizabeth smiled from her recliner. “And congratulations on the game. I know you won, but we haven’t quite gotten around to the score yet. We’ve had a little excitement of our own here tonight.”

“Oh?” He looked around for further explanation, his glance resting briefly on Jess before he came to Kaitlyn, who was holding out her hand. “You’re kidding! Well, congratulations, and welcome home, Steven. It’s great to see you.” Andy crossed to the sofa, where he shook Steven’s hand and bent down to kiss Kaitlyn’s cheek. “So, when’s the big day?”

“Oh, we haven’t begun to think about that. Sometime this spring, I imagine.” Kaitlyn smiled up from the shelter of Steven’s arm.

“Well, hey, that’s great. Congratulations again.”

Andy had clearly run out of things to say and looked as uncomfortable as Jess felt.

“That was a great game, Andy, although that turnover on our own twenty-three with 1:03 left in the fourth could have been bad.” There was no point in Jess pretending she didn’t see Andy, and if she sat there without saying anything at all, someone was bound to notice.

He stared at her. “Say what?”

Jess tried to look interested yet nonchalant. “I sat next to Sarah during the second half. She’s a treasure trove of information.”

“Sarah’s what?” Sarah came in carrying plates of applesauce cake, followed by Lainie carrying more. “Oh, hi, Andy. Want some cake?”

“A treasure trove of football knowledge. I was telling Andy how much I learned sitting next to you.”

“Well, if Sarah thought we were in danger of giving up an eighteen-point lead with a minute and three seconds left in the game, I think there are a few rocks in her trove.” Andy accepted the plate Sarah offered him. “Thanks.”

“What are you talking about? I never said that.” Sarah handed a plate to Elizabeth.

“That was me, I’m afraid.” Jess felt her cheeks reddening. Nice try. Next time, don’t. “I was trying to sound like I knew something by stringing together a bunch of words I heard you say. I don’t think Andy’s all that impressed.”

“Oh, I was impressed, all right.” Andy straddled the piano bench and forked in a bite of cake.

“Well, I know now that you had at least an eighteen-point lead.” Elizabeth scooted over to make room for Olivia, who was trying to climb in the chair with her. “So what was the final score? And who did you play? Tell me all about it.”

Andy had already taken off his sports coat, but he loosened his tie and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees, clasping his hands between them. As he told Elizabeth all about the game, with Ray and Steven chiming in every now and then, Jess could tell by her rapt expression that Elizabeth saw it all unfold before her. How many games, Jess wondered, had Elizabeth seen while sitting in the bleachers of Last Chance High? Her sons had played, and her grandsons, and for all Jess knew, she had gone to games before that. Certainly her interest in the game was real and her knowledge was phenomenal. If Sarah could write a book, Jess had no doubt that Elizabeth could write an encyclopedia.

“That’s pretty much it,” Andy finished up. “There was that turnover with a minute left in the fourth, but despite what you may have been led to believe, it didn’t pose that much of a threat.”

“And on that note, I should go.” Kaitlyn got to her feet. “Livvy’s squashing you flat, Elizabeth, and I need to get her home to bed.”

Olivia had almost immediately fallen asleep and was indeed sprawled all over Elizabeth and snoring gently. Steven carefully removed her and draped her over his shoulder. “I’ll be back later, if that’s okay. I haven’t figured out where I’m going to stay yet, but Lainie said she thought it would be okay if I slept in your sewing room for a while. Sorry I didn’t ask you, but you didn’t know I was in town yet.”

“Of course it’s okay. I’ll put the bedding out and leave a light on if I decide to go on to bed. Congratulations again, my very dear ones. I am as happy and as at peace as I’ve been in a long, long time. And I do hope you can call me Gran, Kaitlyn. I feel like you’re one of my own, even if you weren’t marrying my grandson.”

“I’ll try.” Kaitlyn threw a kiss Elizabeth’s way and opened the door for Steven and Olivia.

“I’ll walk out with you. I need to get home too.” Sarah got to her feet. “Good night, all.”

When the door closed behind the four of them. Elizabeth sighed. “You know, when Steven scooped that sweet child off my lap and carried her out over his shoulder, I thought I had received every blessing that the Lord might ever have had for me—my grandchildren all walking with the Lord and starting families of their own. But then I looked over at you, Lainie, and thought of that little one you’re carrying, and I realize there is just no end to God’s blessings. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, why, he just shows you some more.”

“Mmmhmm.” Lainie’s eyes drooped and she stifled a yawn. “We are blessed, all right.”

Ray stood up and pulled her to her feet. “You need to go to bed. Chris is not the only one who needs to be at that diner in the morning.”

Andy and Jess took Ray’s comment as a cue and began to gather their things, but Ray turned to them and waved them back in their seats. “No, don’t go, you guys. Gran’s a real night owl, and she’s really been looking forward to having company this evening. Please stay.”

“Yes. Please stay.” Elizabeth chimed in. “We always send Lainie to bed early since she insists on working, but it’s still early. Don’t go.”

Jess glanced at her watch. Maybe 11:20 wasn’t late for Elizabeth, but Jess had been up since 6:00, and it seemed awfully late to her. She stood up.

“Elizabeth, I am sorry, but I do need to get home. It has been so nice to see you, and I’d love to come back real soon and have a good long visit. Maybe some evening when Ray and Lainie go out?” Jess looked up at Ray. “Not that I don’t enjoy you two, of course.”

“Yeah, Gran’s always been the popular one. It doesn’t hurt my feelings anymore. Much.”

“Oh, you.” Elizabeth took a swat at Ray and missed him by two feet.

“I should get home too. My dad’s there and I need to make sure he’s okay.” Andy jingled his keys in his pocket.

“Your dad! So that was him at the game tonight. Steven thought it might be your dad, but I thought he looked too . . .” Ray’s voice trailed away.

“Old? Beat up? Yeah, you’d be right on both counts. He’s had a rough life, not that he didn’t choose it.”

“How is Tim doing, Andy?” Elizabeth’s voice was rich with compassion.

“Oh, fine, I guess. He says he’s not drinking now. Says it’s been three or four years, and from everything I’ve seen, he’s telling the truth, but it’s probably too late to do him any good.”

“Give him my best, will you? And bring him to visit me. I’d love to see Tim again.”

“I’ll do that, Miss Elizabeth. I’m sure it will mean a lot to him.” Andy took her hand and bent down to kiss her cheek.

Jess kissed Elizabeth’s cheek too, and turned to Ray with a little smile. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for a ride home, Ray. You picked me up, remember?”

“I’ll drop you off.” Andy picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. “You’re right on the way.”

Jess looked at Ray, hoping he would say it was no trouble at all, but he actually seemed to think Andy’s suggestion was a good one.

“Okay, then. Thanks.” Jess passed through the door Andy held open for her, trying to think of something, anything she could say that didn’t involve football. Every time she tried to meet Andy on his own ground, it seemed to wind up in humiliation. “It sounds like Elizabeth really would like to see your dad. Were they friends back in the day?”

“The Cooleys and the Ryans go way back.” Andy opened the door of his pickup for Jess, then walked around to the driver’s side and got in. “My great-grandfather was Elizabeth’s husband’s father’s foreman. With me so far?”

Jess nodded. “I think so.”

“Okay. Well, the story goes that one day, Elizabeth’s husband’s father, who went by the name of Johnny, by the way, turned up missing, and my great-grandfather, whose name was Seamus, went looking for him.” From the sound of it, Andy was searching for something to fill the silence of the ride home as well. “After about three days, he found Johnny nearly dead under his horse that’d been spooked by something or other and jumped off into an arroyo. So Seamus used his rope to get Johnny’s horse off him and then somehow got old Johnny up on his own horse and walked them home again, where they fixed Johnny up, except that he always limped after that. Well, it’s too late to make this long story short, but in gratitude, Johnny gave Seamus a little chunk of his ranch so he could start his own herd. And that’s the story of the Cooleys and the Ryans.” Andy stopped his truck in front of Jess’s house. “Aren’t you glad you asked?”

“I am, actually. Last Chance is my home now. I love hearing its stories.” Jess reached for her door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem.” Just as Jess was about to shut the door, he spoke again. “Surprised to see you at Miss Elizabeth’s after the game. Did Gabe talk you into going?”

“No.” Jess paused with her hand on the door. “Sarah asked if I had plans for tonight, and before I knew she was talking about going to the game, I said no. I was kind of stuck after that.”

“Ah.” Andy shifted from Park to Drive. “Well, glad we could win it for you.”

“Thanks again for the ride.” Jess shut the door of Andy’s truck and walked to her front door. Not till she unlocked and opened it did Andy lift his hand in a wave and pull away from her curb. She stood in her doorway and watched until a dust cloud dimming his taillights indicated he had reached the dirt road at the end of her street. Why couldn’t she tell him how much she had enjoyed the game?