Chapter Eighteen

Felicity sat with Tyler under a tall maple tree in the far corner of Edna’s backyard, quizzing him on his addition tables while doing her best not to glance back toward the farmhouse. Scott wasn’t due to leave for another fifteen minutes, and she just couldn’t bear to look at him. Seeing him one last time might make her second-guess her decision not to say goodbye. And talking would lead to touching, and that would have her heart breaking all over again.

She’d gone to her room after leaving him on the porch last night and grieved in silence. It was something she’d become a pro at, hiding her hurts from Tyler, from the world. Why make anyone else as miserable as her? This time it wasn’t just for herself that she grieved, but for Tyler as well. For the friendship he’d forged and was now losing with the hero who’d turned out to be no such thing.

And, if she was being honest, she grieved for Scott and Edna, too.

As frustrated as Felicity was over his refusal to put health before dreams, she felt sorry for Scott. Sorry that a lonely promise was what he’d chosen to cling to rather than the people around him. She felt sorry for Edna as well, knowing she was as powerless to change Scott’s mind as Felicity had been. Only, Edna was getting older, weaker. Sure, she put on a good show, but there were signs that her age was starting to catch up with her, including the increased use of that cane since their arrival. Would she still be around when Scott finally reached this goal of his?

“Mom?”

“Yes, baby,” she said, brushing the hair back from his glasses.

“Is Scott mad at me?”

“No, sweetheart. I think he’s worried that you’re mad at him. He feels awful he won’t be here for Hero Day.”

“I’m not mad,” Tyler said. “Well, maybe just a little. It was going to be so cool having him come talk to my class. Now the other kids are going to think I made it all up.”

“But Sam knows better. He got to see you guys hanging out at KidFest, remember? And I’m sure I snapped a few pictures of you guys playing soccer last week.”

“Really?” It was the most animated he’d been since learning Scott was leaving. “Can I see?”

“Maybe later. Right now, we need to finish your eights page.”

Tyler huffed out a sigh. “Math stinks. Can I go tell Scott goodbye instead?”

“You already told him goodbye, sweetheart. If we keep interrupting him, he’ll never finish packing.”

He placed a small hand on her arm. “It’s okay to be sad he’s leaving, Mom. I’m sad about it, too.”

Felicity pulled Tyler in for a tight hug. Her little man was growing up more and more each day. “I’m so sorry, honey. Sad is the last thing in the world I want you to be.”

“It’s okay,” he said on a sigh. “I mean, he had to go back sometime, right? Columbus has been struggling without him.”

Just like she’d be for the next few weeks as she readjusted to life with no Scott. But she had her support network here, and together they’d make it through just fine. Her heart would heal, and life would go on. She just wished…

No, it wouldn’t do her any good to wish for what couldn’t be. She deserved a man who put her and her son first. To be with someone who wanted her on his team, not waiting on the sidelines. Maybe someday she’d find him.

“Oh, Mom—they’re leaving!”

Tyler jumped up and dashed across the lawn.

“Goodbye, Scott!” he hollered, waving and jumping as he ran. “Goodbye!”

She shouldn’t have turned, hadn’t meant to look, but it was habit to keep a close watch on Tyler. As her gazed fixed on him, Norman’s car slowed to a stop on the long drive. Scott rolled down the rear passenger window to accept her son’s high five, then leaned out of the car and pulled Tyler in for a hug.

Felicity’s heart broke a little bit more.

After a long moment, Scott set him down, ruffled his hair, and held out his fist for one last bump. Tyler knocked his fist to Scott’s, his face beaming with delight.

Her sweet little boy, so quick to forgive. If only she could do the same. But as Scott scanned the yard beyond Tyler, she ducked behind the tree, knowing it would take more than a hug to mend her wounds.

And more wasn’t something Scott seemed willing to give.

…

Scott stood on the curb at Fort Wayne International Airport, duffle bag over one shoulder, trying to prepare himself for the wrath of Edna. She’d been unusually cool, calm, and collected at the announcement that he’d been called back early. Hadn’t gone off on him at breakfast or berated him while he packed…which meant she’d been saving up for the moment when they said their goodbyes.

With his grandmother getting up there in age, fighting was never how he wanted to part ways with her.

“You’re a complete idiot, you know.”

He hung his head to hide the “I knew it” grin. “I have to go.”

“Of course you do. You’re under contract, yadda yadda yadda. For your information, I’ve read the contract and know there are loopholes you could have taken, so don’t you try to feed me the same line you fed Felicity last night.”

She’d read his contract? The woman might never cease to surprise him. “You heard?”

“Of course I did. You yelled loud enough to wake your grandfather, God rest his soul.” She shrugged under Scott’s narrowed gaze. “And I like to eavesdrop. So sue me.”

“Grandma…” Scott dragged a hand down the side of his face.

“She was right, you know. Your mother, she wouldn’t have wanted you to get hurt to reach your goal.”

“See, that’s what no one seems to understand. Getting hurt is a risk I take every time I step on that field. This is no different.”

“It is different. You’re not one hundred percent yet—you know it, I know it, and don’t think the other team’s defense doesn’t know it, too. You’ll have a target on your back the minute you take the field.”

A valid point, far too astute for someone who’d pretended all these years to hate the sport. “Then I’ll just have to play smarter.”

“Or not play at all.” Edna stepped closer and placed a soft hand to his cheek. “Follow your heart, Scottie. If soccer is truly still your one and only passion, then do your best to stay out of harm’s way. But there’s nothing wrong with your passion shifting to something else. Or someone else.”

No, his grandmother hadn’t chased down a minister for them, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t holding out hope he’d settle down in Quail Hollow with a certain strong-willed, beautiful PA and her son. That same PA who had written him off last night and avoided him ever since. If her were in her shoes, he’d probably have done the same.

“That someone else isn’t going to wait around for me, so you might as well let it go.”

The soft hand at his cheek gave him a small slap. “Or don’t make her wait, you moron.”

“Just remember, you raised this moron,” he said, rubbing at the sting once she pulled her hand away.

“Knew I should have beaten you more as a child. Now your dad, him I did beat more often.”

He snorted. “Yeah, and look how he turned out.”

“I know he didn’t handle losing your mom well. Didn’t expect him to—she was the love of his life. But grief changes people, makes some lose their mind. Your dad, it killed him to look back, so he forced himself to move forward. And you know what? For him, it worked. He’s happy, Scottie. You could be, too.”

“I am happy.”

He had been before the injury, anyway. Before Felicity. Now, he just felt…empty.

Edna smirked and opened her arms to accept one last hug. “Take care of yourself, Scott. And call your grandmother more often—she gets lonely in that big old house of hers.”

“I will,” he whispered, resting his cheek atop her white poof of hair.

“Better yet, be reckless and find yourself a woman so I can fill that house with grandbabies.”

He stepped back, shaking his head. “You just can’t let it go.”

“Nope.” She winked. “Eventually, I’ll have my way. Just you watch.”

Scott gave her one last kiss on the cheek and headed into the terminal. Edna might have her way someday, but it wouldn’t be soon, and not with the woman living under her roof for one week more. That ship had sailed, as much as it pained him to admit it.

But if he’d learned anything over the years, it was that the pain would pass with enough physical exertion…and there was plenty of that waiting for him back in Columbus.