Under the Lights (9 page)

He met them at the curb, and both handshakes turned into a quick hug. “I can't believe it's been so long since I've seen you guys.”

Sam scowled. “I can't believe it's been so long since Murph stopped at a bathroom.”

“When you travel as much as I do, you get used to holding it for longer than a four-year-old can.”

It was like they'd never been apart. They'd all been friends—practically brothers—but the bickering between Murphy and Leavitt was part of the soundtrack of their high school years. “Come on in and see Coach.”

That reunion ate up almost a half hour, until Chase was so hungry he couldn't stand it anymore, having burned off the hot dogs a long time ago. He'd already told Mrs. McDonnell they were going out on the town, so she didn't bother with a big dinner. She just kissed each man on the cheek and told them to have a good time and that Chase shouldn't worry about waking them if they were out late.

O'Rourke's offered good food and beer, but they ended up going to the Stewart Mills House of Pizza just because they'd spent so much time there during their teen years. There was something about being all together again that brought out the nostalgia.

Decker and Philly joined them, so the only guy they were waiting on for the big game was John Briscoe. Chase spent a couple of minutes wondering about their other teammates—the ones who hadn't come—but then he put them out of his mind. There were a million reasons a guy couldn't put his life on hold even for a few days to play an exhibition game against a bunch of high school kids, and he wouldn't hold it against them. These were the guys who had come back for Coach's sake and that was all that mattered.

“It feels a little unreal, being back here,” Sam said when they'd knocked the hell out of three large pizzas and a pitcher and a half of beer, with sodas for Sam.

Chase wanted to ask him if he'd see his mother while he was in town, but it wasn't the time. They were laughing and reminiscing about their glory days, and Sam's parents didn't fall in the happy memories of Stewart Mills category.

“Brings it all back,” Alex said. “I don't know if I've ever had a moment better than the second I realized we'd actually won the damn game.”

“When Briscoe caught that pass and you threw that block so he could get in the end zone,” Deck said, “I couldn't believe it. Even when they signaled the touchdown. I mean, who the hell thought we could win a championship?”

“Coach did,” Sam said quietly.

Chase nodded, then took a swig of his beer. After the final whistle blew and the crowd was going wild, Coach had gathered his team at the bench.
I never doubted you boys for a minute.
It was only the second time in his life Chase felt as if he'd made a person he loved proud. The first time had been busting his ass on an English essay his senior year
and getting to hand Mrs. McDonnell the graded paper with a big A minus circled at the top. She'd hugged him hard and then baked a cake for him.

“I wonder if Coach believes we can win
this
game,” Alex said, and they all laughed.

“I know I wasn't the best student ever to go through Stewart Mills High, but I count six old guys,” Sam said.

“The rest of the
old guys
team will be filled in with school staff and a few dads, I guess,” Chase said.

Alex leaned forward. “What about any guys who played for the Eagles and graduated last year? Technically, they're alumni, and if some went away to college, they're home for the summer right now. Let the young kids take the hits.”

Chase shook his head. “I tried that. There has to be some affiliation to the championship team, even if they were just sitting in the stands watching the game. The school custodian's going to play. He was in the band the year we won.”

“This would be a great high school revenge plot. Luring the jocks home in a secret plan to pummel them on the field they once owned,” Sam said. He frowned at Chase. “We didn't piss those girls off in some way back then, did we?”

“I don't think so. And it's a little extravagant for revenge.” Although if anybody could come up with a scheme like this, it would be Kelly, Jen and Gretchen.

“Revenge plot or fund-raiser.” Alex refilled his mug and then emptied the beer pitcher into Chase's. “Either way, it's going to hurt.”

A
fter Jen had made sure Alex and Sam were settled with their host families, Kelly, Jen and Gretchen decided to have an unscheduled Eagles Fest meeting at the Walker farm for the simple reason that Gram Walker had made macaroni salad. It was creamy and tangy, with chunks of ham and some secret ingredient that Kelly had never been able to figure out, but really wanted to.

Gram, who still lived her life on a milking schedule even though she'd had neither a husband nor cows for more than a few years, had already eaten and retired to her chair in the TV room to watch the evening news before she went to bed, so the women took heaping bowls of the macaroni salad into the dining room to talk.

“I finally found a printer for the discount cards,” Jen said
after they'd all enjoyed a few bites. “We'll have them in time for the street fair.”

That was a huge relief. It had taken a lot of door-to-door schmoozing to get the local businesses to take part in the discount program. If a person bought the card for ten dollars, with the entire amount going to the Eagles, he or she would get 5 percent off at many places in Stewart Mills until the last day of October. But finding a printer willing to donate services hadn't been as simple.

“You should get a trophy when this is over,” Gretchen told Jen.

“Trophies cost money,” Jen said. “But when this is over, I won't say no to a really cheap cocktail.”

Kelly knew Gretchen wasn't exaggerating. Jen spent hours searching the Internet, looking for forms to fill out to request grants from numerous football-related foundations. She'd emailed the contact person for every current or former NFL player she could find with a connection to the state, or even to New England, and knocked on any door that might lead to a donation.

“Maybe we can buy a used trophy and write your name on it with a Sharpie,” Kelly said, and they all laughed.

“I'll leave the trophies to the football team,” Jen said. “Unless it's made of chocolate. Then I'll take it.”

Kelly swallowed her last bite of macaroni salad and pushed her bowl away. “Speaking of chocolate, did either of you say anything to Chase about my sex life?”

Jen looked shocked, and then her expression changed to offended. “Of course not. I resent that question.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“I didn't, either,” Gretchen said. “But now I'm dying to
know what made you ask us. Especially since, as far as we know, you don't
have
a sex life.”

And now Kelly didn't want to tell them. She should have accepted the fact that it was a weird coincidence and kept her mouth shut, but it was too late now. “He said he wanted to take me up against the wall.”

Jen sat up straight. “And did you say
yes, please
?”

“Of course not.” Kelly smiled. “I might have thought it, though.”

“You could have just said
you, up against the wall, right now
.” Jen tilted her head. “Come to think of it, you've probably said that before.”

“You're hilarious. And I don't want him up against the wall. I want
me
up against the wall.”

Gretchen shook her head. “Since you've obviously given this scenario some thought, I'm seriously sad you threw away the perfect opportunity to make that dirty little fantasy come true.”

So was Kelly, though she'd rather not admit it. “You already know I have a good reason for why I won't have sex with Chase.”

“No,” Jen said. “We know why you don't want a long-term relationship with him. And we know why you
think
you shouldn't have sex with him, but we disagree on it being a good reason.”

“What are you girls talking about?”

They all jumped. Partly because they hadn't heard Mrs. Walker come into the room and partly because Gretchen's grandmother had caught them talking about sex. Kelly wasn't sure there was ever an age when that didn't feel awkward.

“Nothing, Gram,” they all said at the same time, which was probably even more suspicious than the fact that they'd all jumped when she spoke.

“So boys, then.” She looked at each of them in turn, then zeroed in on Kelly. “Any special young man in particular?”

“No, ma'am.”

“I heard that Sanders boy is back in town, and he bought condoms at the drugstore.”

Kelly was vaguely aware of Jen almost spitting her drink all over Gretchen and barely choking it down in time, but all she could do was try to meet Mrs. Walker's look with a straight face. “I hadn't heard that.”

“He's up to no good, that one.” Gram nodded. “I'm going to bed to read. You girls clean up after yourselves.”

They managed to hold back the giggles until they heard her footsteps reach the top of the stairs and disappear in the direction of her bedroom. Then they laughed, trying to muffle the sound with their hands.

“I can never un-hear your grandmother saying
condoms
,” Jen said when they'd regained their composure.

“A whole box of them, even,” Kelly said, putting her hand on her stomach because it ached from laughing and eating too much macaroni salad. When both women turned their gazes on her, she shook her head. “Don't look at me.”

“Since I've seen
Chase
looking at you,” Jen said, “I'm going to guess you're the only woman he was thinking about when he bought them.”

Gretchen held up her hand. “Back up for a minute. I want to know the circumstances of him telling you he wanted to take you up against the wall. Did he tell you that over coffee?
Write it on a napkin? Just randomly blurt it out when you walked by?”

“We were . . . kissing.” And just the memory of it still made her weak in the knees. “In my parents' kitchen.”

“I can't believe you didn't tell us
immediately
that you were kissing him,” Jen said, and Gretchen nodded.

“It didn't really end well.” She told them how the post-kiss conversation had gone. “He looks at me and sees Coach's daughter and not Kelly.”

“It's natural for him to worry about disrespecting your dad because he means so much to Chase,” Gretchen said, being her usual reasonable self.

Jen nodded. “But his need to take you up against the wall is going to get the better of him very soon and, when that happens, you need to let him.”

“I am not going to have sex with Chase Sanders.”

Gretchen snorted. “You just keeping telling yourself that.”

Kelly rolled her eyes, but she'd been doing exactly that pretty much since she'd pulled Chase over for blowing the stop sign on his way into town. If she kept saying it to herself over and over, maybe she'd start believing it.

—

O
rdering another pitcher of beer was probably a mistake, Chase thought. As hot and tired as he'd been all day, the alcohol seemed to be hitting him a little harder than usual, and he'd reached that state of pleasant buzzing in which the greatest ideas of all time were spawned.

Deck and Philly had split before the last pitcher because
they had wives and kids waiting for them, but the three that were left weren't ready to call it a night yet. Since there weren't any other options, they were still sitting at the Stewart Mills House of Pizza, drinking and talking.

“I thought by now there'd be something to do in this town,” Alex said. “I always thought we hung out and drank beer because we were young. Now I realize it's because there's literally nothing else to do.”

“We should head out soon, anyway,” Sam said. “We're guests in people's homes, and even though they said they'd leave the doors unlocked, we shouldn't stay out too late.”

Chase rocked his chair back onto two legs. “Look who learned some manners while he was . . . where the hell were you, again?”

“Texas. And screw you, Sanders.”

“He's right,” Alex said. “But a few more minutes won't hurt.”

Chase set his chair down with a thump so he could refill his mug. The frost had long since melted off the glass, but he was too lazy to walk up to the counter and get a fresh one.

“I can't believe Coach's daughter is a cop,” Sam said. “I always thought she'd be a librarian.”

Chase snorted, even as the phrase
Coach's daughter
caught in his mind. Kelly was right. Her identity was always wrapped up with her dad's. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“She was always reading, remember?”

“I remember she didn't like me very much, so I mostly ignored her.”

Alex shook his head. “I think she liked you more than you think. And since you were too busy dating cheerleaders, she pretended she didn't like you so nobody would know.”

“You've been watching too much afternoon television, my friend,” Chase said, but it was an intriguing idea.

Had Kelly McDonnell had a crush on him back in high school? Not that it would have mattered. Even if he hadn't been going steady with Janie Vestal, he would have been too afraid of Coach to risk dating his daughter.

Hell, he was still afraid to date—so to speak—Coach's daughter, as he'd so badly proven in the kitchen. But if she'd had a crush on him then and had thought about him over the years, she probably still wanted him more than she was willing to admit.

There had been no hesitation in her kiss. She'd enjoyed it as much as he had. And he'd seen the heat in her eyes and the hitch in her breath when he'd said he wanted to take her up against the wall. That desire was just as mutual as wanting the kiss.

But they were in a good place right now. They'd talked through the awkwardness and they each acknowledged the other wasn't the right person. It didn't stop him from wanting her, but he hoped like hell it would help keep him from showing it.

“Earth to Sanders,” he heard Sam say.

“Huh?”

“Considering the conversation, I'm real interested in where your thoughts went just now.”

Chase snorted, as if Sam was totally off base. “I was thinking about football and wondering if any of us remember the old play calls.”

“Shit, I barely remember how we line up on the field,” Alex said.

Sam laughed. “That's easy for me. I stand behind the guy
squatting over the ball and pray like hell I don't fumble the snap.”

“Kelly said we'll have access to the field next week to practice if we want,” Chase said. “I think we should take her up on that offer.”

“We don't have a chance in hell of beating those kids,” Sam said. “But I'd like to not embarrass myself.”

“I've heard that before.” Chase took a swallow of beer. “We didn't have a chance in hell of beating those kids for the championship back in the day, either, but we did.”

Both guys stared at him for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. He joined in because no amount of guts or inspirational speeches would get them past a team of well-coached teenage boys. But that didn't mean he was going to let them steamroll over him, either. So a few years had passed since he and the others had played ball together. Didn't change the fact that they'd been pretty damn good at it once.

“We really do need to get out of here,” Alex said. “If we don't leave now, we'll need more beer, and I don't want to forget how to get to the Bartons' house.”

“It's a little awkward when everybody goes to bed and you're not tired,” Chase warned. “I've got a stash of snacks and magazines in my room to kill time until I'm tired, but hopefully your families aren't the early-to-bed, early-to-rise types.”

“I'm a night owl,” Alex said, “but I have my laptop, so I can work if they go to bed early.”

“I'm one of those early-to-bed types,” Sam said, and then looked at the old-fashioned clock that had hung on the wall for as long as they could remember. “Though maybe not this early.”

“You know, I have a great idea,” Alex said, his voice low so he couldn't be overheard, and Chase leaned in closer. He was in just the right mood for a great idea.

—

K
elly's cell phone rang mere seconds after she'd finished tying the drawstring waist of her favorite pair of sweats, and she knew without looking at the screen it would be the night dispatcher. “Hello?”

“I know you're not on duty and it's late, but we have a situation and I thought you might want to handle it yourself.”

Scenarios began running through her mind. Her parents were first, but dispatch would have opened with that. Hunter Cass, maybe. A break-in at Gretchen's farm. The possibilities were endless. “What's the situation?”

“Earlier tonight, Chase Sanders, Alex Murphy and Sam Leavitt were at the pizza place and they were drinking with a couple of the other guys.”

Kelly frowned. Had they gotten in a fight? If any of the guys from town had caused trouble for their guests, she'd ticket the offenders if they so much as jaywalked for the rest of their lives.

“We just got a call,” the dispatcher continued, “and it seems like the three of them might be trying to break into the high school.”

She dropped her forehead to the palm of her hand with a thud. “You're kidding. Those idiots.”

“Yeah. That's why I called you instead of putting out the radio call.”

“I appreciate that. I'll take care of it.”

She didn't bother putting on her uniform and shoved her
bare feet into her sneakers before grabbing a flashlight. It's not as if she'd be shooting anybody, although she wouldn't mind giving Chase a quick jolt of the stun gun in the ass. What the hell were they thinking?

It was less than a mile to the school and a route she ran regularly, so she jogged to the high school and walked around the perimeter. Since she didn't see the guys, she assumed they'd made it inside. If she didn't find an access point, she'd break down and text Chase, but for now she swept the exterior of the old brick building with her flashlight.