Page 3 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

Henry smirked. “I thought youhatedfootball.”

“I do. But we live in Texas. You can’t buy milk at the grocery store without someone talking about the Sparks.”And you can’t live in small, sleepy Brookwood without anyone mentioning Beau Walker,she added in her head.

Her brother continued to stare.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Henry said, shaking his head. “The one who got away, huh?”

Sienna swallowed.No. The one who left me behind, she wanted to correct him, but instead said, “We were kids, Henry.”

Sienna placed her mug in the sink.We were kids, she reminded herself.That was over fifteen years ago.It didn’t matter if occasionally Sienna Googled Beau Walker or if she pulled up game footage on YouTube, awaiting the moment the camera might catch his face. But all those clips and internet searches did was remind her that Beau was no longer a kid, but a man, with thirty pounds more muscle, who almost always seemed to have a five-o’clock shadow. But even though his hair was no longer shaggy, his arms no longer lanky, some things about Beau stayed the same, like his bold brow, his broad shoulders, and his signature half smile that had made Sienna a swoony teenager.

No longer eighteen and living around the corner, Beau was an NFL veteran who, at some point, was ranked the best wide receiver in The League, having played in New York, Los Angeles, and finally, an hour away in Dallas.

Grace continued to prance and Sienna sighed.

This is her day, she thought, trying to ignore the nerves that brewed in her stomach, twisting her gut anxiously.Let Grace have her day. Don’t even think about him. He’s just one player on the field in a stadium filled with thousands of people.

“Is it straight?” Grace asked, tugging on the ends of the dark brown wig.

Sienna turned back to Grace. “Looks great.”

“Are you ready?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Grace nodded enthusiastically.

“Since when do you like football?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Mom, I’m going to be on TV.Everyonewatches the Sparks soeveryonewill be watching. Besides, I already have tickets to see Simon Gorges in March. The only thing better would be meeting him, which”—she paused, pointing to her wig—“Irefuseto do without my own hair.”

Even though she nodded, Sienna frowned inwardly. “Go on out with Henry. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Sienna watched Grace trot through the house and out the front door, still skeptical of her daughter’s excitement considering Grace loved the Hallmark Channel more than Sportscenter. But Grace’s wants had been shoved to the side for too long.

If she’s this excited,Sienna thought, picking up a wrapper from Grace’s gum that hadn’t made its way to the bin,who am I to say no?

She wanted to ignore the pamphlet she saw again in the trash when she went to throw away the wrapper. This time Sienna laughed at the tagline.

“The Golden Penny Foundation aims to support families and children with serious illness by making wishes come true,” Sienna read aloud, shaking her head. “They don’t know what they’re talking about. If wishes actually came true, cancer would’ve been long gone by now.”

Sienna grabbed her purse from the table and keys off the hook.And if wishes came true, I wouldn’t care that I’m about to see Beau Walker because I never would’ve met him in the first place.

* * *

Janet from the Golden Penny Foundation met Sienna, Henry, and Grace in the garage, leading them through a maze of hallways to an elevator.

“You’ll just wait right here,” Janet said when they came up into a tunnel.

Sienna’s eyes were drawn to the right, toward the opening that led to the field, roaring with fans. But the pounding pulse in her ears muffled the crowd’s noise. She hadn’t felt that kind of thumping in so long—the kind that makes your body nearly jump with each bulging beat in anticipation.He’s here, her brain was trying to tell her, but Sienna’s racing heart already knew.

“They’ll give us the signal when it’s time for the coin toss,” Janet told them, flashing an overenthusiastic smile.

Slumping against the cold stone wall, Sienna looked at Grace bouncing beside her, well past the point of annoying, but she let it slide.Her day.

“Wow,” Grace said nervously. “There’s a lot of people out there, yeah?”

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