Page 4 of (La)Crosse My Heart

“Oh, Clark. I didn’t see you coming. What are you doing up at this hour?” she asks.

I grin and say, “I should ask you the same thing.”

“Well, I don’t sleep well anymore, and it’s not as hot if I get out here early to weed the flowers.”

“What if you sit and tell me a story while I weed? It looks like you’ve got a few new ones since I left this weekend. You can always ask any of us to help, you know,” I say, gesturing to the house.

“You’re all so busy, and I hate to be a burden.”

“Well, one of us will be over to mow your lawn later.”

She gets tears in her eyes and reaches over to take my hand. She gives it a squeeze and says, “Thank you, son. That means more than you can imagine.”

I kneel, pulling weeds from the soft ground for the next thirty minutes as I listen to Nora tell me stories about her life. She’sseen a lot, and it’s interesting for me to learn about the past that isn’t in a watered-down version of history from school.

“Have you met the woman who moved in across the street?” Nora asks, grinning. I turn to see the rental sign from the lawn straight across from us is gone.

“I didn’t know anyone was renting it out. Do we need to worry about her?” I say, giving Nora a wide grin. “How do you know it’s a woman?”

She chuckles softly and says, “There’s not much that happens in this neighborhood I don’t know about. She looks to be young. Maybe your age. If you want, I’ll be your wing woman and get more information.”

The image of this sweet white-haired woman trying to get phone numbers of ladies for me to date makes me laugh.

“I think we’ll be okay,” I say. “Lacrosse is starting, and I won’t have much time for anything, even dating.”

Nora shakes her head and tsks at me. “You’re only young once. Don’t get too caught up in life that you miss out on something great.”

I nod, knowing the sentiment is well-intentioned, but I don’t know if it applies to me right now. I’m only twenty-five and have only ever been married to my sport. The women I’ve been with didn’t like the laser-focus I have to getting better and staying in shape, which means I’ve never really had a long-term girlfriend.

“Maybe I’ll make a treat to take her. I can always use help taking it over, though.”

I nod. “I’m sure Burton would love to help with that.”

At just over six feet tall and with some muscle to round it out, I’m nowhere near as intimidating as my teammate Burton. He’s the tallest guy on the team and has me beat by at least thirty pounds. But when he’s with Nora, you’d think he was a giant teddy bear.

I clean up the pile of weeds and dump them in the bag she has next to her. Then I take it over to the outdoor garbage can and throw it away.

“Thank you for your help, Clark. I’ll have to make dinner to say thank you for all you boys do.”

I shake my head. “It’s good for us to help you.”

As much as I love Nora, I’m a little nervous that whatever she feeds us has either got freezer burn or is way past the normal expiration date.

I help her into the house and then head over to grab my bags from the porch. A sound causes me to turn, and I look over at the small house across the street. Am I curious about the renter?

Maybe, but I don’t have time to dwell on it.

If my mom was living here, she would’ve already picked up some kind of treat to go meet the new neighbor. Me, on the other hand? I’m just hoping there’s no drama.

I takea quick nap and then start prepping for the first day of practice. There’s a lot I’ve learned about how my body performs best, and a good stretch and warm-up are key. It’s when I get to the arena, almost in the locker room, that I glance up to see Coach waving me over.

“Hey, Coach Martin,” I say.

“Clark, it’s good to see you. Although, it sounds like things didn’t go so well in Chicago?”

I frown and look up at him, confused. “How do you know about that already?” I ask.

“We’re a small organization, Clark. Things get around fast.”

---