Page 18 of Small Town Sizzle

“Oh yeah? A little competition is good for you.”

“Yeah, for sure,” he chuckles. “At the first game of the season, Gran said the way Alex and I played reminded her of you and Dad on the field together.”

“Yeah, we weren’t on the field together much since your dad is two years older than me, but it was poetry in motion when we were. I mean, that’s what all the news articles said anyway.”

“That’s the age gap between me and Alex,” he laughs as though he just realized the similarity.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been at the football field or even at the high school.”

The last time I was there, I was wheeled off on a stretcher after Jared Doogan sacked me for talking to his girlfriend at a party the weekend before. That was the last concussion and hit I took before the doctor told me that I wouldn’t be able to play ever again.

I was so upset that I didn’t show up for my team for the last few games of the season like I should have. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about even returning to the football field.

“It’s probably changed a lot—the school, not so much,” he laughs.

“Not much ever changes in Hicks Creek,” I say offhandedly. I gesture toward the room. Do you guys come here a lot?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s amazing. Keeps us from having to leave town to find something to do. Gran was so proud of it. She and Maya, even Megan, would plan the craziest things for us to do on the weekends. During the summer, I don’t know how they didn’t run out of things to do, but they never did.”

“Crazy things like what?”

“Movie nights, but they built pretend cars, so it’s like we’re at the drive-in. Dog pageants, variety shows, plays, contests,and concerts. Oh, they would do game shows, too.Double Dare,Jeopardy,Family Feud…you name it, we’ve done it. Gran went wild with that stuff, especially the prizes.”

I chuckle and grin back at him. “I was having a hard time remembering the Constitution, and you know, we had to do the test on it in the eighth grade. Mom turned our living room into aJeopardystage.”

“Did you pass?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t as anxious about it anymore because she made it so fun.”

“She was so great about that,” he says as he smiles softly. “I’ve driven out to the wetlands every morning since she died, just so…just because that’s where I feel the closest to her. She’s all throughout this place, too.”

I smile back at him and squeeze his shoulder. “That’s really special. Did she take you out there?”

“Yeah, she loved to teach us about it. My biology teacher was out on maternity leave last year, and Gran filled in for her for the majority of it. She got a field trip together for us all to go out there and learn. It was a cool experience to see outside the microscope and books, you know?”

“She always did have a way of teaching outside of the box. Is that why there were so many kids at the service?”

“Yeah, between here and substitute teaching, she knew all the kids. She would cook breakfast for the football team on Saturday mornings. Everyone loved her.”

“She used to do that for us, too,” I tell him.

“That’s what Dad said,” Mason says.

I choke back the tears and try to force the lump in my throat away.

How did I not know these things about my mother? Have I been so removed from everything that my family really only toldme surface things? It’s like I don’t know anything about any of them.

Chapter Five

Garrett

The first few days have been a blur of early mornings, late nights, and the hum of power tools. The local family business, McAllister Construction, is a far cry from the polished, high-stakes projects I’m used to overseas. But there’s something grounding about it, too—about working with my hands, creating something tangible.

I’d spent the first day trying to make arrangements to have someone clean my house and remove most of my things from it so that the realtor could stage it. I’d also given the realtor a list of my requirements for the new home I was looking for.

“Hey, can you head over to the youth center and check things out?” Ethan asks me. “I need to be there, but I have a doctor’s appointment today.”

“What’s going on there?”

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