Page 4 of The Interception
“Sarah Beth, it’s not that important.” I wave it off, already prioritizing everything else that needs to be done this week.
She huffs and puts both hands on her hips. “Ender, it’s important to me. I want to cheer for my brother, okay? I need the distraction after months of bad news and turns I never anticipated. Will you please take the competition seriously for me?”
I run my hand through my hair and let her words sink in. If winning the competition will bring her some much-needed joy, then I’ll do my best. Still, I’m not sure how I’ll manage to juggle everything on my plate. The Timberwolves have to prove themselves this year, or the owners, the Dawson brothers, might pull the plug on our team. Of course, winning the cooking competition again might bring some much-needed attention back to the team. Attention and fans we lost, thanks to a crummy season last year.
“Ender.” Sarah Beth sounds like our mom, which means there really is no way out of this. I’m going to have to figure out how to manage everything, including planning some spectacular and innovative recipes to ensure another win.
“All right, all right. After practice, we’ll sit down and do some brainstorming. I’ll have to see what the theme is this year, but yeah. I’ll do it.”
“You don’t even know the theme? Ender, it startstomorrow.”With a huff, she throws her hands in the air and gets back to cleaning. Meanwhile, I’m left trying to figure out how she canconvince me to do something so easily. Then again, she always was the mother hen of the family, especially after we lost Mom.
“Go, Ender. Dad is going to call and check in on us later, and I don’t want to tell him you not only mightlosethe competition because, as usual, you failed to plan anything, but also that you got axed from his favorite football team because you were late for practice.”
“Actually, Leo is picking me up so you two can have the truck today. You said you had errands to run, and it’s cheaper to borrow mine than to call for a car.”
“You sure you’ll let me drive the beast? Last time you acted like the thing was your child.” She smirks at me and settles on the sofa beside Lula, still engrossed in her princess show. She snuggles up to her mother and my heart aches all over again. They deserve to have Asher in their lives, loving them and protecting them far better than I ever could. The protecting part at least. I love them with my whole heart and can’t imagine my life without either of them. I can only thank God they weren’t in the car when the accident happened.
“I’m positive.” Thunderous knocking on the door startles her. “Good gosh, tell him to leave the door on the hinges.” Sarah Beth chuckles and shakes her head, but her death grip on her child hurts my heart. She’s been extra protective of Lula lately, which makes a lot of sense after losing Asher. Knowing I can never make her feel as safe as her husband did kicks me in the gut every time I think about it.
I pull open the door and let Leo step into the foyer. “Hey man, how’s it going?” His gaze shifts from me to Sarah Beth, who is equally as interested in Lula’s television show. He then follows the trails of glitter and cereal to the kitchen and raises an eyebrow.
I pull on my hat. “It’s going. Ready?”
“Yep. Hope you’re ready to suffer in this humidity. It’s already a swamp out there.” Leo glances at my sister again just as she turns and makes eye contact.
“Hi, Leo,” she says and waves. There is no way she remembers that she’s wearing her hole-filled back-up robe, that her hair is a hot mess, and she hasn’t brushed her teeth yet. Or maybe she knows and doesn’t care as much as she used to. Either way, she seems to have made Leo’s day. He smiles and nods her way.
“Morning, Sarah Beth. Morning, Lula.”
Lula waves over her head but her focus stays on the show. The child is a savage when it comes to making a person feel completely irrelevant, but she makes up for it with her sweet cheek kisses and snuggles.
“We should head out.” I nudge Leo, who waves and steps out on the porch. Leo ruffles his black hair and motions inside the house. “Is sheactuallydoing as well as her perky and sweet hello implies?”
I shrug and follow him down the walkway to his car. “I think she’s trying, but things keep coming up that make everything worse. Some days are better than others.”
Leo nods and unlocks the car. He knew Asher, not nearly as well as I did, of course, but he knew him well enough to miss him, too. Between my father and my brother-in-law, the Charleston Timberwolves never had a dull moment in the stands. Once, they both got the whole stadium dancing and doing the wave after every touchdown.
I can’t believe we’ve been without him for three months.
Fortunately, the conversation between us shifts from my family tragedy to his latest surprise. “You’ll never believe what I got yesterday.”
“If you say another car, I will not be surprised. Where are you going to put it?” My gaze drifts from out the window to him. He merely chuckles and shakes his head.
“I did not get another car. I found a stray dog on the side of the road, and my friend, she is pregnant as the day is long. I don’t know what I’m going to do when she has those puppies, but for now I have a new dog.”
Oh no. I know exactly where one of those puppies is going to end up, especially if Lula has any say in the matter. And she does. I’ll give my niece anything she wants, even a fluffy ball of frustration that will no doubt chew everything I own and use my living room as a bathroom. Best to know what I’m getting into before it even begins, so the next logical question comes to mind.
“What breed is it?”
“She’s smallish, maybe forty pounds. Who knows what the father was. Does that mean I got you on the hook for a puppy for Lula?” Leo turns and grins at me.
“You like setting me up, don’t you?”
“It’s not my fault you’re easy to convince.” He chuckles and looks back to the road.
We’re almost at the practice field and already Coach is outside shouting orders at the few people who dared arrive earlier than our scheduled practice time. Marshall and Sanderson are running drills while he bears down on them, screaming bloody murder.
“This is going to be a great day,” Leo says with a groan and pulls into a space.
