Page 87 of Run the Play
Corie rolls her eyes and hands me her phone for a second time. This time, I do read the headline. “‘True love or is it fate?’” I read out loud. “I don’t get it,” I tell her.
“Must I do everything?” she asks. “Look at the picture, not just at us, but our surroundings. See the girl sitting next to you?”
“Yeah. You were being a brat that day and wanted to sit by both Mom and Dad, so I took the end by Dad, and the girl.”
“Whatever, I was an angel,” she sasses. “Landry, this article says that the little girl is Rowan.”
“What?” I grab her phone for the third time and read the article. It talks about fate and how our relationship has been fated, even though we didn’t know it.
“Is that really her?” I ask Corie. I zoom in on the picture, and yeah, I can see my girl. This is her. That blonde hair and those big blue eyes are a dead giveaway now that I’m looking closer. In the picture, she’s smiling up at me as I give her a high-five. “Damn,” I mutter. “That’s her. That’s my Rowan.”
Corie laughs. “This reporter had to dig in the archives to find this image. Good detective work,” she praises.
“I can’t believe it’s her. That we met when we were kids. I know she grew up in Tennessee before moving to Michigan for college, thanks to a scholarship. Is the world really that small?”
“It really is. Now, let’s go get the ring, and you can go home and tell her.”
“I have one more stop to make.” My fingers fly over the keys of my phone, and I get a reply almost immediately. I can’t hide my grin as I glance up at my sister. “Let’s go get that ring.”
“What’s your other stop?” she asks.
“I have two, actually, but I know you’ll be a huge help with the second.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“You’ll see,” I say as I hold the jewelry store door open for her. The plan plays out clearly in my head, and I know this is it.
“Hey,” Rowan says as I walk into the living room. She’s sitting on the couch, a blanket over her lap, watching TV. “How was your afternoon with Corie?”
“Good.” I lean over and press my lips to hers. “How was your day?”
“Relaxing. I got caught up on a few shows, painted my nails, and just chilled. It was nice. I turned off my phone's notifications and didn’t touch it. It was an unplugged day that was very much needed.”
“I have something for you. Well, lots of things, actually, but this one is the first,” I say, handing her a small, wrapped box. Once I told my sister about my plan, she went all out in finding the perfect packaging.
“Landry, you don’t have to buy me gifts.”
I laugh. “Baby, I’m going to spoil you rotten for the rest of our lives. You better start getting used to it.”
“That’s not why I love you. That’s not why I’m with you.”
“I know that, Roe. I just want to spoil my girl.”
She smiles, her blue eyes sparkling with love and happiness. The ring I picked up is burning a hole in my pocket, but that’s okay. It won’t be there for long.
I watch as Rowan opens the box and pulls out the picture frame. “Oh my goodness. Where did you find this?” She turns to look at me. “This is me, Landry.”
“I know. Do you remember that day?” I ask.
“I do. I was young, but it’s a memory I’ll cherish forever. My social worker, Kathy, said that the children’s home I was living in was given free tickets for all the kids to attend a Rampage game. I was seven or eight at the time, and I didn’t know athing about football, but I was so excited to go. The boy who was sitting next to me was so nice to me, explaining things, and when the Rampage scored, he high-fived me. It was a happy day. They were few and far between, and this is one I’ll never forget. I can’t believe you found this.”
“I didn’t. A reporter did. They posted an article about it.”
“Really?” She scrunches up her nose. “I mean, I guess I could see the merit since I work for the Rampage now. When I left LA, Tennessee was calling to me. On a whim, from the memories of this very day, I applied to work for the Rampage. I thought it was a lost cause, but here I am.”
“Do you want to read the article?”
“Yes, please.” She takes one more glance at the picture, then sets it aside, accepting my cell phone.
