Page 42 of Old Fashioned
When the two-minute warning came at the end of the fourth quarter, coach huddled up our offense, speaking with a low, firm voice in the middle of the circle. I couldn’t hear what he said, but when the players ran back onto the field, I saw the fierce determination in their eyes.
We were down by three with the ball on our twenty-seven-yard line, and two minutes to score.
I didn’t breathe for those two minutes — not when we made a forty-yard pass in a third and eleven situation and not when our offense was a wall against their defense, trying to push the last few yards into the end zone with less than forty seconds left to play. But when we finally broke through and scored, I gave my burning lungs the oxygen they needed and screamed like a banshee, jumping up and down on the sideline.
I could hear Paige going wild behind me, too, and I found her in the stands, giving her an air high five. Randy was there next to her, but he didn’t seem in a celebratory mood. Instead, his eyes were hard on me, disapproving.
He didn’t like that I was happy.
Nothing could get under my skin at that moment, though — least of all him. And I blew a kiss at Paige just as our boys lined up for the extra point kick. It was good, and then we were up by four.
But the Serpents still had thirty-two seconds to play with.
It was the longest thirty seconds of my life, watching them make conversion after conversion, lining up quickly after each play to get the next one in before time ran out. They were on a mission to win in the last stretch, and our defense was on a mission to stop them.
When they snapped the ball with four seconds left to play, their quarterback launched it long, eyes on their best receiver who was just ten yards from their end zone.
But he didn’t catch the ball.
Boone Parson, our cornerback, did.
Every player on our sidelines jumped in the air when the interception happened, the stands going crazy behind us as we all rushed the field. The rest of the defense hoisted Parson up onto their shoulders, and he held the ball over his head in victory.
I was all smiles and laughs and cheers and a racing heart as I watched. Jordan remained calm until he shook hands with the other coach, and then, for the first time all game, emotion showed on his face. He thrust his fist into the air, joining in on the celebrations as the entire town of Stratford roared their approval.
We’d won four games in a row, and our first one at home.
The Stratford Wild Cats were on fire.
It was a high unlike any I’d ever known, winning a home game — especially one that close. The energy was still buzzing through me when my job was done in the training room and the players had all gone off to celebrate their win. The other coaches were still laughing and reminiscing over their favorite moments of the game when I rounded into Jordan’s office.
“Okay, I have a serious question,” I said, plopping down into the chair across from his.
He glanced up, smiling when he saw me as he kicked back in his chair. “I’m sorry, but I’m not signing autographs at this point in time.”
I stuck my tongue out.
“What’s up?” he asked, still smiling. I had a feeling that smile would be glued to his face all weekend.
“How the hell do you go tosleepafter a game like that?”
Jordan barked out a laugh.
“I’m serious,” I continued, shaking my head with my hands extended toward him. “I mean, my heart isstillpounding.”
“It was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Absolutely unreal,” I agreed. “Paige is staying with her dad tonight, and I just cannot imagine a scenario where I go home, make some tea, and go to bed. Like… I feel like I could run a freaking marathon right now.”
Jordan smiled as he took in my enthusiasm, but the longer he watched me, the more that smile fell. His eyes flicked back and forth between mine like he was warring with something, and he opened his mouth, shut it again, then finally spoke.
“Maybe you don’t go home then,” he suggested. “At least, not yet.”
“And where the hell should I go?” I asked on a laugh.
But when Jordan’s expression sobered, the storm swirling in his eyes, my own smile fell, too. There was a new energy in the room, one that had snuck in without me noticing, but now, it was all I could feel.
The air was hot.
