Page 13 of For the Love of Scott
“Next to him is his wife and my sister Rachel, and next to her is our sister Leah.”
“Y’all really do look that much alike, don’t you?”
“Scary, isn’t it?” says Dad with a mock shiver.
Leah squeezes past Dad and looks Scott up and down. “Oh, you’re hunky. Are you sure you’re gay?”
Scott laughs. A deep chortle that Ben wants to hear again. “Pretty sure, yeah.”
She shrugs and winks. “Just checkin’.”
Misty squirms into the crowd and pats Scott on the stomach. “Hi, Mr. Scott. You ‘member me, don’tcha?”
He kneels down. “How could I forget you, Misty? I hear you had a program on Friday. How’d it go?”
Misty beams. “We singed Christmas songs, and then Gamma and Papa and Ben and me had ice cream. Do ya like ice cream, Mr. Scott?”
“Sure do.”
“What’s your fav—”
“Misty,” says Leah, “come on, let’s get some dinner before these stinky boys eat it all up.”
Misty’s head swivels around and she bounds toward Leah. “’Kay.”
Ben meets Leah’s eyes and mouths, “Thank you.”
She winks.
“Scott, honey, get a plate and dish up. There’s plenty,” says Ma.
Twenty minutes later, everyone is seated in the den, and the familiar sounds of football announcers and screaming fans blare from the big screen.
Ben watches Scott and Dad eating and talking. They look to be getting along, and for that, he is imminently grateful, but how the hell has he ended up seated across the room from his ‘date’?
It’s not that he wants to cuddle or anything—okay, he does, but not in front of his family—not yet, anyway—but he would like to at least talk to his guest.
“Oh, c’mon, ref—are you kidding me?” shouts Ma. “Get your eyes checked.”
Scott glances at Ma and smiles.
Ma is the resident football aficionado and Monday nights in front of the Game of the Week are as good an excuse as any to get the family together. Not everyone makes it every week, but everyone has made it tonight.
“Tell me, Scott,” says Dad, “you a football fan?”
Scott glances at his plate and then at Ma with a speculative expression. “Do I get sent home if I say no?”
Dad throws back his head and laughs. Ben chuckles.
“Actually, I discovered hockey during my hospital stays and rehab.”
“Yeah, baby,” exclaims Tim, raising a fist. “Go Mounties.”
“You’ve got to be kidding?” quips Scott. “The Rotors all the way.”
“You know Noah Drinkwater is from here, don’t you?” asks Ben.
Scott’s eyes get large. “Wow. Really? Who’d have thought an NHL hockey player would come out of Ten Rigs, Texas?”
