Page 59 of Under the Lights
“Gretchen said she’d do it. It’s a big-ass trailer, but she’s been pulling it behind a truck since she was tall enough to see over the steering wheel out in the fields.” Jen picked up her pen and started doodling on a sheet of paper Kelly hoped wasn’t important. “I’ve been trying to estimate how many people will show up for the game.”
“At a token dollar per ticket for something to do on a Friday night, I think we’ll come close to filling the stands.”
“It’s going to be close.”
Kelly nodded, feeling a profound sense of relief. She had some savings, so all she needed was close. Beingreallyclose would be nice, since it wasn’t a huge savings, but she’d make an anonymous donation if she had to. “We’ll make it.”
“I believe you.” Jen looked at her, a slow smile lighting up her face. “I think we might have saved Eagles football.”
—
Chase pulled his phone out just enough to check the time without being too obvious. He was meeting Kelly for lunch, and this judging gig was taking forever. It had been Mrs. McDonnell’s idea to have the alumni guys judge the Eagles Fest decoration contest, because Kelly, Jen and Gretchen had already given so much of their time. And while it wasn’t possible to havenobias, the guys had mostly been away for long enough to mitigate the problem of judging one’s neighbors.
So they’d all gathered at the town square gazebo to go through photos of the entries in what should have been a quick process. Unfortunately, none of the other guys seemed to have a hot lunch date, so there was more socializing than judging.
The football team was there to help keep things organized. There were so many entries, just going through and trying to narrow it down to three favorites of multiple judges seemed unwieldy, so they’d judge the photos individually. Each judge would give it a number between one and ten, and then it was just a matter of math.
It should have taken an hour, tops.
“We keeping you from something?” Sam asked with a pointed glance toward the phone Chase was sliding back into his pocket.
“Nope.” Not yet, anyway.
“Oh, dude! This one’s awesome!” Cody held up a picture of a scarecrow dressed in jeans and an Eagles T-shirt, holding what appeared to be a trophy made of gold-painted soda cans.
Chase had to agree. The scarecrow was nothing special, but the trophy deserved some points.
It took a lot longer than he’d anticipated to choose the top three entrants, and then there was some dissention in ranking those in first through third order. But they finally got it settled and wrote out their final decision, which would be delivered to Jen. Local businesses like O’Rourke’s and the Stewart Mills House of Pizza had offered gift certificates as prizes, so she’d be handling the announcement and delivery of prizes.
Chase was going to make a run for it, but he saw Hunter packing up the cooler they’d brought. The kid was alone, so Chase took the opportunity to see how he was doing. He knew the other alumni felt much the same about the kids as he did—they were reminded of themselves as teenagers—and he’d seen their attitudes improve over the course of Eagles Fest. He hoped it continued.
“How are things going, kid?” Chase picked up a couple of empty soda cans to toss in the garbage.
Hunter shrugged one shoulder. “Pretty good. My dad’s had a couple of interviews, and one looks really good. He’s not drinking as much. And my mom found a program that helps her get a degree online. It’s still tight, but now everybody’s kinda... I don’t know.”
“Hopeful?”
“Yeah.” Hunter looked at him, nodding. “Like we’ll be okay. And my dad talked to me about football. Likereallytalked. We’re a small school and we’re not in a really competitive class so, even if we get to keep the team, I can’t count on a football scholarship. I can try for one, but no matter what, I need to get good grades. What if I screw up my knee or something? One bad fall and I could end up working for minimum wage because I pinned everything on football.”
Chase hadn’t known the kids long, but it stirred something inside him to see the change in Hunter from their first meeting until now, all because he’d realized people cared about him and his future. He wondered if it’s how Coach had felt back in the day, when he’d taken a group of boys who needed that and helped them be champions. More than that, he’d helped them see a future beyond what they’d been shown at home, and they were all better for it.
Maybe when things were rough, Hunter would find strength in the memory of Stewart Mills rallying around him and his teammates, the way Chase had found strength in everything Coach had taught him.
It would be tough to leave them all behind, he realized. Not just Kelly, thoughespeciallyKelly. Even with the tension between them, Chase loved being a part of Coach and Mrs. McDonnell’s lives again. And the kids. He’d seen them working to turn things around, and he wanted to know how they did. Not just the upcoming football season they all hoped would happen, but in life.
“I’ve gotta run,” Hunter said, hoisting the cooler. “My ride’s leaving. See you on the field.”
“Yeah. Have a good one.”
He watched the boy walk away and then shook his head. Once he left, he didn’t think he’d hear from Kelly again. She’d made it pretty clear she was looking for fun sex with a man there was no hope of a future with.
Maybe he’d keep in touch with Decker, he thought. Deck would know what was happening with the football team, and Cheryl would probably know what was going on in their personal lives.
He wouldn’t ask them about Kelly, though. As hard as he suspected it was going to be, once he left Stewart Mills, he had to let her go.
16
Kelly knew her day was about to take a turn for the worse when she walked into the station and saw Edna Beecher and Selectman Judy Faring talking to the chief. And since they were gathered in front of her desk, there was no way she could avoid being seen.
