Page 2 of Summer Message

“I can’t be here knowing I can’t get on that field ever again. I’m nothing if I can’t be on the field. It’s where I belong. I’m a god there, and I don’t mean that I’m the best and people are beneath me.” I raise my voice.

Coach stands up and leans over me with one hand on the bed rail.“Now you listen to me.” He stares in my eyes. “You belong on that field either as a player or a coach. You are something even without football. You’re a man who dedicates his life to making sure others are happy, especially kids. Now you’ll stay in school, I’ll drive your ass to physical therapy, and I’ll find new housing for you since you can’t climb the stairs.”

“Coach, this ismylife and I need to decide what to do with it.” I turn away from him.

He grabs my chin so I’m staring at him. “This isn’t an option. Matt, you’re too talented and smart to sit at home on your ass moping about how wrong your life is.” Coach is making sense. “You’re thinking about your injury and how it ended your career, but you’re not looking to the future. Give it time. Don’t make any rash decisions right now. I’ll start working on things on my end, and you rest and heal up. It’s the only thing you need to do right now.” Coach sits back in his recliner.

He puts his feet up on the bed and grabs his phone from his pocket. He starts typing fast. I know what he’s doing. I roll my eyes as the pain meds start to make me sleepy.

He eyes me. “Sleep. I’ll be here for a while.”

What the hell am I going to do now? That’s the last thought before the meds kick in and I’m dreaming of football. In my dream, all of my wishes come true. I’m an NFL quarterback.

1

Kristina West

Present Day

“Oh my God. Jesus fucking Christ.” I yell out loud to myself as I toss the third frisbee from my gutter into the pile of garbage on the ground. I never knew that buying an old house could be so frustrating. I’ve been up on this ladder for five hours already, and I can finally see the end of the line.

“How’s it going up there?” I hear my mom’s voice coming from below. She’s standing on the porch with two glasses of lemonade in her hands. Mom and dad came up to bring my stuff which has been a huge helpful.

“I have enough frisbees to find a beach so I can throw them at hot guys and start my own harem.”

“Why don’t you save your looking for a harem until later? Get down here and drink this lemonade?” Mom chuckles.

The sweat pouring down my forehead is making my eyes sting. I sigh, finally giving up and taking a break. I know there’s about a foot to go, but I’m too frustrated. The roofer is coming tomorrow, so I need to get this done. I don’t want them to just toss everything into the garbage in case there’s buried treasure up here.

“You’ve been working since seven this morning. It’s lunchtime. I’m going to head to the diner to grab us something. Your dad is in the kitchen on the phone with your uncle.”

I step down off the ladder. Mom rolls her eyes as she hands me the lemonade. My dad and uncle run a hardware store together. Dad is there every day, while my uncle comes in when he feels like it. So when we would go on vacation, Dad was always on the phone because my uncle doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing.

“The roofer is coming tomorrow so I need to get the gutters done. I’m not sure if they need to be replaced or not.” I shrug as I take a drink. This lemonade is just what I needed. It’s so good. “There’s so much to do yet.”

I graduated college with my degree bachelor’s degree in behavioral science and am working online to get my master’s in education. I searched online for jobs for about two months before I found this job in a small-town Tennessee. It’s forty-five minutes south of Nashville.

When I got the job, I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to start my life. I walked the town to see what it was like. I love being so close to Nashville, as I’m a country music fanatic. I met with a realtor the next day to find me my house. She had some really cute ones to show me, but they just didn’t feel right. So, we decided to go back to the drawing board, as my grandpa used to say. I was walking through the town, enjoying an ice cream cone, when I saw a for sale sign on this porch.

The house is located just out of town with two acres of land which includes a little pond. It’s within walking distance to school and downtown, so I’ll be getting my exercise in.

I called the realtor up and told her I found the perfect home. She tried talking me out of this one, as no one has lived in it for years and it needs a good bit of work.

After a lot of haggling, the owner came down to a price that wouldn’t break my bank. I went home the next day and told Randi, my best friend and cousin, all about it, showing her the pictures. At first, she was nervous about how much work needed to be done, and that it was just me doing it. When she saw my excitement, she couldn’t contain herself. We started shopping for paint colors and decorative things. She got even more excited when I told her she has her own room in my four-bedroom farmhouse.

My mom clears her throat, bringing me from my thoughts.

I smile at her. “Sorry. I was thinking about when I bought this place a month ago. I’m lucky that I found it.”

“You are lucky. This house is a dream. Or could be. I’m afraid it’s going to be a money pit.” My mom always has a way of telling me things I don’t want to hear. She’s usually right.

“When you go to the diner, can you grab me a burger and fries? I want to keep working on the gutters. I should have it all done by the time you get back. Do you think I should power wash it now or wait?” When my mom is around, I tend to question myself more than usual.

“Power wash it now. God only knows when the last time those gutters were cleaned.” My mom mutters as she walks back into the house.

I laugh at her antics. I have the best parents in the world. I finish my lemonade.

“Let’s do this.” I try to pump myself up to finish this work.

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