Page 133 of The Way We Win

“He’ll start there, and he can work his way up to being one of my deputies.” Garrett looks at Levi. “If you want. We can talk about it.”

“Sure…” Levi’s voice is hoarse. “Okay.”

“I’m done.” George flings his arm in the direction of his son. “You want to hate me? Just remember when you’re my age, I tried to give you something better.”

The man storms out of the restaurant leaving silence in his wake. Jack and I are still holding onto each other, and the entire room is stunned.

Lifting my chin, I look up at Jack. “Did I say yes?”

He exhales a grin, nodding as he pulls my head to his lips. Sadie has made her way through the crowd to stand beside Levi, and the team and Logan and Dylan close around them.

They’re going to be okay. It’s going to be hard, and I don’t know if they’ll make it. They’re two sparrows in a hurricane, but they have a village here. I’ve seen how the town rallies around its own in times of trouble.

I don’t know what the future holds, but they have as good a chance as any of us.

32

Jack

Christmas comes fast on the heels of the state championship game and all the fallout at the celebration event.

Our engagement was almost completely overshadowed by what happened with Levi and Sadie and his dad, although, to be fair, we were already old news.

I soon discovered everyone was waiting for me to pop the question and wondering why I was taking so long. I have to wonder the same thing every day now, especially with Allie slowly moving into our house.

On the nights when she joins us at bedtime, Kimmie requests Allie’s favorite children’s bookThe Eevil Weevilby Stephen Cosgrove. Allie has voices for all the parts, which delights my daughter to no end.

“Weevil,” Allie reads in a bossy little-bug voice, and Kimmie jumps in to say the next part with her. “Why are you soevil?”

Then they laugh and hug, and damn, it’s so fucking perfect. I never knew how much I wanted my daughter to have a mom in her life until now, and Allie is so good at it.

Austin sleeps at Allie’s house, although the twoof them stay over for Christmas Eve night. We huddle around the tree drinking spiced cider—or spiked eggnog for the adults—and watch old Christmas movies until Kimmie falls asleep on Austin, and I start to doze.

The next morning, when we exchange gifts, as I expected, Allie bursts into tears when her son unveils the bookcase he spent all semester making for her.

“You did this all by yourself?” Her teary voice cracks as she traces trembling fingers over the delicate stencils. “It’s beautiful!”

Austin smiles as if he’s embarrassed, and my chest tightens. Even if I know they’re happy tears, it still twists my stomach to see Allie cry.

Austin wasn’t as upset as I thought he’d be about the situation with Levi and Sadie. He was disappointed. He saw his mother’s point about using protection. But he seemed to be as angry with his friend as he was with his supposed girlfriend.

I met him cleaning out his locker and took a minute to check on him.

“She said she loved me, but she was horny.” He frowned, and I could hear the anger in his tone. “I just can’t believe Levi did me like that. He could’ve told me instead of making me look like a dumbass… Sorry, Coach.”

“It’s okay.” I sat on the bench beside him, resting my forearms on my thighs to mirror his posture. I thought about what my dad said to me all those years ago, when I didn’t understand how his friend could betray him. “Sometimes in life we trust the wrong people. Sometimes our friends let us down. The best thing you can do is dust yourself off, accept it was their choice, and move on. In the end it’s their loss, not yours.”

His lips pressed into a frown, and I didn’t know if I helped much.

I pulled him in for a side-hug, reminding him of the truth. “You’ve got a big life ahead of you. Try and focus on that and let these little distractions go.”

Football season is so intense, when it ends, it’s like the startof summer vacation. Only, it’s December, and we have five months left in the school year.

They pass quickly with the number of seniors we have this year. I spend the semester helping them meet with college scouts, giving them advice, talking to nervous parents.

Austin is heavily recruited, but he ultimately stays with his original decision to go to Tennessee. Allie is happy, and she even starts investigating places to stay when we go for visits.

The passing weeks also bring us closer to our wedding date in June. Having her here is so right, so seamless, I honestly don’t want to wait, but I know she’s savoring these final days with her son.

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