Page 24 of Well Played

“I’m not sure. They were recommended to me, and I just called and made the appointment.”

“I thought Coach was going to fix it,” my son chimed in. “Didn’t Travis’s mom say Coach Brick has a pipe he wants to give you?”

My eyes flared wide. I’d been chewing a piece of chicken and started to cough.

Levi’s eyes narrowed. He looked between Alex and me. “The coach wants to give you his…pipe?”

I pointed to my throat as my face reddened. “Swallowed wrong.”

Levi seemed to lose interest in his food as he waited for me to explain. I washed my chicken down with a glass of water, glad I at least had a reason for my red face.

“I don’t think that’s quite what Travis’s mom said, Alex.”

My son was oblivious to the innuendo. He shrugged and kept on eating.

“Coach Brick is a general contractor,” I explained. “He offered to give me some referrals for the contractors we need.”

Levi studied my face. “Uh-huh.”

“He also gave me an air conditioning company to try. Did you see the estimate that the first company gave us?”

“Yup. It’ll drain almost the entire operating account, and we won’t see a dime more if we wind up selling the place since the buyer plans to tear it down.”

“We’re selling The Palm Inn?” Alex asked. “It’s going to get torn down?”

I hadn’t explained that as a possibility. “We’re still trying to figure that out, honey.”

Alex shoveled mashed potatoes into his mouth. “I like it here.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full of food. But I like it here, too.”

Alex looked over at his uncle. “Do you not like it here, Uncle Levi?”

“Of course I do. It’s just that…sometimes as adults we have to make decisions that aren’t always based on what we like.”

“What are they made on then?”

“Well, lots of things. Money and time, for example. A place like this takes a lot of both to keep running.”

“So you don’t make a lot of money playing football?”

I sat back and enjoyed my son’s impromptu inquisition.

“I do, buddy. But—”

Alex frowned. “Oh, I get it. You’re too busy. You’re going to go back to being a cruncle, aren’t you?”

Levi looked to me for help. When all he got was a grin, he rolled his eyes.

“How did we get from the pipes to me being a crappy uncle so fast?”

I chuckled. “I’m not sure, but I’m glad we did.”

Levi shook his head. “Why don’t we talk about neither? What plays do they have you running at football camp?”

For the rest of dinner, the boys talked football. I was impressed at how much my son had learned already. He’d memorized most of the plays and was able to describe them to Levi using the right terminology. Just as we were finishing, one of Alex’s friends knocked at the door and asked him to ride bikes.

“Can I, Mom?”

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