Page 25 of Third and Ten

“You were pretty busy back then. I’m sure you were too thirsty to notice who was supplying your water on the sidelines,” she says nonchalantly.

My brain short-circuits for a second, and I barely handle simultaneously freaking out about her using the word “thirsty” and subduing the urge to make a corny Waterboy reference.

“Maybe, but I definitely remember you.”

Okay, that was kind of smooth.

She doesn’t respond, but I think I catch her blushing again. We’re both quiet as I pull up to the only traffic light in town, and she picks up the rosary I keep in a cup holder as a reminder to say a decade or two on my way to work in the mornings.

“What’s been your favorite part about coming home?” I begin, startling her. She drops the beads as if she’s guilty of uncovering something personal. “Besides your family, what else did you miss while you were out in Texas?”

“Oh, that’s easy. The food.”

“Really?” I ask as the light changes.

“Absolutely. Authentic Mexican food is great, and there aren’t as many healthy choices out here, but I wholeheartedly missed stopping for boudin on a Saturday morning or being able to find good sausage and tasso for a gumbo when the weather changes.”

“And you like to cook, right?”

“I do. Unfortunately, that means I’ve also been eating entirely too much since I’ve been back,” she says with a smile.

“You’re making up for lost time. I’m sure a few good meals won’t hurt,” I return, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

“What about you? You spent some time away for football, right?”

I inhale deeply, pretending to think over my answer while I’m willing my heart rate to slow down. “I’d have to say, after the people and the food, I didn’t realize how much I liked hearing my last name pronounced correctly until it was gone.”

She laughs. “Yes, I forgot about that. It’s so refreshing to be a Roh-BANH again and not a RAH-ben. I can’t imagine how your name gets butchered.”

“I know the announcers had a hell of a time with it when I was still playing ball.”

“I bet,” she agrees. “Oh, yeah, and catching the right football games, of course. It’s nice to be back in range of the home team.”

My phone chimes before I can address her football reference, and my truck’s audio system announces that I have two new messages from Blake the Snake.

“Do you want me to read them?” asks the robotic voice.

“NO!” I yell back at the radio, making Tenley jump. “Sorry,” I mutter. “I just don’t trust my brother to be appropriate most of the time.”

She smiles warmly. “Siblings are like that.”

I remind myself not to complain about my brother since he’s literally all I have left, especially in front of Tenley. “I hope he’s been okay, you know, as your lawyer. Blake can be…well, Blake.”

I check my phone we reach the next stop sign. He’s texted the photo from earlier, along with instructions to forward it to Tenley so I’ll have an excuse to get her number. I suppress a grin at his antics.

“Don’t worry, he’s been a gentleman,” she replies, a smile playing at her lips. “But I already knew what to expect, so I haven’t exactly given him the chance to be anything else.”

I can’t help but chuckle out loud that time. “Good. He just sent that picture to me. Do you want to text it to yourself?”

“Sure, thanks.” She takes my phone and punches in her number, and I’m entirely too excited to hear a ding coming from her purse a second later. “To be honest, I doubt I’ll do anything with the photo. It seems a little cheap to brag about doing volunteer work just to make myself look good before the hearing,” she explains.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Blake’s advice, but I’m not really big on social media in general, and I’d prefer not to start making out-of-context posts now.”

“What if I posted it with a bunch of other pictures from today? I could just tag you and E so that it’ll show up on your profile, but it won’t look so staged.”

She considers my proposition. “Yeah, okay. That could work. Thank you.”

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