Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
L eslie
He slid his phone back into his pocket and cursed when Culver-Stockton scored a touchdown, eliminating their lead.
Leslie laughed. Randy may have been excitable, but he was a damn good coach.
Watching him grow this year had been a pleasant surprise.
Sure, he still pulled all of his goofy pranks, but he was laser-focused at practice and at games.
Leslie began to think about eventually handing over the reins.
Sandy had other goals, other things he wanted to accomplish including graduate school, but Randy loved football almost as much as Leslie did and he’d fully immersed himself in the sport and learning to coach.
Leslie’s body likely wouldn’t hold up to the pressure of college coaching forever, but if he imparted whatever wisdom he had to his younger brother over the next few seasons, he could make a graceful exit.
And focus on a life with Joe.
After the Wildcats scored their extra point, it was time for special teams to take the field and Sandy rallied them.
The Jackets’ kicker was a loan from the soccer team and the kid was amazing.
He’d routinely done both sports in high school and had earned a scholarship from Greenvale to do both.
When he jogged back over to the sidelines and began to do his cool down exercises, Leslie thought about his baby team, and then he thought about Joe.
Joe had done a tremendous job coaching the cheer team.
That halftime performance had been flawless, even with the injury.
Leslie’s heart had been full to bursting when he’d seen Joe’s reaction to the kids’ performance.
But Leslie knew Joe had been struggling with what taking this job meant for his dance career, especially after his recent injury.
Could he do both? What would that look like?
Leslie had been worried that Joe would want to leave Greenvale, but he saw how attached Joe had been to the kids, how excited he’d been about the dance degree program he was working on, and how much he’d fit right in with Leslie’s family.
It was hard not to get ahead of himself.
Joe and Agnes had become besties from the get-go and there’d been additional trips to the Goalpost with the twins.
Agnes loved having someone to try out vegetarian recipes for and someone to talk about dance with.
It had been a long time for her. She had girlfriends she took weekend excursions with, cruises, etc.
, but after her mother passed away, she hadn’t had as many tight connections to the Greenvale community.
She and Barry’s wife, Evelyn, worked on fundraisers for the college and special events, but Evelyn was shy around the rest of the Paytons.
Agnes and Joe had spent more than one Sunday doing yoga together, watching reality TV, and gossiping about celebrities they both knew while Leslie and the twins went over game films. Agnes even took Joe’s side in silly arguments.
It meant the world to Leslie that Joe fit so well with his family, and he wanted to broach the subject of making him a permanent member.
Leslie had asked Agnes how she’d feel about Joe moving in with them and she’d paused. “I love Joe. But does he know what that would mean? To you?”
Leslie still hadn’t talked to Joe about his long-term medical concerns.
He hadn’t had another migraine since the night Joe had taken such good care of him, perhaps because Joe had continued to offer his healing touch, spending late-night hours massaging Leslie’s head, hands, neck while they talked and laughed together.
Leslie had a CT scheduled for the upcoming week in Des Moines to determine whether or not there had been any changes, although diagnosis of CTE was difficult to determine premortem and the science was still new.
He’d told himself he would tell Joe just as soon as he’d talked to the doctor.
Agnes only looked sad when Leslie explained his plan.
“Coach,” Damontae approached. “Brandon wants to run something by you.”
Leslie waved his quarterback over. “What’s up?”
“Coach, Bryce’s family is all here and he didn’t say anything but I want him to get play time—”
“Send him in,” Leslie said.
“I know we’re down—”
When the kid started to explain himself, Leslie held up a hand. “No need. I get it. But you tell him he better play without distractions.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
The kid ran to grab his backup and Leslie turned his attention back to the game.
Sandy bumped his shoulder.
“What?”
“What happened to the playoffs? Bryce isn’t nearly as accurate.”
“Some things are more important than the playoffs. Did you know that Bryce lost his grandfather right before school started? He’s kept a positive attitude and is excelling in his classes, but he shared in conference last week that he really wished his grandfather could have seen him play college ball.
Some things are more important than winning.
It’s all about integrity and the I’s in team, right? ”
And sure enough, Bryce went in, played his heart out, and ended up throwing two completed passes and ran the ball to get the Jackets in scoring range before Leslie put his starter back in.
The team scored, putting them back on top with just a quarter to go.
Leslie felt a little floaty as the pressure mounted on his defense to keep the Wildcats from scoring, and when Brandon threw an interception that nearly resulted in another touchdown, he started to see some flickering in his peripheral vision.
He handed Sandy his tablet and walked away from the team a few steps, applying pressure to his hand in the places Joe had told him to and tried to focus on his breathing.
After a few short minutes, the aura was gone and he prayed that meant he dodged a bullet.
When he returned, Sandy handed him the tablet without turning.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“Good thing you have the weekend to decompress, it’s been a long week.”
“I’m going with Joe to the competition tomorrow.”
Sandy’s head spun around. “But Leslie—”
The Wildcats fumbled and the Jackets recovered, carrying the ball sixty yards, putting them in scoring distance again.
Leslie was proud of his players for their hustle.
With two minutes left, the Jackets scored again, the defense was able to hold the Wildcats off, and with that, Leslie’s baby team made the playoffs.
He’d achieved his first-year goal with his alma mater.
He’d lived up to the expectations his brother had asked of him when he took the job.
He thought back to his conversation with Malcolm Darling about the biography. Maybe Leslie’s story was more than being a washed-up quarterback. Maybe he wasn’t done making a difference. Maybe he did have time left to do some good.
The game ended and the team was elated. They ran out onto the field, hugged each other, hugged the cheerleaders, hugged family members who rushed out of the stands to help them celebrate. Leslie stood with his brothers and they smiled at each other.
“Feeling good, Brother Leslie?”
“Absolutely. Couldn’t have done it without you two.”
Randy and Sandy beamed at him and then joined in the celebration. Leslie shook hands with Damontae and dodged the Gatorade barrel, letting it hit Randy instead.
The Jackets hadn’t made it this far in the twenty-five years since he’d transferred to Cal to gain experience before being drafted to the NFL.
His father had insisted and he’d gone along with it, even though he’d loved playing for Greenvale.
The Jackets long-time coach retired a year later and since then they’d had a string of coaches who hadn’t quite been able to tap into the magic of the small, tight-knit community in Ayre Valley.
What would Rick Payton think of the player and coach Leslie had become?
How would he feel about the choices Leslie made in his career?
Leslie often wondered, and knew that he wouldn’t change a thing.
Rick had supported Leslie’s decision to come out; it had been one of the last things they’d agreed on before Rick’s condition deteriorated so much he could barely function as father and husband.
Barry found him in the throng of well-wishers and gave him a big hug.
“We did it, Brother Barry,” Leslie said as he hugged him tight.
“ You did it,” Barry said, pounding on his back. “You did exactly what you said you would and I’m damn glad for it. So is everyone else in this stadium tonight.”
“Well, our baby brothers did a lot to make this happen as well. Make sure to give credit where credit is due.”
“Speaking of,” Barry said, looking around. “The cheerleaders were phenomenal. Regardless of what happens at their competition tomorrow, Joe has more than lived up to your high praise.”
Leslie grinned. “He’s something, isn’t he?”
Barry’s smile faded. “You going to do something about it?”
“I intend to. As soon as we get through with the season, I plan to ask him to move in. Scandal or no scandal, Brother Barry, he and I are going to go public.”
Barry nodded. “I’ll support the two of you. Not sure how your teams will feel, but they’ll get over it. By the way, the board seems to be pleased with his preliminary proposal for the dance degree. They’re a little unsure about his lack of experience in academia, but I’m sure we can work on it.”
“Good, because I’m hoping it’s enough of an incentive.”
“You mean besides settling down with you. ”
Leslie smiled but it was pained. Because he was still unsure whether he could ever be enough for Joe to want to stay.