Chapter 25
brUCE
Ismell Mama Louise coming before I see her, or rather, I smell the stacks of freshly cooked burgers she’s bringing on a big tray. “I’ve got hamburgers and cheeseburgers, or if you’d rather have a hot dog, line up with Katelyn.”
Once everyone’s settled with their burger or hot dog, a bag of chips, and a big plastic cup of Shay’s juice, we get down to the real reason for this campout.
“Guys, I want to tell you how proud I am of all your hard work. It’s only been a few weeks, but you have become a true team.
It hasn’t been easy, and I know there’ve been some hiccups.
But we’ve really come together, and I’m excited to see how the season goes because no matter what that scoreboard says, we’re already winners. We’re Wildcats.”
I’m channeling some of my great coaches over the years.
It feels both weird and completely natural to be on the other side of the pep talk now, the coach instead of the player, even if my brothers are looking at me like I’ve sprouted a second head on my right shoulder.
Or just become someone new, but maybe that part’s a little bit true.
I look at Brody and Bobby, telling them with my eyes to ‘shut the fuck up’. They look back, eyes virtually identical to mine, except theirs are laughing at me.
Allyson chimes in her agreement. “Thanks for welcoming me to the team as a coach. I might not know a lot about football.” She pauses as the kids chatter, some saying ‘it’s ok’ and some saying ‘no kidding’, and she laughs along with them good-naturedly, all drama forgotten from their issue before.
“But I know heart, and each of you have so much of that. Together, nothing can stop us. We’re going into the season as Wildcats, we’re going to play every game with our whole hearts as a team, and most of all, we’re going to have fun.
Let’s make those home runs!” She blinks innocently and then grins hugely as laughter bursts forth at the silly joke.
“Good one, Coach Allyson! You had us going for a second!” Johnathan says through laughter of his own. Cooper rolls his eyes but smiles too.
After everyone’s done with burgers, we get a bucket full of sticks and stab marshmallows on the ends as Brody stokes up the fire.
The flames lick up, orange and yellow brightness against the darkening sky.
Stars twinkle overhead and everyone is full and relaxed.
Sticky, messy faces covered in melted chocolate and ooey-gooey marshmallow are smiling, and I even see a few yawns.
It’s perfect, everything a team campout should be. Not that I’ve ever been on one before, but I can’t imagine anything better.
Looking around the circle, my eyes land on Allyson and Cooper. I can’t help but imagine nights like this out here with them, just the three of us cozied up after a football game. Like a family.
Bobby was right. Allyson is offering everything I ever dreamed of in one insta-family moment, but it doesn’t scare me.
Not in the least. In fact, I want it desperately.
That woman, that boy, this land. I feel like someone hit pause on my life years ago and the play button has finally been pushed so I can get on with what I should’ve been doing all along.
I’ve seen the way she’s been looking at me all day, hungry but also thoughtful.
The hamster in her head has been running himself ragged, even as she goofed off with the kids.
Those blue eyes of hers haven’t missed a thing, not the joy of the kids and not the happiness in my heart.
She sees it, she knows, and after what she said to Mama Louise, I know she feels it too.
It feels like possibility and hope. It feels like a future.
It’s one I want desperately and will fight tooth and nail to possess, just like Allyson. I will have her—her body, her heart, and her future. I won’t stop until she is so tangled up in me and I am so lost in her that there’s no way to have one without the other and we are simply one.
I move to sit beside Allyson, me and Cooper bookending our girl. He looks over at me, and I expect a friendly smile. Instead, he offers a me narrow-eyed look of examination. “My mom’s pretty awesome, yeah?”
His voice is flat, nothing how the sweet statement should sound.
I dip my chin in agreement as Allyson admonishes him in surprise. “Cooper! Be nice.” Even she heard the adversarial tone in her son’s voice which seems wholly at odds with the good time we’ve had today.
He looks down like he’s ashamed, but I see him swallow as he eyeballs my hand holding Allyson’s.
We did this at their kitchen table not too long ago, and then it’d been Allyson I thought was going to freak out.
Seems like it’s Cooper’s turn now. Guess he’s caught on to the seriousness of my feelings toward his mom, way beyond more than just dating, and is feeling a bit protective.
I like it. I lay my arm over Al’s shoulders and offer Cooper a handshake, looking him in the eye. “I couldn’t agree more. She’s the absolute best. You too.”
I must pass some test because he smiles easily after shaking my hand. It’s a good, firm shake just like we practiced on that first day of practice, which makes me proud.
The tension passes, and we all relax into each other. Cooper leans on Allyson and she leans on me, both of her guys holding one of her hands. With the parents and kids around us, it feels like our first official family outing.
A while later, when yawns have gotten more frequent and longer, we set up a big tarp with sleeping bags. We’d thought individual tents would be time-consuming, and honestly, part of the attraction of sleeping outside is the beauty of the sky above you, the night stars, and sunrise.
The kids fall asleep quickly, the parents taking a while longer even after the long day.
Way off in the distance, I hear the Gator’s engine and wonder who’s driving around this late at night.
I scan the group, seeing my brothers and the Bennett boys.
Their women went home for the night, Katelyn to sleep in her bed and Sophie to care for Cindy Lou, and Mama Louise said her old bones wouldn’t pull ground-sleeping duty anymore.
That leaves . . . Shayanne?
The engine dies still some way away, but when I listen closely, I can hear footsteps walking through the tall grass toward us.
Shayanne comes into view, a worried look on her face, which sets off my alarm bells. I raise my hand, waving it around so she can see me in the fading light of the fire. She comes over, squatting down to whisper, “Hey, I need you up in the barn for something. Come on.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask, hopping up. My brain roars with what could cause her to drag me out of here in the middle of the night.
Okay, it’s not even midnight, but still.
If there were an animal issue, she’d get Sophie, and for just about anything else, she’d get Brody or Mark.
I’m the big fucker she’d get if there were an intruder or if . . . the boys did something. Well, shit.
She doesn’t answer me. Instead, Shay leans forward, looking around me at Allyson. “You too.”
There’s definitely something wrong. Her brows are pulled together and her jaw is tight, but today’s been great as far as I’m aware, so I’m not sure what’s happened.
I do a quick headcount to make sure no one has snuck off to see Baaarbara again without supervision, but everyone’s present and accounted for and mostly snoring away.
“Oh, uh . . .okay?” Allyson looks at Cooper uncertainly.
From a few feet away, Michelle lifts her head to whisper, “Go ahead. I’ve got him, and Mike’s here as stand-in coach. We’re good. Go handle Shayanne’s barn emergency.” She hums quietly. “Would that make it a barnmergency?”
I blink in confusion and grab Allyson’s hand instead of figuring Michelle’s brain out. We walk back through the grass, fighting to keep up with Shayanne’s pace, and that’s saying something because one of my strides is roughly equal to two of hers. “Shay, what’s wrong?”
“Shh. Just come with me,” she whispers over her shoulder, never missing a step.
Once we reach the Gator, she climbs in the driver’s seat, still silent as a church mouse, which is making me antsy.
Shay ain’t quiet, ever. She’s mouthy as a rule, just like the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
The engine roar is loud as fuck in the quiet night, and I realize why she parked so far away. She would’ve woken up the whole camp if she’d come any closer. But she takes off into the dark with ease, knowing the land like the back of her hand and making a direct beeline for our barn.
“Goats okay?” I ask, and she cuts her eyes to me as she nibbles on her bottom lip.
Is she worried? Scared? Trying not to say something?
I’m not sure, which I don’t like. Shay’s not just an open book.
She usually shouts her thoughts and feelings from the nearest rooftop at rock concert levels. And yet, she’s giving me nothing.
She pulls up with the slightest slide on the dry grass and then looks at me, not moving. I’ve already got one leg out of the Gator, ready to run at whatever she needs me to handle. Her hand on my arm stops me. “Bruce?”
“Yeah?” I say, scanning the night and then visually checking in with Shay and Allyson in the back seat. Nothing seems amiss, which adds to my confusion.
“You’ve been real busy this week planning the campout for those kids.”
“Uh-huh,” I grunt as a semi-answer, getting out and standing so I can get a better view of the black land around us.
“I know you two ain’t had but a minute alone all week.”
I face Shayanne fully, turning and putting my hands on my hips. “You keeping tabs on me now?”