11
SADIE HARDLY SAW James after that evening. He’d helped her lock up and said goodnight, a tender brush of his lips on her injured hand before he left. They hadn’t spoken about the kiss, and they hadn’t had a chance to since. He dropped off Maddie on Thursday to work on the books, but that was the most they’d seen each other.
It was finally Friday night. Excitement bubbled up in Sadie as she parked her truck in the high school parking lot and made her way with the crowd toward the football field. The Friday night lights glimmered in the dusky sky, a beacon announcing that the Homecoming game would begin soon.
She said hello to Ned in the ticket booth before she bought her ticket and entered the stadium. Climbing the steps to where she and Charlie had agreed to meet, she tucked her hands into her heavy coat, grateful she’d worn it, along with a scarf and beanie. She could already see her breath in the cold night air as she found Charlie who waved her over, a saved spot on the bleachers beside her.
“You made it just in time,” Charlie shouted over the noise of the pep band as well as the crowd.
“I did. I always forget how long parking can take.” Sadie hugged her friend then reached to hug Davis who was on Charlie’s other side.
“It’s the biggest night in Nearlake, I think,” Davis said with a grin as they all sat down.
“I’m not sure what that says about us,” Charlie teased.
“That we have school spirit and pride,” Sadie offered with a smile.
“Nearlake most certainly has that,” Davis said.
Sadie smiled at her friends. Davis had blond hair cut short, blue eyes, and a bright smile. He was tall and had played basketball in high school. Charlie had been an athlete as well, playing volleyball and softball. The only reason Charlie and Sadie had become friends was that Charlie was also a bigtime reader and had spent almost as much time in the library as Sadie had.
“Let’s go, Huskies!” Davis shouted through hands cupped around his mouth.
The team made their way onto the field, the crowd erupting with applause as the players ran through a line made by the cheerleaders and students that went from the locker room tunnel out to almost the fifty-yard line. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but the band got even louder as they stood to play the school’s fight song. The crowd sang along, each student and alumni knowing every word.
As they settled back into their seats, Sadie caught sight of James on the sidelines with the players. Dressed in jeans and a jacket with the team logo on the front, he was talking to a group of boys. Two of them had their helmets on, the others with theirs dangling from their hands by the face mask. James was smiling, saying something to them that Sadie could see got them to relax a bit. She imagined that Homecoming in Nearlake might feel like a college game to these kids, the pressure to win as palpable as the noise.
Maddie had mentioned to Sadie that her dad helped out with the team. Not an official coach, he just offered to help during practice and give encouragement during games.
Seeing him on the field caused memories to stir in Sadie’s mind. Memories tamped down over time. Ones of her sitting in those very same grandstands, cheering on the Huskies, James being a prominent reason for their victories.
But Sadie was no fool. She was far from the only girl who’d had a crush on him then. She probably wasn’t the only woman in Nearlake interested in him now. But just like any other girl who dreamed of being his girlfriend, as soon as he’d hugged Tiffany when the games were over, the fantasy died.
The memories played in her mind as if on an old movie screen that was faded and worn, the details now lost to time. However, the details of James holding Sadie close in the dark beneath her store, his lips against hers, his hand cradling her face, were crystal clear.
Part of her wanted to ask him why he’d kissed her. Another part of her simply wanted to let things be. Maybe he’d only kissed her because he was caught up in the moment, adrenaline spurring the action. And yet, he’d sat and held her hand after they’d come out of the passageway until they both calmed down, the gentle kiss he placed on her injured hand just as romantic as the kiss on her lips. Maybe more so.
She looked down at her hand. It hadn’t been a deep cut, a band-aid was plenty to keep it clean as it healed. The skin on her hands was getting red from the cold so she took gloves from her pocket and put them on.
Charlie looked over as she did so. “What happened to your hand?”
Sadie mentally winced, not wanting to go into detail with Charlie just yet about the passageway or cellar. Or James.
“Just cut myself at work. No biggie.”
Charlie made a sympathetic noise and turned her attention back to the game. It wasn’t unusual for Sadie to have a bump here or bruise there from her job. Moving furniture and large items was a daily occurrence.
She was just grateful her friend didn’t press her for more information.
The crowd stood and cheered as the Huskies received the kickoff. The game was underway. Sadie settled into the familiar setting, her best friend beside her, the evening filled with positive energy her mind could focus on rather than the worries that weighed her down when she allowed herself too much time to think. As the game progressed, she chatted with Charlie when it wasn’t too loud, but also she spent a lot of time watching James on the sidelines. He clapped for guys coming off the field, patting them on the helmet and giving them what Sadie knew were words of encouragement.
“Looks like someone’s caught your attention, there, Sades.”
Sadie turned at the sound of the nickname. The only person who ever called her that was, “ Anne! ”
She looked up to see the friend she hadn’t seen in too many years.
“You know you two are the only ones I let call me that,” Anne said, pointing to Sadie and Charlie.
The three women squealed then grabbed one another in a group hug. With all the commotion around them over the game, no one noticed. Well, Davis noticed. He simply chuckled at them then went back to watching the game.
“You’re here! I cannot believe it, but you’re actually here!” Charlie said as they all sat down, Anne on one side, Charlie on the other with Sadie in the middle. The row of people was accommodating and scooched down to make room.
“In the flesh.” Anne held up her hands.
“Wait, what do you mean only we can call you Anne?” Sadie asked. “That’s your name.”
“You know her name is Annabell but don’t you remember an email a few months ago saying she’s going by Annabella?” Charlie said, adding a flair to her tone when she said the name.
Sadie did remember that when they were young most people called her Anniebell. She also remembered Anne getting to a point where she hated that. Said it sounded too country for her taste. Sadie wasn’t sure what was so wrong with country, but looking at her friend she could see the way she dressed and carried herself was much more Annabella than Anniebell. Her auburn hair flowed down her back in perfect waves. Her hat was a fur-lined snow beanie, the fur matching the cuffs of her long wool coat. Tall black leather boots fit perfectly over her legging-clad legs. The diamond on her left hand had a similar glare as the lights above and was almost as big. Other than the playful glimmer in her blue eyes, the Anne Sadie remembered was a shadow hidden behind the person who sat beside her now.
“I’m right here, Charlie. You don’t have to remind me what my name is,” Anne teased.
Charlie reached across Sadie and swatted Anne’s arm. “What are you doing here?”
Anne waved a hand across the crowd. “What do you mean? It’s Homecoming.”
Sadie and Charlie both stared at her.
“Okay, okay. I don’t normally come home for Homecoming,” Anne conceded.
“You never come home for Homecoming,” Sadie said, the joy over having her friend right next to her still mixing with the shock that… her friend was sitting right next to her.
Anne simply shrugged.
“No matter what the reason, we’re glad you’re here,” Charlie said.
“Agreed.” Sadie smiled.
The three women looked toward the field as the buzzer went off, signaling the end of the first half.
“Yay! It’s halftime.” Charlie said, clapping. “I love seeing what the kids do with the floats each year.”
Sadie found James again, this time with his arm around a kid whose shoulders were slumped, his eyes looking at the ground.
“Looks like I was right,” Anne said to Sadie. “Someone has caught your attention.”
Sadie shook her head, not wanting to engage in that conversation with Anne during the game.
As the teams began to walk to the locker rooms, the announcer said over the loud speaker, “And let’s give a round of applause to our own hometown superstar, James Larsen!”
The crowd erupted into applause as Sadie watched James. While only moments before he’d been focused on lifting the young player’s spirits, his face now looked strained. He gave a smile and a slight wave to the crowd but then made his way closer to the sideline and out of the spotlight. It wasn’t hard to see that James wasn’t a guy who loved the limelight, but there was something more to his struggle to embrace that moment, and Sadie wanted to know what it was.
“Excuse me. I’ll be back in a minute,” Sadie said as she stood and stepped past Anne.
She heard a faint, “See. Told you I was right,” as she walked away.
She shook her head and smiled, knowing she’d have to face Anne’s questions about James at some point, but she pushed that to the back of her mind as she went to look for him.
Making her way down the bleachers and along the field level, she scanned the crowd. Not seeing him, she realized he may have joined the team in the locker room. Taking one last look around, she spotted him walking around behind the grandstands, his hands in his pockets and his head down.
She followed, finding him all alone, leaning his back against a wall behind the bleachers.
“Hey, you.” She walked up beside him and copied his stance, the two of them looking out through a tall chain link fence into the parking lot.
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She nodded but said nothing.
They stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. If he needed to talk, he would. Sadie just wanted to be near him. Let him know he wasn’t alone. The announcer’s voice echoed in the night as he introduced the first float of the evening done by the freshman class.
James ran a hand through his hair and pushed away from the wall. He turned and faced Sadie. “I know I should be grateful. I’ve always had such strong support from this community. But…” He kicked the dirt with the toe of his boot.
Sadie waited for him to continue.
“But they don’t know the truth.”
“And what is the truth?”
He shook his head. “I’m not the superstar they think I am. I’m not the Golden Boy with the perfect life, the perfect career the way they imagine.”
“None of us has anything perfect,” Sadie offered with a shrug.
He looked down at the ground. “It’s just not the whole story.”
“I don’t know the whole story, James. But I think it’s pretty easy to know you.”
His eyes met hers.
“This town celebrates your accomplishments as a football player, yes,” she continued. “And it’s okay to soak that in. You had a great career.”
He looked away then back at her again, his frown carrying the weight of whatever was bothering him.
“But I don’t think anyone expects you to be a perfect person with a perfect life.”
He took a deep breath in and let it out. “It sure feels that way sometimes.”
She pushed away from the wall and stepped over to him, taking his hands in hers. “I’m sure there have been people in your life who wanted to be in your life because of your success. But there are plenty of people who want to be in your life because of the person you are. The man you are.”
His lips formed a small smile at that, but it didn’t last. “Like I said, there’s more to the story.”
“I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”
“You are. But I gotta be honest, talking isn’t what I want to do right now.” He let go of her hands and cupped her face in his.
The music and noise of the night faded into the background as he placed his lips on hers. The first time in the passageway, there’d been an urgency to his kiss, almost a need for him to be as close to her as possible to know she was okay. This time, it was a slow, searing intensity between them that warmed her all the way to her toes. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her body sinking into his as if she were made to be there.
Sadie lost all track of time or rational thought, her mind only able to focus on being held by James, as if there was no one else in the entire world she was meant to kiss but him.
When he pulled away and placed his forehead to hers, they were both breathless.
“It’s official. I definitely love to do that more than talk,” James said.
Sadie laughed, her breath a cloud in the cold air.
The announcer came over the loudspeaker to announce the presentation of the float for the sophomore class.
James smiled down at Sadie, her face still cradled in his hands. “As much as I hate to say it—and I mean really hate to say it—I need to go.” He kissed her forehead. “Maggie will kill me if I don’t see the float she helped work on all week.”
Sadie nodded. “I understand.”
James stepped back, taking her hands in his. “Thank you for coming to find me.”
“You’re welcome. I’m here any time you ever want to…talk.”
He laughed at that then kissed her gloved hands and then her cheek. “A very tempting offer, Sadie. I hope you mean it.”
Oh, she meant it. If she wasn’t falling for James Larsen before, she certainly was now.
“I mean it.”
“Good.” With that, he took her hand and walked her back to the stadium, the two of them parting ways as he headed to the field and she into the stands.