17. The Minstrel’s Prayer
17
THE MINSTREL’S PRAYER
CARTEL
“Alright, y’all. Almost there.” Blaire’s camera hung from a strap around her neck as she waved her hands from side to side, aligning the entire flag football team over and over until she’d positioned them just right. “Ryan, you should be on the side right there, with a face that means business.”
Ginny turned to her immediate left and caught Ryan as he contorted his face at Blaire before returning it to normal. Ginny elbowed his belly but giggled as she warned, “Don’t you make this harder by irritatin’ her, Coach. We’ve already been standin’ here forever.”
“I don’t know whatever you could mean, Remillard. I just wasn’t sure what business face she was wantin’, that’s all.” He nudged Ginny back, just lightly enough so as not to garner attention from Blaire. “You did well at practice last night. I think we’re actually gonna win this thing.”
“Of course I did. I’m a Remillard.” She winked.
Ryan leaned closer. “I’ve seen Georgia throw a football. Bein’ a Remillard has nothing to do with it, Gin.” When he smirked at her, a piece of his wavy hair falling over his forehead, Ginny had to turn away to regain composure.
“Guess what socks I’m wearin’ today…” he whispered, his breath causing a flutter of sensation down her spine.
“Footballs?”
“Wrong.” Ryan chuckled in her ear and started quietly chanting, “Quack. Quack. Quack.”
She held back a delighted grin, still continuing to look as if Blaire shuffling their small team into the perfect formation was far more fascinating than the completely innocent, but private conversation she was having with their coach. “Ducks? You have duck socks? Could you be more adorable?”
“Irresistible, right?”
“Like Chloe said, Hot Gordon Bombay, for sure.” She flitted her eyelashes at him as dramatically as she could muster, and winked again. “I love ducks.”
“Me, too,” Ryan said, holding her gaze with his tilted smile.
Over the past week, something had shifted in Ginny’s friendship with Ryan. They’d spent nearly every day together. At first, things hadn’t been purposeful. Yes, she’d kept him company on Saturday night when she hadn’t shown up as Mood Music. And, yes, she still felt terrible for keeping such a huge secret from him. But Ryan had seemed to bounce back. They’d had fun together eating corn dogs, drinking frozen hot chocolates, and asking folks at the festival about the puppy. The puppy they’d been arguing over about names ever since.
On Sunday, Ryan filled in for James again on the worship team. And when Ginny had arrived early after leaving her apology for Melody Man at the record store, Ryan had offered to show her how to play a few chords on the guitar. He’d insisted that she showed promise and suggested they meet for coffee the next day after work for another lesson.
Do you want another lesson learning to play guitar with the man you’ve not so secretly been crushing on for years and have VERY secretly been swapping notes with for over a month?
Again, yes. Please.
Ginny had received Melody Man’s response on her Monday morning visit to For the Record, but just as he’d said, there’d been no more letters. And Ginny had checked. Daily. She prayed his lack of correspondence meant Ryan really and truly did forgive her—Mood Music. But she struggled over whether she had made the right choice. And if Ryan learned the truth, would that forgiveness look the same? This very sentiment she relayed to all her sisters over group text Monday night after her second guitar lesson with Ryan,who’d worn his glasses and a green, threadbare tee shirt that matched his eyes—for goodness’ sakes. Ginny knew she couldn’t carry her secret alone any longer.
Ginny: Something happened.
Georgia Snow: Gonna need more information, Gin.
Carolina Honey: Oh my gosh, did you kiss Ryan again?
Sadie Girl: Where have you been, Virginia?! I’ve been trying to reach you since Sunday!
Ginny: I know! I’m sorry!
Carolina Honey: Don’t leave us in suspense. Those must’ve been some glitter bombs.
Georgia Snow: You actually sent the glitter bombs? I thought we were gonna flamingo his yard?
Ginny: No. It wasn’t the glitter bomb… yet
Sadie Girl: What happened?
Ginny: Melody Man is Ryan
Sadie Girl: No Way!
Ginny: I told ya it wasn’t Danger.
Sadie Girl: And I told you Melody Man was hot!
Ginny: You were right. He’s a smoke show.
Ginny: Now help.
Carolina Honey: Wait, who is Melody Man?
Sadie Girl: Ryan!
Georgia Snow: I DON’T UNDERSTAND!
Ginny: I’ve sort of been exchanging secret letters with a musical penpal at a record store I go to sometimes… everyday… in Honey Hill. I didn’t know who it was, but we became friends and decided to meet.
Sadie Girl: They were secretly swooning… is what she meant to say.
Ginny: Thanks so much, Sadie.
Sadie Girl: You bet. Continue…
Carolina Honey: Sadie, you knew?
Ginny: Yes, she knew! And, I’m so sorry, but please help me! I need you to focus.
Georgia Snow: What’s the problem?
Georgia Snow: Ryan, who you have big, GIANT “L” word feelings for is your secret, swoony pen pal?
Sadie Girl: What did he say? How did he react?
Ginny: I didn’t tell him…
Ginny: I showed up, saw it was Ryan, and spazzed.
Ginny: Puppies were involved and it was very hot outside.
Ginny: I wasn’t thinking clearly.
Ginny: It all happened so fast.
Ginny: He’d JUST told me he can’t trust his feelings for me, so why would he trust his feelings for me as Mood Music.
Carolina Honey: Oh Ginny… that’s a REAL Amy March in the First Act move.
Georgia Snow: Ouch. What she said.
Georgia Snow: Wait. Who’s Mood Music?
Sadie Girl: Ginny is Mood Music
Carolina Honey: But you’re gonna tell him?
Ginny: I don’t think I should…
Ginny: Guys, I’m freaking out.
Ginny: We led worship together yesterday and I feel like I’m being eaten alive by guilt. Like, I know what I did was wrong. I KNOW that.
Ginny: But then we played guitar and walked the dog…
Sadie Girl: Whose dog?
Ginny: Ryan and I found a dog and are kind of splitting her.
Ginny: It’s like a joint custody arrangement.
Ginny: That Ryan hasn’t really agreed too… anyways…
Ginny: Keep up.
Carolina Honey: I wanna meet the puppy!
Georgia Snow: Me too!
Sadie Girl: Focus, Lovetts!
Sadie Girl: Gin, you obviously have to tell him the truth.
Ginny: But what if telling him really hurts him?
Sadie Girl: Hurts Ryan or hurts you?
Carolina Honey: Ouch. What she said.
Georgia Snow: You know what you need to do, Gin.
Georgia Snow: Whether it hurts you or Ryan or both… not telling him the truth is wrong. That isn’t who you are and it isn’t who God calls you to be.
Carolina Honey: Especially if your little You’ve Got Mail love affair is genuine.
Georgia Snow: YES! TOTALLY You’ve Got Mail vibes
Ginny: I’m scared.
Ginny: We had the best time this weekend and then again today. What if… What if it still isn’t enough. What if I’m not enough. Like… me being me really is the problem.
Carolina Honey: You, Virginia Maple Remillard, are a creative, kind, loving, wild flower of a woman. You are who God says you are. That’s all that matters.
Georgia Snow: What she said.
Georgia Snow: I love you, Gin and I love your heart. But you need to make sure you’re seeking out the Lord with that big, beautiful heart, before everything and anyone else. God created you exactly as He intended… and forgive me, but it wasn’t for Ryan’s benefit at all. It’s to bring HIM glory and no one else.
Carolina Honey: If Ryan can’t reconcile his obviously real feelings with you and with you as Mood Music, he probably isn’t the one for you, Gin.
Sadie Girl: And what THEY said…
Sadie Girl: We’re all on your team, Virginia Maple.
Georgia Snow: Big fans!
Carolina Honey: Huuuuge.
Ginny: Thank you, guys.
Ginny: I’m going to really pray about how to tell him.
Ginny: I’m really nervous
Sadie Girl: And we are praying for you, Gin. Always.
After talking to her sisters, Ginny had prayed for clarity and a heart to follow God's will for her life and not her own. The same prayer she’d prayed for Ryan when she knew him as Melody Man. And then, she’d stayed up all night and used her unspent nervous energy to bake Mrs. Edwina’s buttermilk biscuits, her mama’s pistachio scones, and her favorite oatmeal raisin cookies—the latter of which Ginny delivered to the school on Tuesday for Ryan, Danger, and Caroline. Ryan split his turkey sandwich and chips with her when Caroline and Danger—cookies in hand—made less than subtle excuses for why they couldn’t stick around to eat lunch. He then invited her to walk the puppy with him after work that day… and every day after.
No life altering lip-locking or hand-holding had happened, and surprisingly, Ginny felt more at peace. Like the more time they spent together, the more relaxed she felt about the situation. She’d continued to be faithful to the Voice that had told her to wait, but she knew waiting to confess to Ryan had nothing to do with showing him all the ways his friendship meant something more to her. And that maybe she really could tell Ryan the truth without him rejecting her again.
However, she was content in the steady rhythm they’d created. She had Ryan’s friendship. His laughter. His opinion on the music played overhead at Good Start when they bumped into each other. And his affectionate annoyance when Ginny insisted he name the puppy Dolly or Mariah, or to his absolute horror, Taylor. She prayed over the best course to take but had yet to commit to an option. And the longer she waited, the more the guilt laid heavy on her heart.
Ginny blinked, realizing she and Ryan had been having a super exclusive staring contest while the crowd around them had gone quiet.
“Y’all finished doin’ whatever it is you’re doin’ over there? ‘Cause some of us are heavily knocked up and ready to get off of our swollen feet,” Blaire said pointedly, shaking the camera between her perfectly manicured fingers.
“I say let ‘em keep at it!” Mrs. Woodhouse yelled through the megaphone on the sidelines. “Thangs were just startin’ to get interestin’. Virginia has fire in her eyes… at least I think she does. It’s hard to see from all the way out here.” The megaphone beeped as Mrs. Woodhouse released the button but then screeched when she brought it back to her mouth. “Can ya hear anythang they’re whisperin’ about, Clyde? Get the deets.”
Mr. Woodhouse merely shook his head, but the others erupted into laughter.
“Did Mrs. Woodhouse just ask for deets?” Chloe giggled, covering her mouth and glancing at Ryan and Ginny with interest. “ Are there deets?”
“Yeah, Gin,” Georgia said with far too much wisdom. “It’s always great to get all the deets.”
Caroline echoed the sentiment, sounding an awful lot like the Colonel. “Sharing the true deets is never the wrong choice.”
“Why do y’all keep sayin’ deets so much?” Lake asked and booped his wife on the nose. “You’re weirder than usual, Peaches.”
“Nah,” she responded, wrapping her arms around Lake and snuggling in. “Virginia gets it. Right, Gin?”
Ginny did not give her sisters the satisfaction of a response but felt that same niggle of guilt trickle in. She smiled wide for Blaire when she finally had them set perfectly for the team photo but didn’t turn back to face Ryan again. Instead, she psyched herself for the game she was about to win.
They did not win.
Ginny thought they’d have a fighting chance given the fact that half their crew were her competitive siblings and friends, and the other half had just graduated from Sugartree and were still in their spry, prime years. The only others being the two elderly men who were more focused on the attention they were receiving from their wives off the field than on.
But from the moment the coin tossed in the air, mayhem ensued. Mr. Emmerson threw out his back when he hollered “heads” as the honorary team captain. The coin landed on tails, and Mrs. Emmerson, who wore her husband’s graduation photo printed on a purple blouse, marched on the field, pointing her fingers and nagging him all the way back to the sidelines where he promptly sat on the bench and did not get up again.
This incident led to a small, but notable smack-talk war of words between Mrs. Woodhouse and Mrs. Emmerson, where they compared the strength of their husbands based on the number of times they’d had cataract surgery, hip or knee replacements, corn removal or, Ginny’s personal favorite, a clinical diagnosis of halitosis.
When Chloe had leaned in close to Ginny to ask what exactly halitosis was, and the others had been consumed with laughing, they’d missed the snap and nearly gave the high schoolers a touchdown in the first play. Ginny made up for it in the first play on offense with a perfect spiral to Lakeland for a touchdown pass—and that extra point for having a female QB. But it didn’t matter much when the other team answered in kind with an immediate touchdown following the play and a touchdown following a fumble from Mr. Woodhouse, who’d briefly run in the wrong direction the single time his hands touched the ball.
And even losing, Ginny couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.
Ryan had presented the entire team with knee-high, printed, duck socks for the occasion, and it had been a sight to see their group wearing something so ridiculous—and definitively not the Sugartree mascot—for the game.
Win or lose. No one could take away the total bliss Ginny felt when Ryan presented her with duck socks and leaned in close to say, “Irresistible.”
“Ducks?” she’d asked.
“No. Not ducks,” he’d softly replied before handing out another pair to Georgia.
Georgia accepted her socks, hugged her friend, and then sent a glare Ginny’s way that said, Tell him the truth… louder than any spoken words from her sister could say.
Ginny decided that night, she would.
So they played. They laughed. And they lost, soundly. But Ginny was ready to confess to Ryan and, hopefully, have the chance to maintain their friendship.
“Hey team,” Ryan said, putting his arms around Chloe and Mr. Emmerson, who were on his direct left and right. “Y’all played hard tonight.”
He looked around the circle, offering a sympathetic smile to his sweaty, beaten comrades. “I couldn’t have asked for better players or for you to have done anything differently. Let’s give a round of applause for our Georgia who put this whole thing together.”
Lake dipped Georgia and kissed her soundly while the rest of them hollered and cheered.
Ryan continued, “And to our two oldest alumni, Mr. Woodhouse and Mr. Emmerson.”
The group cheered and hugged both elderly men who, quite sweetly, had tears in their eyes. Ginny made a mental note to deliver cookies to them later in the week.
“And, I want to give a special shout out to our QB who did a phenomenal job gettin’ the ball to her receivers and earnin’ those extra points we definitely needed.”
The group chuckled and turned to Ginny, congratulating her on a job well done.
Ryan disengaged from the group and picked up the football at his feet that they’d used for the game. One of two balls Georgia had made for the alumni game, they were printed on the side with the Bicentennial design Ginny had created, a purple armadillo, and Sugartree Armadillos Bicentennial Game . The other ball would be placed in the time capsule to commemorate their first annual flag football game.
“Ginny, I was wrong about you from the get go, and I’m sorry. You were amazing out there, and you were definitely the woman I… sorry… the woman we needed all along.”
Georgia snickered and cleared her throat.
But Ryan held out the ball with a blush flushing his neck and cheeks, and offered it to Ginny. “I’d like to present you with the game ball.”
Ginny bit her lip, hiding back her pleasure and hearing the words, you were the woman I needed, in a steady cadence running through her head over all the noise surrounding her. Freudian slip? She didn’t care. Ginny would definitely be writing a song about it later.
“Thanks, Coach,” she said, accepting the football and giving Ryan a chaste, but lingering hug. “But I’m not a woman… I’m a duck!” Without warning, she clotheslined Ryan around his waist and tackled him to the ground.