28. Joey
Clara and I were gripping each other”s hands with excitement as we watched the town of Wilcox turn out en masse to support keeping John on the team. Hearing the cheers and shouts, and seeing his teammates and fans step up for the man I loved made me irrationally happy.
”If this doesn”t do it, Rhino has a heart of stone,” Clara told me as we rode back to the parking lot at the arena through the dissipating crowd on Main Street.
”He doesn”t,” Sly put in. ”He”s a businessman, sure—maybe the trade made good financial sense, but part of business is keeping tabs on your image. And trading a hometown favorite? Not a good look.”
”Have you mentioned anything to him?” I asked. ”I know it must be a hard spot for you to be in—kinda in the middle?”
”Nah. I”m still a player first. He doesn”t put much stock in what I tell him. But I definitely voiced my opinion on this one. And suggested he clear up his schedule to attend this parade tonight.”
Clara peered around at the scattered faces outside. ”Oh, yeah. Was he there?”
”I don”t know what the guy looks like,” I said, feeling unhelpful.
”He was there. I saw him over by the podium toward the end,” Sly said. ”He looked a little miffed while Slater talked.”
”Oh well,” I sang, glee doing a little jig inside me. I couldn”t wait to see John, to take in his shock and surprise.
I didn”t have to wait long. He was standing in the center of the parking lot as we pulled in, his strong arms crossed over his chest as he watched Sly navigate the truck into a spot. I slid out and skipped over to him. ”Oh my gosh,” I gushed. ”That was incredible.”
His expression was hard to read. He looked almost...angry? ”I don”t even know what to say,” he said. ”That was bizarre.”
”But good, right?” I needed to touch him, and I reached out and laid a hand over his forearm, feeling him relax under my fingers.
”I guess? Really unexpected.”
I nodded, bouncing on my toes. ”Think it”ll work?” I asked.
”Joey,” he said, watching my face intently. ”Did you have anything to do with all this?”
I glanced around innocently. ”What, this?”
”Yeah,” he said, his full lips stretching into a little smile. ”This.” He tugged me up against his chest.
”I don”t know what you mean,” I said, batting my lashes up at him.
”Did you call my dad?” he asked.
”I might have had a chat with your brother...”
”And the mayor?”
”Don”t be silly. I just moved here. I don”t know the mayor personally.” I smiled up at him, still playing innocent.
”But Clara does.”
”She might,” I admitted.
”I can”t believe you did this,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. ”For me.”
”For you,” I agreed. ”I think I”d do anything for you, Sammy. You don”t know that by now?”
John”s smile lit the entire parking lot, lifting everything inside me and draping it with radiance and sunshine.
”There you are.” Mr. Samuels had a booming voice with an edge of sandpaper. It had frightened me a bit in high school, and it hadn”t softened with age.
”Dad, hi.” John released me and turned to greet his father. ”Teej!”
John”s brother stepped forward and pulled him into a huge hug. ”Hey squeak. Hi Joey. Good to see you again.” TJ leaned in and kissed my cheek.
”Thanks for coming,” I told them both.
”It was quite a turnout,” TJ said. ”This town”s got your back, baby bro.”
John stood speechless, looking between his father, his brother, and me with a mystified expression on his face. I was about to suggest we go out for a bite or something, partially to relieve the awkward tension that had settled around us, but there was no need. Half the team descended on John, manhandling him with awkward man hugs and socking him on the shoulders.
”There”s the golden boy,” Rock declared. ”Oh hey, you”ve got a better-looking twin.”
”Meet my brother TJ,” John said to the noisy group. ”And my dad, Earl.”
”You all must be pretty impressed with this guy,” Sly suggested to them both.
”We are,” TJ said.
Mr. Samuels was wide eyed and silent, regarding the group of enormous, noisy men with what looked like suspicion and awe mixed up in a questionable cocktail.
”Anyone up for a little visit to Paddy”s?” Corny asked the group. ”Celebrate the very likely reality that we”re keeping our goalie?”
”Might be premature,” John said. ”I don”t want to jinx anything.”
”So superstitious,” Rock told him, tousling his hair. ”Come on, a couple beers with your boys and your old man won”t change anything.”
”Let”s do that,” Earl said, coming out of his catatonic state. ”Son, let”s go have a beer.”
John just nodded back at everyone, and took my hand, as if for security. I gave his warm fingers a squeeze, and then turned to TJ and Earl. ”We can all fit in John”s truck.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were all around the pool table in the back of Paddy”s, and I sat at a little high-top table with John, TJ, and Mr. Samuels, whose eyes kept finding the ring on my finger and resting there. He didn”t say anything, and I wasn”t sure it was my place to mention it, so I just stayed close to John and followed his lead.
It was clear how uncomfortable things were between John and his dad, but TJ was a good buffer, talking to each of them and pretending not to notice that they barely spoke to each other.
”So, when will the wedding be?” TJ asked us.
John and I exchanged a look. ”We were waiting to see how this trade panned out,” John said after a moment.
”Ah, yeah. Makes sense,” TJ said.
”But what about you?” I asked him. ”You”re engaged, aren”t you?”
TJ grinned widely, and the look was so happy my heart melted a little for how clearly he loved his fiancée. ”Yeah,” he said. ”Next summer.”
”No rush when it”s real,” Mr. Samuels shot out, sounding grumpy despite the beer in front of him.
”Right,” I agreed. ”And will you get married back in Peach Tree Grove?” I asked. I wondered if they”d have the reception at the General E. Lee. Or use the same caterer I”d booked.
”Tabitha is from Atlanta,” TJ said. ”So she”s got her heart set on a wedding there.”
”Of course,” I said.
”And you guys? Will you come home for the wedding?” TJ asked us.
John and I exchanged a look. We hadn”t discussed any of this yet. The engagement wasn”t fake after all—but in some ways it still didn”t feel quite real.
”We haven”t gotten to the details yet,” John said.
”Sir,” I said to Mr. Samuels, my heart stuttering when he turned cold eyes upon me. I swallowed, steeling my spine. ”I just wanted to say thank you. I know this was the boys” mother”s ring, and I know that makes it really special. It means more than anything to me that John proposed with it, and it”s really the most beautiful thing I could ever have imagined.” I paused, swallowing again. ”But I wanted to tell you that I”m happy to give it back to you if it”s too hard. Seeing it. On me, I mean.”
Mr. Samuels stared at the ring on my hand, glinting merrily beneath the dim overhead lights in the bar. For a long moment his eyes stuck there, and I felt John tense at my side. But then Mr. Samuels reached a hand out to me, and I dropped the hand with the ring into his, feeling the weathered skin of his palm as he looked up to meet my gaze. His eyes were shining and his expression had softened.
”I think Marianne”s ring looks beautiful on you, Josephine. And I think she would be pleased to know you are wearing it.”
I smiled at him, my skin warming at the thought that John”s mother would be happy to see me wearing her ring. I turned to glance at John, but his eyes were on the tabletop, and my attention was pulled back to Mr. Samuels as he said something else, in a much quieter voice.
”You know, she was so excited about having a second kid. And the last thing she said to me, when she held little John there in her arms, was that she”d be looking after him from beyond.” He sniffed, and I felt tears building in my throat as I reached for John”s thigh under the table at my side.
Mr. Samuels went on. ”Sometimes I think she might be disappointed with me, actually. I was the one who was here, and I didn”t do such a good job looking after him.”
John was quiet, and I knew why. Mr. Samuels hadn”t been a great father. He hadn”t been a good one, either. But it was hard to look at the man at my side, so full of pain and regret, and hold onto anger.
”You were grieving, Dad.” John said it quietly.
”Doesn”t make it right.” Mr. Samuels picked up his beer and finished it. Then he looked between his boys and said, ”I”m just glad you boys stayed close.” And then he stood and headed off to the bar.
It was almost as if a shroud had been lifted from our table and now the party going on around us picked up volume again.
”Well,” TJ said, laughing uncomfortably.
”Yeah,” John said.
”That was a long time coming, I guess,” TJ said.
John shrugged, took a drink and then said, ”Actually never thought I”d hear that. It wasn”t a ”sorry,” of course...”
”Close enough?” TJ asked.
John sighed. ”Yeah.” His tone was tired, as if it would be easier to just dismiss the topic than argue for the words he really deserved. ”Hang on,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking at it. ”It”s Shotz,” he told me, standing and moving away from the table to answer the call.
”His agent,” I told TJ.
Rock Stevens had been standing nearby and he turned when I said this. ”Shotz called?”
”He”s talking to him right now,” I told him.
Rock alerted a few of the other guys, and by the time John returned to the table, the team was assembled and waiting, staring at him.
”Well?” Sly asked him.
John”s face broke into a wide smile, and he let out a light laugh, shaking his head. ”I can”t really believe it, but that little parade did the trick. I”m staying!”
The entire bar erupted in shouts and cheers, and as I glanced toward the bar, where Mr. Samuels sat with his beer, watching, he raised his glass toward the celebration around his younger son.
”Sammy!” I shouted, throwing myself into John”s arms when his teammates had finished congratulating him. ”I”m so happy!”
”Me too,” he said, nuzzling his mouth down against my neck. ”God, I thought I was gonna lose you.”
”You going to Seattle would not have meant you losing me,” I told him, pressing myself against him and feeling my blood heat. ”I”d never let you get away.”
”Well this makes everything much easier,” he said, pulling back and then dropping his mouth to mine.
He kissed me sweet and soft, his hands on my waist pulling me close, and I sighed into his mouth, not even realizing just how worried I”d really been. He was staying here. We were staying together.
”Marry me,” he whispered in my ear.
”I already said yes,” I reminded him with a giggle.
”I know, but let”s not wait. Let”s get married now.”
”Now?” I stepped back, needing to see his expression, which was earnest and sweet. ”Like tonight?”
”Not tonight, but... tomorrow?”
My mind spun. I wanted to, but my parents would certainly have simultaneous heart attacks. ”What if we get married twice?” I asked him quietly.
”Not following.”
”Once just for us. And once for everyone else.”
He grinned. ”I like it.” He kissed me again, and then got tugged away to the bar for a round of shots with the team to celebrate. I watched him with his teammates, his friends, my body so full of warmth and happiness I didn”t want the moment to end.
”He loves you,” TJ said, leaning over my shoulder. ”He always has.”
I turned around and hugged TJ, mostly to expel a tiny bit of the energy that was building inside me, making me feel like I”d burst. ”It”s mutual,” I told him. ”And it always has been.”