“I don’t know,” I said. Rosie was one of those friends who could always tell me when I was being an idiot or acting too stubborn for my own good. That was what a real friend did for you. They could tell you straight up when you were just being wrong.
And right then, I knew I was being wrong, but I felt powerless to get myself out of it and start doing the right thing. Chance would have been so happy if I told him about the baby. I really thought he would have. But there was also the question of whether his happiness might have interfered with his concentration on the field.
“Then what is the problem?” Rosie asked me.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “When I first met Chance, he told me that his single vision was to play football. He wanted to do that more than anything and he was determined to make this dream, this goal happen one way or another. And then I came into the picture. And I’ve been a distraction to him. Our relationship, our love is real, but it has been very ill timed. All of this happened to both of us at the worst possible moment of our lives to have this. Right from the start that has made me feel that somehow this is really wrong, like we aren’t really supposed to be together. I’m afraid that one day Chance will realize that this is not what he wants in his life right now.”
Rosie sighed. “Well, that is some craziness. I’ve seen love before. I think I might have even been in love once before, but I’ve never seen the love between two people grow faster or stronger in my life. What you two have is real; it is not going anywhere. And the sooner you get over yourself or this weird crisis that you’ve got going on, the better things will be for you. Stop worrying so much. Just be free with it.”
I let Rosie’s words sink in. She was definitely wise beyond her years sometimes. And I knew she was right. But I could not let this idea of mine go. After the game Saturday. That was the time. Not until then.
No matter what anyone said, I would wait until the perfect time. And everything seemed to point to Saturday.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chance
This was one of the most important games of the season. If we won this game, our team would be going to the Fiesta Bowl. And the pro scouts were going to be in attendance, or at least that was the word. They’d been watching me closely for a few years, but now that I was the head quarterback and I’d had a chance to shine all season, they were scouting me because they knew that I was ready. I wasn’t sure if any of the other guys on my time were that good, but there were several top contenders who would not have blown my mind to see them get contracts, not at all.
The coach gave us the pep talk before the game and basically told us to play our hearts out. This was a big one for us and we would achieve glory that was unprecedented if we managed to pull off the upset against his Penn State team.
I kissed Jamie that morning before I left for the field. She was coming later with her friends and of course she was working at the game, taking notes and compiling some interview statements afterwards for her articles. The team had become a lot more open minded to talking with her after seeing her fantastic work in the paper.
The moment the kickoff went live our two teams collided against each other with the kind of fury that you typically only saw in the movies. We were tough and so were they. Both teams wanted this so badly, but only one would get to be declared the winners of this contest, this war. That’s what it felt like. It was like being in the middle of a war zone.
The first quarter went scoreless. Neither team even got into field goal range. It was like we were involved in some sort of a dead lock. We were both evenly matched. This game was going to come down to just who had more guts and wanted to win the most.
And I was fairly certain that nobody on that field wanted to win more than I did. I had to win and I had to play well. But every time tried to pass the ball, all of my guys were swamped by defenders. There were no gaps in the armor of the other team. They were an impenetrable force field.
But so were we.
The second quarter went down like much of the first. We would run the ball and they would stop us, and then they would run the ball and we would stop them. Back and forth it went this way until the last minute of the half.
One of their running backs broke free and ran the ball within field goal range. And then the unthinkable happened when they kicked a forty yard field goal and it was good. We went into the half being down by three points in a scoreless game until a minute ago. That was hard to deal with. I knew we could turn it around, but it was going to be so hard. It was going to take all of us working together and believing that we could do it. There would be no other ways. The team could not count on me to win for them, or any of the other star players that we had.
This was going to be the most important half of football for any of us in our lives possibly until that point.
We headed out on the field prepared to do anything and everything that it would take to win the game. My heart, my mind was with Jamie the entire time. What was she thinking? How was she feeling? She would have been just as nervous and upset as I was. She loved this sport so much, and she loved me. Putting both of those things together and that would stir the emotions up within her.
I had to stay calm and focused. There would be no room for error in this game. There could be no place for excuses, or any reflections on the past and saying that I should have done this, or I should have done that. No. This was it. And we would leave it all on the field. Blood, sweat, and tears. All of our hopes and dreams were tied up in the next two quarters.
The third quarter ended up scoreless. We came close a few times, but no dice. Our coach was going insane on the sidelines yelling and screaming at us for things that we weren’t even doing wrong and couldn’t have helped at all. The guy knew nothing about this game. He was a loser. He should have been let go a long time ago.
The score stayed three to zip until the last minutes of the fourth quarter. Then the most amazing thing finally happened.
I took the snap on a third down play. I dropped back to pass. I looked left, and I looked right. No one was open. It had been the same for the whole game. I could have waited and searched for my man, but suddenly there was no time. A tackle was coming to my right. I was about to get creamed.
I dropped below the tackle and the man fell over me and landed hard on the ground. I didn’t wait for anyone else. I was running as fast as I could. My ankle was still crying out from the pain and the swelling, the turmoil it had been through. I ignored it. This had to be done. There was no room for pain here.
I had an opening. By some miracle a gap had opened up in front of me. I pushed my legs harder and faster, driving my feet into the field beneath them and propelling my body through the gap and out ahead of the herd as I headed for the end zone that was fifty yards away. It was a long ways to run, especially with an injured foot. But I had long legs and swift feet. Plus the adrenaline was pumping up through me as I ran.
No one was visible to the left or right of me. I could hear the crowd going nuts as I grew closer and closer to the goal line. I wanted to quit; I wanted desperately to give up, but I would have rather died right there than think of ever stopping.
And then I was in. The goal line had been cleared. I’d made the touchdown. We were ahead by three with the last minute of the game ticking down.
I dropped to my knees and screamed up towards the sky. I felt like a Viking warrior out on the battlefield. I couldn’t even hear the crowd anymore or my teammates who had reached me and were hugging me and trying to lift me up to the skies over their heads. I was in my own little world.
And through all of it, all I could think about was Jamie. This meant nothing if she was not in my arms to celebrate it. Nothing in my life meant anything without her. I wanted to grab her in my arms and never let her go. She had to know that no matter what, I was hers for always. I couldn’t wait to get out of that uniform, take a good shower, and go home to my sweet angel.
That was the only place I ever wanted to be.
That was the biggest victory of all.
Epilogue
Jamie
Six Months Later
“This is the life,” I said as I relaxed back against the lounge chair. The sun had finally settled down behind the horizon and the temperatures had cooled off about ten degrees so that the air with the soft breeze was now perfection. I could smell sausages grilling on the large grill just a few feet away, and I could safely tell that I would be consuming several of them in the next few minutes into my belly. Yes, life was good.
I felt the baby kick right then and I rubbed my stomach softly. “Yes, you smell that food, too.”
Chance smiled as he sat down beside me and applied another coat of suntan lotion to his chest. I loved to see him getting all greased up. Wow, he was amazing looking. And it just seemed like he constantly became more fit. He had been training hard getting ready for the first game of the season in a few months, but he was having a great time doing it.
That was the most important thing.
What a whirlwind the past six months had been. Chance and his team won the game against Penn State which sent them to the Fiesta Bowl with Colorado. They also won this game to become the top team in college football.
And after the Fiesta bowl the scouts officially offered Chance the NFL contract. He had signed on to play for the Los Angeles Rams. This meant we got to live in L. A. Our house was just outside of Hollywood. And I did see celebrities here and there since we moved out there. They were for the most part just normal, easy going people and I didn’t even feel the urge to run after them to talk to them or get autographs any more. The first few times I had let myself flip out over seeing some famous people in random places like the gas station, or the grocery store, I embarrassed Chance by running over to them and asking for an autograph like some crazy person. But I was getting better with it.
And now we were on our honeymoon, on the island of Jamaica. This would be the last time we would get to vacation before Chance started to practice extensively and then the season would be upon us. Chance had never been happier. His relationship with his father had even improved, but I liked to think that I had a little bit of something to do with that.
I’d insisted that his father come to the wedding. Chance had tried to fight me on this, but in the end I won out. Afterwards we had some amazing sex, so I think that might have softened his mind to the idea as well.
His father was very proud of Chance for actually making his dream come true. He even admitted that he never thought it was practical or that it would actually become a reality, but he was totally wrong. He wished him well and he hoped that somehow this would bring them both closer together and they could start over. Chance’s father really seemed to like me, for whatever reason. I was happy to help mend those fences between the two. I knew that deep down Chance wanted that as well.
As for the baby, I told Chance all about the pregnancy the night after the Penn State game. I’ll never forget that we were home celebrating and he poured me a glass of wine.
“That’s ok,” I said. “I shouldn’t be drinking.”
Chance looked at me a bit odd. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I went to the doctor the other day,” I said.
He was instantly alarmed. “What’s wrong? What is it?”
“It’s ok. I’m not sick. I’m pregnant.”
Chance paused a moment and looked into my eyes as if he thought I was putting him on. But he quickly saw that I was serious.
“You’re going to have a baby?” Chance asked. “Wow… oh… wow!”
He scooped me up in his arms and kissed me hard on the mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me? How long have you known?”
“I’ve known about four days.”
“You waited that long to tell me? Why?”
“I didn’t want to cloud your mind with anything before the game.”
“Cloud my mind? Ah… wow… I can’t believe you kept that a secret… but… I’m going to be a father? Really? This is actually happening?”
I laughed. “Yes. It is.”
Chance hugged me tightly. “You know I guess great minds think alike.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“Well, I had something that I’ve been keeping a secret as well. But tonight sounds like the perfect time to do this. I need you to close your eyes.”
“What? Just tell me.”
“Eyes closed. Play along.”
I did as he instructed and closed my eyes. A few moments later I felt him take my hand.
“Jamie Nicole Adams, will you make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife?”
I opened my eyes just then to see the most beautiful ring I had ever laid eyes on staring back at me. I couldn’t breathe. For several seconds I tried to mouth the words, but my mouth would not cooperate with me.
“Yes!” I finally managed to squeal. I was full of so many different kinds of emotion just then.
Chance scooped me up and hugged me once again and then he placed the ring slowly on my finger. It was gorgeous. A perfect fit.
And six months later we were married with a baby about to arrive in six weeks. The time had flown by.
As for my own career I had transferred to the journalism program at UCLA and I was the head editor there. A spot had opened up and Alicia had sent some sweet words along for me. The leaving editor was an old friend of hers. So, everything had worked out perfectly.
As I sat there poolside at the resort we were staying in with the food on the way, and the love of my life by my side, I could not help but feel that I had done something right on this earth to get this lucky. I think it was just the fact that I was willing to take the risks and go with the flow to see what might lay in wait for me. Chance had done this as well.
There was too little time to waste on things you couldn’t change and on being afraid of the things you could change.
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Author’s Note
Thank you to all my readers, especially those who are reading my work for the first time. It is my privilege to have you by my side and I am glad and thankful that you all chose to spend a day or two reading my book.
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XO, K. M. Bishop
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