Yeah, the defense held the Niners to a field goal in the second half, and the offense scored thirty-five points, but it wasn’t enough, leaving them with one must-win game left in the regular season.
Zach’s dream of a ring slipped further out of reach, not just a Super Bowl ring, but a wedding ring.
CHAPTER 27
Game on the Line
Kelsie gripped the steering wheel of her car. Zach Murphy wasn’t getting out of this relationship so easily. Not without a fight. She believed in him, and he needed to quit sulking and get over himself.
It was Christmas Eve. Damn it. They were still husband and wife, and she was spending Christmas Eve with her husband. They’d agreed they’d stay together until the season ended. This Kelsie kept her promises, and she was going to fight for her man.
She’d cleared out the rest of the decorations over the past week. She couldn’t leave the mess for Zach. Knowing him, he’d live in that big rambling house for years never bothering to take down anything. Plus, she knew just the place to put them to good use.
She’d boxed up everything and distributed it to various charities, while Zach avoided her, spending his days and nights at the complex. One game left and the Jacks’ playoff hopes hung in the balance. Zach had one last chance to realize the one thing he’d worked for his entire life. If they lost this one, there’d be no playoffs for the team. And no ring for Zach. She needed to be there for him, win or lose.
More importantly, she missed her big, tactless guy, missed gazing into those kind brown eyes so full of devotion, missed falling asleep to his soft snore at night, missed his big body heating the bed, missed his quiet intensity. Sure, they were an odd couple, total opposites on the surface, but way too similar inside with all their insecurities and the lack of love in their childhoods. She’d grown up in privilege with everything money could buy, except love. He’d grown up in poverty surrounded by drugs and abuse and risen above it. Kelsie liked to think she’d risen above her upbringing, too, and become a much better person.
She had one stop before Zach’s house. She was headed to the shelter, the very one Zach visited on Tuesdays. After she’d donated a decorated tree to them a week and a half ago, she’d struck up a conversation with the enthusiastic director. Next thing she knew, she’d been scheduled to teach classes twice a week on proper dress and hygiene, successful job interview skills, and tips for keeping the job once you’re hired. It didn’t pay a penny, but the satisfaction more than made up for the money.
Using her contacts from the gala, Kelsie had wrangled donations of work attire. She’d also contacted local businesses, encouraging them to hire from her pool of people. The interest was heartening. Her program was only a week old but already one disabled veteran was hired as a barista and a father of four had started work at the marina.
Kelsie knew she’d found the thing she was meant to do, and she’d find the means to raise the funds to do it. Her Finishing School for Real Men was branching off into a Finishing School for Real People.
Now that Kelsie had lived life on the other side, she had a better understanding of how close to homeless most people are. A divorce, loss of a job, a death, any of these could put a person out on the street in a matter of weeks. She knew personally what desperation and hopelessness felt like. Her business might be in shambles, but she was first and foremost a survivor. She didn’t want a penny of Zach’s money and wouldn’t take it if he begged. What she wanted was something money couldn’t buy.
Arriving at the shelter, she opened the door, while Scranton peeked out of the Coach purse Zach had bought her a month ago. Inside, the sounds of Christmas carols rose above the soft patter of the rain.
She entered the big plain room and was welcomed by the families enjoying Christmas Eve. It was a warm dry place, but she wanted more for them. She wanted every family in their own home, with a tree and a fire crackling in a fireplace.
She made her way around the room, handing out small gifts, nothing expensive, but practical items like shaving cream and deodorant. Stuff most people never thought about.
A cheer went up in the room and caused her to turn around. Her heart thumped happily at the sight of her husband.
Zach paused in the doorway, balancing boxes of pizzas so high they hid his face. He wore dress slacks and a slightly wrinkled white shirt. Well, it was a start. She couldn’t help but smile. He put the boxes on the table and stepped back. The kids dug in, not waiting for an invitation while the adults lined up for their Christmas pizza.
Zach faced her. For a minute they stared at each other. He ran his hand through his short hair. Kelsie wrung her hands, but she didn’t look away.
“What are you doing here?” His voice sounded tentative yet suspicious.
“I stopped by with a few gifts.” She stood up straighter, rolled her shoulders back, and projected an air of confidence she didn’t feel. Please, don’t let him reject her. Not before they’d had a chance to talk.
“Why would you do that?”
“I know what it’s like to be homeless. I donated that tree to the shelter. I offered my services. I’ve been helping them with interview skills, among other things.”
He glanced over at the tree. “Oh, I thought it looked familiar. It was at my house.”
She nodded, unable to read his reaction. “Yes, it was at our house.”
His expression softened. “You’re the one? The one who helped Marv and Judd get jobs.”
“I’d like to think I helped.” She shifted her gaze to the people in the room and smiled.
An hour later they stood outside the shelter. Inside, the lights from the designer Christmas tree twinkled merrily and lit up the rain-soaked street and sidewalk. Something about those lights warmed Kelsie’s heart. As long as people treated each other with kindness and generosity, there was always hope. She felt hope right now.
“Are you heading somewhere?” Uncertainty clouded Zach’s handsome face. She wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him it’d all be okay.
“Actually, I was going back to the house.”
“I made plans to join some of the guys for dinner at the marina.” His expression gave nothing away. She couldn’t tell if he was relieved to have an out or sad.
“Dinner? Again? Didn’t you get enough pizza?” She teased him, striving for a light tone.
He smiled sheepishly, that same smile she found incredibly sexy and enduring. “Yeah. Hard to believe, huh?”
“I’ll be going then. I don’t want to keep you.” Just like that, her plans for the evening splintered into broken pieces and littered the floor of her heart. Kelsie turned toward her car, her heart aching for what could be, yet not even sure what that was.
She heard Zach’s heavy step behind her. A second later, he wrapped his long fingers around her arm and stopped her. “Come with me.” He almost sounded as if he were pleading.
“I don’t want to horn in on your guy time.”
“You won’t be. I’m the envy of all the guys when you’re on my arm.”
“Oh, so that’s the only reason you want me around?” She linked her arm with his and gazed up at him as hope soared inside her.
He looked her up and down and grinned his trademark wolfish grin. “No, actually, I’m sure you’ll want to stick around until Santa lowers himself down the chimney and delivers his gifts.”
“I have milk and cookies ready.”
“So you’ll join me tonight for dinner? And we’ll come back here in the morning and help serve Christmas dinner here, at the shelter?”
“A hundred stampeding defensive linemen couldn’t keep me away.”
A couple hours and a painfully full tummy later, Zach and Kelsie walked along the almost deserted walkway next to the large marina. Christmas lights twinkled on the masts of sailboats, while one large yacht was lit up like a cruise ship. Zach reached for her hand. She held his tightly. Never wanting to let go.
“I missed you, Zach.” There, she’d said it. Bared her heart and
soul for him to trample if he so chose.
“We’ve been living in the same house.”
“Yes. But separate.”
He nodded. “I missed you, too. Sleeping in the other room didn’t improve my game.” He shrugged. “I don’t know if it could ever work between us, but the deal was until the end of the season. Let’s try it until then.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know. I wish I did.”
“I appreciate you coming to my rescue at the gala, but I needed to confront Mark myself.”
“Just like I needed to handle the social situation myself, even if your intentions were good ones.”
She smiled. “Touché. I’m a work in progress. So are you. No one’s perfect.” She wasn’t giving up on them. Not yet. “I caught the stalker at our house a few nights ago.”
Stopping abruptly, his mouth dropped open in alarm. “You caught him? What do you mean? As in confronted?”
She smiled. “With the help of your Louisville Slugger.”
He frowned as if he couldn’t quite process what she was saying.
“It took a little persuasion, but he told me the truth.”
“Which is?”
She turned to face Zach, straightening the collar of his coat. “Veronica hired him. To try and get dirt on me and you. She also flew my ex out here to cause a scene.”
“She sabotaged her own gala to ruin me? Ruin us?” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but what he said about you coming here. Was that true?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at her.
“Yes, I came here because you were here. I didn’t know where else to go. You’d always been there for me before I acted so horribly and broke your heart. I had to see you. To set things straight. To apologize. I was hoping—” The words lodged in her throat.
“Hoping what?”
“That you’d be willing to forgive me, and that I’d have at least one real friend.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her with a desperation that came through loud and clear. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she stared up into his troubled eyes. She wanted to wash away all the hurt, all the sadness, and make him happy. But it took two, and she wasn’t sure if he was in the game or on the bench.
Standing on tiptoes, she kissed him, a kiss full of hope and promise, a kiss of forgiveness. He kissed her back, soft and tender, yet hesitant. When he drew back, he stared over her shoulder instead of in her eyes. She stroked the rough stubble on his cheek, and he shuddered.
Like a fog blowing off Puget Sound and revealing the Olympic mountain range beyond, Kelsie saw everything with amazing clarity. The truth surrounded her, enveloped her, and left her wondering if she’d always known and refused to see it, even as a teenager.
Kelsie Murphy loved her husband Zach Murphy. Her heart was all-in. Her body was all-in. Even her head was all-in. She loved him, and she believed he loved her.
But did he love her enough to work through their differences, learn to trust her and believe in her, make a family with her—the family they’d both dreamed of and never had. Could he get beyond their pasts and accept her as the person she’d become, not the person she had been? A tough task for a man prone to holding his grudges close to his heart, but he’d managed to tolerate Harris, could he finally forgive her?
His clean, earthy scent, like pine needles and soap, plain manly soap, mingled with the smell and taste of salt water from nearby Puget Sound. A hundred years ago, Zach Murphy would’ve been a lumberjack, a man who worked hard and played hard. A man with a work ethic and integrity. Today, he was still that man. A man a girl like her could fall in love with and had fallen in love with. Now, if only she could drive the deal home. Convince him that she truly did love him and that the old Kelsie had been laid to rest forever. Convince him he could trust her.
If only.
As she stared into those deep brown eyes on the most magical night of the year, she believed they could make it happen. They could take this fragile trust poking itself up through the wet earth, nurture it and turn it into a beautiful rose.
* * * * *
Zach ignored the curious stares of his teammates as he sat down at the table with Kelsie. True to form, the guys pretty much accepted her appearance and turned their attention back to consuming mass quantities of prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and veggies.
Tyler and Derek weren’t present as they had family in town, but the small group of teammates that were there, enjoyed themselves.
Bruiser entertained the group with outrageous stories of his exploits. If they were true, the guy would have done everything from surfing in a hurricane to ice fishing in Antarctica. He might be full of shit, but his storytelling abilities kept the group laughing through the meal.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Brett, the backup quarterback, sat quietly and listened to the conversations. He laughed along with the guys, yet with an underlying sadness Zach recognized. He used to be that lonely guy until Kelsie came along.
Zach rarely saw Brett with a date and wondered more than once if the guy was gay. Not that he gave a shit, a guy’s sex life was his business. Brett was more private than even Zach was, and in his role as perpetual backup, no one paid much attention to him. The ultimate team player, he never complained, always participated in team charity functions, visited schools and hospitals, and kept out of trouble. A local guy, Harris wondered why he didn’t spend the evening with family and childhood friends, instead of hanging out with teammates. Zach guessed it beat spending Christmas Eve alone. No one should have to do that.
His thoughts slipped to his brother Wade. He imagined Wade would be spending tonight with some tall, buxom blonde, just the kind Wade liked.
In some unexplainable way, he missed trading barbs with Harris. Who’d have ever guessed?
As if sensing Brett’s quiet depression, Kelsie engaged him in conversation, asking him questions with such interest and caring the guy slowly opened up. Zach burst with pride at the kindness she displayed to his lonely teammate and earlier tonight at the shelter. He’d had no idea she’d been the one they called their angel.
Mean, selfish Kelsie didn’t exist anymore. She’d been replaced by sweet, strong, caring Kelsie, his wife, the woman he loved more than life itself, his rock in a storm, his kick in the butt when he needed it. And he planned to need it for a long time.
Now if he could find a way to convince her.
CHAPTER 28
Out of Timeouts
Almost a week later, Kelsie Carrington-Richmond-Murphy sat in the owner’s box with Rachel and Lavender on one side and Veronica on the other.
This past week, she and Zach didn’t talk out their feelings. Instead, they’d talked with their bodies. If Zach’s body told the truth, he didn’t want out of the marriage either. But not wanting out and believing he should get out were too different things. If he didn’t trust her then they had no future to build upon.
She glanced over at Veronica, who was so focused on the field she didn’t seem to realize the rest of them existed. For reasons Kelsie couldn’t fathom the woman had invited her, along with Rachel and Lavender to watch the last game of the season in the warmth and luxury of the owner’s suite. Kelsie had wanted to say no, but she didn’t. She’d decided to be a bigger woman than that. Oh, yes, gracious to a fault.
On the field below, a miserable Monday Night Football game played out, the last game of the regular season. Win or go home for the Jacks. Extend the season or finish it tonight.
Freezing rain blew in vertical sheets across the field, sometimes making it impossible to see a thing. The players on the bench huddled in hooded parkas, though Kelsie doubted even the thick, waterproof material kept out all the rain.
The coach called a time out and Veronica bolted for the bar. Kelsie focused on the players huddled on the bench.
After the loss a week before, the Jacks needed this one desperately. A wi
n coupled with a loss by the Rams, who were currently getting stomped with a minute to go, and the Jacks were in the playoffs. A Jacks loss and they were done for the season. Simple as that.
Well, not exactly simple from where she sat. If they lost, Kelsie’s marriage agreement with Zach could be null and void. They’d be free to divorce and go their separate ways. She didn’t want to be free.
She’d had every intention of having it out with him, laying it all on the line. Only life had a way of postponing even the most important things. Zach hadn’t needed the added drama in his life with the team’s playoff hopes hanging by a shoe lace. After all, Kelsie was a football player’s wife. During the season, it was all about the game. Any NFL wife worth her salt understood that harsh reality. Kelsie prided herself on being the best NFL wife her current situation allowed her to be, even going as far as joining Veronica for the game.
Speaking of the devil, Veronica returned and plopped back into the plush chair next to her, glass of wine in hand. Kelsie could do with her own glass of wine to calm her jangling nerves and woozy stomach. Game days did that to her, especially one as important as this. Zach’s last chance at a ring. She wanted this for him as badly as he wanted it.
“I bet you’re curious why I invited you to join me?” Veronica studied her over the rim of her glass, her red lips pursed in a severe, uncompromising line.
“You could start by apologizing for having a PI stalk me.” Kelsie lifted the binoculars and followed Zach off the field as he headed for the bench. His uniform had already soaked completely through, and when he pulled off his helmet, his hair was matted to his head. Yet the grim determination on his face defied the weather.
“Oh, that.” Veronica’s tone blew it off as if of no consequence.
“You scared me to death.”
“I didn’t realize the PI was so inept that you knew he was there.” She snorted as if her deception was of no consequence. “I think maybe we’re two of a kind.”
Kelsie lowered the binoculars and frowned. “No, we’re not. I was like you once. I’m not anymore.”
Down by Contact - A Seattle Lumberjacks Romance Page 31
