Second Down (First and Ten Book 2)

by Lea Hart

  The air left her lungs as one of the people she trusted most in the world finally spoke the truth. Everyone had treated her with kid gloves over the last couple of weeks, and it was driving her crazy. It made her feel like she had to prove them wrong and show them how well she was dealing with the accident. Ella didn’t give a rat’s ass about any of that. She just cared about her and how she was feeling. Falling back on her legs, she plopped herself down in front of the nail polish and contemplated letting all of the grief and sadness out. It felt like it was choking her some days, and she was tired of it. Looking up through wet eyes, she studied Ella. “If I start to cry, it may not stop for a long time. So if I do and can’t get myself together, then I need you to start working on a good story about this, because if I’m going to become infamous, I’d like it to be worth it.”

  “Understood. Maybe we should forget the beauty aisle and move on over to the alcohol. I think they only sell wine and beer. But if you’re not picky, then neither am I.”

  “At this point, I really don’t care, but my butt is getting sore from sitting on the ground. So let’s find ourselves a place with comfortable chairs. We’re old enough to have earned the right to get shit-faced in comfort. I know it doesn’t have the same possibility for great stories, but that’s okay. I feel like I’m going to have a lot more opportunities after today.”

  Standing, Ella held out her hand to her friend. “Let’s get the nail polish for later, because I think if I mix the blue that you have in your hand with the white that I have, I may be able to come up with the perfect shade of blue to match Clark’s uniform.”

  Raising herself up off the ground, Ronnie handed Ella the bottle of nail polish. “It was only months ago that you wouldn’t wear his jersey, and now you’re trying to get a color to match his uniform.”

  “I know…it’s embarrassing. Trust me, I’m completely aware of the change that’s occurred since Christmas. I can’t even defend my actions.” They moved toward the checkout line, and Ella’s shoulders slumped. “Something is going on with him, and I can’t figure it out. Maybe he’s going to break it off with me.”

  Twirling, Ronnie stared at her friend. “Why? What has he done?” She was about ready to go into mama-bear mode and rip Clark’s head off if necessary. He better not be playing with her friend.

  “He always asks where I’m going and what I’m doing and who I’m seeing. Then he invites himself along. I feel like he’s worried about me finding out about his secret life and needs to make sure that I don’t. That is my current working theory. I had a couple of others, but I think this one is the most realistic.”

  Laughter erupted from Ronnie as they stood in line. “That is the worst theory in the world. It doesn’t even make sense. I think Clark is worried about you finding someone else and that’s why he’s stuck to you like glue.” Pulling a pack of gum, a lip gloss, and some batteries off the shelf, she added them to the pile. “He’s worried that you’re running around wild and free.”

  “I didn’t run around wild and free when I was single. Why would I start now? That’s crazy talk.” She added a chocolate bar and some goldfish to the pile next to the register. “He is a professional athlete with a ton of money and long blond hair. The only person who is running wild and free is him. Trust me, I know what I look like, and I have no illusions. I also know that I favor the crazy gene in my family along with unruly hair. There is no way that he’s worried about me finding someone else. I’m smarter than the average bear, and I couldn’t sell that theory to anyone, even if I offered them money.”

  “Suit yourself. I think he’s feeling insecure and that’s why he wanted to come with us today.”

  “The man has never had an insecure moment in his entire life. He came out of the womb looking like that.” Glancing at the display, she pulled off a pair of small nail scissors. “Do you ever wonder where all the nail scissors in the world go? I do. Because whenever I need a pair, I can never find them.”

  “I always thought that was true about nail files. I think I’ve bought a hundred nail files, and if you go to my house, you won’t be able to find one.”

  “I think they come over to my house and are having a party. I have at least fifty in my bathroom,” Ella replied. Leaning over, she picked up a packet of three and set them next to the scissors. “Now you have three. I’ll let you know when they end up in my bathroom.”

  Opening her purse, Ronnie pulled out her wallet. “Thanks for bringing me to Walmart today.”

  “Anytime. If we can’t find a good bar around here, then we can come back here and sit in the booze aisle. The dream of making history in Walmart isn’t dead yet.”

  “I think this is going to take me more than a week to get over, so I feel the possibilities are endless.”

  “True.”

  The cashier started ringing them up, and they leaned into one another as their purchases were placed in a bag. “Thanks, Ella bella. You may have saved my life.”

  “Anytime, Ronnie. That’s what we do for one another. I just want you to promise that if you decide to lose your shit that you invite me along.”

  “Of course. Also we’ll call Ana because we’re going to need someone to drive the get-away-car.”

  “And that, my friend, is why you are such a success. Your ability to plan.”

  The cashier gave them a bored look. “That will be twenty-two dollars and eighty-eight cents.”

  Ronnie handed her a credit card. “I don’t remember nail polish being so expensive.”

  “Walmart isn’t for sissies anymore. I came in here with Clark once, and he spent five hundred dollars. On what, I don’t know.”

  “I better not let Chase come in here. Lord knows what he would find to buy.” Ronnie signed her name and smiled at the cashier. “Let’s find a bar and then call one of the guys to pick us up. I haven’t had pain meds in a couple of days, so I feel like I could use a couple of drinks.”

  Pulling out her phone, Ella searched for a suitable place nearby. “There’s a bar across the street. They’re famous for their wings and have a happy hour that just started.”

  “Perfect,” Ronnie replied. She grabbed her bag from the woman and linked arms with Ella. For the first time since the car hit her, she was feeling better. She still felt a well of grief and sadness, but it didn’t seem like she had to keep it inside anymore. So she took a deep breath and let it out. Whatever happened was going to be okay. Or not. Either way was fine with her.

  ********

  “How does a trip to Walmart end up with us picking up the girls from a bar with the name Lamplighter?” Chase asked. They had parked the car and walked toward the dive where the girls were, according to Ella, getting shit-faced. They saw a couple of guys standing in front of the bar smoking cigarettes. “Great crowd,” Chase muttered.

  Clark nodded to the men as they walked past them and entered the dark bar. Standing at the entrance, they let their eyes adjust before moving farther inside. Clark heard Ella’s laugh just as he spotted her sitting with Ronnie at a corner table. They had a big plate of wings in front of them as well as a couple of empty glasses. Several men were sitting with them and looked like they’d been there for a while. “This is not going to end well,” Clark muttered.

  “Shit. Who do we have on speed dial to bail us out of jail?” Chase asked, as they walked toward the girls.

  “Jack is around, so we can call him. I want you to use all of your famous charm to separate the women from those guys. Act like the football legend that you are and distract them while I get the girls to the car.”

  “Sounds good, man.” Rolling his shoulders, he called out a big hello as they stepped up to the table. “Hi, honey. Are you having fun?” He saw Ronnie’s eyes fly up to his, and he immediately could tell that she was going to have a nasty hangover in the morning. Waving her hands, she almost knocked over some of the glasses and fell off her stool. At her side instantly, he put his arm around her to steady her. “Why don’t you introduce me to your new frie
nds?”

  “Everyone this is Chase and that over there is Clark. You all probably recognize them if you follow football.” She watched the men shake Chase’s hand excitedly, and found it funny to see people become tongue-tied around him. “Chase is my boyfriend,” she announced to no one in particular. No one paid any attention to her, so she took another sip of her drink and wondered how many she’d had so far. Taking a moment to study the man who was keeping her upright, she admired his profile and good looks. They sure would have had some pretty babies together. But that didn’t seem to be in the cards for them. As the thought took hold, she felt a wave of grief wash over her. The feeling of choking on her heartache returned as she tried to swallow the tears that were threatening. Quickly glancing at Ella, she tried to get her attention, but failed. Clark was talking to her about something, and she didn’t look up. The wave rose again, and it was going to overwhelm her at any second. What was happening to her? She was fine five minutes ago. Maybe alcohol and grief were not such a good combination after all.

  Staring down at her hands, she tried to think of all the blessings in her life as way to stem the impending breakdown. Talking about crying in public was a lot different than actually doing it, because the thought horrified her as she felt one big tear slide down her face. Keeping her head down, she wiped it away and tried to come up with a plan to get out of there quickly. Another tear and another streamed down her face. Why did the floodgates have to open here? She felt Chase’s eyes on hers and sensed instantly when he realized what was happening. The sweet smile that he gave her unlocked all of the grief that she’d been holding back. The idea that there was never going to be another boy with that smile broke her heart. “I wanted to have babies with you,” she wailed into his shoulder.

  “I know, honey. Don’t worry. We’ll have kids.” He picked her up and said over his shoulder to Clark and Ella, “I’m taking her home.”

  Ella stood up and almost fell over. Holding onto the table, she steadied herself. “We’ll take my car home.” Waving, she watched Chase carry a weeping Ronnie out of the bar. It had finally happened; the grief was coming out. “Thank God.” She felt Clark wrap his arm around her and hold on. “I won’t fall over.”

  “Says you.” Opening his wallet, he pulled out a bunch of cash to cover their bill. “Let’s go home, honey. I have a feeling that you’re not going to feel very good once the last drink hits you.”

  “I think you may be right.” She held his hand and walked out unsteadily. “It seemed like such a good idea at the time.”

  “It always does, honey. Do you need to sit down before we walk out to the car?”

  “Yes, I can’t throw up in it, because I just had it washed the other day.”

  Guiding her to a bench that sat in front of the laundromat, he admitted, “Well, that was pretty exciting for a Wednesday afternoon. I wonder what you girls have in store for the weekend.”

  “We almost started drinking in Walmart, but decided to come here instead.”

  “Probably a good choice.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he leaned back and watched people walk by. “So are you going to tell me why you all wanted to tie one on at three in the afternoon in the middle of the week?”

  “I’ve been worried about Ronnie acting like everything was okay. I said the thing that everyone’s been thinking and not saying. I also told her it was okay to lose her shit in the middle of Walmart.”

  “Did you tell her the Aunt Cecilia story?”

  “I did. I had a bunch of other ones to go along with that one, but we never got that far. Sometimes, it pays to come from a family with a lot of colorful characters. I never run short of stories.”

  “Do you think she is going to start to deal with what happened?”

  “I do. And if she tries to ignore it, then I’m going to drag her back to Walmart and start all over again.”

  “Why, does the store have magic healing powers?”

  “It doesn’t. We could go to the Dollar Store or Target; the theory would be the same. Sometimes it’s easier to talk about something difficult if you’re walking around looking at useless crap. It’s like when I was a teenager and my mom would drive me somewhere and I would start spilling the beans because I wasn’t looking at her. I could pretend like it was no big deal, because we weren’t sitting face to face at the kitchen table with her acting like the gestapo asking a thousand questions.”

  “What kind of beans did you spill?”

  “Nothing that interesting. But at the time, I thought I was confessing deep, dark secrets that would shock her. The most scandalous it ever got was when I told her that I wasn’t going to straighten my hair anymore and I was going to California for school.”

  “I knew you were wild.” He felt an elbow in his side and smiled. “I like your curly hair. I’m glad you’ve decided to let it go.”

  “It was my last act of rebellion against my upbringing. If I’ve calculated correctly, and we know I have, I’ve added an extra five years of free time to my life by letting it go.”

  “I have some ideas about what we can do with that free time if you’re interested.”

  “Really? I didn’t know you were interested in spending that much time with me.” Glancing down at her feet, she felt the last drink start to hit her. “Are you going to break up with me, Clark?”

  Sitting forward, he stared at her in astonishment. “What the hell are you talking about? We are practically living together, and I’ve been following you around since the end of the season. Haven’t you noticed that I go everywhere with you?”

  “I know. My theory is that you need to keep me close so that I don’t discover the truth about your real life. I had a couple of others, but that’s the one that seems most plausible.”

  “You have lost your mind. I thought we had years and years before you were going to take up the family tradition, but I can see that I was wrong. You sure are dumb for being so smart. I may have to check all of those degrees you have and make sure they’re not fake.”

  “So, is that a no?”

  “Yes, Ella. That’s a no to your crazy theory. I happen to be following you around because I don’t need someone to think they have a chance with you. I see how men look at you, and you don’t even notice. Someone could seduce you before you even realized what was happening. No offense, but your powers of observation suck.”

  “None of what you said is true. If anyone is looking at me, then they are just trying to figure out why you’re hanging out with me. Do you know how difficult it is to have a boyfriend that is prettier than you?”

  “Baby, I’m not prettier than you. My face is all busted up from all of the time I’ve spent plowing myself into other men. A linebacker is never known for his good looks.”

  Twisting in the seat, she tried to get his face in focus. “You are handsome to me. Plus, you have long blond hair and an amazing body. You have it all.”

  Leaning forward, he gave her a kiss. “You just described yourself. That’s the way I see you.”

  “Have you had your eyes checked recently?”

  “Oh, baby, I can see perfectly.”

  Leaning her head against his chest, she let out a breath. “That’s so sweet. Can you find me a bathroom? Because I think I’m going to throw up.”

  Laughter spilled out of him as he stood up. Putting his hand out, he hauled her up. “Let’s go back to the bar. I’ll get you a soda and you can throw up in there.”

  “Thanks, Clark. You are a good man and an excellent boyfriend.”

  Leading her in the direction of the bar, he shook his head. “We need to start watching crime shows with Jack and Ana, because you need some help on your theories about people’s behavior.”

  “You may be right,” Ella responded.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Ronnie walked into the kitchen in search of coffee. The pain in her head was far worse than anything in her body. Right as she was pulling a cup off the shelf, she spotted Scott sitting at the kitchen table. �
��What the hell are you doing in my kitchen? Clients are not allowed in my house.”

  Turning toward her, Scott screamed when he spotted Ronnie. Or who he thought was Ronnie. “Dear God, woman. Do you feel as bad as you look?”

  “Shut up and don’t scream anymore. You sound like a girl.”

  “Have you looked in the mirror yet? Screaming was the most polite response I could come up with.”

  Pouring a large cup of coffee, she added sugar and then grabbed the cream out of the fridge. “I’m in a very delicate state right now, and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making comments about my appearance. You are an uninvited guest, so you have to deal with me as I am.”

  Standing up, he moved in her direction. “Sorry. Do you want me to make you some toast?”

  “Sure, that would be nice. The bread is in…”

  “I know where the bread is, Ronnie. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been hanging out here a lot for the last month. Chase and I have become friends, and he’s helping me with my game.”

  Sitting at the table, she studied him. “I guess that’s true. I hadn’t thought about it until just now.” Taking a large gulp of coffee, she started to feel better. “What are you doing here this morning?”

  “Waiting for Chase to finish up his phone call. We’re going over to the stadium to work out and toss the ball around.”

  “Oh.” She watched Scott pull the toast out and put butter on it. He grabbed a jar of jam out of the fridge and brought it over to the table. “Thanks. I guess I won’t fire you as a client today.”