by Gregg Stutts
By 8:00, Max was standing on the shore of a little cove with his first cast already in the water, sipping on a cup of hot coffee he’d picked up at a country store on the way. He sat down on the bank and watched his bobber float on the still water. This was just what he needed. He slowly reeled his line in, saw his bait was still good and cast again.
“Nice one,” a voice said from behind him.
Max turned around to find an older gentleman carrying a fishing pole, a tackle box and a thermos. So much for a quiet morning of fishing. Maybe he’d just tell the old guy he was wrapping up and then go find another spot. Max started reeling in his line, faster this time, so he could leave before the old guy engaged him in conversation. He especially didn’t want to talk about the Siloam Springs game, which in a small town like Lakeside would inevitably come up.
The old man must have sensed Max was getting ready to leave. “You’re not quitting already, are ya?” he said. “Don’t give up.”
Don’t give up?
“Here, have some more coffee.” He handed the thermos to Max. “My name’s William, but everyone calls me Willy.”
“I’m Max.”
“I know,” Willy said. “Tough one last night.” Willy took a sip of coffee. “But we’re not here to talk about that, are we?”
“No, I’d rather not talk about football.” Max still wanted to leave.
Willy baited his hook and cast it about twenty yards out into the lake. Then he turned and looked at Max. “What should we talk about then?” he asked.
Max cast his line about fifteen feet to the left of Willy’s and then sat down. Willy sat down too. “We could just fish,” Max said. “We don’t have to talk.”
Willy’s bobber disappeared under the water. He gave a quick yank on the line and started slowly reeling it in. “Or we could do both,” he said. He pulled a nice sized fish from the water, carefully removed the hook and released it back into the lake.
Well, if the old guy wanted to talk, then Max would just lay it all out there for him. He’d give him more than he bargained for. “Okay Willy, my wife just informed me she’s leaving me. I may have lost my job last night.” Max paused. “Oh, and I think the Lakeside Police might be corrupt.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Other than that, I’m good.”
Willy cast his line again, a little further this time and then sat back down. He removed the lid to the thermos and poured himself more coffee. “Well, that’s certainly more interesting than the weather or how the Cowboys are doing,” Willy said. He sipped his coffee and then said, “What’s the last thing you prayed for, Max?”
“The last thing I prayed for?” Max said. “What does that have to do with anything? To be honest, I don’t pray.” Now he wished he’d left when Willy arrived. He already regretted telling him what he had and really didn’t want to get into a discussion about prayer or God or anything else for that matter.
But then he remembered he had prayed. It wasn’t much, but he had prayed yesterday morning for the first time in years. “Actually, I asked God for help,” Max said.
The two men sat together in silence for several minutes, then Willy said, “Time for me to go.”
“Wait a minute,” Max said. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Willy said. “I have to get home. I promised Rose I’d help her in the yard this morning.”
“Hold on,” Max said. “Why did you ask me about prayer?”
“Max, how about you join Rose and me for dinner on Monday? 7:00? I’ll see if Rose will make her pot roast and mashed potatoes for us.”
Willy scribbled his address on a piece of cardboard he pulled from his tackle box. He shook Max’s hand and then headed up the trail. Max fished for another hour without catching anything, but had the feeling he’d gotten what he’d come for.
CHAPTER 24
Max spent the rest the day watching game film, thinking about Michelle and replaying his conversation with Willy. When he finally looked at the clock, it was 6:30 p.m. He’d worked through lunch and now it was dinnertime. He looked in the refrigerator and didn’t find much. He opened the freezer and saw the ice cream cones Michelle had gotten him along with a frozen pizza. He popped the pizza in the oven and ate two ice cream cones while the pizza cooked.
When it was ready, he cut it, put two slices on a plate and set it at the kitchen table. He grabbed a yellow legal pad from his briefcase and sat down to eat. He took a bite of pizza and stared at a blank page. Whenever his mind was filled with too many thoughts, it always helped to get them down on paper. He finished off two slices of pizza while continuing to stare at a blank page. He got two more slices and sat back down.
He ate his third slice and finished a bottle of water as he started thinking back over the past couple of weeks. Dante’s accident. The strange conversations with Jack. Dante’s mother being scared to see him. After fifteen minutes, he wrote down three names:
Dave Turner
Jack Murphy
Ms. Jones (Dante’s mother)
He stared at the list for another twenty minutes while finishing the rest of the pizza. He tried to think of any connections between the three of them, but couldn’t come up with anything other than they were all related to the football program. He tried to think of any other names he’d missed. Were there any other people with connections to these three who didn’t feel right to him?
And then he thought of one other person and added him to the list.
Me
CHAPTER 25
On Sunday, Max finished watching game film and preparing the game plan. Actually, he’d worked on three game plans. One for the Springdale game, which he felt good about even though they were going into it 0-2.
He had another game plan for figuring out the connection, if there even was one, between Jack, Dave, Ms. Jones and himself. He felt less good about that plan. And the third game plan was for getting Michelle back. That plan was still a blank page.
Monday’s practice went well, just like it had the previous two weeks. The pressure to win was increasing, but Max tried to not let it overshadow the entire practice. He tried to keep the mood light and even ended practice a few minutes early. They had eight regular season games left. They would probably need to win six of them to make the playoffs. It was still an attainable goal.
Max showered in the coach’s office at the field house rather than going home before meeting Willy and Rose for dinner. At 6:40, he locked the door behind him and headed to his truck. Across the parking lot, he saw Jack Murphy talking to Dave Turner and Bill Jackson. Max had no doubt he was at least partially the subject of the meeting. Maybe Bill should be added to his list.
Max put the address for Willy’s house in his GPS and had no trouble finding it. He pulled into the driveway at just a minute after 7:00. The house sat on a ridge above the spot he’d met Willy two mornings earlier. The yard was beautifully landscaped.
As Max approached the front door, Willy opened it and said, “Come on in. I hope you’re hungry.” Willy winked at Max. “We’re having pot roast.”
Willy led Max through the living room and into the kitchen where he introduced him to Rose. “Oh, I’m so very glad to meet you, Mr. Henry,” she said.
“That pot roast really smells good, ma’am. And please call me, Max.”
“Oh, well all right, but you have to call me, Rose,” she said. “Can I get you a glass of lemonade?”
“Yes, please,” Max said.
“Rose makes great lemonade, Max,” Willy said. “Fresh squeezed.”
“Why don’t you boys go sit on the deck and talk? I’ll bring the lemonade right out,” she said. “Dinner will be another twenty minutes.”
Willy led Max outside onto the deck. The view from the back deck was incredible. It overlooked Beaver Lake and much of Lakeside to the west. The sun was beginning to dip down beyond the horizon on the far side of the lake.
Rose brought two glasses of lemonade. “Thank you, dear,” Willy said. Rose kissed him on the forehead and
went back inside.
“What a view,” Max said.
“I never get tired of it,” Willy said.
“I can see why,” Max said. “Heaven on earth.”
“It was supposed to be,” Willy said and took a swallow of the cold lemonade.
“What’s supposed to be?” Max said.
“Heaven,” Willy said. “On earth.” He took another sip of lemonade. “It was supposed to be.”
Max set his glass down on the table and looked at Willy. “I’m not sure I’m following you,” he said.
Willy set his glass down and stood up. He put his hands on the deck railing and looked out over the lake. “I’m talking about the original design, Max. God’s original design.”
Max sipped his lemonade and waited for Willy to continue.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Willy said. “Wars. Poverty. Sickness. Loneliness. Greed. Death. None of it. Wasn’t supposed to be. But that’s a discussion for another time.” Willy sat back down, looked at Max and said, “So tell me, Max, why are you here?”
“I guess you mean something more than because you invited me?” Max said. He sipped some lemonade. “Willy, I’ll be honest. I’m not sure. Lately, I’m not sure about a lot of things.”
“Max, I can tell you I haven’t been to that particular fishing spot in over five years, but when I woke up Saturday morning, do you know I couldn’t think of anything else? I just had to fish there.”
Max wasn’t even sure what to say to that.
“How often do you fish there?” Willy said.
“It’s been a really long time,” Max said.
“Well, then maybe God is up to something,” Willy said. “You were telling me the other morning you were having some marriage trouble and thought you might get fired and something else about the police. Am I right?”
“That about covers it,” Max said.
“Well, I don’t know much about football or police work, so I don’t think I can help you with that,” Willy said. “Marriage though…maybe that’s something Rose and I can help with. Not that we’re experts or anything, but when you’ve been married as long as we’ve been…well, you learn a few things.”
Rose called Willy to come help her bring the food out. He got up and went inside. Max stood up and looked out over the railing at the lake. Just a sliver of the sun remained, which was already making it feel cooler. Football weather, Max thought.
Rose and Willy brought out the meal—pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and salad. It certainly looked and smelled a lot better than the frozen pizza. Willy pulled a chair out for Rose and helped her sit down. Then he took her hand and said a blessing before they ate.
During dinner, Willy and Rose shared about their four children and eleven grandchildren who were spread around the country. It was hard being away from them, but they kept in regular touch and tried to all see each other at least a few times a year.
As they talked, Max noticed how often Willy bragged about Rose and how he kept lightly stroking the back of her neck. He guessed they were in their early-70’s, but acted more like newlyweds.
After dinner, Willy cleared the table and made a pot of coffee. When it was ready, he brought a carafe to the table and poured a mug for each of them. They talked more about their children and about the places they’d most enjoyed on their many trips. When Rose said she was starting to feel a chill, Willy went inside and brought her a light jacket, which he helped her put on.
Max enjoyed hearing their stories, but was most fascinated by watching how Willy and Rose interacted with each other. He didn’t hear one unkind word come from either of them. And they were always touching. He also picked up on several looks and winks that communicated something only they knew. They even had a couple little code words they used. At one point, he heard Rose whisper to Willy, “A.H.” Max had no idea what it meant, but based on the context he guessed it was a term of endearment.
When Max looked at his phone and realized it was 10:15, he apologized for staying so long. Willy and Rose walked Max out to his car. He got in and rolled his window down. “Thank you both so much for tonight,” Max said. “This was just what I needed.”
“Well, Max, you’re very welcome,” Rose said. “You’re welcome here any time.”
“And Willy, I’d still like to talk with you about some marriage stuff,” Max said.
“I’ll let you buy me breakfast on Saturday.”
“Deal,” Max said.
Rose whispered something to Willy that Max couldn’t hear. “No, I haven’t told him,” Willy said. “Not yet.”
“Told me what?” Max said.
Rose looked at Willy who nodded. Rose looked back at Max and grinned. “About the secrets,” she said.
CHAPTER 26
By the end of practice on Wednesday, Max was feeling better about the team. Morale was good. Effort was good. And they were cutting down on the mental mistakes. The team felt more ready than it had in the previous two games.
Jack Murphy had been strangely silent the past week. He thought for sure there’d be more fallout after the Siloam Springs loss. He’d expected to be called into a meeting with Bill Jackson, but that didn’t happen. Maybe they were giving him one more chance to turn things around.
When he got home on Wednesday evening, he made himself a sandwich and sat down with his legal pad. He felt good about the Springdale game plan, so he turned to the next page. He looked at the names he’d written:
Dave Turner
Jack Murphy
Ms. Jones (Dante’s mother)
Me
It was like he knew the players or at least some of them, but didn’t know the game that was being played. He decided to title this page the “Lakeside Game Plan.” He tried to think of something, anything that would shed some light on things.
After twenty minutes, he turned the page to his marriage game plan. That page was still blank. He’d tried to call Michelle several times, but she wasn’t answering his calls. He tried texting, but she didn’t reply. He had no idea what to do to make things right if she wouldn’t even talk to him. He thought back to dinner with Willy and Rose and the way they talked and treated each other.
Max turned back to the previous page. It’s not like he was a detective or anything. He had no responsibility or training to figure this stuff out. And yet, he couldn’t shake it. There was something going on. And somehow, he was connected to it.
He wondered if he needed to add Bill Jackson to the list. He’d seen him talking to Dave and Jack on Monday. He thought about it, but didn’t think so. He trusted Bill. He couldn’t say the same about Dave or Jack. Clearly, Jack had an agenda. He just didn’t know what it was. Dave was another story. He couldn’t prove it, but the way Dave was calling defenses during the first two games led Max to believe he was intentionally sabotaging the games.
It was getting late and Max was tired. And he was tired of thinking. It was time to shut it down for the night. As he got into bed and turned out the light, a thought came to him that he had to write down, so he got out of bed, turned the light on and wrote:
Need a 4th game plan…to work on me
CHAPTER 27
The past week with Chris had been incredible. Michelle felt cared for. She felt special. She felt loved. It had been years since she’d felt any of those things. Chris made her feel good about herself again. They’d held hands and hugged and he had kissed her on the cheek once, but it hadn’t gone any further. Not that she hadn’t thought about it. Or wanted it.
She’d lost count of how many times Max had called her in the last week and how many times she’d ignored him. He was trying to reach out, but as far as she was concerned, it was too little too late. But maybe she owed it to him to listen to what he had to say. Or maybe she didn’t. Maybe he’d lost his chance.
She was meeting Chris for dinner in an hour and wanted nothing more than to enjoy a romantic dinner with a good bottle of wine. As appealing as that thought was, she still couldn’t shak
e the twinge of guilt that came with it.
She’d told her parents about not going back to Arkansas, but felt like they deserved more of an explanation—about both Max and Chris. Not yet though. She was still trying to sort it all out. Her head was telling her one thing. Her heart another. And she really liked what her heart was telling her.
She’d always felt so strongly about her marriage vows. And still did. Mostly. But a marriage took two people who were both committed to their vows. Ever since Sarah got sick, Michelle felt like she’d been the only one still fighting for their marriage.
