by Gregg Stutts
“Listen to me, honey, don’t let your thoughts get away from you. Try not to focus on the worst. You know your dad and I will always be here for you. You don’t ever have to worry about that.” Her mom was quiet, then said quietly, “Do you want me to tell your father or do you want to?”
“I know I should, but would you tell him? Just please don’t let this go beyond you guys. I can’t let Chris find out I might be pregnant with his child. After I left New Jersey, he started acting crazy.”
Her mom said a short prayer before saying goodnight. Michelle sat down in front of the television and flipped through a dozen channels without finding anything interesting enough to distract her from one terrifying thought.
What if Chris finds out I’m pregnant?
Chapter 17
Donnie’s SUV exited the parking lot. Max was alone again. And the rain was coming down harder. He had to get moving. At least that would generate some body heat because at the moment, he couldn’t stop shivering.
The only time he could remember being this cold was in high school when he worked at a movie theater. On Thursday nights after the last movie started, his job was to climb up on the marquee and change out the movie names, letter-by-letter. One bitterly cold Thursday night, he’d forgotten to bring a coat. It was the most miserable hour of his life.
This night was more than rivaling that one. It felt just as cold and he was soaking wet. He started to jog across the parking lot. If he could maintain a good pace, he’d be at the convenience store in twenty minutes. His motel was another two miles past there. If he didn’t twist an ankle or get hit by a car, he’d be in his room in forty-five minutes.
As he jogged along in the dark with the cold rain stinging his face, he yelled, “Really God? Is this what your love looks like? Well, you know what? You can keep it! I’ll be just fine without you!”
After a mile or so, his core was actually starting to warm up slightly. He told himself that soon he’d be standing in a hot shower and the misery would be over.
Fifteen minutes later, he passed the convenience store and kept going. He was halfway there. “Hey God! Are you listening? Did you know Donnie Black is getting away with murder? The literal kind, I mean. Like he actually had a hand in killing people. Did you know that, God? Or did you miss that one?”
There weren’t many cars on the road, but the few that passed by had to be wondering who in the world would be stupid enough to go for a run on a night like this. That would be Max Henry, you people! “Yeah, it’s me, God! Max Henry! Remember me? I’m the guy who fought to get his wife back. You know, the one who’s pregnant with another man’s baby!”
It was a little after nine-thirty when he finally reached his motel. He went to the office to get a new key since the old one was in his truck. Fortunately, the same kid he’d seen that morning was still on duty and didn’t make him show ID.
A couple minutes later, he slid the key card into the lock and saw the light flash green. He was cold and tired and couldn’t wait to feel the hot water wash over him. He peeled off his clothes on the way to the bathroom, adjusted the water temperature and stepped into the tub. It was five minutes before he stopped shivering and another fifteen minutes before he turned the water off and reached for a towel.
His stomach growled as he hung the towel on the back of the door. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d used an actual phone book, but he found one and placed a call to Eureka Pizza. His mouth was already watering. “Hi, I’d like a large pepperoni pizza. And an order of chicken wings.”
The woman taking his order asked his name and gave him the price.
“Okay, hold on, let me grab my...wallet. Oh no.”
“Excuse me?” she said.
“Hey, I’m sorry, but I’ve misplaced my wallet. You’ll have to cancel my order.”
Fortunately, the girl on the phone recognized his name and said she’d been in his health class a couple years earlier. She knew he’d be good for the money and could pay for the food once he found his wallet. He thanked her and hung up.
His next thought was to hang his wet clothes in the bathroom and hope they’d be dry by morning. He turned to pick them up off the floor, but they weren’t where he’d left them. He knew they weren’t in the bathroom but looked there anyway. He got on his knees and looked under the bed, knowing for sure they couldn’t be there. And he was right.
He sat down on the bed. Naked. And came to the realization that while he’d been in the shower, someone had entered his room and stolen his wet clothes. Now he had no vehicle, no money, no phone and no clothes. He pulled the handle the door to his room, but it was shut tight.
He opened the door and let it go. It closed by itself but didn’t quite latch all the way. Was that what happened? Or had he shut it tight? If it was locked, then how did someone get in? The door hadn’t been forced open. He checked the window, but it was locked.
A chill returned as he realized someone had been in his room. Had Donnie Black followed him to the motel and actually stolen his clothes?
Chapter 18
Friday, November 1
The alarm clock buzzed loudly at 6:00 a.m. Max banged it with his fist and sent it crashing to the floor. He reached for his phone, but remembered it was locked in his truck along with his wallet and keys. Four miles away. He walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. The sun was just coming up. Skies were clear, but the window felt cold.
Of course, it really didn’t matter if it was thirty degrees or ninety degrees. He wasn’t going anywhere until someone brought him some clothes. He hoped one of his assistant coaches or Michelle had called him back. He reached for his phone again, then remembered and yelled loud enough to probably scare anyone in a nearby room.
He could use the room phone to call someone but didn’t have any of their cell numbers memorized and was almost positive none of them even had house phones. He thought about calling the front desk to ask if they had any spare clothes lying around. Some hotels supplied toiletry items for guests who forgot them, but he’d never heard of a hotel having extra clothes on hand. And even if this one did, he’d have to be even more desperate than he was to wear them.
He could call Michelle because at least he knew his own home phone number, although he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually dialed it. He picked up the receiver and started to dial but stopped and set the phone down. Maybe it was pride, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her for help.
He opened the drawer on the nightstand and pulled out the phone book. It was three years old, but it would at least have a number for Willy and Rose. He looked it up and dialed. As it rang, he wondered what kind of people actually still used phone books. Then it occurred to him that naked people without cell phones did.
Fortunately, Willy was an early riser and answered the phone. After explaining the situation, Willy said he’d be there in thirty minutes. That would give Max enough time to get to school by seven o’clock.
He got in the shower and tried to figure out who would have taken his clothes and how they would have gotten into the room. He was almost positive it was Donnie Black. But what a childish act. It could only be Donnie. It was clear he was going to need a plan for dealing with him, a man who was angry and unstable and refused to accept responsibility for his own bad choices.
Chapter 19
Michelle woke up a few minutes after six. It was two months since quitting her teaching job. She still wasn’t used to the idea of waking up and not having to rush off to school. Considering the current state of her marriage, she realized she might soon need a job again. If Max refused to work things out, then she would be supporting herself. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of being a single mom trying to work full-time and taking care of a newborn. The worst part was knowing she was to blame.
Everything had been going so well until she discovered she was pregnant. There was excitement in her relationship with Max that hadn’t been there in years. They were enjoying one another again. T
heir shared adventure had breathed new life into their marriage.
The rekindled relationship was somewhat of an illusion though. While many things were better, there was still her relationship with Chris that had to be brought into the light. She knew it. And she suspected Max knew it too. He just hadn’t asked about it.
If it had only been an affair, not that it wasn’t a terrible thing to do, she was sure they could have worked through it. Max would have been hurt. And angry. But she knew they’d reignited enough of a spark between them that the affair wouldn’t be enough to extinguish it.
But telling your husband you were carrying another man’s baby, well, that was an entirely new level of betrayal. How do you move past that one? The new life growing inside her would be a constant reminder to her, and to Max, that she’d been unfaithful.
She tried to put herself in Max’s shoes. How it would feel if he had an affair with one of their neighbors and got her pregnant? What would it be like to see a woman walking down the street who was eight months pregnant with your husband’s baby?
How would she feel if Max wanted to be in the child’s life, which of course would be the right thing to do? That’s when she suddenly felt ill. Not from morning sickness though. Chris will want to be involved in his child’s life. But how would that work? Would they share custody? Would he move to Lakeside? She ran to the bathroom afraid she was about to throw up.
As she leaned over the toilet, the time spent in New Jersey wasn’t looking quite as romantic as it had seemed. Chris had done and said all the right things. At least at the time. But his calls and texts in the weeks that followed were increasingly hostile. It didn’t stop until Max stepped in and put an end to it.
Her legs felt rubbery. She knelt down and rested her arms on the seat. If only Max could be the father, then at least Chris would be out of the picture. She’d been with both Chris and Max right in that window of time when she’d conceived.
She hadn’t used birth control in years. They desperately wanted another baby. And now she so badly wanted Max to be the father. But the odds were slim. Maybe non-existent. And so she had to face the reality of carrying another man’s baby. And that would mean two things. Max would have to deal with the pain and find a way to move on or divorce her. And Chris could never find out she was pregnant.
The nausea finally passed. She pulled herself to her feet and found her phone. She turned it on after letting it charge overnight. When the screen finally came on, she swiped it open.
Her heart sank. Max had called the night before. She immediately tried calling him back, but it went right to voicemail. Then saw there was a voicemail from him. It was only one second long. She tapped the screen. “Why...” That was it. That was the entire message.
Why? Why had she done it? Why had she cheated? Why hadn’t she told him the truth?
He could have been asking any or all of those questions. She tried calling again, but it went straight to voicemail. She left a message apologizing for not responding and tried to explain what happened and asked him to please call her back. She paced the living room and tried another call. No answer.
Chapter 20
Willy gave Max a set of clothes and waited for him to get dressed. On the way to the school, Max mentioned having some problems with Michelle, but didn’t go into details about the pregnancy. By the time they arrived at the field house, the other coaches were already there. As Max got out of the truck, Willy invited him and Michelle to breakfast on Saturday. Max thanked him for the offer, but said it wasn’t the best timing. Willy frowned and nodded his head.
If anyone could help them, he knew it was Willy and Rose, but he needed to focus on the Bentonville game. His marriage would have to wait until after the season ended, a season that could end before the day was over. Which might also signal the end of his coaching career at Lakeside, at least if Bob Burns had his way.
Several coaches apologized for not seeing the missed call. Before the meeting started, one of them volunteered to jimmy the door of his truck and try to get it started. Five minutes later, the door to his truck was open and he had his keys, phone and wallet back. And the truck was running again. The problem was a loose wire running from the battery.
He started to unlock his phone, but remembered it was dead. The charger was in his office so that would have to wait. The focus was Bentonville and a very simple game plan. They were going back to the basics. As the season had gone on, the pass-run ratio had started leaning heavily toward the pass. Against Bentonville, they were going to commit to running the ball at least eighty-percent of the time.
Bentonville’s defense was physical and fast, but their defensive line was under-sized. The Lakeside offensive line outweighed them by an average of twenty-five pounds per man. They would live or die by the style of football Max had learned from his high school coach—“three yards and a cloud of dust.” Only in this game it would just be “three yards” without the dust. Like many of the schools in the area, Bentonville had artificial turf.
If Lakeside could pull off a victory, the coaches knew the game ball would likely go to the offensive line. They were pumped when told about the new game plan. They were all seniors who’d been playing together since they were thirteen-years-old in junior high. Max planned to name all five of them captains for the game.
As he adjourned the meeting, a phone buzzed. It was Bo Kolter’s, his offensive line coach. Bo’s head dropped as he listened. He ended the call and said, “That was TJ’s dad. TJ and Carl were in a car accident on their way to school this morning. He doesn’t think it’s serious, but they’re being taken to the hospital.”
TJ was their right guard and Carl was their right tackle, two of the five guys they were counting on to execute their new game plan.
“I need one of you guys to get Bo’s morning classes covered. Let’s go, Bo,” Max said already walking out the door. “We’re going to the hospital.”
Chapter 21
Michelle wanted to call again, but didn’t want to push. He knew she tried to call. The ball was in his court. All she could do now was pray. And one of her favorite places to do that was along the walking trail by the lake.
At eight-thirty, she parked at the head of the trail that wound through the park then followed the edge of the lake for almost a mile and a half before looping back through the woods to the park again. The entire trail was almost three miles. Other than a couple joggers, it was deserted.
She came here often when Sarah was a baby. Evenings, when they came as a family and the sun was setting over the western shore of the lake, were her favorite times. But those walks felt like another lifetime. Sarah was gone. And now Max might be gone.
Lord, I know how badly I messed up, but I really need Your help.
She couldn’t change the past, but she could change the future. He might choose to leave her, but she wouldn’t make it easy. Not by hiring the best attorney, but doing whatever she could to fix their marriage. What she wouldn’t do is beg or plead or be pitiful, but she could decide to be the best wife she could be from this moment on and leave the results in God’s hands.
She’d even go to the Bentonville game. If he happened to look to her usual place, he’d find her there supporting him the way she always had. Of course, she missed the month of September. She’d been in New Jersey. With Chris. Suddenly, her plan to be the best wife she could be seemed silly and stupid.
It’s a little too late for that. I’m carrying my lover’s child.
Physically, the three miles was a breeze. Mentally, it was torture.
Help me, Lord.
Chapter 22
It took thirty minutes to get to the hospital. They’d tried to get an update from TJ’s father on the way but couldn’t reach him. They entered the emergency room at eight-thirty and saw TJ’s father, Paul Jenkins coming out through the door marked, Authorized Personnel Only.
“Mr. Jenkins, how’s your son?” Max said.
He shook Max’s hand, then Bo’s and said, “Than
k you guys for coming. It sure means a lot. It looks like both boys are gonna be fine.”
“What a relief,” Max said. “How did it happen?”
“It sounds like Carl lost control coming around that turn on College Avenue over by the west entrance to campus. Know where I mean?” he said.
“Yeah, I know where you’re talking,” Bo said. “That’s a pretty sharp turn.”
“I don’t know if the road was wet or what,” Paul said. “I’m just glad they’re both okay.”
Max wanted to ask what he meant by “okay.” Did that mean no permanent injuries or they’d be okay to play against Bentonville?
That’s when Carl’s mom came through the door yelling, “Where’s my son?” she said. “Where’s Carl?”
