Lovebird Café Box Set

by Dylann Crush

  “We don’t need a thing. Why don’t you sit down and try to relax a little?” Mom patted the bench next to her. “All your worrying is going to give you an ulcer.”

  Easy for her to say. I was so keyed up it felt like I’d downed a case of energy drinks and chased it with a pot of coffee. I’d barely rested my butt on the bench before I popped up again. “I can’t sit still. I’m going to go find Dustin and Harmony and let them know where we’re sitting.”

  Mom waved me on. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to try to get me to settle in. Not when my baby was about to make his varsity football debut. And if his Uncle Dustin missed it, I’d never be able to forgive him. I scrambled down the bleacher steps while the rest of Swallow Springs seemed to be working their way up. Not only was tonight the Homecoming game, but the Swallow Springs Swifties were playing the undefeated Stockton Slammers. The rivalry between the two teams went back generations, and both towns appeared to have come out in droves to show their support.

  Ordinarily I’d avoid an event like this. Too many of my previous high school classmates would be flocking home for an excuse to party like we were still seniors at Swallow Springs High. I’d cut ties with all of them long ago. Everyone except Jaylene. She was the only one who stuck with me when I found myself knocked up our senior year. She’d promised to make the drive from Kansas City to watch Rodney’s debut.

  “Scarlett.”

  I turned toward my brother’s voice. He and his fiancée, Harmony, ambled toward me, looking like they were ready to sit back and enjoy a show. Dustin held a bucket of popcorn in one hand and a couple of hot dogs in the other. Harmony bounced baby Leah on her hip as they came closer. I didn’t know what my brother had ever done to deserve a catch like her. I’d warned him multiple times if he ever let her go that we’d keep her in the family and kick him out, so he’d better hang on.

  “How’s the quarterback’s mom feeling tonight?” she asked.

  “Like I’ve got a school of goldfish swimming around in my gut,” I admitted.

  Dustin nudged his chin toward the field where the team had started warming up. “Our boy’s going to be just fine. Coach Waite said he’s been prepping him for weeks for this game.”

  The fact Coach Waite had chosen to start Rodney tonight was another point of contention between April and me. She thought their oldest should have been the one to take over for the senior who’d been benched recently. Like I had any control over that at all. Just one more imagined transgression she held against me.

  “I saved seats. Want me to show you where?” I asked.

  “Not necessary.” Dustin nodded toward the stands where our mother stood ringing a giant cowbell and yelling for Rodney.

  “The game hasn’t even started.” Harmony let out a chuckle. “What’s she going to do if he actually completes a pass?”

  “Streak across the fifty yard line?” Dustin suggested.

  “That would scare the other team back into the locker room. But seriously”—I put a hand on Dustin’s arm—“please don’t give her any ideas.”

  “He’s going to do fine.” Dustin turned toward the bleachers. “Let’s go grab our seats before they get started.”

  “I’m going to look for Jaylene. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

  “See you in a few.” The two of them brushed past me and headed toward the stands. Hopefully Dustin would be able to convince Mom to save her energy for the game.

  As I moved closer to the fence surrounding the football field and track, I caught sight of April and her entourage making their grand entrance. I ducked under the bleachers to avoid her, preferring to subject myself to spilled soda or feral cats rather than ruin my mood with another run-in. I’d just poked my head out to make sure the coast was clear when a firm grip wrapped around my arm.

  “Why Scarlett Jarrett, what are you doing sneaking around under the bleachers?” April’s sing-song tone did nothing to mask the devious intent in her eyes. “You’re not making out with some mysterious man back there, are you?”

  How could a has-been small-town beauty queen who peaked fifteen years ago still have the potential to reduce me to a pile of quivering nerves? I shrugged off her arm. “Give it a rest. My mom dropped an earring and I came down to look for it.”

  “Mmm hmm.” She smacked her lips and peered around me.

  “Don’t you need to take your place so the game can begin? I can’t imagine they’d have the nerve to start without you.” I’d always heard the best defense was a solid offense, or something like that.

  “I can’t wait to meet your date tomorrow night. Didn’t he want to come to the game with you?”

  I shook my head. “I asked him not to. I want to give Rodney my full attention tonight. If Theo were here he’d be such a distraction.” I shrugged and gave her a smug smile.

  Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t engage. If I’d known that the idea of me having a date would have this kind of magical effect on her ability to spew insults, I would have invented a fake boyfriend years ago.

  “Scarlett!” Jaylene called to me from the track.

  “Gotta go. I hope you enjoy the game.” Making sure to give April a wide berth, I moved past her to join Jaylene.

  “Look at you.” Jaylene grabbed me in a hug and pulled me in tight.

  “It’s been too long, J.” I hugged her back. She didn’t get home nearly often enough, so it had been months since we’d had a chance to see each other in person.

  “You nervous tonight?” She held me at arm’s length and gave me her don’t-try-to-bullshit-me stare.

  “Would you believe me if I said no?”

  “Hell, no.” She linked her arm through mine and tugged me toward the stands. “But don’t you worry. I’ve got a flask in my purse with enough whiskey in it to settle your nerves and mine. I can’t believe my godson is the starting varsity quarterback for our alma mater.”

  “Alma mater?”

  “Yeah, you know, the place we went to school.”

  “I know what it means. But that sounds way too prestigious. I like to think of it as the juvenile delinquent center we managed to escape with some semblance of pride intact.”

  “I’ll drink to that.” She reached into her purse for a sparkly silver flask.

  “Put that away. I can’t drink at my son’s high school football game.”

  “Well, you might not be able to, but I sure can.” She followed me up the bleachers and plopped down next to my mom.

  They exchanged hugs and pleasantries but I tuned them out. Something else had caught my attention. Incoming threat at eleven o’clock.

  Jaylene hip-checked me. “What are you staring at?”

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I was trying too hard not to swallow my tongue.

  Her gaze followed mine as I tracked Mrs. Cahill, who was making her way across the track toward the bleachers. “Holy shit. Who’s the hot-as-fuck Poindexter with Dottie tonight?”

  My shoulders sagged. “That’s the bat guy.”

  Jaylene’s forehead crinkled. I hadn’t had a chance to fill her in on the events of the past two days. “Who the hell is the bat guy? For someone who goes for older women, he’s surprisingly good looking. What a cougar. You go, Dottie. Rawr.” She lifted her hand and pretended to claw at the air.

  “Would you cut that out?” I grabbed her hand and jerked it to the bleachers between us. “She’s not a cougar and he’s not into older women, at least not that I’m aware of.”

  “And do you mind telling me exactly how you know that?”

  I squeezed her hand so hard she pursed her lips. “I know that because bat guy is my date to the reunion tomorrow night.”

  7

  Theo

  It was strange to be attending a Homecoming game hours away from home. Even weirder to be escorting Dottie Cahill, who I assumed was a very well-known citizen of Swallow Springs based on the amount of time it took us to get from the parking lot to the home bleachers. Seemed like we couldn’t go more than a few
feet before someone would stop us to chat. Dottie appeared to know everyone and everything about everyone. I planned on asking her for the lowdown on Scarlett if I could ever get us to the bleachers.

  “Well, who do we have here?” A tall blonde woman blocked the steps leading up to the seats. “Is this a long lost great-nephew you’ve kept hidden from us all these years?”

  “Hi April.” Dottie’s tone lacked the warmth from moments ago when she’d chatted with a woman from her church group. “Is your son starting tonight?”

  Something flitted across April’s face making me think Dottie might not be as sweet as I originally gave her credit for being. April smiled, a hollow grin. “Judd Junior got injured last week. He wanted to start, but his daddy said he didn’t want to risk it. He still has so much playing time ahead of him, and they’ll need him next year.”

  Dottie tilted her head toward me. “April’s married to Coach Waite. Judd Junior is their oldest boy.”

  I nodded like she’d just divulged some spectacular tidbit. But the truth was I had no interest in trying to keep track of who was who or what was what, especially since there was a one-hundred percent chance that I’d forget everything she told me by morning.

  “And you are?” April held her hand out toward me.

  I held it for a brief moment. “Theo Wilder.”

  “How do you know our Dottie?” April’s head tilted like she was sizing me up.

  Not sure exactly how to answer the question, I opened my mouth. Then snapped it shut when Scarlett appeared behind April. She looked different than she had yesterday. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and she had on a “Swallow Springs Swifties” hooded sweatshirt.

  “Theo.” Scarlett stepped between me and April and wrapped an arm behind my back. “What are you doing here? I thought you were just coming in town for the party tomorrow?”

  I bit my lip, not sure how to proceed. “Work wrapped up sooner than I thought, so I figured I’d surprise you.”

  “You have.”

  The four of us stood there as an awkward silence descended. Scarlett’s heart hammered so hard and fast I could see her pulse jumping in a vein on her neck. A natural curiosity about the dynamic between Scarlett and April crept over me. They were just about as polar opposite as two poles could be. April wore a sparkly sash across her boobs, claiming the title of Swallow Springs Homecoming Queen. Dark wash jeans encased long, lean legs and there was no way someone had eyes that color. At least, not naturally.

  “Do you want to join us?” Scarlett finally asked. She turned toward the stands and pointed to where a woman stood, waving her arms wildly in the air.

  Dottie shielded her eyes from the bright stadium lights. “Is that Jaylene Jackson?”

  “Sure is. She’s back to watch Rodney play.” Scarlett seemed to shake off some of her nervousness. Then she pressed tighter against my side, her breast squishing against my arm. “Jaylene’s my best friend from high school. I told you about her, remember?”

  It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, even though it did seem a bit strange how I’d gone from a last minute fill-in who was supposed to meet her at the country club tomorrow night to someone she pretended to be quite a bit more familiar with. It actually would have been pretty fantastic except she didn’t know I’d sprained my ankle and every time she pressed more weight against me, it made me want to shout out a four-letter word that would probably get me kicked out of Dottie’s one-room bed and breakfast.

  “Looks like the game is about to start.” I nudged my chin toward the field where the color guard had stepped out to raise the flag. Memories of my own time on the field filed through my head. There was nothing like a Friday night under the lights.

  “We’d better get to our seats.” Scarlett tugged on my arm. I took a step forward and pain sliced through my foot. I gritted my teeth.

  “I hope you enjoy the game.” April adjusted her sash as she took her seat.

  I gestured for Dottie and Scarlett to go first. They climbed the steps ahead of me, giving me a chance to check out Scarlett’s denim-encased ass. Her hips swayed side to side as she moved farther up the stairs. I could have lost myself in the trance of her sashaying backside but the band started to play the “Star Spangled Banner” so she stopped and spun around, her breasts smacking me right across the cheek.

  “Oh my God.” A rash the color of cranberry sauce crept up her neck and flooded her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

  I stifled a laugh while the cymbals crashed, the drums pounded, and the crowd belted out the last few bars. By the time we reached the row where her friend was, I was ready to sit and catch a few downs.

  “Hi, I’m Jaylene.” A woman leaned across Scarlett and shoved her hand in my abs. “It’s nice to meet you, Theo.”

  “Nice to meet you, too.”

  She let my hand drop then leaned forward, her elbow resting on her knee. “Scarlett tells me you’re going to the reunion with her tomorrow.”

  “Uh, yeah, that’s right. It was kind of a last minute thing.” Based on the way Scarlett had handled her buddy, April, I wasn’t sure exactly what she’d told people about us. Us. Ha. There was no us, so there was nothing to tell.

  Scarlett pushed her friend backward. “Give him some space. If you scare him off I won’t have a date for tomorrow.”

  “She told me she conned you,” Jaylene confided.

  “Jaylene, really.” Scarlett let out a huffy breath. A look passed between the two women. I had no idea what info was conveyed since no words were exchanged. But all of a sudden Jaylene laid off the questions and spun to face the field.

  “Who are we cheering for?” I asked.

  Scarlett handed me a pennant on a stick. “The Swallow Springs Swifties. My son is number twenty-seven.”

  I wasn’t sure what shocked me the most…that Scarlett had a son or that she had a kid old enough to play high school football.

  “Wait, you have a kid on the team?”

  “Sure do. I know I don’t look a day over twenty-five, but I can assure you, he’s mine.” She kept her face forward, but I sensed a bit of tension in the tight smile she pulled out of nowhere and pasted on her lips.

  She had a kid. That freaked me out a little. At my age it wasn’t totally unusual to come across single moms. But that had always been a no-fly zone for me. The women I’d dated in the past seemed to come with enough baggage of their own without adding an ex and a child into the mix.

  “I didn’t mean anything by that, you just don’t look like—”

  “She was a baby when she had her baby.” Jaylene’s mouth quirked up at the corner. “So Theo, where are you from?”

  Nice job by the wing woman on the change of subject. I’d go along with it. “Illinois. That awkward place where you can be within Kentucky, Illinois or Missouri within fifteen minutes.”

  “And you study bats?” she asked.

  “Kind of.” The Swifties had won the toss and deferred to the second half. I could almost taste the plastic of my mouth guard, feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as they lined up for the initial kick off.

  The whistle blew and the crowd cheered as the kicker sent the ball sailing into the opposite end zone.

  “Way to go, Liam.” Scarlett cupped her hands and shouted down the row. “Liam looks good.”

  “That’s Harmony’s son,” Jaylene explained. “You’re surrounded by football moms tonight.”

  “Great.” I couldn’t remember my own mother making it to any of my games. She and Dad were always off on a field study or presenting information to some conservation group somewhere.

  The opponent’s first possession ended with a punt at the forty yard line. Scarlett tapped on my knee. “Here he goes. I can’t look. Someone tell me what happens.” She covered her eyes with a hand.

  “This is his first game?” I asked. The kid appeared to know what he was doing. He got the play from the coach on the sideline then ran to the huddle to call it.

  “His first start on the varsi
ty team.” She peered through a break in her fingers. “Are they lined up yet?”

  I pulled her hand away from her eyes. “Hell, you’re making me nervous, and I have absolutely nothing riding on this game or any kind of hope for the outcome.”

  “Yes, you do.” She whipped her head to face me. “You have to cheer for the Swifties. You’re the quarterback’s mom’s date tomorrow night.”

  Putting my palms on either side of her cheeks, I turned her head to face the field. “You’re going to miss the snap.”

  She grabbed my hand as I moved it away from her face, and squeezed it as her son took the snap and pump faked toward his wide receiver. One of the Slammers was coming for him. I held my breath as the kid who looked like some of the college linemen I’d gone up against, breezed past the offensive line and connected with Rodney. The ball tumbled out of his hand and was recovered by the defense.

  “Oh, no.” Scarlett’s brow furrowed and she scooted to the edge of her seat on the bleachers as she waited for Rodney to get up. He hopped to his feet and jogged to the side of the field and the tension slipped out of her grip. “A turnover on his first play. Did you see the size of that kid? I want to see his birth certificate. There’s no way he’s still in high school.”

  Dottie pressed a hand to Scarlett’s knee. “That’s the Ashford’s boy. He’s still in high school because he’s been held back twice. Don’t you worry, Rodney will come through.”

  Scarlett must have realized she was still gripping my hand. She let it drop and shifted her butt back from the edge of her seat. “I just hope he gets a completion.”

  I didn’t voice my own concern. Hopefully he’d make it out of the game without getting his skull cracked open.

  By halftime the Swifties were down by fourteen and had yet to put any points on the board. I didn’t want to admit it, but I’d been enjoying my complete immersion into small-town life. Dottie had kept the conversation going by giving me more background information than I’d ever be able to remember about who was who, who’d grown up where, and most importantly, who was related to who. I’d never be able to keep it all straight, but it was nice to get a little history on everyone since I had yet to find a way out of my date with Scarlett.