The Heart Will Lead You Home

by Kristin Leedy

“What?” She supposed he’d been expecting a fight, because she heard him sigh deeply and run his strong hands through his wet hair. “Payton Cartwright? It’s a family name. One of my grandfathers, or maybe a great-grandfather was a senator. Perfect name for a senator. My parent’s decided it was the boy that grew into his name instead of the other way around, and felt if they named me after him that I’d grow up to be something great one day.”

  “Oh.” Figured. He certainly looked like was going to be something great one day- he definitely had the stubborn set to his jaw when he wanted something done his way. Not that she’d ever tell him that.

  He left shortly after, and she wondered if she’d done something to upset him, but tried not to dwell too much on it. She’d been thinking too much about him lately as it was, and she certainly didn’t want him weighing on her mind even more. He had no idea what he’d done by befriending her that summer, and she hoped more than anything that when they started school in the fall he wouldn’t treat her like she was still that same piece of dirt that she’d been the past two years.

  Grace returned home two weeks before school started, and Lizzie was ecstatic to have her friend back. Her normally brilliant red, short cropped hair that framed a pudgy little face, had grown a little longer until it almost skimmed the top of her shoulders. Little freckles had popped out on her skin from all the sun she received at camp, but none of that mattered to Lizzie, because at last her friend was home.

  They spent an entire day trying to convince Faith to take them to Clarkston for a pre-school shopping spree, and finally wore her down just before supper that night. The next morning, the girls were buzzing around Lizzie’s room chattering about all the cool clothes they would buy on their trip that day.

  Two hours later they strolled through the mall, having convinced Faith to come back for them at five that afternoon to pick them up. So for now, it was the two of them, and an entire summer to catch up on. Lizzie had been dying to tell Grace about her days by the pond, and she couldn’t wait any longer.

  She leaned over and whispered it into her ear.

  “You spent an entire summer with who?” Grace yelled it so loud Lizzie was positive the entire mall would stop shopping to listen. Lizzie slapped a hand over her friend’s mouth and gave her the evil eye.

  “Shh. What are you trying to do, tell the whole world?”

  “Oh, come on. Like the whole world doesn’t already know. You don’t spend your days goofing off with the most popular guy in school and expect for everyone not to know.”

  “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s how it was, and I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s going to stay.” The pleading in her eyes was desperate, and Grace finally gave in to her friend.

  “All right, well let’s hear the details seeing as my summer was way too boring for words.”

  Three brand new outfits later and the summer details had been shed. Grace stood open mouthed outside the dressing room door, whispering frantically through the slits in the door to her friend on the other side.

  “He pulled you into the water!”

  “Yes, now keep your voice down,” Lizzie hissed.

  “Was it like, the coolest thing that has ever happened to you?” Silence on the other side. “Well, was it?”

  “I’m sure it’s not like meeting your future rock star lover or anything, but yeah, it was.” Grace knew it, she just knew it, and she beamed on the opposite side of the door.

  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “What?”

  “You’re going to have to put out for him.” The door swung open and Grace found herself being drug inside by surprisingly strong arms.

  “What!”

  “You heard me. He’s a jock, Lizzie, and jocks expect for girls to put out. That’s just part of their genetics or something.”

  “Oh, shut up! He pulled me into the pond, he didn’t ask to marry me, and it’s not even like he’s going to talk to me when we get back to school. He was just bummed because his friends were off at camp.” Grace folded her arms and gave Lizzie a look. “What’s that look for? It’s true.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “Well believe it, Carrot, because it’s true.”

  “He’s gonna make you put out and—did you just call me Carrot?”

  “Yeah.” Lizzie smiled and slid the top she’d been trying on back onto the coat hanger. “You look like a carrot with that red hair and all those freckles. It’s kind of cute.”

  Grace didn’t look like she thought it was too cute. “Yeah? Well, you look like a string bean. You’re so tall and skinny.” Lizzie hugged her friend to cheer her up.

  “You can call me Bean if I can call you Carrot.”

  “Or we could come up with cooler names like…Spike and Killer.” But she laughed when Lizzie turned her nose up at those names. “All right. Spike, er, Bean and Kil— Carrot it is.”

  “Now, swear to me that what you said isn’t true,” Lizzie said as they walked to the cash register. She pinched the red head when she simply shrugged her shoulders.

  “Ouch. Okay, if you say that you and Payton are just friends then I think you’re safe. But boys don’t pull girls into the water just to be funny, and when you find out what his ulterior motive is, I’m pretty sure there’s gonna be some putting out involved.”

  That made Lizzie’s stomach hurt so she refused to talk about that or Payton for the rest of the summer.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ed Benford watched his two daughters get ready for the first home football game of the season. In his opinion any make-up was too much make-up, and he was having a really hard time not saying anything about the blush and mascara Lizzie was currently damaging her face with.

  Tenth grade. Could his oldest baby actually be in the tenth grade? And little Mary Catherine was in the eighth. His heart felt a little tight, and he wondered if he was having early signs of a heart attack.

  Ever since this summer, Lizzie had really taken to watching her appearance, and it sort of disturbed him. He supposed it was only natural for a teenage girl to want to look her best, but it made him feel like he was losing her to life and he wasn’t ready for that.

  “Okay girls, mama said it’s time for dinner.” He cleared the slight frog in his throat.

  Both girls groaned. “But dad, we’re doing our make-up.”

  “Nope. Make-up doesn’t constitute a dinner skip. No anorexics in this household, and I mean it. You’ve got five minutes to get to that table or we’re blessing it without you.” It was a definite no-no to arrive at the table after the blessing, so Lizzie and Mary Catherine got their make-up doing butts in gear.

  They had fifteen minutes before kick-off by the time they had scarfed down the potato salad, creamed corn, and bar-b-q pork their mom had fixed, so they finished primping and hurried out the door. Lizzie was so excited about the game she could hardly wait.

  She, Grace, and Mary Catherine had already planned to make their move closer to the section in the stadium where all the high-school kids sat and she had a nervous pitch to her stomach. She wanted it to go well, and a sliver of hope that it just might crept into her body.

  She smiled at Grace as she caught up with them, and they all linked arms as they walked the rest of the way. Yes, this year was definitely turning out better than the last two. A recent memory floated up in her mind.

  On her first day back to school, Slate had cornered her at her locker and she’d been ready to give the big bully a piece of her mind, when a blur of a male form shoved him out of the way and stepped in between them. She stared straight into Payton’s muscular back and loved the scent of him standing there in front of her as he defended her.

  “Stop it, Slate.”

  “Stop what?” Slate laughed sheepishly. “Oh, me and New Girl weren’t doing nothing. I was just asking her about her summer.” But he’d dropped his eyes when Payton’s gaze remained direct and hard on his face. “Honest, Payton, I wasn’t doing nothing.”

  �
��Listen, and listen hard, Slate. No one picks on her anymore, and I mean no one. If you’ve got a problem with her then bring it to me and I’ll straighten it out.”

  Slate had slunk away like a wounded puppy-dog and Lizzie’s heart had been pounding in her chest. She would never forget the way those green eyes lit with fury and rage as he’d turned to her. “Don’t let him treat you like that, Lizzie. I mean it. You come get me if he…” he paused to lift her chin so she was looking him dead in the eye. Little sparks went off inside her. “If he or anyone tries anything, you let me know. Okay?”

  He’d smiled then, and those emerald eyes softened in that tanned gorgeous face.

  “Okay,” she’d said weakly, and watched as he faded off down the hall.

  An instant memory was etched in her mind of that adorable butt as it strutted off with the rest of his body, and she smiled as she finally got it. For once, she finally understood what the boy-crazy girls meant.

  The stadium was already almost filled to over flowing, and the roar of the crowd as they talked over the blaring band was like music to Lizzie’s ears. It still amazed her that football, especially high school football, could mean so much to a town, but in a way she also loved this little town for all the support they gave their team. Even all of Granny’s friends, the town safety patrol, had banded together and reserved a row of the bleachers where they sat at all the home team games.

  Lizzie could feel her body beating to the rhythm of the drums in the band, and she smiled to her friends as they took their seats near the back of the section where all the high school kids sat. She cheered with the rest of the school when the varsity cheerleaders ran out from the bottom ramp of the stadium followed by the hulking forms of DixieAcademy’s Varsity players.

  She spotted number sixteen right away, along with a mass of other girls that screamed their heads off to catch the attention of the now available quarterback. There wasn’t a more desirable boy in school. Lizzie rolled her eyes and thanked the stars that she had more sense than to join in with them.

  The team was up against Hillside High for the first game of the season, and it was well known that Hillside had a killer defense. But, Lizzie had heard the rumors flying that the team had been preparing for weeks for this game and they should pull through with no problem.

  Unfortunately it looked like the team missed the memo, because they stunk up the field and looked like an even worse team than Valley View by five minutes into the first quarter, and even the cheerleaders looked a little like they could use a pep talk before they went on. The end of the first quarter came, and Dixie’s starting quarterback, Blake Holden, had been sacked and in the process seemed to have done some damage to one of his knees. The coach pulled him from the field and sent him to the hospital he was in that much pain.

  The crowd went wild when the second string quarterback, Payton Cartwright was called in. It looked, if Lizzie didn’t know any better that Payton was going to be the new leading man on the football team. Secretly, it made her happy. No one deserved success like him.

  By half time Dixie had kicked into high gear and the fans were cheering their heads off and cheerleaders were doing push-ups all over the place to keep up with the touchdowns the team was making. It was more fun than Lizzie remembered having at a game since, well… last season.

  She paused to take in the sights and scents around her. Smiling fans, laughing school kids, peppy cheerleaders. The scent of popcorn and coke, the smell of grass cut that afternoon and now roughened from the force of all those moving bodies. The clash of bodies and pads, the lights that buzzed around the track and sent rays of light down on the field.

  For some reason she had loved these games since the first time she had gone, and now it was just another part of her that would always remind her of the good times in this town. Maybe it was this, sitting here in the bleachers screaming her head off with the other fans that made her know that more than any place on Earth, Edenville was her home.

  For the first time in her life, she felt that missing link click into place. She closed her eyes and lifted her head up to the darkened evening sky, and felt peace as it washed over her. At last, she thought. At last she had found home.

  Payton rubbed his throwing arm and set the ice pack back on it as he slipped his pads off his shoulders. Tonight had been a rough game, but the team had come through, and he had survived his first full game as the starting quarterback of the varsity team. It was a high all its own, this feeling of knowing he controlled the shots, and he controlled the fate of his team.

  What a humbling experience, he thought all at once, and for the first time that night he felt exhaustion caving in on him.

  A strong hand on his back brought him to attention, and he turned to see the dark brown eyes of his father watching him. “Good job, son. I’m real proud of you.”

  Payton smiled, the light of the world reflected in his eyes. Here before him, his hero, his idol, his father stood telling him what a good job he’d done. There was nothing sweeter to his ears.

  “Thanks dad. I owe it all to you.” And he meant every word that he said.

  “Listen son, I know you’re headed out to the post-game party, but I just wanted to catch you before you left. Have fun tonight, and don’t get in to too much trouble.”

  “Thanks, I’ll try.” He turned back to throw his muddied jersey into his duffel bag. “Hey, dad? You want to go fishing with me tomorrow?”

  He knew the answer by looking in his dad’s eyes, but he tried not to be disappointed. “Sorry, kiddo. I’ve got a business meeting out of town, but I’ll be back in a few days, and we’ll go then. I’m leaving now, so look after your mother for me, alright?”

  “Sure, dad.” He wrapped a towel around his waist, and turned back to his locker. “See you when you get back.”

  The insane flock of female bodies knocked him around when he got to the party, but he smiled and took the red plastic cup that someone handed him. The mass of bodies pressed against him, each trying with all her might to convince him she was the next one to fill his vacant girlfriend position.

  For a moment he could imagine on a smaller scale what it must be like to be some famous rock or movie star and have people hanging all over you every time you stepped out the front door. It was fun now, considering it was the first game of the season, but he could imagine that it would get old pretty quick, but at the moment Payton smiled at all the girls huddled around him telling him how great he’d looked in his jersey as he’d thrown the winning touchdown.

  You’d have thought with the way all the girls hung on him, that he was a famous quarterback from a major NFL team instead of a tenth grade football player. But it didn’t take a genius to realize that in this small southern town, even tenth grade football players could be stars, heroes, and gods. And it was obvious that for Payton this was the case.

  Even last week when he’d stopped in the pharmacy to pick up his mom’s prescription, a little first grader named Tim had asked him for an autograph. Payton had been floored, and had grinned from ear to ear the whole way home.

  Currently, some girl from a neighboring high school was tucking her number into the front pocket of his pants, brushing curiously close to something she had no right to be touching, and Payton jumped back in startled surprised. “Hey, whatcha doin’ there, sweetheart?” The girl giggled and sauntered off, making sure he was watching her shapely backside sway back and forth as she went.

  “Payton, over here!” He looked around to find Colin, Bud, and Hank waving to him from a safe spot a few yards away in the bed of Hank’s pickup truck.

  “Hey, Man. Awesome game, QB.” Bud smacked him hard on the back and grinned widely as the hero of the hour jump and landed gracefully on the lowered tailgate of the truck.

  “Yeah, it was pretty good, wasn’t it? We couldn’t have done it without our three key offensive linemen, though.” Payton laughed when the three puffed out their chests and gave each other congratulatory pats as well.

  He s
kimmed the crowd as the others talked about which cheerleader was the hottest, but didn’t find what he was looking for. He wondered why he had even bothered looking, but he had hoped that maybe Lizzie would have decided to pass up a Friday night of studying and come to the post-game party instead.

  He knew better than to really expect her there, but some small part of him had hoped, and he couldn’t help but feel the briefest tug of regret that she hadn’t shown.

  What was it about her? He wondered, as his friends discussed strategies for conquering next week’s opponent. And why did he even care about a dark haired science geek when he could take his pick from any one of a hundred girls roaming about the party. Just then he pictured her face all wet and pouty after he had thrown her in the pond last summer, and he smiled to himself. He had had more fun with her over the summer than he had realized at the time.

  It was almost like the girl he had discovered over the summer was a completely different person than the one he passed in the halls of school every day. The girl at school was quiet, and shy. She kept to herself, didn’t talk unless provoked, and she always studied. Not that she wasn’t always reading when he saw her over the summer, too.

  But the girl he had seen in those hot summer months was energetic and alive. She had a spark to her and he could see a hint of something even more powerful underneath. It was almost as if the real Lizzie was who he had seen when he was alone with her during those days at the pond. The one he had seen just a glimpse of the day Lou Ann taunted her into a fight at school. There was something about her, Payton mused as he let his brain float back to the party. Something that he could see, but no one else could.

  How long, he wondered, until she couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore?

  “Wow, deep thoughts going on in that head of yours?” Colin waved a hand in front of Payton’s face, then snapped his fingers to bring him back to attention.

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve been, like, staring off into the distance for at least five minutes. Snap out of it or people will start to think that defensive lineman hit you harder than we thought.”