And this was the result. He supposed he really couldn’t fault them for trying to do their jobs.
He sighed, cut the engine, and stepped from the car. He’d give them ten minutes.
Wow, it was hot out here. Temperatures had to be soaring close to triple digits if they weren’t already there. Even the pavement beneath his shoes felt sticky. He thought fondly of the Riversong sweatshirt folded at the top of his suitcase.
He tugged his sunglasses off—his agent always said he didn’t care how sunny it was, never give an interview wearing sunglasses. People didn’t trust someone when they couldn’t see their eyes.
He hoped his weariness didn’t show too much when he smiled for the cameras. “Afternoon. What can I do for you?” He nodded to a sports reporter he recognized. “Jim, how about we start with you.”
“You gave a statement yesterday in Washington that confirmed the rumors that your career as a football player is over.” Jim met him look for look. “I’m really sorry to hear about that, but can you tell us who will replace you?”
Jett kept his smile in place though his irritation was rising by the moment. Why did they insist on asking questions they knew he couldn’t give the answers to? Ones that they generally knew the answers to in the first place? He shook his head. “I can’t speak for the team, you know that, Jim. What I can say is that Dennis Macklin, who filled in for me in the last half of the season, is a great quarterback. If they don’t use him, it will only be because they’ve been able to sign someone better. And they’ll have to look long and hard to find anyone better.”
Jett felt quite proud of his politically correct answer that wouldn’t get him in trouble with the franchise, didn’t commit them to anything, but still gave the reporters an answer. He tipped his head to the next reporter with her hand up and spent the next five minutes giving similarly careful answers. Finally, he nodded to a woman in a gray blazer at the back of the pack.
“Like Jim, I too was very sorry to hear the full extent of your injury. What do you want now?”
Angel kisses and Riversong. The answer hit him like a punch in the stomach and he was glad he hadn’t blurted it out. He felt his face flush a little as he thought about what kind of headlines that answer would have provoked. He mumbled something about still being in the process of deciding what the future held for him, thanked them, and quickly returned to his car. Satisfied that he’d taken the time to give them an interview, the reporters moved out of his way, and he pulled through the electric gate, checking his rearview mirror to make sure it was shutting behind him and that no one tried to sneak through.
His garage door whooshed open, and he pulled the Lotus into its bay. But his hands were shaking on the wheel. He tipped his head against the headrest and studied the ceiling. In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. The verse that had puzzled him the other day returned to his memory. And the reason it kept coming to mind clicked into place.
He hadn’t known what to do with his future, but God had. And God had taken him to the very place where He wanted Jett to go. To the very person meant for him.
He trembled at the realization of how awesome it was to have a God who cared for him like that. There was even a football team that needed his help!
His mind scrambled. He had so much to do! Where did he even begin?
He would start with a phone call.
CHAPTER 19
Salem was in the middle of washing her hands when her phone started ringing. Her heart lurched, and she quickly snatched for a towel. She tugged her phone from her pocket and Jett’s name lit the screen. He’d actually kept his promise!
She answered, breathless, on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Angel.”
She sank into the chair across from Gran, who was still finishing her dinner. “You called.”
“Of course I called. I said I would.” His tone chastised her for not believing him.
“I know.” She rubbed her forehead, willing herself not to make too much of the call. “How was your flight?”
“Long,” he grumbled. “And lonely.”
“Hmmm. Janessa wasn’t there to keep you company, huh?” She hoped he could hear the teasing in her tone.
“Hey now,” he chuckled. “I said long and lonely, not excruciating and torturous.” A beat of silence passed before he lowered his voice and added. “There is only one woman I was wishing by my side.”
Not sure how to respond to that, she held her silence. She helped Gran steady her glass so she could drain the last of her milk.
Gran smacked her lips and swiped her mouth. “Is that Dale?”
“No. It’s Jett, Gran.”
“I want him to...” Gran made a strumming motion with her hand.
Salem smiled wistfully. Yet another set of words that she’d forgotten? “Gran requests that you come play the guitar for her.”
“I wish I could.” His tone lowered to an even more intimate level.
Salem wanted to remind him that he’d been the one to do the leaving, but chose silence as the better part of valor.
“I miss you.” His words struck a chord deep inside her.
She pulled in a steadying breath. “I miss you too.” She wanted to add “When are you coming back?” but knew bringing it up was hopeless. Besides, she didn’t want to be a downer.
Gran started to rise from her chair.
“Gran, hang on a minute. Jett, I’m sorry. I’m going to have to go.”
“It’s alright. I’ll call you this same time tomorrow?”
“Okay.”
“Bye, Angel.”
“Bye, Jett.” Her hand trembled as she punched the screen to hang up the call. How was it she’d come to care for him so deeply in such a short amount of time?
Jett called her at the same time each evening for three weeks straight. Sometimes if Gran was already in bed they would talk long into the night, but most of the calls still seemed much too short.
And then one day he didn’t call. She checked her ringer. Checked her battery strength. Even restarted the phone and then worried that he might have called in those few seconds and she’d missed him. But her log showed no missed calls.
She waited an hour and then she tried to call him, but got no answer. Worry cinched a knot in her chest. But Gran needed her, so she stuffed the phone into her back pocket and went to help her. She tried calling him several more times throughout the evening, but each time got no answer.
It was late evening when her doorbell rang and she opened it to find Zai on the other side.
Zai’s lips spread into a mischievous grin. “Hi there.”
Salem stepped back to let her in. “Hi yourself. What brings you out this way? Isn’t your shop still open?”
Zaire shrugged. “I decided to knock off early tonight.”
Salem’s eyes narrowed. “You never close early.” Especially not on a summer evening. Those were some of Riversong’s peak tourist shopping hours.
“I did tonight.” Zai reached out and gripped her arms with both hands. “Guess what I just heard?”
Salem tilted her head warily. “What?”
“Dale just got fired.”
“He didn’t!”
Zai gave a pert nod. “He did.”
Salem pressed a hand to her forehead. “I wasn’t trying to get him fired.”
Zai took Salem by the shoulders. “This is not your fault. He dug his own grave. And from what I heard, it wasn’t only the phony ticket he gave to Jett that got him canned. It was the straw that broke Merle’s back, so to speak. Apparently Merle had given him an ultimatum to straighten up or ship out after the Monica debacle.”
Salem sighed. Yes. She supposed having a department officer making a spectacle of himself on the landing of a motel along Main Street was probably grounds for a sound warning. “I wonder what he’s going to do?”
Zai lifted her hands. “You know Dale. He’ll find a way to bounce back. He always does.”
&
nbsp; Before Salem could continue the conversation, her phone rang. She glanced down to see that it was Jett.
Relief washed through her. Finally! She wrinkled her nose at Zai. “I kind of need to take this, sorry.”
Zai waved a hand and headed for the kitchen. “Go ahead. I’ll grab a snack.”
Salem followed Zaire. “Hi there,” she answered. “I’ve been worried about you.” She opened the cupboard and pointed Zai toward her favorite Club Crackers.
Zai pumped a fist and snagged the box.
“Yeah, I hope you aren’t too busy? Sorry to call late. It’s been one of those days.” There was something a little pinched about Jett’s voice.
“No nothing going on, really. Zai just stopped by, and Gran is in bed already. You sound out of breath. Everything okay?”
Zai stuffed two crackers in her mouth and munched on them happily. What was that twinkle in her eyes all about? Surely she wasn’t that happy about Dale getting the boot.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been a bit busy today. You remember the high school coaching job I told you I was going to take? I had a meeting with the hiring committee today. Good news is, I got the job.”
Salem’s heart sank. She pinched the bridge of her nose. He’d told her a couple weeks back that he’d decided to take a job coaching a high school team. But she’d selfishly been hoping the position would fall through. Then maybe he could come visit her for a short while before he went on the search for another job.
“Oh.” She wrinkled her nose at herself. Way to sound so enthusiastic, Salem. She purposefully injected a little more excitement into her tone. “When do you start?”
“Monday.” Was that a chuckle in his voice?
“I see.”
Her doorbell rang.
Salem covered the mic on her phone. “Zai, can you get that for me?”
Zai’s eyes widened. “No. Let me talk to Jett for a sec while you see who’s at the door.”
Salem frowned at her friend and tried to shoo her toward the door.
Zai held out a demanding palm, brows lifted. “It could be a package you need to sign for.”
“It’s not a package delivery at this hour!”
Zai maintained her stubborn pose, waiting for Salem to give her the phone.
Salem rolled her eyes. “Hang on, Jett. Someone’s at my door. Here, talk to Zai for a minute.” With a huff of irritation at her friend, Salem slapped her phone into Zai’s hand.
“Hi Jett! What’s up?” Zai’s voice sounded gratingly cheerful.
Irritated over so much more than just the interruption of the doorbell, Salem gritted her teeth and yanked open the front door. She squeaked and flung her hands over her mouth.
Jett stood on her front patio, arms folded, and a huge grin on his face.
Joy surging through her, Salem leapt forward and threw her arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?”
He laughed and swung her around in a full circle. “I live here.”
“You what?!”
Behind them Zai chuckled, one slender shoulder planted into the doorframe of the entry.
Salem shook a finger at her. “‘It might be a package you need to sign for,’” she mimicked her friend. “You were in on this!”
Zai only grinned angelically. “Pretty ingenious, right?”
Salem tipped her head back on a laugh. “Actually, I should have known something was up the minute you said it could be a package delivery!”
With an unperturbed shrug, Zai poked out her tongue. “But you didn’t.”
“No. I didn’t,” Salem conceded. Her arms remained around Jett’s neck, and she turned to study him. There was still plenty of light for her to take in the chiseled plains of his jaw, the deep tan of his golden skin, the striking gray-blue of his eyes. “I have no idea what’s going on.”
He grinned down at her. “Take a drive with me and I’ll explain everything.”
Zai raised a hand. “I’m here to stay with Gran.”
“Yes.” Salem felt like a giddy child, just released for summer break. “Let’s go.”
The door clicked softly as Zaire returned inside.
Jett took Salem’s hands and stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. His gaze swept over her. “You look even more beautiful than I remembered.”
Heat rushed through her cheeks. “You don’t look so bad, yourself.
He turned her toward his truck. “I have so much to tell you.”
“I believe you do, mister.”
He held the door for her and then jogged around to his side of the vehicle.
When he climbed in she said, “You still have the blue truck? I thought you would have sold it when you went back to Florida.”
He grinned. “I did. I sold her back to the same guy I bought her from in the first place. And then she was still sitting on the lot, like she was just waiting for me when I got back early this morning.” He winked at her. “That car dealer has made a pretty chunk of change off me.”
Jett pulled out of her drive and turned left, taking them deeper into the forest away from the heart of Riversong. He took her hand and they held their silence, simply reveling in each other’s company, without the need for conversation. Salem rolled her window down, allowing the fresh summer breeze to filter through the cab. The river burbled in the distance, and birds chirped lustily in the twilight. She had so many questions. But for now she was just trying to enjoy the moment. The scent of his sporty cologne on the breeze. The feel of his strong broad fingers laced with her own.
Out here, there were still houses along the road, but they were fewer and farther between. And the farther from town they went, the fancier the houses grew, and the larger the lots of land. Most of them were right along the river, built on parcels that had only recently been approved for public residential zoning. All of them were well out of Salem’s price range, but she loved to look at them. And she really had no complaints. Gran’s house might be old, but it had prime river views, and she was working on fixing it up.
Jett pulled into the drive of a large log cabin lit by the golden light of the setting sun, and cut the engine.
Salem frowned and peered toward the amazing house. “Maybe we shouldn’t park right in their drive?”
Jett waved a hand. “I don’t think he’ll mind.” A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, and Salem’s radar went on alert.
She remembered his comment about living here. “Wait a minute, you don’t—” She pointed to the house.
He nodded. “Signed the papers two days ago.”
“You really bought this place?” Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as she took in the gorgeous home with new appreciation. The view from the back deck had to be spectacular.
“I did. Want to see it?”
“Do I!”
Jett made it around to her side of the truck just as her feet touched the ground. He stepped right up to her, invading her space. One hand planted on the side of the truck and the other grabbing the doorframe, he leaned toward her. She held her breath as his gaze leisurely roamed her face. “First, I have a story to tell you.”
She smiled her curiosity. “Okay?”
Humor danced at the corners of his eyes. “You remember a few weeks back when you asked me what I wanted?”
Salem nodded.
“Well in that moment a verse ran through my head. I couldn’t figure out what it meant. In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. I tucked it away to think about later. But then, the day I got home to Florida there was a pack of reporters waiting for me when I got to my house. And one of them asked me a question that made me realize God was the one who directed me here to Riversong, right to the door of an amazing woman who makes me very happy, and that this was where I wanted to be.”
Salem pondered his words. “You know, that verse could really cover what I’ve been going through with Gran too! I worried that I wasn’t enough for her. I wanted so badly to find a great home for her to
be in, but like I told you that day, God is the one who worked this all out. He used Dale, whether Dale realized it or not, to keep me from getting that job with D.I.M.E.S., and much as I would have enjoyed working there, I think I’m exactly where God wants me to be.”
“I think you are too.”
“So what question did the reporter ask you?”
“She asked me what I wanted now that my career is over. And you know what immediately popped into my head?”
Salem clasped one hand around the doorframe and leaned toward him. She looked him right in the eyes. “What?”
“Angel kisses and Riversong.” His gaze dipped to her lips.
Salem’s heart slammed against her sternum.
He grinned. “I was really glad I didn’t blurt that out, because you can image the headlines that would have evoked.”
She chuckled. “Former Quarterback Seeks Celestial Companionship.”
He laughed, but leaned a little closer. “Indeed he does.”
Her brow furrowed. “Were you kidding about taking a job as a high school coach?”
He shook his head. “You are looking at the new head football coach of the Riversong Wave Riders.”
Salem grabbed a fistful of his shirt and punched his rock-hard abs playfully. “You are so mean. I was doing my very best to sound like I was so happy for you, when I was dying just a little inside.”
He grinned. “I could tell.”
She wrinkled her nose at him.
His gaze swept her face, lingering on her eyes before lowering to her mouth. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time.”
Salem leaned a little closer to him and tipped her face up. “And what is that?” She arched an innocent brow, anticipation zinging through her.
He chuckled, soft and low. “It’s more something I have to show you than tell you.”
Salem released a soft sigh. “You better show me quick, then. Before you change your mind.”
“Not a chance of that.”
And with the sun shooting golden rays of warmth through the back window of the cab, he lowered his mouth to hers.
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