Last Chance Hero

by Cathleen Armstrong

  Frankly, Jess wasn’t all that heartened at the thought of having a captive audience thanks to the popularity of the new football coach. Rita must have read her thoughts in her expression, because she flapped a dismissive hand.

  “Oh, don’t worry about the crowd coming to see Andy. He’s a hometown boy, and this town’s crazy about football anyway. Just take your blessings where you find them and make the most of it. You don’t have to say one thing about your new office if you don’t want to. Just tell us about yourself. Folks around here like to know their neighbors.”

  Jess sighed and shook her head. As much as she liked Rita, she was beginning to understand why people ducked into doorways when they saw her coming. The woman did not know the meaning of the word no.

  “Perfect!” She did, however, recognize surrender. “You won’t be sorry. I know it made a world of difference for Chris Reed. He was the first new business owner in Last Chance for probably twenty years, and you’d have thought he’d come to steal the silver, the way folks treated him. But all they needed was to get to know him to realize what a sweetheart he was. It will be the same with you.”

  “People think I’ve come to steal the silver?”

  “No, of course not, but some folks still need a little time to get used to newcomers.” Rita glanced at the clock on the wall behind the desk and grabbed at the doorknob. “Good night, look at the time. I meant to just pop in and drop off the plant, and here I’ve been talking your ear off like neither one of us has anything to do. Don’t forget—7:00 p.m., three weeks from Monday night at the community center. It will be fun, especially if the team has a few wins by then to crow over.”

  She breezed out, leaving the waiting room feeling even emptier than it had. Jess took a deep breath and slowly let it go.

  “Well, it looks like I’m going to Meet the Council three weeks from Monday.”

  “Yep.” Eva was doing something to her phone and didn’t look up.

  “Do you think the team will have a few wins to crow over by then?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe. But since I’m from San Ramon, the only Last Chance game I care about is the one they played last week.” She looked up from her phone with a triumphant little smirk. “And they got pounded.”

  “Let’s call it a day.” Andy walked up to his assistant coach. “It’s starting to get dark.”

  Kev nodded and blew his whistle, waving his arm in a circle around his head before pointing to the sports complex. Straggling in groups of two or three, the players pulled off their helmets and headed for the locker room. Kev and Andy fell in behind.

  “So, what do you think, Coach? Are you liking what you see?” Kev untied his sweatshirt from around his neck and pulled it over his head.

  Andy nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Most of these guys really want to play ball. What they might lack in innate talent, they make up for in drive. Unfortunately, there are a couple who have what it takes but want to skate by. I’ll take drive over so-called talent any day, so I think we have what it takes to win some games.”

  “Win some games? I think folks are counting on a lot more than some, Coach. Doesn’t sound like you’ve got a lot of confidence in the team.”

  “The season’s young yet. We’ve got a lot of games to go.” Andy grinned and slapped Kev on the shoulder as they entered the building. “Tell Zach Ellis I want to see him in my office before he goes, would you?”

  Andy was sitting at his desk about fifteen minutes later going over his notes when he heard a tap on his door and looked up to see Zach Ellis standing in the doorway.

  “You wanted to see me, Coach?”

  “Yeah, come on in.” He gestured with his chin toward a chair on the other side of his desk. “Have a seat.”

  Zach dropped into the chair and slouched against one arm. He gazed at Andy without saying anything, as if waiting for his coach to explain the summons.

  Andy ignored the little flare of annoyance he felt. Zach’s attitude was bordering on insolent, but Andy hadn’t called him into the office to chew him out. He decided to let it go. This time.

  “I saw your dad last weekend. Did he mention it?” Andy leaned back in his own chair and smiled.

  “Yeah. He said.”

  “I never connected you with him. I don’t know why. I guess I just never thought of him as being old enough to have a kid in high school.”

  “Mmm.” Zach lifted his chin in recognition that Andy had spoken.

  “I guess every kid who wants to play football has a hero. Your dad was mine. Every time he played, I’d get as close to the field as they let me and memorize every move he made. I just wanted to be Rob Ellis.”

  “Lucky you.” Zach smirked. “You turned out to be Andy Ryan instead.”

  Andy stopped smiling and folded his forearms on the desk. So much for pleasantries.

  “Your dad, whose opinion I respect, by the way, thinks you have what it takes to make a football player. Do you?”

  Zach shrugged. “You’re the coach.”

  Andy took a moment before answering. It couldn’t be clearer that Zach was doing everything he could to get some kind of a rise out of him, and he was just as determined not to take the bait. There might be occasions when he jumped all over Zach. That was just part of the job. But Andy would be the one who decided when and why that would be, not Zach.

  “You’re right. I am the coach. And with all respect to your dad, if all I had to go on was what I’ve seen so far, I’d say he was dead wrong.”

  Zach shifted slightly in his chair, and the smirk left his face.

  “Look, Zach, what’s going on? Your dad’s obviously seen something. Why haven’t I seen it?”

  The silence in the office grew while Andy waited for an answer. Finally Zach shrugged and looked away. “What’s the point?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what’s the point?” Zach’s voice rose. “I mean, look at my dad. I’ve heard people who’ve watched him play say he was even better than you were.”

  “He probably was.”

  “But because he played in this little Podunk town, no one ever knew that. There was no scholarship for him; there wasn’t even any college for him. He’s been working as a county lineman since he graduated from high school.” Zach’s voice shook. “Every year, he puts on an old letterman’s jacket that he can’t even snap up anymore for the Parade of Pumas. And everyone says, ‘Ooooh, there’s Rob Ellis. He was so good in his day,’ and he feels like a big shot one more time. I’m never going to let that be me.”

  Andy leaned back in his chair. Whatever he had expected, it was not this. “Does your dad know how you feel?”

  Zach shook his head. After a moment he swallowed and cleared his throat. “No. He was my hero too, you know. It was a big deal being Rob Ellis’s kid. I just don’t want to wind up having lived my best days before I turn eighteen.”

  “So what do you want, Zach? Is there something you’d rather be doing?”

  He sighed. “No. That’s the thing. I gotta say I love the game. In fact, when I found out you were coming, I thought I might get a chance to do something after all. But shoot, we were pathetic last Friday, and if you want to know the truth, I don’t think we have much of a chance this week either.”

  “You may be right. In fact, if everyone put forth the effort at practice you did this week, I’d say we’re almost guaranteed a loss.” He paused and held Zach’s gaze a long moment. “But I’ll make a deal with you. If you give me all you’ve got from this minute on, and I mean a hundred and ten percent, and if you’re as good as your dad thinks you are, I’ll help you get your shot. But I’ve sure got to see a whole lot more than I’ve seen so far.” Zach started nodding and Andy waved him toward the door. “You better get on home. It’s getting late. Your folks will wonder where you are.”

  After Zach left, Andy leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across the top of his head. Rob was biased, of course, as every father was, but Andy had noticed an easy grace in Zach
when he was on the field, so maybe there was something there. He had no idea if Zach could get a scholarship at a top school, but he could probably get one somewhere, and all a kid really needed was a chance.

  12

  The roar of Puma pride that had permeated every corner of the town when Jess arrived in Last Chance had quieted to a low grumble by the night of the town council meeting. Last Chance High’s record stood at 1–3, and even their single win gave more cause for complaint than for triumph.

  “You are a brave woman.” Andy slid behind the wheel of his truck after closing Jess’s door and started the engine. “If you had suddenly decided you needed to go to this thing on your own, I sure would have understood. I hope you brought your doctor stuff, because there will be blood.”

  “I may have a Band-Aid or two in my purse. If there’s not too much blood, that ought to work.” Jess turned to smile at Andy, but he looked pretty grim for someone who had just made a joke. She leaned back against the door so she could see him better. “Are you serious? Rita said this was just a friendly get-together.”

  “Nah. I’m just kidding.” Andy threw her a quick grin. “Folks take their football pretty seriously, but other than the occasional parking lot fistfight, they don’t get violent.”

  “Fistfight?” Suddenly the very benign, warm and friendly event Rita had promised was appearing to Jess in a whole new light. She didn’t have much to say for the rest of the short drive.

  Andy pulled into a parking space at the community center and shut off the ignition.

  “Look.” He reached across the seat and enveloped Jess’s hand in his own, giving it a little shake. “Everything is going to be fine, okay? There will not be blood; there will be no fights. First of all, Rita would never allow the chief ingredient of a parking lot fistfight to cross the threshold of a town council meeting. She serves coffee only. And second, these are good folks. I’ve known them all my life. Sure, they’ll have some tough questions, but I’m okay with that. It’s just part of my job.”

  When Jess got out of the pickup, she was beginning to feel a little better, and when Andy joined her and gave her a wink and a smile, she almost relaxed. But when he pushed the door open for her and she walked past him into the hall, he leaned down to whisper, “But keep the Band-Aids handy just in case.”

  Rita spotted them the minute they came in, waving and tucking her clipboard under her arm as she bustled across the room to greet them.

  “There you are! I was beginning to think you weren’t going to come.”

  Jess glanced at her watch. It was ten minutes to 7:00 and the room held maybe twenty people, including the half dozen or so seated at a long folding table at the front of the room. She exchanged a glance with Andy.

  Rita appeared to be too busy with her clipboard to notice. “So, here’s the schedule.”

  She ran through the night’s agenda without looking up from her clipboard or even taking a breath, and when she finally looked up with a smile and said, “Any questions?” Jess found she had none. In fact, she would have been hard pressed to repeat almost anything Rita had just told her. Only one thing registered with her. She would be introduced and speak before Andy.

  Rita gave them about two seconds to respond before continuing. “All righty then. We’ll be starting here in seven minutes, so go on and mingle.”

  She gave Jess’s arm a little pat, but her gaze had already landed on a new arrival she clearly needed to talk to before the meeting began, and waving her arm to flag him down, she took off again.

  Jess turned to Andy, but before she could say anything, a man in well-worn jeans and a blue plaid shirt approached them and nodded. “Evening. Nice to see you, ma’am. So how are we looking for Friday, Coach?”

  As two or three more men ambled over to join a conversation that obviously didn’t include her, Jess looked around the room. A few more people had arrived, bringing the total to around thirty. Most stood chatting in groups of three or four, and a few were drawing coffee from a large urn into Styrofoam cups. Jess took a deep breath. Time to mingle.

  When Rita called the meeting to order a few minutes later, Jess was laughing with two older women and the recently married daughter of one of them. As much as she appreciated that Rita had taken her under her wing and introduced her to everyone she could think of, Jess couldn’t help noticing that when she was on her own, people didn’t seem to have that deer-in-the-headlights expression they assumed when Rita loomed up before them. In fact, everyone was downright friendly and welcoming, and for the first time since she arrived in Last Chance, Jess began to truly feel she might belong here one day.

  Finally, after the Pledge of Allegiance, the opening prayer, and Rita’s extravagant introduction, Jess found herself standing before the small crowd. She recognized Russ Sheppard sitting at the council table, and Juanita was there in the second row. A few of the others also looked a little familiar, but the only smile came from the young newlywed she’d spoken with before the meeting.

  She smiled back and looked out over the small assembly as she took a deep breath. “Hi, I’m Jess MacLeod. Rita asked me to tell you all a little about myself, but my goodness, anything I could say after that introduction would only take the gloss off. I’m tempted to stop right here.”

  There were a few chuckles and some more smiles, and Jess relaxed. The twenty minutes Rita had allotted her went by much faster than she imagined they would, and before she knew it, she was asking for questions.

  The faces were friendly enough, but there were no questions, and after a moment she smiled and said, “Well, thank you for listening. I loved getting to know some of you tonight, and I intend to get to know all of you better. I think one of the best decisions I ever made was coming to Last Chance, and I hope to be here a long, long time. Rita told me that this was just supposed to be a friendly get-together, but you know that I can’t sit down without giving at least one bit of medical advice: flu season’s on its way, so don’t forget to get your shot.”

  The crowd chuckled and applauded as Jess joined Andy on the first row. She leaned over to whisper, “Piece of cake. A lot of worry for nothing.”

  “For you, maybe.” Andy crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

  “And now, I’m pleased to introduce someone who needs no introduction.” Rita stood at her chair behind the long folding table and beamed, first at Andy and then at the room.

  For someone claiming Andy needed no introduction, Rita certainly had a lot to say about him, his years growing up in Last Chance, and his football career after he left. She finished up by saying, “Let’s welcome Last Chance’s own hometown hero, the boy who made us proud—Coach Andy Ryan.”

  The applause that greeted Andy as he stepped to the front was less than tepid, even for a small crowd, and Jess, remembering how much that single smile had meant when she was up there, gave him one of her own.

  “Well, I’m guessing that you didn’t come out tonight to hear about me.” He leaned his weight on one foot and shoved his hand in his jeans pocket. “I’m thinking you came to talk football.”

  “You got that right.” The muttered comment came from somewhere in the middle of the room.

  “Then let’s talk football.” Andy shifted his weight and gave a half grin. “I don’t need to tell you that we’ve had a rough start to the season. Shoot, you were there. You saw it. But as you know, with nearly half the team last year graduating, we’ve got a young team. There’s a lot of potential there, though, and I think you’re going to see some good football before the season’s out.”

  In an easy, relaxed manner, Andy went on to talk about the team, its weaknesses and strengths, his confidence in them, and his belief that despite the year’s disappointing beginning, a winning season was still within their grasp.

  “So keep coming out to support your team.” He was beginning to wrap things up, and Jess became aware of movement and a slight restlessness behind her. “If you’re a parent, keep it upbeat. Believe me, between me and Kev Gal
legos, they get all the coaching they need, and then some. Just keep that Puma pride up; we’ll do the rest. Now, I’ll bet we have some questions.”

  Almost before he finished speaking, Jess heard the scraping of chairs against the linoleum floor. Andy pointed over her head to someone behind her. “Yeah. Les.” Jess looked over her shoulder to see a wiry older man with a salt and pepper mustache and denim jacket get to his feet.

  “I get what you’re saying, Andy. The boys, most of ’em anyway, do lack experience, and like you say, your toughest teams were stacked there at the beginning of the season.” He paused a beat or two. “But what in Sam Hill happened with Otero Valley? I don’t think Otero Valley’s won a dozen games in the last ten years, and we beat ’em by one lousy point. One! And if they’d ’a made that field goal in the last thirty seconds, they’d ’a beat us too.” He stared at Andy as if he couldn’t believe he even had to ask the question, threw up his hands in a gesture of hopelessness, and sat down, still shaking his head.

  “What can I tell you, Les? Other than to say that upsets sometimes come out of nowhere. That’s why they call them upsets. Otero fields an experienced team this year, and we’ve got young players at nearly all positions. But don’t forget, whether you win by forty points or by one, they still put that W in your column. Your team won that one. Be proud of ’em.”

  Almost before Andy finished speaking, someone else got to his feet, and frustration that had been building since Last Chance lost its second game began to spill all over the community center hall. Jess knew of the Glory Days, Last Chance High’s eighty-four-game win streak, of course. It was Last Chance lore. But if she thought it was an impressive, once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, clearly the people in this room did not. As far as they were concerned, by returning to Last Chance, Andy Ryan had implicitly promised the return of the Glory Days as well. And the disappointment that it wasn’t going to begin this year, with this team, was almost palpable.