Last Chance Hero

by Cathleen Armstrong

  As she drove down the street, past Elizabeth’s house where a light still shone from behind drawn curtains and Sam sat like a loaf in front of the door, she found herself smiling. Despite spending most of the evening with her face buried in a sofa pillow, she had had a good time, a really good time.

  The distant racket Jess had begun to notice as she approached Main Street had grown to almost deafening proportions as she came to a stop at the blinking red light that hung swaying in the wind over the intersection. Two school buses, still adorned with butcher paper banners proclaiming “Pluck the Eagles” and “Here Come the Pumas” passed by, leading a seemingly endless procession of cars and pickups, all with horns blaring and passengers leaning out the windows shouting at the empty street.

  If anyone still left in Last Chance had turned in early, Jess had a feeling they were awake now. She also had a feeling that they didn’t mind a bit.

  14

  Here you are! It’s been so long, I thought maybe you had forgotten how to get here.” The strikingly pretty woman who opened the door reached up to kiss Andy on the cheek before turning to Jess and extending her hand. “And you’re Dr. MacLeod. I’m so glad to finally meet you. Come in! Come in! James, they’re here.”

  “Please. Call me Jess.” Jess spoke to no one in particular since all attention had returned to Andy.

  “Great game last night.” The dark-haired man with a goatee, who must have been James, got out of his chair and met Andy in the middle of the room with a half hug and a handshake. “It’s been way too long. Good to see you, Andy. Welcome home.”

  “And these rascals are Ethan and Tyler. They have been out of their minds since I told them you were coming. I hope you don’t mind, but I told them you might autograph their footballs.” Heather turned to two boys, each clutching a football, huddling together behind their dad. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, boys, don’t you think we should at least let him get in the door before you bring those things out? Now, why don’t you come shake hands and show that you’ve learned a few manners.”

  “Hey, guys, how’re you doing?” Andy grinned and shook each small hand. “I hear you play a little football yourselves.”

  “Yeah, flag.” Ethan spoke with studied nonchalance. “We don’t get to play tackle till middle school.”

  “That’s time enough. You’ll still get plenty of football in.” He reached out his hand. “What you got there?”

  Without a word, Ethan handed over his football, and Andy took it. “Got a felt-tip pen?”

  Tyler, who had yet to say anything, produced the pen, and Andy autographed the footballs, one after the other.

  Jess, still standing near the door, watched as Heather posed Ethan, Tyler, and Andy for pictures. Not until Andy looked over at Jess with a shrug and a half smile did Heather seem to remember Jess was there.

  “Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry. This family just lives and breathes football, and once we get started, there’s no stopping us.” She gestured toward the sofa. “Come meet the gang while I go get dinner on the table. Andy, you do the honors.”

  Heather disappeared into the kitchen while Andy introduced Jess to James and the boys. James nodded and said, “Ma’am,” the boys didn’t say anything, and everybody found places to sit in the small living room.

  James shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. “So, how do you like Last Chance so far?”

  “The longer I’m here, the more I love it. Are you a native?” Jess’s cheek muscles were beginning to hurt from smiling.

  “Yup. So are the boys here. Heather too, for that matter. We all are.”

  “Wow.” Jess nodded, still smiling. “You don’t see a lot of that where I’m from.”

  “Z’at right?” Clearly, James was a man of few words.

  Jess glanced over at Andy, watching the conversation, if you could call it that, with his ankle resting on his knee and one arm draped across the back of the sofa. Anytime you want to chime in here, Andy, feel free.

  While Jess cast around trying to think of something else to say, James addressed Andy. “Gotta say, Andy, those boys keep playing like they did last night, and we might just see a winning season yet.”

  “You were at the game?” Andy deftly caught the ball Tyler threw him and lobbed it back.

  “Are you kidding?” Heather stuck her head around the corner from the kitchen. “I’m surprised you couldn’t hear us. I was hoarse this morning, I screamed so much. That was the most exciting game I’ve seen in years. And Tyler, no football in the house.”

  “Oh, man! When 84 intercepted that pass in the end zone and ran it 104 yards for a touchdown, I just went crazy. I was screaming so loud.” Ethan was actually bouncing in his chair with the memory.

  Tyler grinned and bounced a little himself but had yet, as far as Jess could tell, to say a word. Clearly a boy who would take after his dad.

  “When the lead kept changing hands during the first half, I thought I was going to die.” Heather had abandoned the kitchen and perched on the arm of Ethan’s chair. “But the second half was all Last Chance.”

  “45–21.” Ethan collapsed against the back of his chair in satisfaction, lightly tossing his autographed football.

  “Yup,” said James.

  “Sounds exciting, all right.” Truthfully, Jess had no idea what they were talking about, but there was no question that some remarkable football had been played.

  “Weren’t you there?” Ethan stopped tossing his football and stared at her.

  “Um, no, I didn’t go to the game.” Jess felt a little warm.

  “Why not?” Tyler did have a voice after all, and he could sound downright indignant too. Who knew?

  “Come on, boys, don’t badger Dr. MacLeod.” Heather tousled Ethan’s hair. “Doctors don’t get to do everything they want to, you know. They have to take care of sick people, and people don’t always pick a good time to get sick, right, Dr. MacLeod? Were you on call last night?”

  “Well, no, I wasn’t.” Everyone was looking at her. What could she say? That she was watching The House Down the Road 4 and eating cheesecake?

  Finally, Andy came to her rescue, if you could call it that. “Actually, Jess isn’t a real big football fan yet, but I think we can change that once we get her to a game, don’t you, Tyler? She just doesn’t know what she’s missing, that’s all.”

  Jess shot a look at Andy. She had hoped he would say that not everyone liked football and that not everybody needed to, but when she looked at the incredulous faces of the boys and the polite but stiff smiles of the parents, she realized he had probably done her a favor. After all, they had just arrived, and it could wind up being a long evening.

  “Tell you what.” Heather got to her feet and put her hand on Jess’s shoulder as she headed back to the kitchen. “You sit with us at the next game, and we’ll tell you what’s happening on the field. Once you know what’s going on, you’ll be hooked.”

  “If I can, sure.” Jess took a deep breath. “But as you said, my time’s not always my own. I’ll have to see how things are next Friday.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll give you a call Friday to see how things are going. Now, guys.” She glanced at her watch. “Dinner will be on the table in twenty minutes, so get all this football talk out of your system, because once we sit down, we’re going to talk about something Dr. MacLeod might be interested in.”

  “Oh, no.” Jess held up a hand. “Don’t stop on my account. Maybe I’ll learn something. And please, call me Jess.”

  Heather smiled without promising anything and gave Jess’s shoulder a pat. “Why don’t you come in the kitchen with me? You can keep me company while I get dinner on the table.” She led Jess from the room while calling over her shoulder, “Remember, guys, twenty more minutes and we change the subject, so make it count.”

  Jess gave up. They could call her what they wanted and talk about whatever they felt like. She’d do her best to keep up, and let it go at that.

  “What can I do to help?”
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  “Not a thing.” She pointed at a stool. “Just sit right there and talk to me.”

  Jess climbed on the designated stool and looked around. “I love all your chiles. Red is such a happy color for a kitchen.”

  Heather looked up from her stove and shrugged. “It’s more my mother-in-law’s taste than mine. I don’t even know if they sell red chile wallpaper anymore, although I’m sure you can still find all the chile light switch covers and trivets you want at any souvenir shop in the state. A complete kitchen remodel is on our ‘someday list,’ but every time it gets anywhere near the top, something comes along and bumps it back down.” She bent down to pull a pan of corn muffins out of the oven. After setting it on a wrought iron trivet adorned with red and green chiles, she turned around and leaned against the counter, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, how did you meet Andy? Obviously not at a football game.”

  “I met him my first day in town, actually. Rita took me to the Dip ’n’ Dine to meet people, and he was there having breakfast.” Jess tried not to feel as if she were being quizzed. “Then a day or so later, I ran into him while I was out running, and we became running buddies until football practice started.”

  “Ah, old friends then.” Heather’s smile was warm and friendly, and Jess wondered at the little wave of uneasiness that rippled through her.

  “Not when compared to the history you all have, of course. Andy told me that the three of you go way, way back.”

  “I guess we do at that, the three of us.” Heather made a little face that Jess couldn’t read. “What did he tell you about us? I should get a chance to defend myself, don’t you think?”

  “Nothing that needs defending, I promise.” Jess grinned. “Just that you all had met in Sunday school even before you started kindergarten and had been friends all your lives.”

  “Yes, that’s all true.”

  Andy really had not said much about these old friends he said he wanted her to meet, but clearly Heather was looking for something more, so Jess dug deeper, trying to remember anything else he might have said.

  “Oh, he did say that one of the best things about coming home again was the chance to reconnect with old friends.”

  “There’s nothing like reconnecting with old friends, is there? Unless it’s making new ones.” Heather’s shoulders seemed to relax a bit, and the smile she turned on Jess was warm and confident. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind helping me get these platters on the table, we can call the guys.”

  As Heather had decreed, there was no football talk at the table, and at the beginning of the meal, she made every effort to include Jess, but gradually and inevitably, the conversation turned to old times and old friends. Attempts to bring Jess up to speed regarding who and what they were talking about grew cumbersome and finally stopped, though whenever anyone glanced her way to include her, Jess would nod, or smile, or raise her eyebrows to show interest. Truthfully, though, Jess was fine with the arrangement. She was learning more about the people and times of Last Chance during this meal than she had learned in all the weeks she had been in town. And at least they weren’t talking about football.

  As the evening continued, Jess began to be aware that she was not the only spectator at the table. Ethan and Tyler didn’t even feign interest and were excused as soon as they had eaten enough to satisfy their mother, but James didn’t seem to have much to say either, and the more Heather turned her attention exclusively to Andy, the quieter her husband became.

  “So, James . . .” Jess found the briefest of lulls in the conversation. “What about you? What were you doing when all this was going on? Did you play football too?”

  “Oh, sure, some.” James looked up from his plate and leaned back in his chair. “Not like ol’ Andy here, but I played. Of course, my biggest problem was that football and the chile harvest overlapped until October, and my dad needed me here, so it took some doing.”

  “The problem was, and still is for that matter, is that this farm is too small to be able to hire out the harvest but too big to do it all by yourself.” Heather took control of the conversation again. “So at harvest, it’s all hands on deck. We just finished up the harvest last week, and I, for one, am ready to catch my breath.”

  “Now what happens?” Jess turned back to James. “I’ve been seeing those chile roasting stands going up all over. Will you open one of those?”

  “Naw. We just take ’em over to the cannery.”

  “Again, it’s just a matter of capital.” Heather again. “And capital can be hard to come by on a farm this size.”

  James nodded his assent, and Heather went back to talking about the old days with Andy.

  Jess found herself wondering about the two of them. James was nice enough looking, but Heather was stunning, and while James was quiet to the point of silence, Heather’s warmth and vivacity would seem to put her in the center of any crowd. They had to have married young, maybe even still in their teens, to have kids as old as Ethan and Tyler. James must have felt her gaze, because he looked up. She smiled and went back to her meal. What a shame that Heather and James’s story was not one that was being recounted this evening. Jess would have loved to know what it was.

  “Thanks for coming with me tonight.” Andy glanced over at Jess as they bumped down the dirt road to the highway that led back to Last Chance. “It couldn’t have been much fun, though. All we did was talk about the good old days.”

  “I’ll take the good old days over you-know-what any day.” Jess stretched her legs out in front of her. “At least I know what you’re talking about, even if I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  Andy laughed. “You know, you surprise me. You seem like such a try-anything-once kind of girl, and yet you’ve dismissed football without ever seeing a game, not even one.”

  “I’m not such a try-anything-once girl. I’ve never bungee-jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, and I’m fine with that. I’ve never jumped out of an airplane with a parachute either, but that one might still be on the table. I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Seriously?” Andy stared at her so long that Jess cleared her throat and pointed to the road. “You’re comparing jumping off a bridge or out of an airplane with sitting in the stands watching a simple high school football game?”

  “Well, I’m just telling you that football’s not the only thing I’ve given thought to and decided not to do, that’s all.”

  “I just want you to watch it, not play it.”

  Jess sighed. “Why is this such a big deal to you, anyway?”

  “A couple reasons, actually. Number one, like it or not, Last Chance is a football town. And even if whether or not you like the game doesn’t make much difference where you’re from, it makes a huge difference here. I’m not saying that you’ll never be accepted here in Last Chance if you hate football, but it will take a lot longer, and that’s just a fact.”

  Jess felt her shoulders tighten. In the first place, she didn’t think she needed anyone running interference for her in Last Chance. She was getting along very well, thank you very much. And in the second, what concern of his was it anyway? She pursed her lips and stared out the windshield.

  “Do you want to know the other reason?” Andy seemed to have noticed the sudden chill in the cab of his truck.

  Jess just looked at him before turning her attention back to the road in front of them.

  “Okay, here’s the other reason why it is such a big deal.”

  Did he think she had said she did want to hear the other reason?

  He took a deep breath. “It’s because I’d like to get to know you better, that’s all. And I want you to know me. And that means knowing at least a little about football. It’s what I’ve done with my life. I don’t know that I could say it’s who I am, but it comes as close as anything else.”

  He pulled up in front of her house and shut off the engine. Jess took off her seat belt and folded her arms as she leaned back against the door.

  “So, h
ow many games would I have to go to in order to know you better?”

  “Well, that depends on how quick you are. Can you pick things up pretty fast?”

  Jess narrowed her eyes. “I’ll see your football and raise you neurobiology and organic chemistry.”

  Andy raised an eyebrow. “All right, then. Sounds like you’re pretty confident, so here’s a suggestion. Homecoming weekend is in three weeks. Go with me. Everyone in town will be there. There’s a big bonfire on Friday night, and the game’s Saturday afternoon, and it ends with a dance that night. It’ll be fun—and you’ll get to see what it’s all about.”

  “Just the game, or everything else?”

  “I was thinking everything. The bonfire, the game, the works.”

  She thought a minute. “And that will fulfill the football requirement?”

  “Let’s just say it will let you know if you want to know more. That’s simple, isn’t it?”

  Jess finally smiled. “Okay. I have never in my life been to anything remotely involved with homecoming, but this does sound like it could be fun. Especially the bonfire and the dance.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe you are hopeless.”

  “Well, what am I going to learn just sitting there watching? It’s still going to look like a bunch of guys running into each other and falling down. It’s not like you’re going to be sitting with me and explaining everything, you know.”

  “You have a point.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment. “I’ve got it. Why don’t I pick you up for church tomorrow? After church we can go up to San Ramon and grab a burger and then go back to my house to watch the Cowboys-Eagles game. I can explain what’s going on and you can ask any questions you might have. Then at the homecoming game, you can have at least an idea of what’s happening.”

  After a long moment, Jess heaved a sigh. “All right. But just little bites, okay? Don’t try to make me an expert with just one game.”