“Of course we can use help. But I don’t want the puppies getting in the way and getting hurt.”
Phillip turns to me. “Jennifer, would you like to take them out back and throw the ball for them and wear them out while I help the movers? By the time you’re ready for the accessories, the older kids will be home and can take over.”
Jadyn glances at the time on her phone, a slight panic on her face.
“You forgot it’s early release day, huh?” Phillip teases her.
“I totally did. Thank you for remembering,” she says, stalking up to her husband, who puts his hand on her ass and gives her a scorching hot kiss.
I consider telling them to get a room but decide to just do as I was told.
I call for Winger and set Angel down. “You two want to go outside?” I say, stressing the word and causing both pups to race to the back door. “Guess that’s a yes.”
“Is there anything better than puppy kisses?” I ask Jadyn some thirty minutes later when she comes outside.
Both pups are lying across my lap, chewing on my fingers, exhausted from chasing their toys and each other around the backyard.
“They are wonderful, aren’t they?” she says as Chase, Devaney, and Damon come out of the Mackenzie house next door.
They open the gate between the two yards and call out to the puppies who immediately perk up and decide they’ve had enough rest.
“Dani,” Jadyn says, “would you like to help me and Jennifer pick out some accessories for the house? You have such good taste and did an amazing job on your room.”
Damon replies before she can, “I think since Chase and I already chose the furniture, we’ll wait and see it all set up.”
Dani rolls her eyes at her brother. “Boys.”
But then she looks at Chase and smiles at him. They have a brief private conversation before she makes her way over to her house, a grin on her face.
“Good day at school?” I ask as she and I head up the deck stairs to the main floor.
“Shit day at school. More drama. Why does there have to be so much drama?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You just have a smile on your face, and I thought—”
She shakes her head. “The smile was because of what Chase said. I swear, he’s the sweetest boy ever. It’s too bad he’s not older than me. Although, if that were the case, all the girls would be after him. He still has no idea how hot they all think he is. Especially after today.”
“What happened?”
“Well, you remember how the quarterback, Dalton, broke his throwing hand at the party?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Today, his backup, Ben, who has been starting since then, was screwing around on the gymnastics equipment during PE, landed wrong, broke his ankle. I was in the gym at the time for cheer, and it was horrific. Like, his foot was turned the wrong way. You probably missed it all when you were out of town, and I don’t know if Dad told you or not, but our high school team is going to the state semifinals. That’s why we got out of school early today. There’s a pep rally later tonight, and then tomorrow afternoon is the game. Chase and Ben have been sharing time on the field, the coach rotating them to confuse the opposing defense, but this means that Chase will be starting in the freaking state semifinal game against the team that beat us last year in the last few seconds of the championship game. Although, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Chase managed to win it. It’s what he does.”
“And that’s what made you smile?”
She looks down, trying not to grin. “No. He just told me he’s not nervous because he knows I’ll be on the sidelines, cheering for him. And that, win or lose, once everyone goes to bed, I’ll order pizza, meet the driver outside, and sneak it over to his house, like I’ve done after every one of his games for the past three years. That as long as we continue that tradition, he’ll always consider the night a win.” She laughs. “He’s lying, of course. He hates to lose. But he’ll be playing against some of the best players in the state. Their quarterback committed to Alabama last year and holds numerous state records for rushing. Which might be what saves them. Our team will run the ball, of course, but Chase reads plays well and has a quick release like my dad. If he can connect, get in a rhythm, there’s no reason he can’t put more points on the board than them.” She glances in Chase’s direction with a content sigh and then says, “I guess we’d better go help Auntie Jay get this house in shape.”
The second she gets inside the house, she checks out the couch in the family room, plopping down across it. “Oh. My. Gosh. This is the most comfortable couch. Ever!”
“You can thank Chase and your brother for that,” Jadyn says. “Why don’t you two come out into the garage and pick out some accessories.”
Danny
Jadyn is walking out my front door as I pull in the driveway.
“I think we actually did it,” she tells me when I get out of my truck. “Your house remodel is complete.”
“Thank you.” I give my best friend a hug, feeling emotional. “I couldn’t have gotten through this all without you.”
“You’d better go inside and make sure you like it before you start blubbering,” she teases. “I’ve got to run the boys up to school. The football team is watching some film of their opponent before the pep rally.”
“Should I wait to go inside until you get back, so you can give me the tour?”
“Nope. I handed over the baton to your daughter and Jennifer. They chose most of the accessories together and have been working all afternoon. Jennifer completely organized your kitchen, and Dani helped me with everything else. It was a team effort.”
“I know that it probably would have been faster and easier for you to do it yourself. It means a lot to me that you included them.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way. So, Phillip is due back home any minute. I put beef stew in the oven early this morning. If you all want some before the pep rally, we’ll eat around six.” She slaps me on the butt. “Go on. Go see what your girls did for you.”
And that sentence makes me even more emotional, the words your girls hitting me full force.
Jadyn calls back to me as she opens her own front door. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. You won’t be able to get in your garage. The guys will be back in the morning to pick up everything we didn’t use. Jennifer and Dani are excited to show you the house, so don’t go straight inside. Ring the bell!”
“Okay,” I yell back. My house. My home. The place my children have grown up. The children I fought so hard for. As I stand on my front porch with my finger hovering over the doorbell, I can’t help but stop to think about all the changes that have occurred in the last six months. About how the renovation has followed my own healing process.
And, now, it’s done.
In sixteen days, I’ll be divorced.
And in seventeen days, I hope that Jennifer will move out of Phillip and Jadyn’s guest room and in with us.
I take a deep breath, thinking how I felt when Lori told me she was having an affair and wanted a divorce. How I feared the change. Now, as I ring the bell, I’m grateful for it.
“Dad!” my daughter says, swinging the door open and looking confused. “Why didn’t you just come in? The door wasn’t locked.”
“Jadyn told me that I needed you and Jennifer to give me the tour from the moment I walked in.”
She does a little clap and jumps up and down with excitement as Jennifer joins us.
“We’ve been busy today,” she says, giving me a quick kiss and taking my hand.
Devaney takes my other hand and says, “Dining room first.”
We walk through the house together, and they point out all sorts of things. Decor. Photos. Colors. They make me sit in different furniture pieces and look at window treatments and fabrics. I can tell that each item was well chosen and placed. But what strikes me most is how, after fifteen years of living there, I finally feel truly comfortable in my home. Before, the house was
decorated however Lori wanted it, often changing based on her whims. The one consistent thing to her design was that it was always ornate and slightly overdone. I never complained about how it looked because it seemed to make her happy. But, now, I understand what I’ve been missing. What my kids have been missing. A place where we can just be. A cozy shelter from whatever happens outside these four walls.
Devaney is rambling on, talking about all the friends she wants to have visit. How Jennifer is going to teach her to cook. About how the Mackenzies are going to start coming over here to watch games and eat meals. She shows me exactly where she wants to put the real Christmas tree and how we’re going to hang stockings on the mantel—the red and green ones that my mother made us that don’t match the decor.
She picks up Angel, who has been trotting around with us, and holds her face up to her own. “And this cutie gets to sit on the couch with us. And we get to have snacks in the family room while we watch TV.”
“Oh, so you’re making the rules now, I see,” I tease.
“Not that I have any say, but I agree with her on all of the above,” Jennifer says.
Dani looks at her phone. “Oh, crap! Dad, I have to get going. Can you run me up to school real quick?”
“Sure. Jennifer, do you want to ride along?”
Jennifer takes Angel from Devaney, gets comfy on the sofa, and puts her feet up on the ottoman. “If it’s okay, I think I’m going to just lie here and admire our work.”
“All right. I’ll be back shortly. Jadyn invited us over for dinner at six, if we want to do that before we go to the pep rally.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she says.
But when I get back, she’s not ready to go—well, at least not to the Mackenzies’ house. Instead, I find Angel passed out in her kennel, and Jennifer is sprawled out, naked, across my bed.
And the view literally takes my breath away. She has the blinds shut, but light comes through a transom, causing diamond shapes to glitter across her body.
It’s like the universe is trying to tell me something. And in that brief moment before I join her in bed, I see flashes of our future. Me bent on one knee, asking her to marry me—a diamond in my hand. Her coming onto the field to congratulate me after winning my third ring—my last name, Diamond, blazed across the jersey on her back. Her handing me a baby swaddled in a blanket—adding another Diamond to our family.
November 21st
Danny
We’re at the state semifinal game, watching from the stands. It’s been a crazy, back-and-forth game, and it’s coming down to the wire. The other team is up by three.
“We’re too far away to kick it,” I observe. “Nothing left but a Hail Mary.”
“Or the old hook and ladder,” Phillip offers.
“Oh, wow! Look, Danny!” Jadyn says, coming to her feet. “Damon just came in as a wideout. Do you think they’re going to let Chase throw to him for the win?”
“I don’t know, but wouldn’t that be incredible? Hell, it’d be history-making.” I stand up and nervously rub my hands together.
The visitors side of the stadium is packed, on their feet and cheering wildly as our team lines up. Chase goes under center, takes the snap, and falls back into the pocket. The offensive line holds their own while the wide receivers race down the field. Chase steps to his right, avoiding a defensive player who breached the backfield and launches the ball downfield.
“He’s going to score!” Jennifer says happily, bouncing up and down next to me as the ball flies toward the end zone.
It’s the perfect throw.
Damon is wide open.
All he has to do is catch the ball.
Come on, bud. You can do it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Phillip yells out. “What was that?”
“Why?” I say as our fans cry out over the dropped ball and our team’s loss.
The ride home is quiet. No one says much. We are all still in disbelief.
When we get to the Mackenzie house, we’re greeted by yipping puppies, who are excited to see us.
“The puppies went outside about fifteen minutes ago, and the boys have been asleep since eight thirty. They played with the dogs and wore themselves out. All fell asleep on the couch together. I took the boys upstairs about a half hour ago. They didn’t even stir.” The babysitter gives Jadyn a recap as I shush the puppies by giving them each a treat.
“I’m off to pick up the kids at school,” Phillip says. “The bus should be there soon.” He goes out to the garage and then peeks his head back in the door. “Maddie’s mom just called. The girls want to do a sleepover. I told Haley she could spend the night but not to stay up too late.”
Jadyn turns to me and Jennifer. “I’m going to run upstairs and kiss my babies good night. Get yourselves a bottle of something.”
“Beer or wine?” Jennifer asks me.
“Beer,” I reply, grabbing Phillip’s laptop out of his briefcase and setting it on the kitchen table.
Jennifer comes back with two beers and sets one in front of me.
“Whatcha doing?” she asks, taking a seat next to me.
“I want to see what reporters have to say about the game.”
The screen comes to life, prompting me for a password.
“Will you be able to sign in?” she asks.
“Sure. His password has been the same for years. JJR—for Jadyn James Reynolds; PDM—for Phillip David Mackenzie; and then zero-nine-zero-one—for the day they finally had sex.”
“That’s really cute.” Jennifer clinks my bottle against hers. “We need to toast.”
“I just need a drink. It was rough to see them lose like that. Just such a stupid play. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“Regardless of that,” she says, “the team played good. They almost won.”
“There are no medals for second place.”
“Sure there are. My mom still has my high school track medals. I think we got them—”
“You know what I mean.”
“Here’s to you,” Jennifer says, causing me to look her in the eye. “For not going out there and punching that idiot in the face after he lost the game.”
“That I will drink to.”
Jennifer
We’re just finishing the beer when Jadyn comes back downstairs. We hear the garage door open, and pretty soon, Dani, Chase, Damon, and Phillip are inside and hovering around the kitchen island.
“What was he thinking?” is the first thing he says to his son.
“I don’t know, Dad. I know he’s a senior, but he’s lucky I didn’t punch him in the face.”
I want to laugh since that’s exactly what I thought Danny was going to do, but the boys look grim.
“Regardless of how it ended, it was a great game,” Jadyn says while she ladles warm beef stew from a Crock-Pot into bowls for them.
Damon puts his hands up in the air. “All right. Because I know you’re all dying to know how it all went down, I’ll go first. Right before the last play of the game, I said to Coach, ‘He’s been throwing to me his whole life. You need me on the field. Chase always knows exactly where I’m going to be. You want to win this game, then put me in. Let us do what we do.’”
“Really?” both Phillip and Danny ask, surprise written all over their faces.
Chase grins. “It’s true. He did say that. And he was right. Throwing to Damon is natural. Easy. And we knew he would be wide open while they double-teamed our big receiver.”
“I was open because I’m lightning fast and highly skilled,” Damon interjects.
“Yes, you were,” Danny tells him, patting his son on the back. “I’m proud of you. You got in there. You ran the perfect route.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Damon says.
“You should be proud of Chase, too,” Devaney says, causing Chase to blush. “He stood out both on and off the field.”
“We are proud,” Jadyn stresses. “Always.”
“Well, you’re about to
cry then. Show them the video,” Devaney says to her brother.
Damon sets his spoon down, takes a drink of water, then gets his phone out of his pocket, and sets it on the counter.
The scene in the team’s locker room is that of despair. Players have their heads down, upset about how the game ended. As they should be. It was a heartbreaker.
Chase stands up on a bench and starts speaking, “We all heard the chatter on the field when the game was over. There was a lot of emotion. Some of you blamed me. Some of you blamed Damon. Some of you blamed Joshua. Actually, most of you blamed him. But, basically, it was someone else’s fault. Should Joshua have gone after the pass when his teammate was wide open? Probably not. He tried to intercept the ball from his own wide-open teammate, Damon. He failed, making them both miss. But what if things had happened the other way? What if Damon had missed it? And even though it came down to one play that didn’t go our way, no single person is to blame for our loss. As a team, we never should have been in that position to begin with. How many guys missed passes in the game? What about missed blocks? Missed tackles? Fumbles? Our team lost tonight. That means, we all are at fault for the game’s outcome. I’d also like to take a moment to thank the seniors for their leadership and for all of you giving me a chance to prove myself. I hope I’ll be good enough to lead this team onto the field next fall.”
One by one, the guys who were sitting with towels over their heads stand up. And eventually, they start clapping, ending the video with a standing ovation.
I look over to Jadyn, who does have proud tears shimmering in her eyes.
She gives her son a hug, then gives one to Damon. “I’m so proud of you boys.”
“You sure got a lot of press coverage after the game,” Phillip says. “Possibly more media attention than the winning team.”
“How did you handle that, Chase?” I ask. “They can be relentless.”
“I would have been freaking out if all those microphones were shoved in my face,” Devaney interjects, “probably muttered something unintelligible.” She shoves her shoulder into Chase’s and grins. “You have a calmness that I clearly lack.”
THAT RING Page 14