Songs For Cricket

by Terri E. Laine

  I was invited in, and I closed the door behind me.

  “Miss Farrow, I’m prepared for you to dazzle me.”

  I pulled out my computer. I’d digitized and animated my presentation in a YouTube video.

  “Interesting choice,” he said with an unreadable expression.

  I’d planned to rehabilitate a former industrial plaza and turn the warehouse into an indoor theatre on one side and an open-air theater on the other with plenty of green space for people to sit.

  “And the park could be used for traveling carnivals or the balloon festival.”

  He nodded and looked thoughtful, not annoyed. I hoped it was a good sign.

  “How much will this cost?” he asked.

  My video gave broad strokes, but I pulled out a portfolio from my backpack and handed it over.

  “You can skip page one, which is just a rendition of the completed project.”

  “Did you draw this?” he asked skeptically.

  “No,” I admitted. “But I did do a drawing, which you will find in the back. But if you turn to page three, you will see a detailed budget.”

  He flipped the first two pages to get there.

  “You’re over budget,” he said, sounding almost triumphant.

  “I am. But if you turn to the next page, I’m confident I can get philanthropic funding. A Mr. and Mrs. Benvos contribute to projects like this annually.”

  Though this was a fictious project, I had done my research as if it were real.

  By the time I left his office, I’d answered what felt like a million questions.

  There waiting for me was Shepard leaning against the wall in the hallway.

  I crossed the distance in two strides and flung my arms around him.

  “Did you pass?” he asked.

  I nodded, though it was only the first step in the process. It was a win.

  “He actually said my ideas were solid.” I grinned. “He also said it was so unexpected. He figured I would be transforming a house into another house or a building into a building or something.”

  He flashed his sexy smirk.

  I swatted him. “Don’t say it.”

  “What? I told you so. That you are so incredibly amazing, I never had a doubt you’d pull it off,” he said.

  I lifted up to give him a quick kiss, uncaring of the people in the hall.

  “Yes. My personal cheerleader. Will you wear one of those pleated skirts for me tonight?”

  He grinned. “I’ll wear one of yours. Oh . . . that’s right,” he teased. “You didn’t cheer.”

  My smile only widened. “That’s okay. I have a friend who’s a cheerleader.” I laughed when his face soured thinking of Emily. “Don’t back down now.”

  “I’ll wear whatever you want me to if you do that thing with your tongue again.”

  “Care to be specific? I’ve done a lot of things with my tongue.”

  37

  shepard

  My girl was brilliant and would one day set the world on fire with her ideas. After I whispered all the things I planned to do to her when we got home, I dragged her from the spot we’d claimed on the wall across from her professor’s office. I didn’t want to walk around hard until we got home, so I switched subjects, and I asked her more about her meeting. She brightened like she’d won the lottery and spoke animatedly as her excitement mounted for her project. She was amazing, and she stole my breath every time I looked her way.

  “You should pitch it to the county. It’s a great idea.”

  There was a hopeful glint in her eyes. “You think so?”

  “Yes.” I really did.

  I slipped my hand in hers as we stepped out of the building. I was done with hiding. I thought we’d get some alone time, but she ran into Tori. While they talked, Cooper arrived and asked me to do him a solid and go grab food so Tori would join us. I whispered the plan in Finley’s ear, and she talked Tori into lunch.

  With my girl next to me, I walked to the café with our fingers linked together. After getting our food, I took a chance and sat next to August. At least he didn’t glare at me. But there were shadows in his eyes. Something was most definitely going on. Though he held court telling some story, I saw the pain underneath his plastic smile and vowed to fix our friendship. It wouldn’t be overnight, but I wouldn’t give up on a lifetime of memories. And from what I could tell, he needed a friend.

  “To the game tomorrow,” he said, lifting his cup.

  The chant began. I joined in. Billy’s eyes landed on me and went to Finley who was tucked up against me. That could spell trouble. I let it go for now, enjoying the revelry. Tomorrow would be my first game, and I was juiced. With no practice, we got home early to find my mom there. I knew she was coming for the game. I didn’t know she was coming tonight.

  “Shepard,” she cried, tears in her eyes. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  Shit, she’d found out. I’d made a ton of excuses, which she’d accepted.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Worry? You’re my baby. I’ll always worry about you.”

  She pulled me down for a hug and kissed my cheeks like she’d done when I was a boy.

  “Mom,” I said, a heat coloring my cheeks.

  Finley only grinned at my embarrassment.

  Mom patted my shoulder. “Give me this. You’re my only son.”

  I squeezed her tight and said, “I missed you too, Mom.”

  She whispered back. “Did you get the girl?”

  I nodded, and she gave me a cheesy smile.

  I held out my arm to Finley, and she tucked herself at my side, a perfect fit.

  “Nice to see you, Ms. Connelly.”

  That was when I noticed the man in the background. Mom turned to follow my line of sight. She waved him over.

  “Shepard, this is Hank Brownly.”

  Though I shook his hand, I found myself sizing him up. “Let’s go inside,” Finley said because I was noticeably distracted checking his shoes.

  Were they too beat up or too new or just well-worn? I studied them while Finley played hostess, and I stewed on the living room sofa.

  Finn rolled over to the corner of the room I’d taken up residence in. “You’re burning holes into the guy.”

  I looked at him. “He’s Mom’s new boyfriend.”

  “Yep.” He laughed. “Starting to feel like August, huh?”

  I hated to admit that everything August had done made sense. Not only did I worry if the guy treated her right, I wondered how much of her attention he would take from me.

  “Maybe, but the difference between him and me is that in the end, it doesn’t matter as long as she is happy.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Finn asked, head tilted in query. I nodded. “Go ahead and tell yourself that. But don’t give up on August.”

  I wasn’t, but I was curious what, if anything more, Finn had found out.

  “You know something?”

  “Only that he appears to be at a crossroad and will need you more than ever.”

  It was time I started making a nuisance of myself until I broke through August’s defenses. “Thanks for everything by the way,” I said to Finn.

  “What?”

  “Everything you, Sawyer, and Shelly did to help me. I owe you big.”

  My name had been cleared before anyone linked me to my father.

  “Go play nice with Hank. Besides that, just keep doing what you’re doing. Take care of Finley’s heart. And be there for August when he’s ready.”

  I thanked him and took his advice. I stopped being an ass to my mother’s boyfriend and engaged him in conversation. He was a pharmaceutical salesman. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but based on his clothes and how Mom went on and on about his car, I guess he made decent money.

  When they eventually left, Finley and I headed to bed. I can’t say we went directly to bed, but we did go to slee
p at a decent hour. We would need it too.

  The game turned out to be another tough one. Our offensive was getting eaten alive by their defense, and we attempted to repay them the favor. So far, no one had scored, and we were in the final quarter.

  Our entire sideline winced when the opposing team’s wide receiver caught a big play down the field.

  Coach cursed a blue streak that lit a fire in our defense, and we held them to a field goal.

  When our offensive took the field, even I sent Billy out there with an encouraging slap on his back. He didn’t notice as I wasn’t the only one who’d done it, and he was in game mode.

  The guys stepped it up and led our team into field goal range, but that wasn’t enough.

  Fourth down was upon us, and Billy and the offensive left the field. I, along with Cooper, Finley, and the rest of the special teams, went on. As a tight end, I was a jack-of-all-trades including a receiver and also a blocker. In this situation, I was called in for a trick play.

  “Don’t do this,” I said in the huddle.

  Cooper glared at me. “She’ll be fine. This is the call. We knew this could happen.”

  “Protect her,” I snarled.

  Everyone nodded, and Cooper shouted out orders to the rest of the group as I stared at my girl. She knew as well as I did that as a kicker, she was pretty much untouchable. However, instead of kicking, Cooper would hike her the ball. I couldn’t block her from the defenders who would come gunning for her because there had been much trash talk about her in the plays I’d been in.

  Cooper clapped, and we got in position. Finley went back as if she was going to kick. When the play snapped, she caught the ball. I ran into open field, and from the looks of it, the other team wasn’t expecting me to.

  I didn’t turn back until I hit the predetermined spot that had been designed in the play. When I turned the ball landed in my hands like a baby. I cradled it and ran for the end zone with a truckload of guys coming for me. I ran my ass off because I wanted to know if Finley was okay, and I couldn’t check until the play was over.

  One guy caught my foot shy of the goal line. I went down but stretched my arms out and broke the plane of the end zone. Two big guys landed on top of me, and they took their time getting off while hitting me with cheap shots until the referee was there. But as I was hauled to my feet, she was there unhurt, winking at me.

  “Time for the extra point,” she yelled over the noise of our home crowd.

  I was hustled off the field and watched as she eased that one straight down the line, and the crowd exploded to their feet as time ran out. I was the first to reach her from the sideline. As we were swallowed up by our teammates, I removed her chin strap before taking her helmet completely off and tipped mine up and out of the way too.

  Then not giving a shit about anything else but her, I kissed her right there in front of everyone, creating our own bubble in time.

  “What about Coach?” she murmured against my lips, already a lovely shade of red.

  We were so close, she didn’t have to yell.

  “I don’t care anymore. Too much time has been wasted. I won’t waste a second more.”

  Billy might have been glaring at us, but she didn’t see.

  “Tonight you’re going to sing your song at open mic.”

  She’d found another place and bet me if we won that I’d do just that.

  “I’ll sing whatever you want. Every song I write has been only for you, Cricket.”

  epilogue

  shepard

  A week before Thanksgiving, we rode to the dive bar where I’d been playing during their weekly open mic.

  Finley was too close, and I couldn’t help but steal a kiss.

  “If you guys keep doing that, I’m going to pull over and grab an Uber home,” August said.

  He wasn’t exactly happy about us being together, but he had thawed some.

  “You’re driving,” Finley pointed out.

  “Exactly,” he said, “But if I keep watching you two, I’m going to hurl.”

  Everyone laughed as August scowled. Cooper turned toward us from his front seat position and gave us a thumbs-up.

  “Come on, Auggie,” Cooper said and ruffled August’s hair.

  August swiped at his brother and said, “Bro, can you not call me that on my birthday. It’s bad enough you guys talked me into karaoke night instead of the Omega party.”

  He’d been summarily overruled.

  “You’re just mad your girlfriend isn’t coming,” Finley joked.

  “Why would she? This is lame,” he muttered.

  “Don’t listen to him,” I whispered in my girl’s ear.

  If she’d been sad at all, I might have said something to my best friend no matter how hard I was trying to make peace with him.

  Her smile relaxed me.

  “It will be fun,” I finally said. “Sawyer and Ashton will be there. Finn too.”

  Finn was coming later after his physical therapy and bringing a friend, he’d said.

  We were the first to arrive and grabbed a few tables.

  August glanced at his phone and announced, “I’ll be back.”

  The three of us traded glances, and Cooper shrugged. “No telling,” he said.

  I wrapped my arms around Finley as her grin flattened at the sight of her brother’s retreat.

  “Do you want me to go talk to him?” I asked her.

  Her wide, innocent eyes were all I needed to conquer the world.

  “Would you?” she asked.

  I brushed my lips on her temple. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

  It was unclear where August had gone, but the place wasn’t huge. I headed in the direction he’d gone toward the entrance. I didn’t think he’d ditch us, but it was possible he’d driven off and would be back later.

  The front doors opened, and Sawyer and Ashton were there, holding it for two beautiful blondes.

  “Hey,” Sawyer said after they stepped inside. He took my hand, and we leaned in for a half hug. “Shelly, this is Shepard.”

  Shelly squealed. Finley and Cooper must have heard as they quickly came over.

  “Thanks for everything,” I said in Shelly’s ear as she came in for a hug.

  “No problem. By the way, my brother is coming. I hope that’s okay,” she said.

  I shrugged. I had no problem with Detective Hastings. He’d treated me fairly given the position he’d been put in.

  “It’s the Farrows’ birthday show, but I’m sure they will be fine with it.”

  The other woman came over. “Hi, I’m Willow.”

  Ashton loomed at her back. “Hi.” I offered my hand.

  She shook it, and I almost went to shake Ashton’s hand until I remembered he wasn’t the touchy-feely type.

  “Hey,” I said instead.

  He bobbed his head.

  Willow shifted to introduce herself to Finley, leaving me with Ashton.

  “You made a move,” he said.

  I wasn’t scared of almost anything, but Ashton was an imposing figure. I was never sure what he was thinking unless he said it.

  “Yeah. Are you okay with it?”

  Having her older brother’s approval would mean a lot.

  “I know you won’t hurt her. You’d have too much to lose.”

  It wasn’t until he grinned, I let out a breath.

  “I plan to marry her one day,” I said without thinking.

  “Does she know that?”

  I cleared my throat. “I haven’t exactly told her yet.”

  Though we’d only been together for the last few months, I’d known her all my life. And even then, on some level, I’d known she was mine.

  “Hey, Ash,” Finley said, walking over to hug her brother.

  It took him a moment before he awkwardly patted her back. He looked visibly relieved when she let him go.

  “Happy birthday, little sister.”

&
nbsp; She gave him that gorgeous smile of hers.

  “I’m going to get a drink. Either of you want anything?”

  “I’m good,” Finley said, holding up a glass that looked to be filled with soda she’d gotten from someone.

  “Beer for me,” I said.

  He tossed his head back and laughed. “You’ve got a few more years.”

  “Really,” I held up my arms as he walked away.

  Finley giggled. “You really didn’t believe he was going to buy you a beer with Detective Hastings here.”

  I glanced around and found him next to his sister. I waved, and he came over.

  “Happy birthday,” he said to Finley.

  “Thanks, Detective Hastings.”

  “Greg,” he said.

  She nodded.

  “I’m glad everything worked out,” he said to me.

  “No thanks to your partner,” I said with no real heat behind it.

  He sighed. “He’s old school, but he means well.”

  Finley added, “I hope he doesn’t railroad all suspects.”

  Hastings looked lost for words but came up with, “We’re here to serve and protect.”

  I held out my hand. “Thank you.” We needed more like him and less of Miller.

  We exchanged a quick shake before I hustled my girl out the door and into the night.

  “God, I love you,” I said, drawing her against me. I kissed her like I’d wanted to all night before pulling a box from my pocket. “Happy birthday.”

  I hadn’t meant to do it then, but with more people showing up, I wasn’t sure I’d have time later.

  She stared at it. “You didn’t have to.”

  “I did.”

  She took the little blue box and pulled the ends of the satin ribbon.

  There nestled in a satin pouch, she took out a bracelet with a treble clef, a heart, and a football charm.

  I pointed to the football. “You’ve done it, baby. You’ve proven yourself, and no one can take it away from you.” I pointed to the treble clef. “You are my muse, the inspiration for every song I’ve ever written or will write.” She started to tear up, and I brushed the moisture from her cheek. I lifted the bracelet completely out to reveal the heart and put a finger from my free hand under it to lift it up. “You own mine. You are my future. One day my wife.”