Taming Mad Max
Page 27
“True,” Max said, thankful to be one of the people who ‘got it’ before it was too late.
“Have you heard from Nicole?” Jill asked.
“No. I was hoping you or Sally had.”
Sally shook her head. “I hope she’s okay. Last we heard she was working at some seedy lounge in DC.”
Max didn’t like to hear that.
“I was hoping she was going to pull out of her funk five years ago,” Sally added, “but something keeps stopping her from moving on.”
Max nodded. “Maybe it’s time for me to pay her a visit.”
Sally reached over and squeezed his forearm. “We’d all appreciate it if you would.” Sally stood and waved at Cole and Lindsay as they came through the opening in the chain-linked fence surrounding the football field. Sally gestured for them to come and take the seats she’d been saving.
Cole, he noticed, was holding the most recent Fletcher baby, born two days after Madison.
Lindsay smiled and waved, confident that her four-year-old twin girls and three-year old Cole Jr. were following right behind, which they were. Lindsay ran a tight ship and the kids knew better than to run off.
Cole, Lindsay, and Dan took their seats just in time. Max chuckled to himself when he caught sight of Joey running through the parking lot.
Conrad pointed at Joey. “Here comes, Dad. Are you going to yell at him, Mom?”
Breanne sighed. “I don’t ever yell at him, Conrad. I love your daddy.”
“Oh, good. Dad thinks you’re going to yell at him when you see what happened to your car.”
Breanne paled.
“Quiet you two,” Max said. “Here comes Molly.”
With Kylie perched on his knee, Max reached for Kari’s hand as they watched Molly, dressed in her cap and gown, walk down the grassy aisle and step behind the podium.
The crowd fell silent.
Joey squeezed his way to Breanne’s side, unaware that his son had just ratted him out.
“Graduation,” Molly said into the microphone, “is about moving on with our lives.”
As he watched his daughter, Max swallowed the lump that had lodged in his throat as he tried to keep his emotions intact. Ever since Kari had agreed to marry him and started giving birth to a bunch of females, he’d become a big pansy. He’d retired from the NFL after Kylie was born and hell if he could remember the last time he’d watched a game without interruptions.
“Daddy crying?” Kylie asked.
He frowned at his middle daughter. “Daddy doesn’t cry. Hush now, so I can listen to your sissy.”
Kari squeezed Max’s hand as she often did when she was nervous, reminding him that she was there for him and that he was the luckiest man alive.
“However, we all have memories we must carry forth,” Molly was saying. “And I suggest we all leave here today without regrets. Forgive those who need your forgiveness and praise those who left their mark. Pick one good memory and carry it forth from this day on. Hold your head high as you go out into the world and never forget that each of us has the power to make a difference. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, ‘Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’”
She paused for a moment before adding, “I’d like to finish by taking the opportunity to thank my parents for their unwavering support and encouragement. My parents taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes and that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Congratulations to all!”
Molly reached for her cap and flung it upward.
Her classmates did the same as the crowd broke out in applause.
Max watched Molly’s cap soar through the sky. No smog today.
A perfect sky to go with a perfect day.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
Epilogue