“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.” As something not to do. “Good to see you.” He sent Will a let’s-get-out-of-here look and opened the front passenger door of the truck. Chance had already joined Jenna in the backseat.
“We’d better get goin’,” said Will, climbing into the pickup. “Take it easy, Charlie.”
“Tell your dad hello for me.” The older cowboy spit tobacco juice onto the pavement, splattering his boots.
“I’ll do that. See you Sunday at church.”
“I’ll be there.”
Nate climbed in the pickup and shut the door as Will started the engine. “So he’s still coming to church with a hangover?”
“Most every Sunday. But at least he comes.” Will carefully backed out. People were beginning to stream away from the bonfire, but they would beat the crowd.
Nobody said a thing all the way back to Chance’s office. When Will pulled up in front of the redbrick building, Nate had the pickup door open before he stopped. He couldn’t bail out of there fast enough. “I’ll go with Chance. Thanks for the ride, Will.”
“Sure thing.”
Jenna opened her door, almost bumping him, and hopped out. He stepped back, but when she looked up at him with a perplexed frown, he was tempted to put his arms around her and hold her close. He clasped his hands behind him and apologized again instead. “I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “That backfire sounded like an RPG going off.”
Her frown deepened. “What’s that?”
“A rocket-propelled grenade. They blow things up. I hit the ground automatically.”
“And took me with you.” She didn’t sound quite as upset as she had earlier.
“I was trying to protect you.” He shrugged. “That was automatic too.”
“Do you dive for the ground a lot?”
He shook his head. “Most of the time I just duck.” That was true. He’d only hit the deck twice since he came back to the States. “But it’s pretty ingrained when you’re in a war zone. Takes awhile to shift gears.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
And keep her distance. She didn’t say it, but Nate figured that was what she was thinking. He didn’t blame her. She thought he was nuts. Anybody would who witnessed his crazy behavior. And he’d had an audience, he thought grimly, both at the bonfire and in the street.
Maybe he was loco. Or heading that way fast. He hadn’t merely remembered what happened in Iraq; he’d relived it. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes—the fear and the pain— had been as real as the day the suicide bomber almost killed them. His reaction to the car backfiring had been much the same, only briefer.
As he watched Jenna and Will drive away, he tried to piece together what happened between the bonfire blazing to life and standing in front of Will’s truck, breathing hard. He’d obviously run down the street. Going by what Jenna said, he’d shoved people out of the way. He could picture that well enough—plowing through the crowd, knocking people left and right. But he couldn’t remember it.
And that scared him as much as the flashback.
9
“Ouch!” Sue paused in pinning Jenna’s mum on her silky gold blouse and sucked the spot on her index finger that she had poked.
“Do you want me to try it? You’ve already jabbed yourself twice.” Jenna watched a tiny drop of blood seep from the skin as her mom checked her finger.
“No, I’ll get it. It’s hard to see what I’m doing with this nice big flower.” She smiled at Dub and touched the one she was wearing. “They’re beautiful as usual.”
Jenna’s dad leaned against the kitchen counter. “But a pain to pin on.” He looked down at his thumb. “There ought to be a better way of fastening those things. Whoever came up with the idea of wearing mums to homecoming, anyway?”
“An ingenious florist, no doubt.” Jenna’s mom went back to work, finally getting the second long corsage pin to go through both the material and the flower.
Jenna glanced at the clock. Nate was due to arrive any minute. If he came. She should have called him to confirm the time he was picking her up. Any excuse to subtly let him know she still wanted to go with him. For a while, she hadn’t been so certain about that. Being thrown to the ground had been unnerving and painful. In retrospect, she realized he had tried to take the brunt of the fall on himself, but she had still landed hard. Her skinned elbow and a bruise on her shoulder proved it.
She’d had a long talk with her mother, who told her that Nate’s response to the backfire wasn’t unusual. She shared how Dub had reacted when a plane went over their motel the first night he was home from Viet Nam. He’d dived off the mattress, lifted the whole bed up, and slid under it, even though there wasn’t room for him.
Her mom emphasized that Nate had been trying to protect her. That spoke highly of his character despite the threat being false. She was more concerned about how he had reacted to the fire. He had gone through a great deal during the war— probably much more emotional and physical distress and pain than any of them realized.
“If you don’t want to go with him, I’ll tell him,” said Dub quietly.
“No, Daddy. It’s okay. I don’t think anything like that will happen again.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
Jenna smiled at her dad, hoping to put him at ease. “I’ll be on the alert from now on. If I hear a boom, I’ll jump out of the way.”
“You goin’ to jump every time our team makes a touchdown tonight, and they shoot off the cannon?” Dub crossed his arms.
“He’ll expect that noise, so he won’t react the same way.”
“Maybe.” Her father looked so disgruntled that she wondered if he knew something about Nate that she didn’t.
“Dad, is there some other reason you don’t want me to go out with him?”
Dub looked down at the floor, then sighed and raised his head. “I don’t have anything personal against him. I don’t want you hurt, baby.”
“I know.” She walked over and gave him as much of a hug as the big flower would allow. “And I love you for it. But I can’t stay scared forever.” Stretching up on tiptoe, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for the mum. It’s beautiful.”
“Boo-ti-ful,” called Zach, banging on the side of his booster seat with his sippy cup.
“Can’t have my girls going to the game without one.”
“Looks like Jenna’s going to have two.” Will strolled into the kitchen. “Nate’s coming up the sidewalk, and he’s carrying a big ol’ flower box.”
“Oh, good grief!” Sue grabbed Jenna by the arm and swung her around. Quicker than a barn swallow after a mosquito, she jerked out the pins she had worked so hard to fasten moments before and tossed the lovely creation at her husband. “Hide that somewhere.”
He caught it, frowned at his wife and then at Will, who was trying hard not to laugh. “Now, hold on, woman. I spent good money to buy a flower for my daughter.”
“So did that boy walking up to the porch. And you have a lot more of it than he does.” Sue waved her hands, shooing him away. “Don’t start with me, Dub Callahan. Go.”
Dub shook his head and disappeared into the big pantry, muttering about bossy women. The doorbell rang, and Will started for the living room.
His mom shot around in front of him, blocking his path with a hand firmly planted in the middle of his chest. “Stay right where you are and let Jenna answer the door. Nate is her date, not yours.”
Will laughed and draped his arms over his mother’s shoulders. “I know that. Though Jenna keeps saying it isn’t a date. Reckon she’s trying to convince us or herself?”
“It isn’t,” muttered Jenna as she walked past them. Then why was she so nervous? It was only Nate. Gorgeous, slightly messed-up Nate. Vulnerable Nate. That stopped her. She pretended to check her hair in the hall tree mirror near the door as she processed the thought. After what happened last night, he probably wasn’t feeling real sure of himself. The truth was, neither was she.
Sheesh, we’re a pair. The doorbell rang again, and she hurried to answer it. She couldn’t let the poor man think they’d already left. Throwing open the door, she pasted on a smile, which instantly turned into one of admiration at the sight of Nate in a purple Western shirt threaded with metallic silver stripes. Oh, my. “Sorry, we were in the kitchen, uh, watching Zach eat his snack.”
“Takes all of you to supervise?”
“He’s entertaining.” She stepped back so he could come in. That wasn’t a lie. Her kid was fun to watch. She never knew what he’d come up with.
Nate walked into the room, and she shut the door. When Jenna turned around, she half expected to see her parents and brother peeking around the kitchen doorway. Thankfully, they’d restrained themselves from watching if not from listening. Absolutely no sound came from the kitchen.
Nate kept a small multicolored flowered gift bag hooked on one finger and handed her the long white box. “Mom said mums were still a tradition, and you’d be embarrassed if you didn’t get one.”
“Oh.” So much for her friend wanting to give her something special.
He wrinkled his face. “She brought it up, but I was going to ask her about it.”
“You didn’t want me to be embarrassed too?” Jenna cringed when she heard the note of sarcasm in her voice. Don’t make a big deal out of this.
“No.” He stopped and looked away, took a big breath and blew it out in a poof. When he met her gaze, his eyes were intense and serious. “That was part of it, I guess. But I got it because I wanted to.” He took a step closer. “I wanted to give you something nice and . . . well, to let everybody at the game know that you’re with me.” His voice grew softer. “That you mean a lot to me.”
Okay, so it was a big deal. Much bigger than it should be. Don’t you dare cry, Jenna Callahan Colby. “Thank you.”
She walked around one of the two red leather sofas and laid the box on the massive, square, dark brown leather and oak coffee table. Sliding off the top of the flower box, she set it aside and tried to ignore the rapid ka-thump of her heart. She hadn’t had this many butterflies since her first date with Jimmy Don, which had also been to a homecoming game.
Don’t go there. Don’t think about him. She would not let him ruin tonight.
Nate followed her and set the gift bag on the table.
Carefully lifting the lavender tissue paper, she gasped. It was the biggest, tackiest, most beautiful mum she had ever seen. A white teddy bear wearing a cute little black cowboy hat and a purple T-shirt with the number ten—Nate’s old number—was tucked right in the middle of the huge silk chrysanthemum. Two white ribbons, one with her name and the other with Nate’s in gold letters, were prominently displayed among at least twenty purple and gold ones. Another white and gold one declared that it was homecoming and the year.
“Wow.” Lifting it from the box, she held it out in front of her. Besides the regular ribbons, there were four fancy braided purple and gold garlands. Several of the smooth ones had things written on them in either sparkly gold or glittering purple letters—Homecoming Queen and the year, Cheerleader, All-Region WR with the two years Nate had been honored as one of the best wide receivers in the region, along with the years both had graduated. There were the usual megaphones and football trinkets with several tiny cowboy hats thrown in for good measure. But what tugged at her heart the most were the silver stars and tiny American flags sprinkled throughout.
Nate shifted his feet. “Mrs. Snyder and I talked about some of the stuff, but she added a lot more. She got a little carried away.”
“It’s fantastic. The best I’ve ever seen.” Jenna laid it down carefully and edged around the table, giving him a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“You really like it? It’s not over the top?”
“Yes, I like it.” She ducked her head for a second, then looked up into the worry coloring his eyes a cloudy blue and grinned. “And, yes, it’s a little over the top, but that’s part of what makes it so great. With these things, the more stuff the better. Maybe I’m silly, but it’s going to be fun to impress the high school girls and my old friends, both with this whoppin’ mum and my cool hunk of a date.”
Nate finally grinned. He reached down and nudged the teddy bear in the stomach, tipped his head, and met her gaze. “I don’t know about being cool or a hunk, but I like the date part.”
Zach came barreling out of the kitchen. “Nate!”
Nate moved over so the little boy could make a beeline for him. “Hi, buddy.” He scooped him up and gave him a playful hug. “What have you been up to?”
“Snack.”
“Oh yeah? What did you have?”
“Wo-gurt raisins.”
Nate glanced at Jenna and raised an eyebrow.
“Yogurt-covered raisins.”
He looked back at Zach. “Are they good?”
The little guy nodded his head. Then he swiveled and looked over his shoulder at the flower and ribbons spread out on the table. His eyes grew wide. “Wow.”
Nate laughed and hugged him again. “You sound like your mama.”
“Nate brought this for me to wear to the football game.”
Zach turned back to Nate. “You go game too?”
“Yep. I’m taking your mama. Is that okay with you?”
Zach looked at Jenna, then back at Nate, his expression thoughtful. “Yeah.” He twisted around again, a tiny frown touching his brow. “Mama’s bear?”
“Yes. But I brought you something too. It’s in that sack on the table.”
When Zach squirmed, Nate set him on the floor. He ran to the table and pushed aside the tissue paper in the bag, then pulled out a little white teddy bear identical to Jenna’s, cowboy hat, T-shirt, and all. “Cowboy bear!” He hugged it, then looked up at Nate. “My bear?”
“That’s right. That one’s for you.”
“It even has the number Nate wore when he played football.” Jenna knelt beside Zach and pointed to the T-shirt. “Ten.”
“Ten.”
“Tell Nate thank you.”
“Thank you. My show Papa.” Zach raced around the table and met the rest of the family coming out of the kitchen.
“It was very thoughtful of you to bring something for Zach,” said Jenna.
Nate shrugged one shoulder. “It was Mrs. Snyder’s idea.”
Will laughed as he joined them. “Oh, man, don’t tell her that. Just say thanks.” He shook his head. “I need to give you some lessons on how to impress women.”
“How to fool them, you mean.” Jenna playfully thumped him on the arm. “You’re an expert at that.”
“And at dodging serious relationships,” added Sue as she walked around the coffee table. “Oh, isn’t that lovely.”
“Papa’s boo-ti-ful. Mommy’s ’ovely.”
Nate glanced at Dub as Zach leaned back against his grandfather’s chest. Holding the bear by both arms, he jiggled it around in a little dance.
Amusement lit the rancher’s eyes. “No, he’s not saying I’m beautiful. But the mum I gave Grandma is, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Zach looked puzzled, as if something wasn’t quite right.
Dub started quietly talking to him about the teddy bear. The women moved over in front of the hall tree mirror while Sue pinned the flower on Jenna’s blouse.
Nate had the feeling he’d missed something.
“You did good.” Will watched his mother and sister with unabashed affection.
“Thanks.” Seeing the glow on Jenna’s face and the sparkle in her eyes helped Nate relax. He’d been afraid she wouldn’t speak to him.
After a hug and kiss for Zach, along with the reminder to be a good boy for Ramona, Jenna was ready to go. Escorting her to his pickup, Nate thought of all those years he’d longed to take her to homecoming—to take her anywhere. Now if he could keep his cool and not do something stupid like throw her under the bleachers when the cannon went off, this might not be the last time.
10
On the way to town, they chatted about everyday things. Whether or not the opposing football team was good. The plans the Historical Society had for the museum. A bit about Jenna’s work at the local mission serving the needy by providing them with clothing and food. Safe topics for two people who had been friends forever, yet were well aware that they were breaking new ground.
Nate parked where the high school attendant told him to, but he would have preferred something nearer the exit. Walking through the crowd to the entrance, he tried to tamp down the anxiety swirling inside. A suicide bomber would pick a gathering like this, a soft target where he could do the most damage. But this wasn’t Iraq, he reminded himself—again. If al-Qaida wanted to attack, they would do something in a big city, not a small town like Callahan Crossing. It was a logical conclusion, but he knew firsthand that logic wasn’t always paramount in the enemy’s plans.
They settled in their seats, and the Callahan clan joined them a few minutes later. Nate’s parents were three rows in front of them and a few seats over. He liked having them close enough to keep an eye on his dad and to see that they were having a good time.
The cheerleaders from the opposing team stretched a large handmade paper banner across the entry from the Tigers’ locker room. The football players burst through it and ran onto the field amid cheers from the visitor’s side of the stadium and a feisty tune by the Tigers’ band.
The pom squad lined up on each side of the Wolves’ entry, waving their pom-poms in the air and making a pathway for the team to run through. When the cheerleaders stretched the banner in front of the open gate, the hometown crowd surged to their feet, yelling, whistling, and clapping. The band blared the fight song, and the team smashed through the banner and raced into the stadium, the crowd’s volume increasing.
A few minutes later, a Boy Scout color guard marched onto the field carrying the United States and Texas flags. The stadium quieted down. The announcer’s voice came over the speakers, “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for our national anthem.”
The few people who had taken their seats stood again. Any man who was wearing a hat or cap removed it and, along with the women, placed their right hands over their hearts. Except for Nate and Dub and some other veterans scattered throughout the audience. They stood at attention and saluted the flag in the formal military style while folks sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” Dub had saluted for as long as Nate could remember.
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