Homecoming in Mossy Creek

by Debra Dixon

  By now, I was used to her abrupt manner when it came to her daughter’s welfare. “Good morning, Millicent.” I leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  “Don’t try to sweet talk me. I want you to take yourself home and demand that she sit down until those babies are born.” She pushed me back, crossed her arms and glared at me.

  “You’re not gonna slug me or bite me, are you?”

  “I make no guarantees. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with her?”

  “Millicent, I just left there thirty minutes ago. She’s trying to get everything ready for—”

  “Shut up and listen or I will slug you! You go home and make her stop.”

  I looked at the small woman leaning threateningly across my desk, pounding on it. However, her ideas of what Maggie should be doing and Maggie’s ideas were entirely different. And I had to live with Maggie, who was a formidable force in her own right. “Okay, Millicent, let’s go. We’ll confront the lioness in her den.”

  “Me?” She stepped back and shielded herself by crossing her arms over her chest again. “Why should I go? You tell her what I said.”

  I rounded my worktable and took her arm. “No, I think this will take both of us.”

  I herded her out of the office, her sputtering excuses all the way. Chuckling, I realized what she was up to. She wanted me to take the brunt of Maggie’s anger. “Maybe we’ll take her a sweet roll from the Naked Bean,” I said.

  After purchasing said sweet roll, we arrived at home and found Maggie on the floor, arranging a display of bags of potpourri. “Tag? What... Mom? What are you doing here?”

  Maggie tried to get up. I rushed over to help her. “Why are you on the floor? Don’t you have help for this kind of thing?”

  Millicent reached over and hugged Mags. “Tag has something important to tell you.”

  “Me? No, this is your show, Millicent. Go for it.”

  For a second, Millicent chewed on her lower lip. “Maggie, Tag believes you’re working too hard. He’s enlisted me to insist that you stop at once and rest until after the babies are born.”

  “Aw, Magster, you know...”

  Maggie burst into laughter. “Yes, I know dear.” She turned to her mother. “It won’t work, Mom. I know you put Tag up to this. If it will make you feel better, why don’t you stay and talk?”

  “Nope! Can’t stay. Too much to do.” Millicent glared at me and stalked back out the front door.

  I watched her leave. “I know that look. Mags, she’s up to something.”

  “I think you’re right.” Maggie watched as Millicent marched down the front steps. “God only knows what.” She turned to go back to work and then stopped. “Tag, you don’t think...”

  “Don’t look at me. She’s your mother.”

  “Maybe I should follow her.” Maggie turned toward the workroom. “Hey, Anna Rose, I’m going to be out for a few.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “Hamilton’s Department Store.”

  I watched as she strode down the steps. As she scooted through the gate, she put her hand on the small of her back. She’d been doing that a lot lately. I imagine carrying twins isn’t easy at any age, especially fifty.

  I glanced into the workroom. “Hey, Anna Rose, what’s up? You and Beau doing okay?”

  “We’re fine. I just stopped in to help Maggie for a while. I’ll get busy while she’s gone.”

  Anna Rose Lavender Belmont was Maggie’s best friend and, technically, her step-sister since Millicent and Tyrone had married. Her movie star husband, Beau, was my best friend. We’d all been shocked when Beau sneaked into town and hid out with Maggie so he could surprise Anna Rose. I was more than a little jealous when I found out a movie star was sleeping in the house with my girlfriend—unchaperoned. That was when I made the decision to move in with Mags. I realized that if I didn’t want some other guy sweeping her off her feet, then I needed to be standing right beside her. I’ve been here ever since.

  “Where’s Giselle?” Anna Rose asked. “She usually comes loping up the stairs when I come in.”

  “Mia took her for a run.”

  “So how’s Mia?” Hermia Lavender Belmont was Anna Rose and Beau’s daughter—the drama teacher at Mossy Creek High School. “Has she recovered from that gawdawful play she put on last spring?”

  Anna Rose chuckled. “What a flop. What was she thinking? If Beau and I hadn’t been away, I’d have been here to support her, but we had to be in Hollywood when he got his star.”

  “Yeah, Mags and I would have been there, but Maggie was in the first throes of morning sickness. In her first trimester, she got ‘morning’ sickness in the evening.”

  “That was probably for the best. Mia needed to learn that Mossy Creek isn’t ready for ultra modern plays. We’re old-fashioned.” Anna Rose smiled proudly. “She’s one of a kind. This week, as a fundraiser they’re doing a ‘modernized’ version of Romeo and Juliet.”

  “That should be interesting. We’ll probably go to that one.”

  “I hope she gets a good crowd. I saw a poster that made it look interesting.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I told her to put one in my window. Oh, and I actually saw one of the posters in Bigelow yesterday. I’ve gotta run. I’ve got football practice.”

  “Go Rams!”

  As I walked to the car, I decided to check on Maggie and Millicent, and so drove over to Hamilton’s.

  As I entered the department store, I heard the first sign of a problem and grimaced. This couldn’t be good. Then I saw her. Millicent was standing just inside the door with one of those baby strollers made for twins. One of the store clerks was gripping one handle and Millicent the other.

  “Crap!” I said as I opened the door. “Millicent, what’s the problem?”

  Maggie was nowhere in sight. Wondering what happened to her, I glared at my mother-in-law to be. Okay, technically, she wasn’t my mother-in-law. But she would be if Maggie would relent and marry me, which, at this point, seemed doubtful. She was a stubborn woman.

  Millicent looked up at me, teary-eyed and fragile. “This...this person practically attacked me. I was...I was just coming to see if this was the kind you asked me to buy.”

  Ah, now I understood. The clerk, obviously a new one, had caught her stealing the stroller. I should let them call Amos, but with Maggie in her “delicate” condition, I didn’t want to risk putting her into early labor. “Exactly the one. How much?”

  Millicent’s crocodile tears subsided, and she beamed at me. “Why, Tag, I didn’t even look. I just thought it would be perfect, so I didn’t care how much it cost.”

  “I’ll buy it, Millicent,” I said to smooth things over. “You can take it on home. It won’t fit in the Spyder.”

  I ripped the tag off as Millicent headed out the door, humming as she pushed the stroller. The clerk glared at me, obviously not believing the story. “Sorry about the confusion. My mother-in-law,” I said, avoiding a long explanation, “has a touch of dementia.”

  “Right,” she said, still eyeing me warily.

  “I’m Tag Garner, by the way. I guess you’re new in town.”

  “No, I guess we’ve just never met. Tater is my son.”

  “Tater? No kidding. I’m assistant coach on the Mossy Creek High Football team.”

  “Oh, Mr. Garner. Tater talks about you all the time.” She peered past me and I glanced over my shoulder to watch Millicent sauntering down the sidewalk. “I’m sorry about... I mean, it seemed like...that woman—”

  “Tag, I can’t find—”

  I slid my arm around Maggie. “Millicent just left with the stroller. I guess she couldn’t find you to show it to you. She was coming out to show it to me when Mrs.—”

  “Oh, just call me Gil
da.”

  “Right. When Gilda stopped her.” I laughed and winked at Maggie, who looked astonished. “She thought Millicent was stealing it.”

  Maggie almost choked. I clapped her on the back and she finally righted herself.

  “Well, Gilda, put it on my bill,” I said and ushered Maggie toward the door. “Thanks a lot. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

  By the time Maggie and I reached the car, we’d erupted into gales of laughter. “Tag, how could you?”

  “I didn’t want to be trying to bail her out of jail when you go into labor.”

  “All I know is, we’ve got to make sure Tyrone knows she’s at it again. He’ll keep her closer to home if he knows about it.” I opened the passenger door of the Spyder.

  Maggie shook her head. “I’ll walk. Thank goodness for Tyrone. Most everybody knows Mom’s a kleptomaniac, but Gilda obviously didn’t. If Tyrone can’t keep her at home, she’ll be the talk of Mossy Creek again.”

  “I’ll go tell Tyrone what’s going on.” I climbed over the door and started the engine. “See you in a while. I’ve got football practice.”

  Game day finally arrived. I can’t remember ever being so nervous about a game. Not the bowl games when I was at Georgia. Not even the playoff games when I was a Falcon. I guess the difference was that I didn’t have as much control over the outcome of the game as I had when I was actually playing.

  Fred and I followed the boys as they dashed out on the field and burst through the big paper sign proclaiming Mossy Creek as the future state champions. The stadium was full to the brim and the fans were on their feet screaming and cheering louder than they ever had.

  Fred looked sort of green around the gills, as my granny would have said, meaning he didn’t look well. I was beginning to think it was more than a case of heartburn. We stood, side-by-side, on the sidelines watching the coin toss. He grimaced, but managed to congratulate Willie for winning the coin toss. We opted to receive.

  Harrington kicked off. Tater plowed his way up field, not with Luke’s finesse, but he managed to get the ball to the forty yard line. Cheers erupted again. The specialty team ran off the field and our offense hurried out to replace them. Willie called the play in the huddle. That’s the good thing about Fred. He trusts his quarterback to do his job.

  On the first play, Willie threw the ball long. The receiver missed and got tackled.

  Two plays later, we scored. I was certain the few folks left back in Mossy Creek could hear the roar. We kicked off. Harrington took over. On a lucky play, their player nearly fell, but managed to retain his balance and, because of that near fall, got past our defender. He zigzagged down the field and scored. Inside the first five minutes of the game, both teams had scored.

  After that, we pushed against them and they pushed against us. Three minutes from the end of the first quarter, we scored a field goal, making the score ten to seven in our favor.

  Fred grunted and I looked at him. His face was pasty white and he clutched his left arm. “Fred, what’s wrong?”

  I grabbed him and led him to the bench.

  He sat down.

  “Greg, go get the EMTs.” I turned back to Fred and knelt beside him. “Just take it easy.”

  “Naw, I’ll be all right. Let me get back to the game. I’ll take another Tums and everything will be fine.”

  “Fred, that’s not gonna happen, my friend.” I saw Greg dashing across the field with the EMTs right behind him. As they arrived, I rose and let them in.

  “Tag, you gotta take over, man,” Fred said, groaning with pain.

  The game. My best friend was probably having a heart attack, and I couldn’t stay with him. All I could do was make him feel better by doing what he asked. “Okay. Don’t worry about anything. We got it covered.”

  The EMTs loaded him onto a gurney. “Don’t worry about anything, Fred. You’ll be fine. I’ll be at the hospital as soon as the game is over.”

  I headed back to the sidelines. If I hadn’t insisted that he come to Mossy Creek, he might be fine. As things stood, he might be dead within the hour.

  Plays continued. Players dashed onto the field and off. Whistles blew. We scored again. By now, the team knew Fred was having a heart attack.

  I tried hard to be cheerful, but I even sounded hollow to myself. Greg looked like he was about to burst into tears. I put my arm around him. “Hey, man,” I said. “Get ready for half-time. Coach’ll be fine.”

  Greg nodded uncertainly and hurried toward the locker room. I watched the doors to the ambulance close and returned my attention to the game. It was the least I could do.

  I saw Maggie rise, as if she was coming down to see what was going on. I shook my head and made a sign that everything was okay for now. She sat back down with Anna Rose and Beau.

  Two minutes until half-time. The score was still ten to seven. Along the sidelines, the horses and harness carts were lining up, ready for the Homecoming celebration. What a night this was turning out to be.

  Finally, the clock ticked down and the team ran off the field. As I walked in behind the team, I spotted Hayden “HayDay” Carlisle in the stands.

  Sandy Crane stood guard by the entrance to the locker room area, and I pulled her aside and asked her to fetch him for me.

  He caught up with me just as I was entering the locker room, a puzzled look on his face.

  “Hayden, thank goodness! I need your help. Fred’s having a heart attack, and I need you to help me on the field for the second half.”

  A look of astonished horror replaced the puzzlement. “Tag, you know I haven’t thought about football in years. You’ll have to get somebody else.”

  I watched him start to turn away. I knew what happened to him back on that awful day when the school burned and his football career was ruined.

  “HayDay, wait,” I grabbed his arm. “Look, these boys just lost a coach they love and respect. You can’t let them down because of what happened to you.”

  He looked undecided for a moment, but shook his head. “You got the wrong man, Tag. Sorry.”

  “Can’t you put your old feelings aside for the good of these boys? They need a leader.”

  “They’ve got you,” he said.

  For just a moment, I wanted to slug him. “Sure. They’ve got me. But they need you, too.” I shook my head and stared straight into his eyes. “Do you think it was easy for me to step on that field again? Don’t you think I wonder every day if I’d have made it into the Hall of Fame if that linebacker hadn’t crushed my knee?” I searched my mind for something else to say, anything that might persuade him. At this point, my concern was as much for him as for the boys. “You owe it to them. They’re just starting out and need somebody who can help them through the good times...and the bad times. And you know what, HayDay? I think you need them, too.”

  He shuffled away from me, turning his back. “You got the wrong guy, Tag.”

  I watched helplessly as he shrugged and walked away. I’d honestly believed I could talk him into coaching, but right then I had to concentrate on the team. They needed a talk from a coach and I was the only one around.

  The boys were sitting around, their helmets on their knees, just staring. They needed a pep talk and they needed it bad.

  “Okay, men,” I started and looked from one earnest face to the next. “We’ve been dealt a blow, but we can overcome this. After the game, we’ll all go to the hospital and check on Coach. For now, we need to concentrate on winning this game for him. He’d...” My voice trailed off. Their attention had gradually shifted. I turned and saw Hayden standing in the doorway.

  “He’s right, you know. You boys... you men are strong. You can’t let something like this get you down.” Hayden walked farther into the room. “Adversity makes us stronger. Look at Tag. Heck, look at me. Both of us were dealt blows tha
t might have turned us into... well, we coulda hit the bottle and never put it down.

  “Football isn’t just a game. It teaches you how to live your life. Coach Mabry has been here every day for you, knowing he had something bad wrong. He put his life on the line for you. How are you gonna repay that? By sitting around whining? Or are you gonna get out there and whup some butt?”

  Willie Bigelow walked into the locker room, carrying a crown in his hand. I guessed he just became King and vaguely wondered who the Queen was.

  “Hey, guys, we gonna do this or what?” he said with a grin. He pulled on his helmet and balanced the crown on top. “Think I can go through this half without getting the crown knocked off?”

  That broke the tension. The boys started to laugh. I looked over at HayDay and nodded. “Okay, boys. Let’s hit the field. We’re gonna win this for Coach Mabry and win it big!”

  They almost trampled me getting out the door. Thank goodness the horses and carriages were out of the way. I glanced at the area set aside for the Homecoming Court. There were two empty seats. Interesting, I thought and ran after my players.

  I looked for Maggie, wanting to see her wave with encouragement. This was tough for me as well as the boys. She wasn’t in her seat. Neither was Anna Rose. Beau had walked down to the sidelines.

  During the mayhem of getting the second half started, I ran over to see what was going on. “Hey, man, where are the girls?”

  He grinned. “You’re about to become a papa.”

  “What? Now?” I gasped and looked over my shoulder. The boys were lining up for the kickoff. “How am... Beau! What am I going to do?”

  “Maggie said to tell you to march your butt back out there and finish this game. It’s going to be a long time before the babies come.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll take you to the hospital when it’s over.”

  “I’ve got to go now. I can’t let Maggie do this by herself.”

  “Chill out, man. Everything’s under control.” He nodded toward the field. “Those boys need you more right now. Their coach just had a heart attack. This is their biggest game this year...so far. You gotta be there for them, man.”