The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River #3)

It was the best thing she ever did for me. Well, okay, maybe not the best, but I did love football. I played all the way through school and you probably wouldn’t guess it by looking at me now, but I was so badass that I got a scholarship to play for the Colorado School of Mines. I know what you’re thinking! That a bunch of engineers wouldn’t be into football, but trust me, that team rocked.

I was headed for All-American when I started having trouble with my hand. Like, my hand would just stop holding a football, or stop holding a pen like there was no input from my genius brain. And then my foot started flopping around like a clown while I walked. It was weird, watching pens slip through my fingers and my foot flop around. Anyway, you know the rest of the story, MND, blah, blah, blah, and I had to stop playing. But I still love football, and now, after twenty-seven years, I get to see the Broncos obliterate the Patriots. That is every Colorado boy’s dream, and I’m going to see it from a luxury seat!

I tried to convince Dad to get me some body paint so I could go super orange and blue, the Bronco colors, but Dad said no, he couldn’t paint and it would be too cold anyway and he didn’t think the world wanted to see my chest. Killjoy! I was pretty pissed about it, but Luke got me a great Broncos shirt and cap, and I’m ready.

I’ve still got plenty to worry about. You cannot imagine the effort it takes to coordinate and organize when you’ve only got a mouth to work with. Dad the Downer said we’re going up Sunday morning and coming back that night, because we can’t be away from all the breathing machines and crap that he pumps into me every day. So now I’m a little worried that it might snow, and if it does, Dad will drive my van like a grandpa, and we could be late. People, I can not be late. It will ruin everything for Dante and me if we’re late.

Just in case, I’ve been studying up on alternative routes. I need to concentrate, and you’d think people would understand I have enough to do without worrying about everyone else in Pine River, but you know how it is, once you’ve established yourself as king of the hill, it’s hard to get off, if only for a weekend. They still keep coming to me.

The Methodist ladies brought me a picnic basket full of stuff for my trip. Like baby wipes and big plastic bottles with crazy straws for all the stuff Dad has to give me, and it was really sweet, and I do love me some Methodist ladies—I mean, they are the reason I’m getting to go to the game after their big fundraisers, right? But I really don’t have time for a hen circle right now. Then again, the Methodists can be counted on for the best gossip, and believe me, they already knew all about Cooper Jessup. It’s like they’re aliens with news antennas that come out of their heads the moment someone new comes to town.

This time, the ladies heard about the new guy from Dani. Well, color me mildly surprised, because it turns out, Dani apparently appreciates eye candy as much as the rest of them and has been telling everyone in town about the hunk from Hollywood.

As happy as I was to learn about Dani’s hots for Cooper, all that talking and listening was exhausting. I’m not being sexist when I say that women have an unbelievable capacity to talk. I bet if you Googled it, you’d find it was an accepted scientific fact. If there weren’t guys around, who would ever get them to stop talking? It’s hard for me to admit defeat, but here goes—I was outmatched and I was unsuccessful in getting them to stop. They stayed a really long time. My plans for the afternoon—charting some alternative routes to Denver—were shot, and I had to ask Luke to call Marisol and beg her to come and help me look at maps.

Well, Marisol came immediately, because it turns out she likes to show off that stinky little hot mess of a baby. Valentina has a thatch of hair as black as night and socks that look like sheep. She won’t even look at me because she’d rather sleep, which is really weird because usually little kids stare at me. Marisol stuck Valentina in one of those automatic rockers, and to sleep that kid went, like I wasn’t even there. I’m giving her a grace period since she’s brand-new, but sooner or later, she’s going to have to learn who’s boss around here.

So anyway, Marisol and I were poring over maps, and she was coding alternate routes in different colors when Emma showed up. Emma did this double-hop thing when she saw Marisol, like she wasn’t expecting her at all, and she said, “Oh hey, hi, Marisol,” and Marisol said, “Um,” and kept looking at the maps.