“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.
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.
When the song ended, someone behind Nate tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped slightly, then turned around.
Mrs. Cross, his high school chemistry teacher, looked down at him with barely a hint of a smile. “Give me a hug, young man.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Nate always thought her name fit her personality, but he leaned over the seat back and dutifully hugged the woman who had come close to flunking him. Of course, he had blown up part of the chemistry lab. He’d been daydreaming about Jenna and missed the portion of the lecture on which of the chemicals they were using could be combined and which couldn’t.
“You’re looking well.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Her husband, George, leaned down, taking advantage of a pause in the crowd noise. “You’ve been hanging around with Dub Callahan too long. Now that you’re a civilian you’re supposed to put your hand on your heart instead of saluting military style. Unless you join one of the service organizations.”
Nate barely kept his irritation from showing. Who appointed him the flag code police? The jerk had razzed Dub at football games for years about the same thing. “No, sir, you’re incorrect. Congress passed a law giving military personnel out of uniform and all veterans, whether or not they belong to a service organization, the right to salute the flag in the military manner if they want to. The choice is a personal one.”
“Really?” His tone was arrogantly skeptical. “When was that?”
“The fall of 2008, sir.” Nate turned back around, ignoring whatever Cross muttered. He was there to enjoy the game and his date. Not put up with know-it-alls-who-didn’t.
Dub leaned forward, looking past Will and Chance at Nate. “Did you make that up?”
“No, sir. It hasn’t been highly publicized, which is a shame. It was passed by Congress and signed by the president.”
Dub’s face broke into a broad grin. “Guess I’ll have to think of some other way to annoy George.”
Nate didn’t figure that would be too hard. Soon he was caught up in the excitement of the game and enjoying the company of his friends—one pretty lady in particular. If her smiles, cheers, and one-armed hugs when the Wolves made a touchdown—two in the first quarter—were a good indication, she enjoyed being with him too.
Although football had been an important part of his life when he was in school, he hadn’t been to a game since he moved away. He hadn’t realized until after he left Callahan Crossing that belonging had been a crucial part of the sport for him. He still watched games on television and had played football with the men in his company, but nothing came close to playing for the hometown team. Actually, he thought with a grin, nothing much compared with Texas high school football, period.
With thirty seconds left in the first half and the score tied, a big Wolves guard scooped up a fumble by the other team. He took off toward the goal line, forty yards away. Everyone in the stadium jumped to their feet. One side cheered him on. The other side screamed for the Tigers to catch him.
“Go, Tony, go!” The cheerleaders started a chant, shaking their purple and gold pom-poms high in the air. The drummers, waiting along with the rest of the band near the end of the field for the halftime show, picked up the rhythm. The Callahan Crossing supporters joined in, yelling, clapping, or stomping their feet.
Tony lumbered toward the goal line, his teammates blocking two Tigers who tried to stop him. Another player from the opposition made a valiant attempt, but the big linebacker wasn’t to be denied the only touchdown that he might ever make. He crossed the goal line, dragging the Tiger along with him.
The crowd cheered wildly, keeping it up as the kicker dropped a perfectly placed point-after right between the goal posts. The buzzer went off to end the half, and Jenna clung to Nate’s arm, jumping up and down. He barely noticed the boom of the cannon telling the few people in town who weren’t at the game that their team had scored.
During halftime, the band played a couple of tunes as they marched onto the field and formed a large crown. The homecoming princesses were escorted onto the field by their fathers. After an unusually short speech, the high school principal announced the homecoming queen and king, who was a running back on the football team. The principal placed a sparkling silver and rhinestone crown on the queen’s head, and the chairman of the homecoming committee presented her with a big bouquet of red roses. The king received a big puffy purple velvet crown with shiny gold trim.
Nate nudged Chance and leaned closer to be heard over the applause. “That’s not as cool as the one you got.”
“Bet it weighs less, though.”
The band played another song as the queen and her court were escorted off the field, and the king jogged back to join the team on the sidelines, holding the crown on his head with one hand.
When the Boy Scout color guard returned to the field, the band silently stood at attention. Head Coach Snyder, whose wife owned Buds and Blooms, jogged out, followed by the entire football team. They lined up in front of the band. The principal handed the microphone to the coach.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re honored to welcome home a real local hero tonight.”
Nate’s heart pounded in his chest.
No, Coach, no. Let it
go.
His throat went dry, and his palms began to sweat.
“In high school, Nate Langley was a two-time all-region wide receiver for the Wolves,” continued Coach Snyder. Nate’s mom turned and looked up at him, her face shining with pride, tears in her eyes. “While he was in school, he helped out on the family farm and worked as a cowboy on the Callahan Ranch. After graduation, he went to work on a ranch near Marfa. From what I hear, he’s as good at cowboyin’ as he was at playing football.”
Nate glanced at Dub. The rancher nodded.
“A week after 9/11, he joined the army and served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. During his recent tour in Iraq, Sergeant Langley saved the lives of two of his comrades after his team was attacked by a suicide bomber. Despite being wounded himself and barely able to walk, he carried one man to safety and went back into the burning building to rescue the other. On the way out, they were pinned down in the street by enemy fire for over twenty minutes.”
Jenna reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Someone nearby sniffed, and Nate realized a hushed silence had settled over the stadium. Somehow his dad managed to turn and look up at him, pride and tears gleaming in his eyes.
“Returning fire, Nate shielded the lieutenant’s body with his own until help arrived. For his bravery in risking his life to save these other men, Sergeant Langley was awarded the Silver Star for heroism.”
The stadium erupted in thunderous applause. Coach Snyder let folks clap for a minute, then held up his hand, asking for silence. “Nate, the boys wanted to do something to tell you how much they respect and admire you. And how much they appreciate your service to our country and our town. We had a team meeting this afternoon and voted to retire the number you wore when you played for the Wolves. Conveniently, nobody’s wearing number ten this season.”