Page 198

35

“THE FINING POT IS FOR SILVER, AND THE FURNACE FOR GOLD: BUT THE LORD TRIETH THE HEARTS.” —PROVERBS 17:3

K endall paced back and forth on the sideline, clapping his hands. Stoney Creek won the toss and chose to defer to the second half. The cold rain continued to fall. He looked up at the crowd in the direction of where his mom, Emma, Jarilyn, and Sydney usually sat. He hoped to get a glimpse of them, but the crowd was now a collage of colorful hats and raincoats, making it impossible to pick them out.

Threats had been floating back and forth between the field houses of Dover and Stoney Creek all week long. The last thing Dover sent was a hand-drawn picture of a football jersey being burned. The jersey had Reggie’s number on it. The animosity between the two teams was more than simple rivalry. Dover’s head coach, Ben Howard, hated him, and in a way, he didn’t blame him.

Ben had been the head football coach at Stoney Creek when Kendall graduated from college. He had taken Kendall under his wing and mentored him. Before long, Kendall became his assistant coach and closest friend. That’s when the losing streak began. One thing Stoney Creek would never tolerate was a losing football team. Ben knew that. He knew the stakes. The pressure was rough. Kendall felt it too—the overall pressure to win at all costs. Coach Howard had been asked to resign, and after a few carefully placed words in the right places from Walter, Kendall was made head coach. Lucky for Howard, he was snatched up almost immediately by Dover as their head coach.

Kendall turned his attention to the game and urged his kickoff team onto the field as they slapped and butted each other, pumping up their adrenalin. Travis Riddle, the big offensive tackle and co-captain of the team, pointed a finger and shook his fist while yelling expletives at Dover’s co-captain, the same player he had just shaken hands with a few minutes earlier.

The scoreboard was hard to see through the sheets of rain. Only forty-eight minutes of football, and that scoreboard would show that Stoney Creek had the right to the division playoff and a shot at the state championship. He could almost taste it!

During the past week, Kendall and his players had studied Dover’s scouting report. Their quarterback was pretty good and had a decent arm, but their offensive line was weak and didn’t appear to have the strength to stop Jerry Walker, Stoney Creek’s big fast lineman. Dover had only one good pass receiver, and Kendall had worked out a defense that would double-team him in passing situations.

The clock ticked on. The defensive team raced onto the field after a poor Dover return, and sure enough, it was three downs and out to give Stoney Creek the ball on Dover’s forty-five yard line after the punt. The crowd went wild. It only took six plays for their first touchdown.

Sydney watched the game with her hand on top of her head to keep her hat from dashing off with every gust of wind. When the rain began, Jarilyn had joined Jessica, Emma, and Mrs. Fletcher under the roof of the concession stand. They were the smart ones. She shivered and snuggled down deeper into her oversized poncho. At any rate, she’d rather sit in the rain than put up with Jessica for the whole game.

“Do you have room in there for me?”

Sydney looked up to see Sean smiling down at her. The tiny droplets of water on his dark hair only intensified his attractiveness and shot an arrow of warmth right to her heart. “Of course not, but you can have a seat.” She moved the wet program from the bleacher. “What’s the matter? You couldn’t find Jessica?”

“Skip the sarcasm, Syd. I decided I’d rather sit up here with you in the rain watching this lopsided game. It’s the beginning of the third quarter, and we’re up twenty-four to six. We could leave and go get something to eat.”

“No, I want to see all of the game,” she said, not acknowledging how much she appreciated his remark about sitting with her in the rain, even though she doubted that he really meant it. She was also grateful for his warmth and protection from the wind.

“Why am I not surprised?” he said, leafing through the wet program. After a few minutes, he chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Only in Stoney Creek.”

“What?” The condescension in his voice pricked at her. It didn’t matter that she sometimes balked at the peculiarity of the town. She could do that because she was from here. She wasn’t about to sit quietly while an outsider took pot shots at her town.

“Look at this advertisement.” He held the program up so she could see as he read aloud. “Dempsey Funeral Home—We’re the last ones to let you down.”

Sydney laughed despite herself. “That’s almost as bad as a sign I saw on a church the other day. It said: ‘Walmart is not the only saving place.’”

Sean chuckled and shook his head. “I must admit that small towns do have their share of charms.”

“Such as?”

“Moon Pies, Krystals, fried catfish.” He looked at her. “The company of a beautiful woman.”

Warmth shot through her despite the cold.

“Where else could I spend a Friday night, sitting on cold bleachers in the pouring rain, watching a game that was over in the first half?”

“This is changing the subject, but were you able to find out anything about the man who threatened me?”

Sean cleared his throat, his eyes not meeting hers. “No, I’m sorry. I questioned everybody at the mill. No one knew a thing about it. I’m beginning to wonder if the incident wasn’t some sort of fluke.”

Sydney looked away so he wouldn’t see her disappointment. “If you find out anything, will you let me know?”

“I certainly will.” Sean looked past her. “Syd, do you know that woman who’s sitting in the middle section of the bleachers? She’s wearing a red sweater.”

Sydney turned to look. Her insides knotted when she saw Maurene and Walter. Surely they couldn’t be who Sean was referring to. A shiver ran up Sydney’s spine when Maurene’s eyes caught hers and held them for a moment. Maurene’s eyes had that same expression they had at Walter’s when Sydney saw her standing at the top of the stairs.

Sydney turned back around. “Who?”

“What do you mean who ? That bleached blonde with the beady eyes. Didn’t you see her staring at you?”

Sydney pulled her poncho tighter around her. “I don’t recognize her. There are hundreds of people sitting on the bleachers. She could’ve been looking past me to someone else. I was probably in her line of direction. That’s all.”

“You and I both know that woman was staring at you.”

Sydney threw up her hands. “What difference does it make?”

Sean’s eyes met hers, but this time she wasn’t going to offer him a thing. “Okay,” he finally said. “We’ll play this thing your way.”

They watched the game in silence. Kendall rotated his second offensive team players in and out during the last five minutes of the third quarter. Dover scored another touchdown, but not before Stoney Creek scored two more.

The rain turned to drizzle at the start of the fourth quarter, and Kendall huddled with his first team. “I’m going to put you guys back in. Reggie has a shot at breaking the division record in pass completions, passing yardage, and touchdowns. Just don’t let up. That’s when you get hurt—when you’re goofing off. If any of you get tired, just pat your hand on the top of your helmet, and we’ll give you a break.”

“All right!” The team gave each other high fives. With only two minutes left in the game, Travis Riddle patted his helmet for the second string tackle to replace him.

A few seconds later, Sydney watched the unthinkable happen. Dover’s defensive linebacker blitzed past Stoney Creek’s substitute lineman. Reggie dropped back in the pocket and found his receiver open. Oblivious to the charging linebacker to his left, he planted his feet to pass.

The crowd moaned in unison when Reggie hit the ground. A hush fell over the stadium. Reggie lay motionless on the field. A dull, sick feeling filled Sydney’s stomach as she watched Kendall and the other coaches run onto the field. Her first thought was for Jarilyn.

“The quarterback is hurt,” the voice boomed over the speakers. “Folks, this could be bad news for Stoney Creek. It looks like a shoulder injury. They’re carrying him off the field.”

“I’ve got to find Jarilyn,” Sydney said. She jumped up and started down the bleachers and then stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. Kendall was running across the field toward Coach Howard. His face was furious, and Sydney thought could see the veins on the sides of his neck sticking out like ropes. When he stopped, Kendall’s face was only a fraction of an inch from Coach Howard’s, and it looked like Coach Howard was laughing at what Kendall was saying. Kendall struck the side of Coach Howard’s head. A second later all pandemonium broke loose when the players, followed by the crowd, exploded onto the field to join the brawl. Sydney stood and watched Kendall and Coach Howard exchange blows.

Sean came up behind Sydney, took her elbow and guided her down the bleachers as police officers ran onto the field. They watched one policeman escort Kendall off.

“Is he under arrest?” Sydney asked, not expecting an answer.

“I don’t know.” Sean’s voice was void of emotion. “Right now we need to find Jarilyn and make sure Reggie’s okay.”

“You’re right.”

Sean and Sydney reached the field the same time as Jarilyn. She looked like she could faint.

“Jarilyn, it’s going to be all right,” Sydney said. The words rang hollow in her ears as she put her arm around Jarilyn’s shoulder.

An ambulance pulled up to where Reggie was lying by the time Sean and Sydney got Jarilyn calmed down. “Are you all right baby?” Jarilyn patted Reggie’s face.

Reggie grimaced but didn’t open his eyes.

“Ma’am, he’s going to be all right,” the ambulance driver said.

Sydney looked up just in time to see Kendall jogging back onto the field toward them. A dark mark ran below his left eye and down his cheek.

“It’s okay. I can take care of things from here.” Kendall helped the driver get Reggie situated. “Jarilyn, you can ride with me to the hospital,” he said in a low voice. He looked over at Sydney and Sean, standing there—together. His eyes met Sydney’s. He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m sorry about what happened tonight,” Kendall said, “but I couldn’t let Howard get away with that. He sent his linebacker in to take Reggie out.”

Sydney frowned. “Are you sure it was intentional?”

He scowled. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He paused. “Look, I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

Sean cleared his throat as the ambulance drove away. “He’s quite the hero, isn’t he? He probably just cost Stoney Creek an opportunity to play in the state playoffs and all he can say is ‘I couldn’t let Howard get away with that.’”

Blood rushed to Sydney’s face. “I don’t think that’s fair, Sean O’Conner. Kendall’s been through so much today. When he should be out celebrating with his team over their win tonight, he’s on his way to the hospital with his most valuable player. I think you could be a little more compassionate!”

She looked Sean straight in the eye. “Why do you hate Kendall? Is it because he’s everything you’re not? Is that it?”

Sean rocked back. “Yeah, that’s it. It looks like you’ve got it all figured out.” He turned and left her standing alone on the field.