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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TIN MAN

POPPY

The sun shines brightly over the field, the small crowd forming already lively with excitement and they don’t even know what I know…that Bowie Fox will be here and possibly some of his NFL teammates. The parents of these kids are the best, so supportive and grateful for the outlet Briar Hill provides for their loved ones. We have some who aren’t as involved, but they’re not out here on a chilly Saturday mo rning.

My adrenaline skyrockets when I see Bowie striding toward the field, his hair looking like perfection as it blows in the breeze. Does the guy ever have a bad hair day? And oh my God, Becca is between Penn and Sam, and on the other side of him is Rhodes. I can’t believe they came, and even better, they’re all wearing Mustangs jerseys. The wow factor is off the charts. Becca’s wearing a Bowie jersey and Sam is wearing Penn’s.

The admiration I have for these players quadruples.

“Poppy!” Becca yells.

I hug her when she gets closer. “Hi, guys! I’m so excited you’re here!”

“Hey, Poppy,” Rhodes says. “This’ll be fun.”

“This is Sam Miller,” Penn says, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Sam, this is Poppy Keane.”

“Hi, Sam. It’s nice to finally meet you. Thanks so much for coming.” I smile at the boy. He’s adorable with a mop top of thick black hair.

“Nice to meet you too,” he says, grinning. He glances over at Penn and Penn bumps his knuckles like he’s approving something.

Bowie tilts his chin up at me. He has a way of looking at me like he’s trying to sort out an equation or figure out a puzzle, and today is no different. I want to yell that I’m not that hard to figure out, but I kind of like his eyes on me.

“Weston and Henley wanted to be here too, but they had other commitments,” Bowie says formally.

I sigh inwardly. I thought after our last interaction, it’d be a little easier between us, but we’re back to being stiff with each other.

“Well, I’m thrilled that I have you guys. Thanks again. I’ll introduce you to everyone and then let’s play!”

After the introductions are made, rules are repeated, and teams are assigned, we get started. Bowie adjusts his jersey and grins as he high-fives the group of kids on his team. I’m happy to see that he’s not formal with them at all. Nope, that’s only reserved for me. And then he puts his hair back in a man bun with easy precision, and I feel like I might slowly die right here, right now. Didn’t know I had a thing for man buns, but on Bowie, I so do .

When I finally tear my eyes away from Bowie, I notice Rhodes smirking at Bowie from across the field.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” he calls. “We’re gonna show you how it’s done.”

“You mean Sam and Davey are gonna show us how it’s done,” Bowie shoots back, making Davey on Rhodes’ team jump up and down.

I laugh. “Oh, so we’re already trash-talking?” I’m on Bowie’s team and he looks at me over his shoulder, looking smug.

“We’ve got this,” he says, winking at Daphne next to me.

I die.

“Penn, keep it fair,” Rhodes says to Penn.

Penn is going to be the ref for this first game and he blows his whistle dramatically, making all of the kids jump and laugh.

“I can maybe ignore calls in exchange for pizza,” Penn says.

Becca moves next to me.

“What are we gonna do with these guys?” I ask her.

“Play,” she says.

I laugh and high-five her.

As we get into place, I pass Bowie. “Try to keep up,” I tell him, tightening my ponytail.

“I’ll try,” he says, flashing a grin that nearly makes me trip .

The game begins and it’s a combo of skill and chaos as we dart around the field. The cheering from the sidelines is double what it usually is. We are giving them a show and Bowie and Rhodes play their roles perfectly, throwing exaggerated fake-outs and dramatic dives that have the kids staring at them in shock and then roaring with laughter.

Becca gets the ball and runs with it…in the wrong direction at first, but we get her turned back around and she makes the first touchdown. Everyone, including the kids on the other team, huddle around her to cheer. Bowie runs over and lifts her in the air, and everyone cheers louder. It’s so cute and funny that I swear my heart is going to explode.

At one point, I shock myself by intercepting a pass from Rhodes and take off down the field, but then, somehow, I trip and go flying. Bowie’s hands grip my waist and I’m lifted and turned so when I fall, I have a nice body to land on instead of the hard field. I stare down at Bowie, breathless. He’s looking up at me, dazed. I put my hands on his cheeks and hair.

“Are you okay?” I ask, panicking that I have just injured a professional football player in what was supposed to be a low-key game of flag football.

“Just fine,” he says.

“Oh, okay, good,” I say, still staring down at him.“I would hate to be the reason the star linebacker of the Mustangs is injured.”

Having all his hard ridges hitting me in all the right spots is not a hardship.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and I think he’s trying not to smile.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” I say, playing with his hair between my fingers. “It’s even softer than what they say. ”

He stares at me for a few beats. “So you know about the blogs too…”

I grin. “I do.”

He lets out a little growl and I crack up. His lips lift a tiny bit and it thrills me.

“Should we keep playing?” he asks.

My cheeks break out into a fiery heat. I clamber to get off of him, but for some reason, I’m dizzy and can hardly manage it. He lifts me up, standing at the same time, and sets me on solid ground.

“Thank you,” I say weakly.

He nods and I jump when Penn blows the whistle. Bowie chuckles and I turn and jog away like I meant to do all of that.

Somehow, despite my sudden clumsiness playing around Bowie, we win the game. The other team wins the next, and on the third, I sit out to take pictures of everyone. I get some great ones—the kids all laughing after the game, one of Becca celebrating with Bowie that I love, and a funny one of Penn pretending to throw a penalty flag.

After the game, the guys sign autographs and once it clears out, I thank them again.

“And signing autographs at the end…you guys went above and beyond,” I say. I’m so touched by how great they were with the kids. “Can I take you out to thank you? Starlight Cafe? Serendipity?”

“I could use a burger from Starlight Cafe,” Rhodes says. “But you aren’t paying.” He smirks.

Elle nestles into his side. She showed up during the second game, cheering on the sidelines, and then played in the last game. “Mmm, that sounds so good.”

“We’re in,” Penn says.

Bowie nods .

“Great.” I think I’ve smiled nonstop today. “I’ll meet you over there!”

Rhodes, Elle, Penn, and Sam are at the table when I get there, and Bowie and Becca walk in right behind me. I end up between Bowie and Becca, and as we’re eating, various people from town come and talk to the guys.

“Is it always like this?” I ask Elle.

“It happens more during the offseason…and it’s more the tourists than locals around here,” she whispers.

I’m impressed with how gracious Bowie, Rhodes, and Penn are with each person. It must get exhausting to always be on .

When we finally have a moment to ourselves, we talk about how fun the day was.

“It’s obvious all the kids absolutely adore you, Poppy,” Elle says.

“Aw. Really? I mean, I adore all of them, so I’m glad if they love me back,” I say, laughing. My cheeks are warm from the praise.

“It’s great what you’re doing,” Bowie says quietly, and my cheeks get even hotter. “I regret not bringing Becca there sooner. We’ve gone to a lot of places over the years, some excellent, some not so much, but we hadn’t gotten to Briar Hill yet. We’ll be back, for sure.”

I couldn’t wipe the beam off my face if I tried.

As we say bye in the parking lot a little later, I put my hand on Bowie’s arm without meaning to.

“Sorry,” I say, dropping my hand. “I just…I have a little something for Becca in my car.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” he says.

“I just…I wasn’t trying to grab you.”

His lips pucker as he gives me an amused look. “Now or out on the field?” His voice remains even despite his teasing .

I groan. “You grabbed me out there!”

“So you wouldn’t hurt yourself.”

“It was a much better landing,” I say softly.

His eyes glitter with something, I wish I knew what. He’s so damn hard to read.

“Hold on one sec, Becca,” I say, holding up my hand. I turn to my car and get the bag out of the backseat.

When I hand it to her, she laughs.

“I love presents,” she says.

Bowie smiles a real smile now. There’s no mystery to him when he looks at his daughter. He is an open book when it comes to her, and I adore that about him.

Becca flings the tissue paper out of the bag and Bowie and I scramble to catch it before it flies everywhere. She takes the picture out and stares at it, a huge smile on her face.

“Me and you,” she says happily. She holds the picture of the two of us from the other day up to Bowie. “Look, Dad. Me and Poppy.”

“It sure is,” he says, his eyes meeting mine. “Thank you.”

I smile and nod slightly.

“That was…really wonderful of you,” he adds.

I stare up at him, surprised by his rare vulnerability.

Becca lightens the moment by waving the frame in front of us again. “I love me and Poppy. I put it on my shelf.”

I get choked up and fortunately, I don’t think Bowie sees because Becca throws her arms around me and we hug it out. When we pull apart, I look at Bowie again and his expression has gone completely soft and melty. He swallows hard and gives me a closed smile. It wouldn’t seem like much coming from anyone else, but from him, it feels like maybe I’ve cracked through just a tiny bit of his armor.