Stranger in Town (Dundee, Idaho #5)(64)
Author: Brenda Novak

“Hi,” she said as brightly as possible and hugged her nieces before sitting down.

“Hey, where’s mine?” Russ teased when he saw the cups she carried.

He was obviously on his best behavior, trying hard to compensate for the previous weekend, but it did little to endear him to her.

“Sorry,” she said, rather insincerely.

“I’ll share with you, Dad,” Brent said and took his hot chocolate as Kenny jogged out onto the field.

Hannah held her breath while her oldest son started to play. The first series of downs didn’t go well. The Spartans tried to run twice, netting only three yards. Then Kenny nearly threw an interception.

Hannah winced at the poor showing. “We didn’t even get a first down,” she said when the punting team took over.

She was talking to Patti, who sat between her and Russ with Joseph, her husband, directly behind her and Donny on the far side, but Russ answered. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he said. “I think the Spartans are going to have a bad game.”

“Why?” she said, irritated that he’d make such a prediction so soon, especially when their son was heading up the offense.

“The Wildcats are pretty good this season.”

“Kenny’s good, too.”

“It’s not Kenny, it’s the coach,” he said pointedly.

Of course Russ would say that. “Are you’re saying we’re going to lose?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” He gave her a hard stare. “And it will all be thanks to Gabe.”

“I think we’re gonna lose, too,” Patti said, frowning.

Patti’s husband said nothing. He was rubbing Patti’s shoulders and didn’t appear to be listening.

“I’ll bet you we don’t,” Hannah said coolly.

Russ smiled when the Spartan defense gave up fifteen yards on a simple carry. “What are you willing to bet?”

She searched her mind for something she wouldn’t mind giving up. “A loaf of my homemade bread against your weekend with the boys.”

“Not good enough.”

“You love my homemade bread.”

“It isn’t what I want.”

The Wildcat quarterback connected with one of his receivers on a short pass, gaining another eleven yards. But Hannah refused to let what she’d seen so far discourage her. She believed in Kenny; she believed in Gabe, too. “What is it you want?” she asked Russ.

“A date.”

Hannah gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Patti’s been telling me that I should try to win you back, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

Patti gave her a sheepish smile. “I think it’d be so wonderful, for everyone, if you two could work out your differences.”

“Being divorced is no picnic,” Donny mumbled, speaking for the first time.

“I want a chance to prove how much I’ve changed,” Russ told her.

The memory of him backhanding her only last week loomed large in Hannah’s mind. Not much of an improvement, she thought.

The Spartans made their first great play by stuffing the Wildcats’ runningback at the line of scrimmage, and the crowd went wild. Like most everyone else, Hannah jumped up and applauded, but she noticed that Tuck, sitting several rows over and down, didn’t move. He looked as though he was concentrating hard, trying to control the game with his mind. Mike and Lucky Hill weren’t far away, either. They had their little daughter with them, but their expressions were almost as somber as Tuck’s.

“So just how much confidence do you have in this team?” Russ pressed when she didn’t respond to what he’d said.

“Enough,” she replied, sitting down again.

“Enough to make me that bet?”

“I don’t want to bet you.”

“Because you know Loverboy can’t get the job done,” he taunted.

There was a fumble on the field. When the Spartans came up with the ball, Hannah drew a deep breath and lifted her chin. Kenny and Gabe would pull it off; she knew they would. “Fine,” she said. “You’re on.”

THE SCORE WAS 14-0. With only thirty seconds remaining in the first half, Gabe watched Spartan center Fred Mendoza snap the ball. Kenny backed up and scanned for his receivers, but Moose Blaine missed his block, which allowed Kenny to be sacked. Again. Kenny was good at scrambling, but there wasn’t a high school quarterback in America who could have gotten the ball off in that amount of time.

Gabe shook his head. The Spartans hadn’t gained more than twenty yards in a single possession. Exactly what he hadn’t wanted to see was happening and he had no doubt Coach Blaine was behind it.

“They’re not playing like they did in practice,” Buzz Smith said, the lines in his weathered face looking as though they’d been etched in granite.

“Maybe it’s time for some substitutions,” Gabe said.

Buzz dropped the playbook that hung around his neck. “I don’t know if we want to do that yet. This is their first game. We need to give ’em a chance to work the bugs out.”

Gabe hadn’t told Buzz anything about Blaine. He planned to have the problem solved tonight.

He caught Blaine’s eye as the team huddled up.

Blaine smiled, seemingly unconcerned. At that point, Gabe decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He’d given the front line long enough to prove themselves and they hadn’t done the job. Several of them had to be in league with Blaine. Whether or not Kenny had joined the fun remained to be seen. The way the game had gone so far, there wasn’t any way to tell. Even if he wasn’t involved, Gabe was tempted to pull him. Kenny wasn’t getting enough protection, and Gabe didn’t want to put any quarterback at risk, least of all Hannah’s son.

“Humor me,” he said to Buzz, then began calling out names. “Colin, you’re in for Moose. Manny, you go in at right tackle.”

The smug expression on Blaine’s face didn’t change. Feeling grim, Gabe turned back to the game. He didn’t want to lose to the Wildcats, especially like this. It wouldn’t do justice to the boys who were still giving their best—or to the memory of Coach Hill.

The very next play, the Wildcats sacked Kenny again, and Gabe sent out the punting team. Fortunately, the clock ran down before Oakridge could get back into scoring position, but they came dangerously close to being able to kick a field goal.

As the band lined up for the halftime performance, the Spartans jogged off the field with their heads low. They weren’t getting beat by their rivals, Gabe thought. They were getting beat by themselves.