Page 80 of Tangled with the Tight End

“I’m just taking him to the practice facility,” Winona says.

“Oh,” Maeve says. “You didn’t have to come out just to drive Declan. I could take him.”

Winona and I answer her in unison. “It’s fine.”

Maeve looks between the two of us, and a coy smile spreads on her face. She stares at me intently. I don’t know if Winona picks up on Maeve’s intuition. But I know my sister.

She sees it—my inconvenient feelings for Winona. I never could hide from Maeve.

I send her a look that says, Stop looking at me like that in front of Winona. Or at least that’s what I hope it says.

Whether she reads me or not, she says, “Okay, girls. Load up. Time to get to school.”

“Good seeing you, Winona,” Maeve says as she herds her girls toward the door.

“You too!” Winona shouts after them.

Then she turns to me. “Ready to go?”

“Basically,” I tell her.

“I brought work to do while you’re in the gym and treatment. Is there a place I can hang out? I can just stay in the car if there’s not a spot inside.”

“Work?” I ask her. “And yes. We’ve got spaces you can use.”

“I’m addressing wedding invitations.”

“Winona for Hire.”

“At your service,” she does this rolling thing with her hand as she takes a bow like a performer at the end of a Broadway play.

She really has been at my service. That’s going to change. I’m not incapacitated anymore. I can do things for her too now.

The weather outside is cooler. A fall storm is blowing in. The branches of the trees along the road heading out to the facility are covered in leaves that are just starting to show their colors. The wind passes through them, making everything feel more alive.

“I love fall,” Winona says, glancing over at me. “What’s your favorite season?”

“Football season,” I say.

“That’s not a season, Mister Tight End.”

“It is in my world.”

She giggles lightly. “To us civilians, that season is known as fall.”

“And winter,” I tell her. “Football season runs from late August to early February if we’re lucky.”

“That’s half the year.”

“My favorite half,” I tell her.

“It was sweet to see Boston and Ariella this morning. I didn’t know they were coming over.”

“I didn’t realize they knew you.”

“Moss and Maple. I only work there one day a week now. And I hadn’t been going in while you needed me daily.”

“You stopped working because of me.”