Page 22 of Sweet Devotion

“It was my pleasure.”

“Should I be worried?” Clint stood in the kitchen, booted toe tapping, arms crossed, only the glint in his eyes and lopsided smile told Aiden he wouldn’t find himself on the wrong end of a shotgun.

Alice Sweet pushed away from Aiden and turned to her husband. “Always. Watch your step.” The huge grin on her face belied the harshness of her words. The kiss that followed had Aiden admiring drawers he’d already studied for hours.

“Oh,” a soft female voice that Aiden recognized instantly as Colleen sounded from deep in the kitchen. “I, uh, am a little early.”

“No such thing as too early in this house.” Alice eased away from her husband. “Besides, we need to pack the hibachis into the back of the trucks. The tailgate parties start whenever we arrive, early or late.”

“I’ve already got the beer and cola coolers packed.” Clint smiled at his wife. “It’s what I came in to tell you.”

Aiden watched the conversation unfold, the bags of hamburger and hot dog buns that Alice pulled from the pantry get tossed into a large basket. Preston and Sarah Sue carried an empty cooler into the kitchen and began loading raw burger patties and hot dogs into the iced cooler.

“The perks of owning a cattle ranch is we get the best burgers.” Preston closed the lid, kissed his wife briefly on the lips, and the two carried the filled cooler outside. More of the Sweet family arrived with coolers and bags they filled with chips, and sodas, and needed condiments for the superb quality beef burgers.

Already Aiden’s mouth was watering. Next to his grandmother’s lasagna, his favorite foods were all being represented at the upcoming tailgate party. The family began piling into the vehicles. Some held four, some six, and the bigger ones held eight. Aiden found himself in the Suburban with Alice, Clint, Preston, Sarah Sue, Rachel and her husband, and of course, Colleen.

When they reached the stadium outside the high school, Aiden’s jaw almost hit the floor. Not only was the high school much larger than he expected, the parking lot was packed. Car after truck after car and truck were all parked. Grills were set up everywhere and the smell of fresh grilled meat filled the air.

Banners or team flags hung from the open backs of just about every vehicle in the lot. When Aiden had been in high school, the football games were a big deal. At least that’s what he’d thought at the time. This… this was a whole other world. As far as he could tell, the whole town had shown up expecting not only a football game but a block party.

“Close your mouth.” Colleen’s voice held a laugh. “A June bug might fly in.”

Without thinking, he snapped his jaw shut and then grinned at her. “All this is for a high school game?”

“Told you.” She stepped down from the vehicle and smoothed her hands over the sides of her jeans. “Friday night lights.”

“Lights I understand,” he muttered, climbing out more carefully than everyone else. “It’s the rest of it I’m trying to process.”

By then the Sweet family was already unloading grills, coolers, folding tables, and enough food to feed an army. It all happened with a rhythm that suggested they’d done it a hundred times before and expected to do it a hundred more. Clint and Preston set up the hibachis while Sarah Sue and Rachel unfolded tables. Alice opened one of the coolers and began handing out packages of beef patties like a woman orchestrating a military campaign.

“Don’t just stand there looking pretty.” Alice pointed a pair of tongs at Aiden. “You can carry that bag of chips and the paper goods.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grabbed what she indicated and followed Colleen to the nearest table. The lot was alive with greetings and laughter. People waved as they walked past, several calling out to Alice or Clint by name, a few stopping to trade comments about the opposing team, the odds of making it to State again, or the rumors that scouts from UT and A&M were going to be here for tonight’s game. Somewhere nearby a radio was playing country music, though it had to fight for attention with the hiss of grills and the rising noise of the crowd. Shaking his head, he faced Colleen. “Do they really do this every Friday?”

“During football season?” Colleen chuckled. “Only every home game. And for family of the players, away games too. If it’s an important game, the whole town will show up for support.” She nodded toward a row of tailgates farther down. “Some of those families have had the same parking spots for years.”

As if on cue, Garret appeared beside the grill, already in school colors. “Glad you made it.” His attention shifted to Aiden. “First time at Friday night lights?”

“Is it that obvious?” Clearly there was no reason for him to confirm.

Garret laughed. “You look like a kid at his first Super Bowl for his favorite team.”

“It’s a little more than I expected.”

“That’s because you’re not from somewhere people consider high school football part sport, part religion, and part civic duty.”

Garret barked a laugh and reached for a bottle of water from one of the coolers. “Wait till kickoff.”

By the time the burgers hit the grill, the smell had Aiden’s stomach growling almost as loudly as the surrounding crowd. He accepted a paper plate Alice handed him loaded with a mile high cheeseburger and chips. It was becoming more and more clear to him that everything really is bigger in Texas. Around them, the Sweet family talked and laughed and passed food as though feeding half the county was no trouble at all. If anything, they seemed to enjoy it. A loud burst of cheers rose from inside the stadium.

“Band’s taking the field.” Colleen reached for a chip.

The sound was barely audible through the din of the crowd. Slowly people began packing up, making their way into the stadium. Chants of Go Hawks Go roaring louder than the conversations or pregame interviews on the radio. Little kids who had been running around the cars playing were now chiming in on the chant and following their families into the stadium. The whole town was going nuts, and Aiden couldn’t help but get caught up in their enthusiasm. Heaven help him.

Inside the stadium, the noise hit Colleen like a welcome home hug. The band had spread across the field in neat rows, brass flashing under the lights, drums pounding a rhythm she’d heard some version of since she was old enough to sit through a football game without falling asleep on her mother’s shoulder. To one side, the cheerleaders were already working the crowd, and on the field below, players in blue and white jerseys moved through warmups with the kind of energy that made the whole place hum.

Even in the stands, people didn’t simply sit. They visited, called out across rows, waved to cousins on the other side of the stadium, and kept up a running commentary about who had grown three inches since spring and which boy had finally put enough meat on his bones to hold his own on the line. The Sweet family settled into a whole section of bleachers as if they owned them, which some days, Colleen suspected they nearly did. She handed Aiden one of the memory foam cushions and waited while he eased himself onto the bench with enough care to tell her his hip was still talking to him.