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When we get up to the ticket booth, I reach for my wallet, but a young man leans out. “Mrs. Winters, go on.” He waves us in cheerfully as the game has already begun, and music plays as they announce the players. I shake my head and laugh about how she’s still a local celebrity even though she’s retired. I don’t know a single soul who doesn’t adore her, and if anyone said anything bad about Goldie, I’d never believe them. Besides my parents, maybe, but they don’t count. They’re mean to everyone. You’ll never find a woman with a bigger heart than Goldie.
“Hurry, we have to get to our seats,” she calls as she hurries into the crowded stadium where it looks like there are no seats left. This doesn’t seem to deter her as she makes her way to the middle of the stadium underneath the announcer's booth. She pushes through, waving and smiling to everyone. Someone calls, “Mrs. Winters is here!” And I kid you not, the crowd parts for us like the sea parting in waves. What. In. The. World? Like I said, local celebrity. Being with her has some perks.
She hugs a few random people I vaguely recognize. I look around and take in the bright stadium lights and the smell of popcorn and hot dogs. This season's opener is my first game since high school. The excitement in the stadium is contagious. I realize I’m not as tired anymore, and she nudges me. “Are you excited?”
It does feel good to be out and about. “Thank you for coercing me into joining you,” I add dryly with a smile.
She laughs and playfully nudges me with her hip as she claps when the team runs onto the field. She’s wearing a Freedom Valley jersey with a cheetah pattern, glitter lettering, black slacks, and cheetah-patterned ballet flats. So very Goldie. The back of her bedazzled jersey says “Mrs. Winters.” I’m sure someone made it for her.
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel being back here where all the memories of SJ have stolen pieces of my heart. That familiar melancholy that I’ve worked hard to push down and try to forget over the years creeps back in. The ghosts of memories haunt me every day I’ve been back here, and it’s been harder than I imagined. But I’m determined to make a new life here with Goldie. Figure out who I am and what my new life looks like now.
As I’m getting settled in my seat, someone taps on my shoulder, and when I turn, it’s a woman who looks around my age, but I don’t recognize her. “Hey, is that Coach Reid’s old number?” She nods with a grin down at my shirt. “Still a big fan?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. How can she even read that to know that, and what does she mean by “Coach.”
“Wait, Allie?” I stare at her, shocked. Her familiar green eyes, playful grin, and dark wavy hair remind me of someone. Then it dawns on me. She’s Allie Harper, Evan’s younger sister, and she’s all grown up. I have so many childhood memories with Evan and Allie and their family’s Golden Gable Inn.
She grins at me. “Yep, it’s me. It’s so good to see you again, Callie.” She reaches over and gives me a hug, smiling.
“How are you?” I see her with a little boy who looks about five.
“I’m good. This is my son, Caleb. I just opened my own bakery. Baked Inn Love.” She smiles, and it feels good to see a familiar, friendly face.
“Hi, Caleb,” I say to her little boy, and he gives me a little wave. He’s wearing a bright blue Freedom Valley hooded sweatshirt and an Eagles ball cap that is big on him. So cute.
“Dad’s here!” the little boy shrieks excitedly as a tall, good-looking man joins them. He puts his arm around Allie and kisses her, then bends down to scoop up the little boy and hugs him, too.
“Callie, this is my husband, Logan. Honey, this is Callie. Evan and I grew up with her. She just moved back, and she’s a doctor here now.”
In a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone. I hold back a grin as a warm feeling fills me at being back in a place where people know and remember me. Something that didn’t often happen in big cities while going to college. I was lost in the crowd and often just another face. It was lonely and it feels good to be back in a place where people know me. I’ve missed this.
Logan shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“It’s crazy we haven’t run into each other yet,” she says. “But I’ve seen you around.”
“Well, to be honest, I practically live at the hospital, so unless you come there, I probably wouldn’t see you. I haven’t been very good at getting out,” I admit.
“Well, you must come see the bakery. We also have a book club that meets on Wednesdays, and we’d love to have you.”
“Count me in,” I say as I take in their cute family. This is why I moved back to Freedom Valley. Facing my past and all the pain that happened here made it way more of a challenge than I had anticipated. But it’s still home. Where Goldie lives, where my friends are. And even though coming home has been hard, it’s something I needed to do.
I realize I need something more than the hospital. And while Goldie has been great, I miss having friends, so I will make time for this.
I think back to what she first said. “What did you mean when you saidCoachReid? Is SJ’s dad, Sam, coaching?” I ask, confused.
“No, SJ,” she says like I should know this. “Are you not in touch with him?”
My face scrunches up, and I whip my head over to look at Goldie. She looks straight ahead like a deer in the headlights and won’t look at me.Oh my God.What has she done?
I turn back to Allie for answers. “What do you mean,SJ?” My hands tremble, my breath catches in my lungs, and a feeling of nausea rolls through me. I can hear the blood whooshing through my ears to the frantic beat of my erratic pulse.
Is he really a coach here? My eyes are wide, and I stare at her almost silently begging her to tell me this isn’t happening. Suddenly self-conscious, my arms cross over my chest to cover up his number, but REID is still across the back. Even though it’s worn down and you can barely make it out, it’s there.Why did I wear this shirt? Oh God.
Allie says nothing over the crowd's noise but points down at the field. My eyes follow her and land on him. I freeze. My hand goes to my mouth, my eyes wide. The noisy stadium is gone. I’m frozen in time watching him, just like I did from this very same spot over a dozen years ago. My body buzzes with nerves like someone just shocked me with defibrillator paddles. I always wondered what it would be like to see him again, and now, I know.There he is.My stomach clenches, my face still buzzing. Is it hot out here? It feels hot all of a sudden. I pull my shirt and fan myself with it nervously, taking a deep breath, struggling to remember to breathe.
It’s strange to see him at thirty. In my mind, he’s still the eighteen-year-old boy who left me behind and never looked back. Not even a note, text, or email. Yet here he is, just casually standing on the field talking to players in a bright blue polo shirt with tanned biceps that bulge out from the sleeves. Tattoos curl around his arms, peeking out of the sleeves that weren’t there before—the musclesandthe tattoos. I wonder what those tattoos mean. My fingers itch to trace over them and figure out their patterns. He’s wearing a blue Eagle’s hat pulled low, so I can’t see his eyes. But if I could, I know they’d be the same whiskey-brown eyes I used to get lost in. I can tell you every gold and green fleck and speck that colors those whiskey-brown eyes. They used to be mine. I used to be his. He’s like a walking hottie coach McHotterson down there, and I can’t take my eyes off him. My body and mind feel like they’re in separate places right now. My heart pounds.
As if he can feel my eyes on him, he turns and looks up into the stadium. His eyes scan the crowd until they finally land on me. I know the moment it happens because his body stills. He looks right at me while I stare back down at him.
