Coby began to fuss, and I watched as Aaron got up, stepped over to the pantry, and came back with a box of Cheerios. He put a handful on both Coby’s and Little David’s high-chair trays. Aaron even knew to give one to Duke. He rose up a couple of notches in my book.
“Where will we practice golf if this weather continues?” I asked Dad as I served everyone.
“State has an indoor driving facility. They even have an indoor putting green. It’s not ideal, but at least we can get you some practice,” Dad explained. “Are they getting you a golf instructor for when you’re in LA?”
“I don’t know. Can you have Caryn find out?”
I then turned to my mom.
“When does everyone start to show up?” I asked.
Her eyes shot up, and I grinned at her.
“That was supposed to be a surprise,” she complained.
“Don’t blame Dad,” I said, shaking my head.
“Nice try,” Dad said, and Mom patted his hand to let him know she didn’t believe me for a minute.
“Who told you?” Mom asked.
“I just assumed, since we hired help,” I teased.
“Just ignore him,” Peggy told Aaron and Melanie.
“Ashley and her family will be here Monday. Everyone else will show up after that,” Mom told me.
“You should call Ava and see if some of them can stay in their guesthouses. I’d rather not be kicked out of my apartment,” I said, hopefully. “Better yet, I could go stay with Brook.”
My mom just laughed at me.
◊◊◊
The weather had turned downright nasty. It looked like we were in for an ice storm as the temperature hovered around freezing. One minute it was raining, and the next it was snowing. It made for miserable conditions to play football in.
McHenry was from the northern part of the state and had decided to come down last night for the game. I would hate to be driving the interstate today. It was perfect weather for black ice to form, which could cause an accident. I was glad that our fans didn’t have to travel far in this.
I was slightly irritated that Caryn had traded in my Jeep for the new SUV that Peggy was driving. The Jeep was perfect for days like this. Dad drove me to the high school in the Escalade. He told me that they might just watch the game on TV because it had been selected as the high school game of the week for our area. I was afraid that would be the case for many of our fans, and I couldn’t blame them.
I walked into the hospitality building and was impressed that it was toasty-warm in there. Today’s menu was soup and salad with a potato bar. I decided on the hearty stew option and found a seat.
The number of recruiters had tapered off when we began having games on Saturday for the state playoffs. They had their own games to worry about. I was soon joined by Jeff and his cameraman. He’d decided to go with the black bean soup. He’d just gotten situated when a mass of football players came in. Our booster club routinely reached out to our opponents to let them know that they were welcome to come and eat. All the food was donated, and they only asked for a contribution from patrons who could afford one. It was something you would probably only see in a small town like ours.
I smiled when some of the McHenry football players recognized me.
“Mind if we join you?” one of them asked.
“Fair warning: Jeff’s a reporter,” I said, nodding towards him.
The players all introduced themselves. They wanted to talk about what I knew about
“I don’t really know,” I admitted, and then clarified. “With the weather the way it is, I expect both our offenses will struggle. From what I saw on my weather app, it’s only going to get worse for the game. We may end up having an old-school Big Ten game with the ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ style of football. If that happens, neither team might score.”
“You can’t be serious,” Jeff said. “McHenry and Lincoln have the two best offenses in the state.”
I just shrugged. As I walked out of the tent to go to the locker room, I almost fell on my ass. There was a layer of ice on the ground that made me think my prediction might not be too far off. The temperature had dropped, and it was snowing with a purpose now. I decided to embrace the challenge. This should be fun.
◊◊◊
Doc Grog was waiting for me when I came in.
“Think you’re ready to go without any help today?”
“I hope so. Do your worst,” I told him.
Doc Grog did the usual of making me stretch, twist, and then he prodded me. I could tell I was still healing, but thought I would be okay.
Coaches Hope, Mason, and Rector came in to check on me. Coach Mason stumbled and looked confused.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Mraw wa,” he said, and we all looked at him.
“I think he may be having a stroke,” Doc Grog said and kicked us all out of the training room.
