Homecoming (A Boys of Fall Novel) (9 page)

“More like fiercely cute.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. For the record, I would totally pick you to share an ugly pumpkin baby with me if we weren’t actually adults.”

“That might be the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me.”

She was going to laugh, but he started walking around her desk. “What are you doing?”

“Stand up.”

“No.”

He laughed. “Just for a second.”

“What are you doing?”

She’d barely stood when Sam cupped the back of her head. His mouth covered hers and she braced her hands against his
shoulders as heat rushed through her body. She slid her hands down his chest and he moaned against her lips.

He devoured her, kissing her until she wanted to peel his shirt up over his head and then wrap her legs around his waist. But when she felt the urge to sweep everything off her desk and shove him down on it, she broke off the kiss.

“Shit. I can’t do this,” she said, her voice soft and breathless. “We’re in my office. The door’s not even closed, for crap’s sake.”

He ran his hand over his hair and blew out a breath. “I got carried away. Maybe I should go to the locker room and take a cold shower now.”

“Or just picture the lecture Mrs. Fournier would give us right now.”

Sam actually shuddered, and she didn’t blame him. “She scares me.”

“I’ll talk to her tomorrow about Cody and Mara’s pumpkin. Maybe I can get them a replacement baby in the spirit of homecoming or something.”

“Thanks, Jen.”

“I expect you to throw me some good candy from the float Friday night.”

Sam paused at the doorway and looked back at her. “And I expect you to save me a dance Saturday
night.”

B
y the time Sam was supposed to report to the homecoming parade floats Friday evening, he was exhausted. It had been a long week and looking at the schedule Jen had given him didn’t prepare him for just how much energy would be expended. And this was only the second event, if he counted the pep rally.

Hell, his ears were still ringing from being trapped in the gym earlier in the day. Back when he’d been the star quarterback and the screaming and hollering was for him and his teammates, he hadn’t minded so much. Now, though, each class competing to see who had the most school spirit had left him cranky and hitting the school nurse up for acetaminophen.

The staging area for the parade was so full of people he couldn’t help but wonder if there was anybody left in town to actually line the sidewalks and wave to them. He knew
from the Eagles Fest parade that once it was time to roll, there would be no messing around. Part of their route through town required them to stop traffic on one of the busiest roads in the state, which connected the highway with pretty much every other place in the northern part of New Hampshire. Stewart Mills parades had to be short and move fast so traffic could start flowing again.

The siren on the police chief’s SUV sounded twice, which was the signal to get their asses on the floats and hold on. There was only the one cruiser, since Kelly and Dylan were in charge of stopping traffic, and then the ambulance and a couple of the volunteer firefighters from the area would turn on the flashing lights in their pickups. Deck always had his wrecker decorated for the occasion, and then the floats. Each class, from the freshmen to the seniors, had one, and they’d be judged for school spirit. And then the parade ended with the football team. The starters and seniors were usually on the float with Coach, and the rest of the team threw candy from the two pickup trucks following.

Coach had refused the offer to ride in a convertible. “I’ll be on the float with my boys or I’ll just stay home and watch more
Pawn Stars
repeats.”

They’d finally compromised by putting a folding camp chair on the float so if he got tired, he could choose to sit for a while. Or, more accurately, if Mrs. McDonnell thought he was getting tired, he could be forced to sit.

“Whatever you do, don’t fall off,” Sam said once he’d climbed onto the float. “I swore to your wife I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Plus, the ambulance is
in
the parade and we’d probably run over half the town trying to get it out of line.”

Coach snorted and then pointed to a big basket that was decorated with blue and gold ribbons and had an Eagles T-shirt draped over the top. “What’s that basket for?”

“That’s the nursery.” When Coach just waited, Sam rolled his eyes. “I guess the girls decided that, since the guys on the team get to ride on the big float, they could bring the pumpkin babies with them. And, after the tragic accident involving Cody’s pumpkin, we had to come up with a way to keep the babies safe during football activities, so we have a nursery. And we have to keep it covered because direct sun can do unpleasant things to a harvested pumpkin’s life span. I think they only have another two weeks of parenthood or so to go.”

“Maybe this summer we should have a festival to raise funds to bring our health class into this century,” Coach mumbled.

“You won’t feel that way when you’re trying to run a practice and there’s a basket full of crying robot babies on the bench.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of giving up on saddling the kids with inanimate objects they toss on the counter and ignore as soon as they get home and actually giving them knowledge instead.”

“I think there are some words nobody wants to hear Mrs. Fournier say out loud.”

The siren sounded a second time, which meant traffic was stopped and it was time to move. They’d leave the staging area, drive through town and pull into the funeral home’s parking area, which abutted the field where the bonfire would be lit.

The players were ready when the float lurched into motion, their hands full of cheap candy to toss to the crowd. The energy level was high and the mood was exceptionally good
because the town had come so close to losing this, so Sam definitely didn’t have to prompt the kids to smile and wave.

About a third of the way through the route, he spotted Jen standing with Gretchen, Alex and Chase. He’d invited the guys onto the float but they said they’d had their fifteen minutes during the Eagles Fest parade and wanted to be spectators. The spotlight was back on the team, where it belonged.

Jen’s cheeks were pink with excitement and the chill of the night air, and she waved at every float as it went by. When she spotted the football float, her gaze locked with his immediately and he smiled. Then he waved for her to come closer and reached into his pocket for the 3 Musketeers bar he’d bought because Mrs. McDonnell remembered they were Jen’s favorite candy.

When he held it up to show her, she laughed and put out her hands. Luckily he hadn’t lost all of his throwing skills and she caught it without it touching the ground.

Thank you
, she mouthed, holding the candy bar to her chest.

He winked and then gave his attention back to the parade. Every so often he’d blow the whistle and the boys would do their team chant while the spectators cheered. The reaction to Coach McDonnell waving was just as loud. And when Sam spotted his mother in the crowd, hanging toward the back, he waved to her. Her face lit up as she waved back, and the pride on her face warmed him.

As tired as he’d been before, he was almost sorry when they made the turn into the funeral home’s lot. Seeing everybody in Stewart Mills in such high spirits and cheering on their high school kids made him feel pretty damn good.

As soon as the trucks were in park, there was a mass
stampede toward the bonfire field, but Sam stayed with Coach. He’d opted to skip the bonfire—probably at the very strong urging of Mrs. McDonnell—and was waiting for his wife to pick him up so they could head home. Rather than admit he’d be tired and didn’t feel up to the event, he’d said he wanted Sam to have his night in the spotlight.

“What’s going on with you and Jen Cooper?” Coach asked him once they were alone.

“What do you mean?”

“Seems like something’s going on.”

“Because I tossed her a candy bar? Throwing candy’s what you do when you’re on a parade float.” Playing dumb was only going to fend Coach off for so long, but Sam wasn’t sure how much he wanted to say. The man was the first person he’d turn to when he needed advice on almost anything, but Coach would also feel free to give his own feelings on the matter, and Sam didn’t have room in his head for anybody else right now.

“When a man takes the time to find out a woman’s favorite candy bar and then goes out and buys one, keeps it in his pocket and then looks for her in the crowd so he can toss it to her in front of half the damn town, it’s a little more than throwing some parade candy her way.”

“She got Cody Dodge out of a jam with Mrs. Fournier.”

“I heard about that. And since I see my wife’s car coming up the road, I’ll pretend you’re not yanking my chain.”

Mrs. McDonnell pulled the car up alongside the float and got out. Sam saw the worry on her face as she got out, and then saw it fade into a smile when she saw Coach. He thought about how scary that phone call from the hospital must have been for her and how much fear she’d carried around since then.

But Coach looked good and he looped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Did you get me some good candy?”

“Rumor has it Jen got the good candy,” she responded with a pointed look at Sam. “But I got you a few Tootsie Rolls because you love them and you can cheat a little bit on your diet.”

Since Mrs. McDonnell had been near the start of the parade route with some friends of hers and nowhere near Jen and the rest of them, word about the 3 Musketeers bar had certainly spread like lightning. She might have suspected what Sam planned to do when he asked her about Jen’s favorite candy, but knowing Jen had gotten it meant people had noticed and found it worth talking about.

“I’m going to go home with my wife and eat some candy,” Coach said, slapping Sam’s shoulder. “You have fun at the bonfire.”

“You better hurry if you want anything from the bake sale,” Mrs. McDonnell said.

He wanted a pistachio bar, dammit.

Once the McDonnells’ car pulled out of the lot, he did a final sweep of the float to make sure none of the guys had left garbage or cell phones or jackets behind. They hadn’t. But Sam spotted the basket of pumpkin babies and groaned.

Apparently he was babysitting tonight.

—

J
en nudged Gretchen when she saw Sam walking toward them carrying a basket decorated with blue and gold ribbons. “I can’t believe they stuck him with the pumpkins.”

“It could be worse. He could be carrying around a basket of putrid eggs. He doesn’t look very happy, though.”

“I bet the boys those pumpkins belong to are dodging him.” Jen chuckled. “It’s dark and almost everybody’s wearing blue and gold, so finding a few kids who are deliberately avoiding him won’t go well.”

“Have you seen Cody?” Sam asked when he reached them.

“Nope,” Gretchen said, “but I see Alex, so I’ll catch you later.”

“Babysitting pumpkins isn’t in my job description.” He scowled, glancing around at the crowd. “Making them run laps
is
, so they’re going to be some kind of sorry.”

“Here, I rescued this for you.” She extended the napkin with the pistachio bar on it. “I’m glad you’re here because it’s not easy carrying around a pudding and whipped cream treat on a cookie crust.”

Sam’s face lit up when he saw the treat, and he took it from her. “Thanks. So you rescued it? Was it stuck in a tree?”

“It was the last one.”

“You’re kidding.”

“They go fast.”

He took a bite of the end and closed his eyes to savor it. She watched the pleasure flit across his face and almost moaned when the tip of his tongue flicked over his lip to get a smudge of whipped cream. “No wonder they go fast. It’s delicious.”

“She doesn’t make them often, either, so people are trained to grab them first.”

He extended the bar, folding the napkin back a little. “Here, have a bite.”

Though she didn’t get the appeal of pistachio bars quite as strongly as the rest of the town, he made the offer so sweetly, she couldn’t resist. She took a bite and then smiled when he devoured the rest of the bar.

“They
are
good,” she agreed. “I was going to get a brownie, but I ate my candy bar instead. Did you know those are my favorite?”

He grinned and her skin practically tingled in response. “I might have done some research.”

“Thank you.” She wanted to thank him by grabbing his face and kissing him until they passed out, but standing in a field surrounded by the entire high school student body was not the place.

“It’s freaking cold out here tonight,” he said, looking around. “What’s the holdup on the bonfire?”

“There was a tie between the sophomore and junior class floats, so they’re trying to figure out how to decide which class president gets to hold the torch. I think it was going to a coin toss.”

Suddenly there was a whooshing sound and the crowd cheered as the bonfire erupted in flames. The fire reflected in Sam’s eyes, and Jen decided she’d rather watch that way than to turn and face the actual fire.

“I always enjoyed the bonfire back in high school,” he said quietly. “I hated the dance, but the bonfire was my favorite part of football besides the actual games.”

“You know, if you really don’t want to go to the dance, you don’t have to. Kelly’s dad doesn’t always go.”

He looked at her, the flames dancing in his eyes. “I’m going. And you’re going to dance with me.”

“Oh I am, am I?” she challenged, expecting him to smile.

If anything the smolder grew more intense. “Yeah, you are.”

“That’ll certainly give people something to talk about.” Especially if they once again lost track of their surroundings after they had their hands on each other.

“They’re talking already.”

So he knew they’d been the subject of a lot of speculation. Of course he did. He’d not only grown up in Stewart Mills, but his family had definitely been whispered about behind hands and closed doors.

“Coach!” They both turned when they heard Ronnie’s voice.

“Probably got lost trying to find the huge bonfire,” Sam muttered, and Jen laughed.

When the players demanded Sam’s attention, Jen gave him a little wave and went to wander around. Every year, the eighth graders at the middle school sold hot chocolate at homecoming to help fund their annual class trip, and she stopped there first.

Sipping the warm drink, she made her way around the crowd. Every few minutes somebody would talk to her, but she didn’t stand still long. Even with adults present, teenagers had a way of getting themselves in trouble. The fire department kept a close eye on the bonfire, starting even before it was lit, which was why the truck wasn’t in the parade. The kids knew that the rules were the same as if they were on school property. And at any given time, a staff member could inspect beverage bottles or cups and make sure they hadn’t been spiked in any way. Very rarely did they have a problem, but she suspected that was due more to vigilance than the nature of their high school students.

The entire time she walked around, she caught herself scanning the crowd for Sam. Sometimes she heard his voice or his laugh and she’d have to fight the urge to turn away from whoever was talking to her to find him. She knew he would stay until the end. At about ten, they would start
knocking the fire down and letting it die on its own. A little before eleven, the guys from the fire department would douse it and, using rakes, make sure it was fully out. Sam would be on hand to threaten the players with grueling workouts if they didn’t go straight home and go to bed so they’d be rested for the big game.

“Hey.”

She’d been watching the fire and hadn’t noticed Sam coming up beside her. “Hey, you. Having fun?”