Hometown Hero's Redemption

“I had it coming. I struggled at practices, and instead of working harder and giving it my all, I complained about the coaches. Told everyone they didn’t like me. That I deserved to be a starter.” He gestured to the park entrance, and they headed toward the gazebo. “Do you know how many snaps I took in games?”

She made a face and shrugged. “None?”

“Two.” He almost shuddered. “None would have been better. I threw two interceptions. The sum total of my freshman year stats. Two plays. Two interceptions. I gained weight, lost muscle, didn’t attend a team meeting. And I was so dumb, I was actually shocked—and I mean shocked—when I was cut from the team. No more scholarship. No more college.”

“I’m sorry, Drew. I didn’t know all that.”

“Well, you’re the only one from this town who didn’t. I have my doubts about moving back.”

She hopped up on a picnic table and perched on the top, facing the water. Seagulls landed in the distance, and two ladies power walked on the bike trail. The unmistakable smell of the lake filled the air.

“Why did you come back?” Lauren pushed her hair to the side of her neck. The LE Fitness lime-green T-shirt she wore under a black formfitting warm-up jacket hugged her slender body. He liked the way it looked on her.

“Chase asked me to. He wanted Wyatt to grow up in a healthier environment, away from the reporters and the private school full of kids with wealthy parents. He always joked I was the most normal person he knew. He wanted normalcy for Wyatt.”

“You? Normal? Debatable.” She leaned back, resting her hands on the table, and grinned. Understanding knitted between them. The peace of the lapping waves nearby mellowed his senses.

“You gave me the ten-second version on the phone, but what really happened to Wyatt’s mom? And how did you become his guardian?” Lauren crossed one leg over the other and faced him.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

She propped her elbow on her knee. “I’ve got all afternoon.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Where to start? “Chase and I met in college. We were roommates. We had a lot in common, liked the football lifestyle. The girls, the parties, the accolades.”

She snorted. He opened his hands as if to say, This is what you get.

“Chase was more grounded than I was. The guy was pure talent. And he worked his tail off to be the best. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I would have followed his example.”

“Yet he’s in jail, and here you are.” The words were barely audible.

“True. Anyway, he’s my best friend. I refused to come back to Lake Endwell after getting kicked out of college. And even if I could have afforded out-of-state tuition, I had no desire to continue. I was bitter. Worked at a gas station, shared an apartment with a group of potheads. I couldn’t face life without football. Couldn’t face my parents. Certainly couldn’t face my old buddies from home.”

“Some of them would have been supportive. There are some good people here.”

“You’re probably right, but I couldn’t handle it. I’d gone from being the hero to a nobody. Chase was the one who kept me going for two years. He told me I was better than that. Helped me realize I could do something with my life besides football. He fronted the money for me to take classes to be a firefighter and an EMT. A few years later I decided to continue my training and become a paramedic. It was brutal. I almost quit. Chase didn’t let me.”

“Sounds like a great guy.”

“He is.” Drew leaned forward, his clasped hands dangling between his knees. “He met Missy while I was working at the gas station. She was gorgeous, and she liked to party. That was all Chase looked for in a girl. At the time it was all I looked for, too. They fought a lot, but they’d make up just as quickly. She got pregnant his junior year. Moved to Chicago with him when he got drafted. They never married. She left when Wyatt was two, taking him with her, and the next year Chase was traded and moved to Detroit.”

“Did she move, too?”

“No. Not then, anyway. If she would have, things might not have spiraled out of control the way they did. She found a new boyfriend, Len, who also became her drug supplier. When Chase realized how addicted she’d become, he fought for full custody of Wyatt—and he won. From that point on, I was a big part of Wyatt’s life.”

“How so?”

“I’d gotten a job in Dearborn the year before. When Chase gained custody of Wyatt, I transferred to a fire station closer to them. He was on the road or training for over half the year. He hired a part-time babysitter, but I stayed at his house whenever he was traveling. I had my own apartment the rest of the time. Wyatt has no living grandparents. That’s why the courts appointed me to be Wyatt’s guardian.”

“So you’ve been helping take care of Wyatt for years?” She tilted her head.

“When Chase couldn’t.”

“That’s actually a good situation for Wyatt. He’s comfortable with you and doesn’t have to learn a new routine.”

“Living here will be a new routine for us both. I hope his first day is going okay.”

“I do, too. Kids make friends easy at his age. I’m sure he’ll fit right in.”

Drew gazed out at the water. “I don’t know. He’s too quiet. And he never used to be shy.”

“Losing your parents will do that to you.” She rubbed her upper arms although it wasn’t cold. “You still haven’t told me what happened.”

He hated discussing it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t memorized the details. Once he opened his mouth, he knew he’d be able to tell her the facts in a detached voice. If only his insides wouldn’t twist and cry out at the senselessness of it all. Missy hadn’t deserved to die, and his best friend shouldn’t be in jail.

“Over a year ago, Missy went to rehab and, once out, decided a change of scene would help her stay clean. She moved to Detroit to be in Wyatt’s life. She and Chase reconnected, were even dating again. On a hot day in August, Len showed up at her apartment. They fought. He choked her to death.” He cleared his throat to dislodge the lump forming. “It changed Chase. He became obsessed when Len skipped bail. He hired a private investigator, and when they located Len, he went there to confront him. No one knows exactly what happened, but Chase drove over Len with his truck.”

“He didn’t kill him, though?”

“Broke his leg.” He rubbed his chin. “Chase was found guilty of second-degree attempted murder. Len is serving a life sentence in prison for first-degree murder.”

Drew glanced at Lauren to see her reaction. “Is that the saddest story you’ve ever heard?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s not.”

“That’s pretty heartless.”

“Is it?” She stood, shaking her legs out. “Work in the inner city of Chicago for eight years. You’ll see worse.”

He rose, too, shoving his hands in his pockets. Logically he knew awful things happened every day all over the world, but they hadn’t touched him the way Chase and Missy did. His own line of work put him face-to-face with horror on an ongoing basis. While he cared about the people he helped who had been in accidents and fires, he didn’t love them the way he did his friends, so their tragedies didn’t feel as devastating. He probably should feel guilty about that, but he didn’t.

“Let’s go walk along the lake.” He took her by the elbow, directing her to the lakeside path. “Tell me about Chicago.”

She strolled beside him. “I’m trying to forget.”

“What do you want to forget?”

“It’s kind of hard to forget if I talk about it.” She acted lighthearted, but the tiny furrow in her forehead revealed the truth. Whatever had happened must have affected her deeply.

“You got me there.” He wouldn’t push her.

“Yeah, well my do-gooding days are over.”

He cringed, remembering the way he and his friends had taunted her. How she’d walk down the school halls with her spine so straight it looked like it would snap. They’d thought she was stuck-up, but he knew better now. She’d been protecting herself from them.

Why had he been so clueless? So thoughtless? So mean?

“I hope that’s not true,” he said. “The world needs more people like you.”