"We're gonna be just like Honey Bear!" Lindsey cried out.
"You got it." Noah handed out the bells, sorting them in some secret way she couldn't decipher. They'd already decided on the teams. Jilly, PJ, and Lindsey against Noah and Casey. The two oldest males had already held a whispered conference as they'd walked out behind the house to the empty grassy field.
"I saw a documentary on how blind kids learn to ride a bike,” Noah said now. “Between that and PJ's brilliant idea for me to keep track of Honey Bear..."
She had to give PJ props. He’d been the one to suggest adding a bell onto the kitten's collar after she'd disappeared for the third time in as many days.
Honey Bear was a bit of a rascal.
A bit like the man, who delivered Jilly's bell with an ornery twitch of his lips. "I'll do the honors."
He placed it over her head, coming so close that she could see the stubble darkening his jaw.
She got caught in his magnetism, and, for one wild moment, she thought he would lean close and kiss her, in front of the kids and everything.
Instead, he said, "Good luck, then."
They spread out across the field. For a few minutes, she couldn't help worrying about Noah stepping in a gopher hole and twisting his ankle.
Until about the third time he stole her flag and stopped her progress.
It didn't take long to figure out his secret with the bells. Each one had a slightly different sound, which meant he could identify each person by the sound of their bell. And he seemed to be targeting Jilly specifically.
"Come on, Jilly," PJ urged. "Run faster."
"Yeah, c'mon, Jilly." Noah shot her a smug look as he walked backwards. He held his hands out on both sides of his body. Taunting her.
He wanted a beat down? He was going to get one.
When she and PJ lost the ball to an interception on the next down, she snatched Noah's flag before he made it three feet.
Then Noah and Casey scored on a pretty little flea-flicker pass close to the end zone.
Six plays later, she and PJ scored with a long no-pass run.
"It's all tied up," PJ crowed.
"Pfft, for a second maybe." Casey said.
Since she and the kids had barged into his life, she hadn't seen Noah so animated. It seemed he’d shed the weight he seemed to carry.
She hadn't thought about her scans or the Monday-morning appointment since he'd showed up.
But she still wanted to win.
She huddled up and whispered her play to PJ and Lindsey.
"We're gonna win for sure!" Lindsey said.
Jilly was overflowing with happiness, and she laughed. A big, echoing laugh from the bottom of her belly. One that turned Noah's head. A replying smile twitched on his lips, though he kept it contained.
She lined up in front of him. "Still think you can win?" she murmured.
"Haven't even begun to try," he returned.
She winked at PJ and then nodded for Lindsey to hike the ball.
She danced past Noah and caught—bobbled—the pass Lindsey lobbed at her.
