“Don’t worry. We all saw how you handled that last year,” Gabe said, making eye contact with Art, who glanced away and shook his head, as though the incident was too much for anyone to remember, which made Wes really want to know what she’d done to create such aspectacle.
“Well, it was a near loss,” Frances added. “I lost my footing when I was kicking off the wall that second lap. I would have had it if that hadn’t happened. I’m not excusing it. I’m just saying that she hasn’t had any right to flaunt thatmedal.”
“You mean plastic,” Gabe corrected, which only made the lines on Frances’s forehead deepen with her crossexpression.
“We gotta take our prizes where we can get them, and plastic or not, it’s still first place. So that said, what about you, Brenner? What are you going to be competing for during FieldDay?”
“I don’t know about me,” Wes replied. “This sounds far more competitive than anything I’d be interestedin.”
“It’s really not,” Art said. “It’s supposed to be a fun activity to cultivate sportsmanship. Frances just takes it to theextreme.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “That is not how the Fabulous Five talk, now isit?”
“Fabulous Five?” Wes asked, glancingaround.
“Well, wewerethe fabulous five,” Gabe said. “We would train for Field Day together every year as it came up, but Mindy Rae…Godbless.”
“I’m so sorry about yourfriend.”
“Yeah, it was a tragedy,” Frances said. “Poor thing had to move back with her daughter, who owns a goat dairy in Iowa. Godbless.”
“Oh,” Wes said. “I assumed you meant she haddied.”
“Only on the inside,” Frances assured him. “She’s not the goat type,see.”
“Who is agoattype?”
Frances shrugged. “Not really sure. But she says she’s not one on her Instagram all the time, so I figure must not beher.”
“Then I guess you all are the Fabulous Four now?” Wesasked.
“Nope.” Frances scanned Wesover.
“Oh, wait asecond.”
“Come on now,” Tony said. “You can’t tell me you don’t want to participate in FieldDay.”
“I wouldn’t even know what activity to do…and I definitely wouldn’t be winning anymedals.”
“Most of us have a healthy participation-is-everything attitude,” Tony assuredhim.
Frances scoffed. “And I have a feeling you have some sports you played in high school…collegeeven.”
“He played football, track, basketball, and baseball, for sure,” Art revealed, and Wes glared at him. Art made an innocent expression, as though he hadn’t just participated in Frances’s and the rest of the crew’s ganging up onhim.
“There are team sports in Field Day. You could even sign up for the walking-flag-football team,” Gabe said. “I’d do it withyou.”
“Walking flag football?” Wesasked.
“Yeah. You get penalties for running or even walking too fast. They have refs to decide what that means, but be mindful that Kenneth Moore likes to tripguys.”
“That soundsdangerous.”
“It is! That’s why you should bemindful.”
“Or you could play golf with me,” Tony said. “A nice, relaxing sport, where you aren’t likely to injureyourself.”
“Eh, golf isn’t particularly my thing. What do you play,Art?”
