Getting injured, losing my contract with the NFL and coming back home to Christmas turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Staying and making the most of everything in front of me? That was the best decision I ever made.
“This is looking good, Adam.” I come up behind him and clap him on the shoulder. He’s watching his crew piece together the arch that in a few days’ time will be covered by flowers and draped with fabric.
I pull on my sweatshirt. It’s been unseasonably cool these past few weeks. Perfect football weather, but not perfect wedding weather for women wearing sleeveless dresses.
“Yea, once it’s up and painted white it will really look like something. Add in the stage and it’s going to all fall into place.”
My vision of how to fix the venue debacle is coming into play. When Adam called me and said the place had burned down, I was standing on this field. This same field that our lives have revolved around since day one. The same field that brought us together all those years ago. And that was when it hit me. This is where it all started so this should be where we make our vows to each other. Where we start the rest of our lives together.
A football field.
And not just any football field, but our football field.
I took my idea to Adam and Billy, and they didn’t bat an eye. Adam fell right into the role he feels he’s destined to play, coming to the rescue because this is where he thrives. And I’m sure it is a welcome distraction to what he’s got going on right now in his personal life. He began making calls, rearranging his schedule, ordering in supplies needed. Billy shuffled crews around, grabbed a few of Adam’s best guys and brought them down to the field. Tom already had time off so he’s been running the trucks to neighboring towns getting whatever Adam couldn’t pick up locally.
Bobby organized the giant tent with my team, and they are slowly staking it and pulling it all together. It will hold all our guests comfortably and keep them out of any surprise weatherfor the day.
And here we are, standing on the fifty-yard line as staging, arches, and lighting are all placed together to make a podium where I’m going to swear my love to my woman in front of our family and friends and now the town. When they found out the ceremony would be semi-open to the public, they were ecstatic. I had business owners, parents of kids on my team, past and present, and fellow co-workers from the school say they couldn’t wait to watch as their wild, never to be tamed Coach Gage married their precious Francesca Casanova.
It also resulted in an increase in security for the day, but that is just something we are going to have to deal with. I can’t keep the drones or helicopters away from the field, but I can keep the photographers at a respectable distance.
I know Chess wanted a day that was kept secret for us. But honestly, it was going to get out, and in my opinion better to let the news escape for a few days prior than to have them bombard us the day of.
“Ok, hold it. Stop!”
“Collaborate and listen. The Casanova’s are here with a brand-new invention”. Billy starts rapping and breaks out into the running man. Adam continues barking orders, pushing Billy away from him.
“Come on bro, have a little fun.”
“No time for fun, Billy,” Adam grumbles out.
I shake my head. “Please don’t piss him off right now. I need this finished and finished quietly, without the cops showing up, so that I can marry your sister.”
“The cops are in the wedding party if you haven’t noticed, Gage.”
I shake my head at him, and watch as Adam jumps in, pushing the arches up together while the staging is rolled together to interlock in one piece. I never imagined it would look like this, even after just a day of work. I figured he would slap a few four by fours together so we’re not standing on the turf, and we’d be good. But I should know better. Adam always goes the extra mile, doing anything to make his sister happy.
“The guy is good,” Billy says as he comes to stand next to me.
“He is.”
He’s silent for a moment. “I’m happy for you,” he says quietly. I wait him out. Billy is rarely serious, and he looks like he’s got something on his mind. “You found what you wanted and went for it.”
I look down, kicking at the field a little and elbow him. “Yea but I’m sure there was probably an easier way I could have gone about it.”
He turns and looks at me. “No, you did it how it was supposed to happen.” He smirks, “Well maybe we could have done without the black eye”. We both laugh thinking back to when Adam punched me in the face after he found out I was sleeping with his sister behind his back.
“I may have deserved it.”
“He was a little slow on the uptake, but nothing gets by Triple A for long.” I chuckle along with him, but then he grows somber again. “You had a great woman right in front of you and you weren’t going to let her get away a second time. It’s called seizing the moment. Standing up for what you believe in, even when it’s scary and unsure.”
We’re both quiet now, just watching the crew work.
“I wish everyone could see when that second chance is available because it’s not easily offered to a lot of people.”
I want to ask him more, but he takes that moment to grab one of the guys on the crew and drag out the lighting stand. It’s too public, anyway and I think he’s given away all he’s going to right now.
Instead, we all get back to work preparing for a day that the Town of Christmas won’t soon forget.
