I turned toward it.
A flashfire of memories blipped through my mind.
My goals.
My dreams.
My mistakes.
I never thought I would play again. Just the thought of it made me sick.
But as I caught that ball and Colin jumped at my side, clapping like mad as he claimed, “My dad is the best football player in the whole world,” there was no sadness.
There was only gratitude and joy.
“You gonna let him go on believing that?” Otto roasted as he came ambling down the steps, lifting his arms for me to throw it to him.
I threw it.
That nearly perfect spiral from back in the day.
Otto caught it with an oomph, a grin on his face. “All right, point taken. Our Cash has an arm on him.”
Theo and Kane came down, too, and the children came running up, divvying out teams.
I glanced at Daisy. That cinnamon hair billowing around her stunning face as she slowly rocked in the rocker.
She smiled at me. Smiled in a way that brought every part of me to life.
Her faith. Her hope. Her love.
My Wallflower who no longer had to hide.
Cash – Sometime in the near future…
I strode out of River of Ink.
River had done a little work on my back. Adding to that field of daisies. Weaving the names of my kids and my wife through the stems and petals.
Yeah, I kept the flames that licked over the scars. A tribute to my family. It would always hurt. The loss of them. But it was different now, knowing that I had fulfilled some of the dreams my parents had for me.
Their belief and love.
I strode for where my bike was parked at the curb when my phone went off in my pocket.
Figured Daisy probably wanted me to pick something up from the store, so I dug it out. A grin pulled to my face when I saw who it was from.
Silas
Hey, man.
I hadn’t heard from him in a bit. After what happened with his sister last year, he moved his whole crew to a small town in Southern Oregon, trying to start things new.
Me
What’s up, brother? Good to hear from you.
Silas
