“Uh-huh.” Mom rolled her eyes. “Just because she didn’t take part in the actual exploitation doesn’t mean that she didn’t open the door for the two pillars of society to play their sick games.”
“You and me agree,” I said. “The weirdest thing was that the so-called deacon of the church turned a blind eye. I mean, he saw that shit on their computer and helped them hide it. That’s even crazier to me. He didn’t agree at all with what they were doing. You could tell he was horrified. Yet he hid it.”
“One can’t know why they do crazy things. Crazy is hard to understand,” Dad said.
“It’s time to go,” Bossy ordered when there was a lull in the conversation. “I don’t want to miss a single second of this game.”
I didn’t bother to point out that if we left now, we’d still be there a half hour early.
“She really likes it here, doesn’t she?” my mom asked, bumping me with her shoulder.
“She does,” I said as I handed Bossy my card. “Go pay, girl. Then use the restroom. We’re not stopping.”
It was two hours away in Bozeman, and though we had plenty of time to spare, I hated stopping.
“Yeah, yeah.” Bossy hopped up and all but ran to the counter to pay.
My dad watched her go with a smile. “I haven’t seen her smile like that in a long time.”
“Agreed,” my mother murmured. “Just wish I could see Pippa get her life together.”
“It’s getting together,” I said. “She’s on her way up here, isn’t she?”
“Yeah.” Mom nodded. “Name’s changed. Everything’s fixed. But I still have a really bad feeling.”
“Me, too,” Dad said.
“Give it time.” I stood up. “Y’all head to the bathroom, too. I’m seriously not stopping.”
Dad snorted. “Whatever.”
It took us exactly two hours to get to the game, and when we arrived, I was stunned to see so many people there.
“There’re my friends!” she cried out. “Bye!”
I let her go, heading to the green side where our fans were setting up.
“This is a lot of people.”
“It’s a state game,” I pointed out. “Apparently, it’s a huge deal.”
“It is,” a parent that I’d noticed over the soccer season announced. “This is a very huge deal. No team has ever won three state championships in a row. Yet we’re close to doing it.”
The game was freakin’ awesome.
Both teams were highly skilled and determined, but sadly, we fell short.
When I got down to my woman, she looked sad but proud.
“They played well,” I praised. “Shoot outs aren’t where I expected the game to end…that was impressive.”
“They played well. I’m proud of them.” She walked into my arms. “The goalie’s going to feel horrible, though.”
“Yeah.” I glanced at her over Eddy’s head. “But she’ll get over it. There’s next year.”
“There’s next year.” She nodded, her face pressed against my chest. “What’s in your pocket that’s poking me?”
My heart rate picked up. “Ummm…”
