Lauren made her way through the cool, narrow tunnel until she came to the side of the football field. To the left and right of her rose a huge grandstand which could easily seat a few thousand people. Never having been to a live game before—no matter how many times Jade had tried to convince her to come along—and only seeing snippets of games on the TV, she was surprised by the enormity of the stadium.
A group of women sat at the grandstand to her left, so she made her way up a couple rows of stairs toward them. She sat next to a woman with brown, wavy hair and penciled-in eyebrows. She wore a Flaming Stars jersey, and when she leaned forward to place her coffee cup on the ground Lauren spotted the nameHenderson, in big capital letters, over the number three on her back. Another Jack Henderson fan; he really was popular. A little tug of guilt for knowing nothing about the man or his football team gnawed at her gut, especially when Jack knew so much about her.
The woman in the jersey smiled. “Hi there, you must be new to the training sessions.” But before Lauren could reply, which she wasn’t really sure how to, the woman continued. “My son, Adam, is wearing the number three jersey.” She pointed to a short, stocky boy who looked about ten. He was passing a football to another boy of about the same age who had a noticeable limp.
Lauren scanned the rest of the group of twelve boys and noticed they all appeared to have some form of physical impairment. The boy the woman next to her pointed to had Down syndrome, so did some of the others. Two boys had terrible limps, and the others had conditions that Lauren couldn’t possibly identify.
Her heart broke as she thought of the struggles and hardships these beautiful boys must deal with every day. Not that you could tell by the smiles on their faces. They laughed and played like nothing could stop them. And when Jack came jogging onto the field, they yelled and whooped with excitement as if they were seeing the most famous man in the world.
“This is Adam’s fourth training session. He’s so excited about being trained by Jack Henderson,” the jersey woman said. “Jack does such a wonderful job with the boys. He pays so much attention to them and has the patience of a saint. It’s not easy getting twelve boys, especially ones with special needs, to pay attention for more than two seconds. But somehow Jack does.” She looked over at her son. “Adam will never be a great footy player, but Jack makes him feel like he could play for Australia. The confidence these boys have after only four sessions is amazing. Jack is certainly more than a pretty face.” She fanned her face and sighed. “But he sure is good to look at, especially in those little red shorts.”
Jersey woman’s words plunged deep inside Lauren. Not the comment about the red shorts, although he did look better thangoodin those, but because what he was doing for these boys proved he was more than just a pretty face.
How many times had she judged men by their looks? Too many times to count. And she had judged Jack the same way. He had turned out to be anything but a shallow, conceited, spoilt pretty boy. Yes, the outside packaging was beautiful, but the man inside looked just as good.
She didn’t want to think about how it made her feel. She wasn’t sure she was ready to let go of everything she believed was true, but he was making it damn hard to hold onto her beliefs.
The woman continued to chat, unaware of the struggle going through Lauren’s mind. “Which one’s your boy?” she asked, turning toward the field and scanning the boys. “Or hasn’t he come on the field yet?”
Lauren shook her head. “I don’t have a son training. I’m here with…” Her words trailed off. The woman had Jack’s name on her...did Lauren really want to tell her she’d come with
Jack? Instead she said, “I’m here with a friend.”
Jersey woman glanced at the empty seat on the other side of Lauren and raised a penciled eyebrow. “Does your friend have a son training?”
“Umm, no,” Lauren said. Jersey woman fixed her gaze on Lauren, waiting for some kind of explanation. So she finally answered, “I came with Jack.”
Both penciled eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “You’re here with Jack? Jack
Henderson?”
Lauren shifted awkwardly in the seat, touched her locket, and nodded.
Jersey woman leaned forward and tapped the shoulders of two women sitting in front of them. They swiveled in their seats, both wearing curious expressions. “Ladies, this is…” Then she turned back to Lauren. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
Lauren hadn’t given it to her. She could give her anything: Eve, Rachel, Fiona? But she reluctantly said, “Lauren.”
Jersey woman turned back toward the two women and marveled, “This is Lauren. She’s here with JackHenderson!”
“Really?” one of the women said. She also wore a Flaming Star’s jersey, but the name on the back of hers readCampbell. She pointed to Jack who had the boys sitting on the grass, their rapt expressions focused on him as he explained something to them. “ThatJack Henderson?”
The one and only, and thank goodness there was only one of him; he was more trouble than she could handle. “Yes,” she answered.
The woman wearing the Campbell jersey asked, “Is this a date?” Lauren’s eyes grew wide.
Before Lauren could explain they were not there on a date the other woman sitting in front of them, who wore a very tight, black tank which pushed her boobs to a dangerous level of spilling out, spoke up. “He’s taken you to watch him train a bunch of kids? So romantic.” Sarcasm slid from her voice as she rolled her eyes and turned back around to face the football field.
Jersey woman leaned toward Lauren, covered her mouth, and whispered into her ear. “Don’t listen to Karen. She’s just jealous because Jack’s never paid her any attention, no matter how slutty she dresses.” Then in a louder voice, she said, “I think it’s the perfect place for a date.
Watching Jack’s toned legs run around in those shorts is the best date I could imagine.” “We’re not—” she tried to explain but got cut off.
“He is taking you out to dinner afterward though, right?” Campbell jersey woman asked. Then she turned fully around in the seat and hooked her arm on the back of the chair, staring at Lauren as if waiting for her to tell them all about the exciting details.
“I bet he takes you to The Dunes, that’s the most romantic restaurant around,” Henderson jersey woman added.
“Ooh, that would be nice, but I’d love to imagine that Jack would take you back to his place and cook for you. He’d light candles and play soft music.” Campbell jersey woman sighed blissfully then smiled with a wicked gleam. “And then you know where that would lead.” She gave an exaggerated wink, causing both women to giggle like teenagers.
They were getting excited about a non-existent date. This was out of hand. She needed to
