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Yes, seeing her at the party had sent a jolt of relief throughan end to it Right now I couldn’t deal with anything butsoftly in the living rooirl Not even a girl like her

Ryker rolled his eyes "You know this because what? You looked at her? Sure, she’s nice to look at, but if she’s not right in the head, then it’s screwed up torumbled from the end of the table

I didn’t add to the conversation because I knew better, but also because I knew her It had been like she’d seen through hts And she understood But she also expected more from me That had been hard to s For some crazed reason I didn’t want to let her down At the sah so she never cao and screith our star quarterback’s cousin, and we’re ht now is football Not stressing over your horny asses," Ryker said It was a good point If ere taking State this year, we needed Brady focused on one thing and one thing only: football

I had to win the state cha that ive hi that kiss wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t regret showing Maggie the ugliness fro I’d lashed out and acted a way my mother would have been horrified by But I’d seen the look in her eyes, and I knew she’d gotten the et to know or trust

When I walked into the house after football practice that evening, the table was set like ere a normal, happy faht me home to from the hospital It was the only hoone Now I faced fear daily, hoping for a miracle

My mother had prepared dinner just like she hadthe best she could I knew she prayed for that miracle too Whenever she could, she acted as if life hadn’t turned on us two years ago when ht Momma even had fresh flowers on the center of the table The basket beside the a lot of bread lately It was her way of coping, I had decided

"You’re home," she said with a smile that didn’t meet her eyes "Hoas practice?"

This was how she dealt with things: s up a happy front I wasn’t sure if she was trying to help h this or if it was the only way she could handle it Dad just let her do whatever; he didn’t force her to face the truth He adored her Always had

Our house wasn’t big and fancy like the one she had grown up in Yet she loved it The way she took care of it andwas proof she was proud of the life that Dad had given her Not once did she speak about her past or the life she left behind when she ht I feel confident we got this," was my reply Because, like Dad, I couldn’t let her down If she wanted to pretend life was nor with us?" I asked, wondering if he was better today When I’d left this ht had seeht in her eyes see dressed now after his shower He’s looking forward to hearing all about practice I think he’s ao? Last year he hadn’t been this bad He’d been able to sit up in the stands and watch But now I couldn’t is had taken a bad turn the pastbetter I didn’t want to shorten the tia

"What’s for dinner?" I asked, changing the topic Dad and football were hard to talk about I had grown up loving football because it hat Dad loved most in the world, second only to his fa s oke up early to go running together before school It was us An us that was slowly fading away

"Meat loaf, reens Oh, and of course corn bread Your daddy loves his corn bread with his collard greens"

She wasall of Dad’s favorites He would hardly be able to eat anything Didn’tit for him because she didn’t knohat else to do I understood that

I would sit at this table and talk to hiame like he would be there on the state championship I wanted him there I wanted to win it I wanted him to see it happen But I wasn’t sure that was realistic

All we could do was keep doing the things thatapart He wasn’t just a husband to Momma; he was her best friend They had been inseparable my whole life Next year I wanted to play SEC football, but could I leave her alone? With Dad not here, how did I continue with my dreams? With our dreams?