Read Online Under the Lights by Shannon Stacey - Free Book Online

in the center of the square and looking around, he knew the end was near, so he walked back to his truck so he could park it illegally on the edge of the town square’s grass. He was hot and tired and, if Officer McDonnell had a problem with his parking, she could move her own yard sale leftovers.
    Other than giving him an arched eyebrow look, Kelly said nothing. Under the direction of the women, the players got everything they deemed not trash into the back of his truck, and it looked like he’d only have to make one trip, which he was grateful for. Besides being tired, he was starting to think his biggest donation to the Eagles Fest cause would be the money he was pumping into his gas tank.
    â€œI’ll ride with you and help you unload this crap,” Kelly said. “Gretchen has to do some errands before she heads home. Assuming you don’t mind bringing me back into town after?”
    â€œOf course I don’t mind. I have to go by here to get back to Eagles Lane, anyway.”
    â€œOkay. I just need to help fold up these tables and make sure they’re all tagged with their owners’ names, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
    â€œI’m going to get off the town’s lawn before the local law enforcement notices, and get some gas. You want a soda or something while I’m at the store?”
    â€œI helped finish off the last of the lemonade stand, so Idon’t need a drink.” She laughed. “The sugar had settled to the bottom, too, so I won’t need sleep for a while, either.”
    Once he’d managed to get off the town square’s grass and to the gas station without anything blowing or bouncing out of the back of his truck, Chase swiped his card at the pump and watched the dollar amount climb. Then he pulled the truck into a parking spot and went inside for a soda.
    â€œWell, if it isn’t Chase Sanders.”
    People had been saying his name in that
hey, I know you
voice all day, but there was something different about the way the woman behind the counter said it. She hadn’t been working the last time he’d been in, so it was the first time he’d seen her, and it took him a few seconds to place her.
    â€œJanie Vestal.” They’d dated most of high school, not out of any great affection, but because football players dated cheerleaders, and they’d liked each other well enough. He suspected she was as relieved as he was when they parted ways before going to college, even if neither of them had admitted it at the time.
    The years had been kind to her. With her blond hair in a soft ponytail instead of teased and sprayed to its breaking point and her face free of heavy makeup, he thought she was prettier than she’d been as a teenager. He knew women well enough not to say it aloud, because she wouldn’t believe him anyway, and might even think he was saying she hadn’t been pretty enough in high school.
    â€œHow have you been?” he asked her, leaning against the counter since there was nobody in line. Even if they hadn’t been true high school sweethearts, she’d meant a lot to him in his younger years and he was curious.
    â€œI’ve been really good, all things considered. I’ve beenmarried ten years to a guy I met at college. We moved back when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and, thank God, she beat it. And I have a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.” Her face softened when she talked about her family, and he was genuinely happy for her. “How about you?”
    Well, he had a pretty decent truck in the parking lot and a storage locker in New Jersey. “I’m good. I still live in Jersey and I’m a builder.”
    â€œThe whole town appreciates you guys coming back for the Eagles Fest,” she said. “Without football, I don’t think Stewart Mills would have anything to cheer about at all.”
    â€œYou know what Coach means to me.”