Free Under the Lights by Shannon Stacey Page B

lookshe gave him when Mrs. McDonnell’s back was turned almost made him laugh out loud. And there was going to be a dunking booth? She hadn’t told him that part on the phone.
    â€œIf you let me off with one dunking booth shift, I’ll wash the dessert dishes,” he offered, hoping for peach cobbler.
    â€œIf you
don’t
wash the dessert dishes, I’m going to tell Edna Beecher I saw a 9-millimeter casing on the floor of your truck. You know how she feels about guns and, yes, she still has the FBI on speed dial.”
    â€œThat’s low. And I don’t have a 9-millimeter casing in my truck.”
    She smirked. “Yeah, but it’ll take you three days to clean your truck out enough to prove it to her.”
    â€œKelly Ann McDonnell,” her mother said, and he felt a rush of smug satisfaction at hearing her middle-named. “It’s not nice to threaten people with Edna. Especially guests in our home.”
    â€œSanders, the longer you keep the women talking, the longer I have to wait for that blueberry pie,” Coach called from the living room. “If you’re going to stay in the kitchen, wash the damn dishes.”
    After a final glance at Kelly, who was trying not to laugh, Chase retrieved the card he’d set on the foyer table and went to relive some glory days with Coach. It was one of the better Father’s Days in his life, and he was sorry he and his dad had never been able to connect the way Chase did with Coach.
    He glanced at the clock and figured he had about ten minutes left before Mrs. McDonnell broke out the blueberry pie. That was a perfect amount of time for a phone call home. He could tell his mom how Stewart Mills was so far,wish his dad a happy Father’s Day and have a concrete reason for ending the call, rather than letting it die the slow, painful death of awkward pauses as it usually did.
    â€œI’m going to go make a call,” he told Coach, whose head kept tilting sideways in his recliner as he fought a post-dinner nap. “I’ll be right back.”
    â€œTell your parents I said hello. Especially your old man. We had a lot of conversations about your games back in the day. He was proud of you.”
    A lump seemed to settle in Chase’s throat, so all he did was nod before going out onto the front porch to make the call. Maybe if, just once, his dad had told
him
he was proud, rather than telling Coach, he wouldn’t be planning his exit from a call he hadn’t even made yet.
    â€”
    K elly could see Chase from the window over the sink, and he looked like a man who
really
didn’t want to be on the phone. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like having a strained relationship with her parents. As he leaned against the porch post and did more listening than talking, she idly wiped at the dirty plate in her hand.
    â€œThat boy has more baggage than a luggage carousel at the airport,” her mom said, moving closer to Kelly so she could see him, too.
    â€œMr. Sanders always seemed nice, but they’re not very close, I guess.”
    â€œHis mother told me Chase has made quite a mess of his life lately.”
    Kelly rinsed the soapy water from the plate and set it in the dish rack, sudden anger making her shoulders tense.Mrs. Sanders had no business calling up a woman she hadn’t talked to in many years and telling her personal details about her son’s life. Chase had told Kelly enough about what he’d gone through for her to know he’d probably rather keep it private.
    â€œSo, after all this time, she just calls you and dumps all Chase’s personal problems on you?”
    Her mom did a double take at her tone. “It wasn’t like that at all. We started talking and, needless to say, we talked about you kids, and she’s worried about him.”
    â€œI don’t think Chase would appreciate his mother telling everybody his business. That’s all.”
    â€œSo I