Chapter Eight
After the morning announcement that Aralyn and Tiffany’s English teacher had given birth over the weekend, the class was eager to see the new substitute, and plot their ways to take advantage of what was hopefully an unsuspecting new teacher.
Aralyn was more than surprised to see a handsome man who might have been in his late twenties, with hazel eyes and curly dark hair that looked slightly disheveled, she wondered if he was old enough to teach. About her height, she figured, lean, studious and serious looking.
When she glanced at Tiffany Aralyn did a double take. Her cousin was staring intently at their substitute teacher and had almost walked into a desk. Aralyn smothered her laugh. Tiffany had a crush on the new teacher!
Her smirk dimmed when she saw Dean’s face. He had noticed Tiffany’s interest and looked crestfallen. In fact, Aralyn realized, almost all the girls were suddenly looking more interested in English than they ever had been. She was pretty sure Callie West actually licked her lips.
Cam> was oblivious, she thought with amusement. He was looking for his homework and hadn’t seen the change in the female members of the class.
The substitute stood and walked to the front of the class from the desk. His khakis were pressed, Aralyn noted, his shirt sleeves crisp with ironing creases. Uneven ones, she observed. He looked a bit pale, she thought and chalked it up to probable nerves.
“Good morning,” he said. His voice was a nice tenor, she thought, soft spoken. “My name is Mr. Roth and I’m going to be covering for Mrs. Garcia for the rest of the year. I understand you’re studying Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. We’ll continue with that and then move on, sticking to the curriculum that Mrs. Garcia left you. Any questions?”
“Yeah, are you old enough to be teaching us?” someone called from the back of the room. There were a few chuckles and he smiled.
“Yes. I’m twenty-nine, and this is not my first teaching job,” he said firmly. “I have a Master’s in secondary education and I chose high school over elementary. I figured you guys were a bit higher up on the evolution scale. Don’t prove me wrong.”
There were more chuckles and several girls giggled. Aralyn hid her smile when she glanced at Tiffany’s dazed face again. This is going to prove interesting, she thought.
***
Cam was swapping books out at his locker when he glanced down and saw a pair of elegant black suede boots. Glancing around his locker door he realized it was Tiffany.
“Hey there,” he said with a smile.
“Hey. I was wondering what you were getting Aralyn for her birthday, and see if you needed any ideas.”
“Her birthday? When is it?” he asked, alarmed.
“She didn’t tell you?” Tiffany asked.
“No!”
“It’s Sunday. Second Sunday of every month we get together to celebrate all the birthdays of that month. This year it happens to fall on Aralyn’s eighteenth birthday.”
“I had no idea.” Cam looked stricken. “I haven’t any idea what to get her!”
“I was afraid of that. Gift cards for music or clothes are always good, but if I were you, I’d go for chocolate. I listed her favorite types and brands, and some of them are really high end, but she adores new chocolates and the more decadent, the better. I take it by now you know her of affection for chocolate?”
Cam grinned and nodded. He had noticed her fondness for sweets at lunch time.
“She’s not having a big party?” he asked. Tiffany shook her head as they waved at Laura, a pretty dark haired classmate.
“Just the family party. And no surprise either. She hates surprise parties. Besides, Dad’s taking her to get her first tattoo, and that’s what she’s been dying for.”
Cam’s eyebrows went up. “She didn’t mention that either.”
“A word of advice,” Tiffany said with a smile. “Aralyn’s not used to sharing her private thoughts with anyone except me. It’ll take some time.”
Cam nodded in understanding.
“Let me know what you decide, so I can pass it on to the others. I gotta run, there’s Anna and I need to ask her about our History project.” Tiffany smiled at him before she walked off to join a petite girl with short, flame red hair.
Cam looked at his list. He had turned eighteen in August, so he was a couple months older than her. While he knew her birthday was in the fall, but hadn’t been able to narrow it down to the exact date.
Hurrying off to journalism, he began to plan her birthday surprise. He needed something more elegant than chocolates.
***
Aralyn was headed for the hockey field when she heard the now familiar, “Hey, Duke!”
Smiling, she turned as she saw Cam heading toward her. My boyfriend, she thought with a tingle.
“Hi.” She smiled as he gave her a lingering kiss.
“I have a surprise for you.” He grinned as her face lit up.
“Really? Where?”
“Search me to find it,” he said with a sudden boost of confidence.
Aralyn burst out laughing. “If it wouldn’t make me late for practice, I might take you up on that.”
Cam raised one eyebrow and gave her a mischievous smile, deciding to make her squirm a little bit and knowing she had Sunday plans. “Sunday evening, actually.”
“Oh,” she looked crestfallen. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s our monthly birthday celebration,” she said, dismayed. “I know,” she brightened, “Why don’t you come with me?”
“Oh, I don’t want to intrude on a family celebration.” Besides, the thought of encountering the entire Belden-Duke Clan was a bit scary. He didn’t even know all of the cousins in the school, and he knew there were more that were younger. Plus the aunts, uncles and grandparents—it was a frightening concept.
Aralyn snorted. “Please. There’s so many of us no one ever really notices when someone brings a friend along. Then afterwards, you can give me my surprise.”
“Whose birthday is it?” he asked.
“Uncle Brian, several cousins, including Luke, and me.”
“You could have told me sooner,” he said gently. “Would you have told me if I hadn’t asked you out for Sunday?” he demanded.
“It’s no big deal,” she kissed his cheek quickly, “but something tells me you already knew.”
“A little bird told me,” he admitted.
“With long dark hair and who’s waiting for me on the field no doubt,” she smiled.
He chuckled. “Can I at least take you out Friday evening?” he asked shyly. Her eyes lit up.
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.” He grinned.
“I have to go, we have that big game Saturday morning, and I have to whip those girls into shape. Call me tonight!”
“You betcha.” He kissed her one more time as she ran towards the locker room.
***
“All right?” Tiff reached down and offered cousin a hand.
“Yeah,” Aralyn grunted, getting to her feet.
“Duke, what was that about?” her coach yelled. “Get your head in the game!”
“Wet patch of grass,” she replied grimly, dusting herself off.
“Well, pay more attention, Saturday is no time to be distracted!”
“No kidding,” Aralyn muttered. “I think as Captain, I know that.”
They reformed for the scrimmage.
***
“Ow! Dad, that hurts!”
“You gotta stop beatin’ yourself up, sweetheart,” Bo replied, massaging Aralyn’s shoulder. She was sitting in front of him on the floor while he worked on her shoulder.
“I just didn’t see the wet grass.” She sighed, wincing as Bo hit the tender spot. She had landed on her left shoulder, the one she had torn up white water rafting two years before, when she had been tossed from the raft over rough waters. In the desperate grab for something solid and staying afloat, she had torn her shoulder badly.
Sean brought Bo an ice pack, and he laid it against Aralyn’s shoulder, making her wince. Sean climbed into Aralyn’s lap.
“You gotta be more careful, sweetheart. You keep reinjurin’ this,” Bo told her.
“I know, Dad, I wasn’t exactly looking to take a spill,” she snapped.
“I bet Cam would rub your back.” Leif smirked from his lounging position on the sofa. Logana> snickered from his place on the floor under his twin, where he was doing math problems.
“That’s enough of that talk,” Bo said sternly.
Aralyn was grateful he couldn’t see her blush. They hadn’t gotten much past kissing but she was okay with that. Intimacy would come with time, she figured. It was still new to them. The gentle way he touched her face made her tremble, and his kisses left her knees weak. Sometimes her mind would wander down that road, and she could feel herself grow warm at the thought.
***
The next day, Friday, she kept taking ibuprofen to ease her shoulder pain.
“Those aren’t candy, you know,” Tiff said at lunch as Aralyn downed two more. “Don’t take so many, your body isn’t used to that stuff.”
“I know but, damn, it hurts.” She took a long drink from her water bottle.
“You might need to go back to the doctor.”
“Yeah, then I get more pain drugs that make me stoned,” she muttered, opening her bag and dumping out the contents, Double Stuf Oreos, a Milky Way, and a cup of cinnamon applesauce. Popping her soda open, she looked up to see her cousin shaking her head. “I could just ask Brian for those.”
“Is that all you’re eating?” Tiff demanded, removing her sandwich, baked chips, and fruit from her bag.
“Yeah, I was in a hurry this morning.”
Cam stopped by and shook his head at her lunch. They hadn’t reached the point of their friends all sitting together for lunch yet, but he hoped they would.
“Seven?” he asked.
Smiling, she nodded, and he kissed the top of her head before wandering over to his table.
“You’re so lucky,” Tiffany sighed. “I wish I had a guy like him.”
“He’s pretty great. Don’t sweat it. Your guy will be along.”
“Yeah, when I’m old and gray,” Tiff said morosely, tearing off a piece of her sandwich.
“Stop.” Aralyn nudged her. “I happened to notice Dean was checking you out earlier. He does that a lot, in fact. I’m surprised he hasn’t been pestering you for a date.”
“He has,” Tiffany replied. “I keep saying no.”
“Why? We’ve known him for ages, and he’s a good guy.”
“I’d kill him. He talks too much,” Tiff said with a snicker. She wasn’t about to tell her cousin how she had been thinking about Mr. Roth nonstop all week.
“He’s got the nerdy sex appeal going on.” Aralyn grinned.
Tiffany rolled her hazel eyes. “Hey, there’s Jesse.”
Aralyn giggled as she spotted their younger cousin with his new girlfriend, Stephanie, one of the cheerleaders. They were making their way to a table, lunch trays in hand.
“They’re so cute together. I’m glad he picked one of the nice ones to crush on,” Aralyn commented as she opened her bag of cookies.
“You and me both,” Tiffany answered.
“Should we go embarrass him?” Aralyn asked with a mischievous smile.
Tiffany laughed. “No. Leave them alone. Now if it was one of the twins, yes. But you know how shy Jesse is. It might cause irreparable damage.”
Aralyn nodded. “True. But man, the first time one of the twins has a girlfriend, it is so on.”
The cousins laughed.
“I think Leif’s got a crush on someone, actually. He’s been on this big vegetarian attempt. Lecturing Mom and Dad on animal cruelty and how we should all give up meat, blah blah blah.”
Tiffany laughed. “A Duke male go vegetarian? What did Bo say?”
Aralyn grinned. “Dad told him he could live on Uncle Jesse’s barley soup for two or three weeks and then talk to him about it.”
Tiffany shuddered. “Ew. Just ew. Dad told me about that.”
“Yep.” Aralyn nodded. “Leif got the lecture on how Dad and Luke had to hunt game when money was super tight and the barley soup stories.”
“Rayma is Gossip Central. I’ll see if she’s got any info we can use on him.” Tiffany smiled mischievously.
***
Cam and Aralyn didn’t stay out late, since she had a game early the next morning, and eleven o’clock found them on the Duke doorstep, kissing.
Aralyn was grateful for his physical solidarity, as his kisses left her knees feeling like jelly and she was often hanging onto him. His gentle, probing tongue teased her senses and it was hard to not think about going further when his lips were on hers and her body was on fire.
“We’re being watched,” he murmured, finally pulling her away. “One of the twins.”
“Let ‘em watch. Someday they’ll need the pointers,” she said with a giggle.
“Yeah, well I don’t want them calling your dad over, so I’m going to go. Good luck tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” she smiled up at him and he kissed her again, then waited until she was inside before heading back to his Jeep.
***
Saturday morning dawned bright and Aralyn rolled out of bed, blushing and still warm from her dreams of Cam and doing more than just kissing. She and Tiffany had been reading romance novels since they were thirteen, and they knew exactly what happened when things moved on from kissing. Besides, Bo and Trixie had sat her down when she was nine and told her the facts of sex. Part of her was terrified at the thought, and part of her was excited by the thought of making love with Cam. But not just yet, she kept telling herself.
A quick shower revived her and she pulled on her blue and silver uniform, with the team warm-up suit over it. Heading downstairs, she found her parents downstairs making breakfast. This was their Saturday routine, Bo and Trixie cooking together, and Aralyn marveled at their closeness after twenty years. The way Bo’s hand would linger on her lower back, or the way Trixie looked at him with a special smile, still surprised Aralyn.
“Mornin’, sweetheart.” Bo kissed the top of his daughter’s head.
“Morning,” she replied grumpily. “I hate it when they schedule early games.”
“And it’s the Cardinals, which means that big ol’ girl that tried to take you out last season,” Bo reminded her.
“More like the vultures.” Aralyn poured herself a glass of juice.
Sean appeared, dressed for the day in his jeans and blue polo shirt, his dark hair rumpled. Sean had recently taken to not wanting to comb his hair, liking to wear it slightly messy. Silently, he stood there in the kitchen until Trixie noticed him and gave him a good morning kiss.
“You hungry, sweetie?” she asked.
Sean nodded.
“Go sit down, pancakes are almost ready,” Trixie said gently.
Sean took his place at the table, next to Aralyn’s.
Aralyn wanted Sean to come to the game but knew that with this opposing team, the game could take a violent turn and he didn’t need to see it.
Various family members often attended her and Tiffany’s games, or whichever cousin, niece or nephew was playing that day. Bo only missed her games if he was out of town on assignment, and these days, that was rare. He, Dan and Luke had enough seniority now they weren’t being sent all over the country chasing down fugitives. New York had plenty of its own dangerous criminals.
Luke was there with Jace, Tiffany’s fifteen-year-old brother, who had his father’s coloring and mother’s slender build.
Aralyn and Bo arrived for the team warm up. Aralyn jogged over to the team as Bo joined Luke in the stands.
As she led the team through the warming stretches, Aralyn happened to glance up and look for her father. Talking cheerfully with Bo was Cam.
“Damn, girl, you got almost all your men here don’t you?” Diana giggled. “Hot boyfriend, hot dad—all you need is that cute-as-a-button little brother!”
Aralyn grinned. “I didn’t know Cam was coming.”
“Aren’t you glad I braided your hair instead of that sloppy ponytail you always wear?” Tiffany teased, then sobered. “Was this one too rough for Sean?”
“Probably. That one chick busted my ankle last year, remember? Sean can’t handle the brutality.”
“Quit your chit chat, girls!” their coach snapped. “This is going to be a rough game. They’ve got a couple new players who look like quarterbacks, so be on your guard and watch out for dirty tricks.”
A few minutes later they shed their warm-up sweats and moved out to the field. Aralyn was grateful for the long shorts covering her thighs, which she thought were too flabby. She knew her sweets addiction kept her weight about twenty pounds over where she wanted it, and well over where the “weight charts” claimed she should be, but most days she didn’t mind. Now, with Cam watching, she thought twice about it. But at six feet tall, there was no way she could be 150 pounds without being a skeleton.
“What’s wrong?” Tiff asked as they took positions.
“Nothing,” Aralyn replied curtly, eyeing the size of her opponent. Coach hadn’t been kidding. Aralyn might be a “big girl,” but these girls were thick all the way through and mean looking. Her direct opponent was number seventeen, and looked like she could have easily taken on Luke in a wrestling match. This was the girl that had injured her last year.
The game started off evenly enough. Tiffany scored in the first few minutes, and then it got ugly. The sticks were used to trip Aralyn’s team, and more than one girl tumbled down. The referee’s whistle blew repeatedly for fouls and free hits.
“Y’all fight back,” Aralyn snapped as they regrouped. Her right wing, Amy, was studying the others. Janice was out, having limped off the field, and Ruth had replaced her. “You do whatever you need to, but don’t let them take anyone else out.”
They agreed and broke the circle, reforming on the field.
It wasn’t five minutes later when Aralyn came up against one of the quarterback wannabes. Dodging her opponent’s swipe to the left, the mammoth girl, quick as a flash slipped her foot around Aralyn’s and took her down.
Aralyn let go of her stick to shield her face and as she hit the ground, the other’s girl cleat was dangerously close to her face, and Aralyn rolled way from her.
There was shouting all around, whistles blowing and Tiffany was at her side. Several of Aralyn’s teammates were ready to fight the other team, many of who were smirking. The referees were clearly trying to calm the agitated Pumas as Tiffany checked on her cousin.
“Damn, Aralyn, you all right?” She moved her cousins’ hands.
“Yeah.”
“You hurt?” Tiffany reached down to help her up.
“Just my damn pride,” Aralyn said grimly. “That bitch tripped me! With her foot!”
“The ref saw and pulled her. You get a free shot if you’re up to it.”
“Hell yeah, I’m up to it!” Aralyn wiped the grass off her elbows as Tiffany helped her up and she saw Cam standing next to Bo, looking worried.
The crowd applauded as Aralyn grabbed her stick from Amy, and the team lined up for the penalty shot.
Tripping escalated into planned body slamming but Aralyn’s team got wise. When one massive girl came at Amy, Amy defensively turned her body and slammed her shoulder into the girl, sending her down instead.
Aralyn’s shoulder was screaming and she knew she’d be bruised from the game but she kept on. Tiff was having a hard time dodging her opponent and Diana, the left wing, seemed to be trapped by two opponents shadowing her.
Mary, tending goal, was bored at the moment, from lack of action in her end of the field.
A streak of blue and silver caught Aralyn's eye, and she realized one of the others had gotten free.
“Cindy!” she shouted, knocking the ball to the midfielder with an aggressive push pass.
Cindy, unguarded, ran forward to intercept and then headed for the goal. Aralyn ran to keep up, running interference for her.
The goal keeper came forward and Cindy took the shot. It was going too wide when Aralyn turned and dove, hitting it with her stick into the goal as she hit the ground for the second time, going down on her left shoulder. Cindy darted forward before the goalie could react and with a heavy slap shot, hurtled the ball into the goal
The buzzer rang, signaling half time. Cindy pulled Aralyn up, though Aralyn would have preferred to lay on the ground until the pain stopped. The crowd was cheering the score.
“Thanks, dude,” Aralyn grunted. “Dynamite pullout there, Cindy. Good work!” Aralyn praised.
Cindy grinned. She was a junior, and first timer on the team, having been an alternate last year. Praise from the captain was very good.
Bo was waiting as they headed for the Gatorade table. None of the girls minded the handsome Marshal coming over to check on his daughter and niece.
“How’s your shoulder?” he asked, recognizing the pained look on her face.
“It hurts, bad. I hit it again that last round.” Aralyn gulped the Gatorade down.
“Winnin’ ain’t important if it means you tear your body up,” he said sternly, catching her by uninjured shoulder and looking into her eyes.
“I know. It wasn’t planned. I’ll be fine, Dad,” she assured him.
Minutes later they were back on the field.
***
The second half got uglier as Tiffany was almost taken out. Colliding with one of the huge girls left her flat on her back and seeing stars for a moment. Pulled to her feet by her cousin and teammates, she sat out for a few minutes while Anna, a vivacious redhead, replaced her.
Up in the bleachers, Luke was silent as he watched his daughter sitting out for a few minutes. Tiffany had her head down between her knees. He knew Tiffany had always been more fragile physically than Aralyn, even when they were children. His daughter had her mother’s slender figure. Honey had been grateful for Aralyn’s influence—she didn’t want Tiffany to grow up timid and scared of everything the way she had. Tiffany and Aralyn were as close as she and Trixie had been, and Aralyn wouldn’t let her cousin be afraid of spiders or the dark.
Aralyn saw Seventeen barreling towards her. Bracing herself for the blow she turned her left shoulder in self defense, slamming into the girl. Pain ripped through her shoulder and she almost screamed out loud but she knocked the ball to Ronda, another midfielder. Seventeen brought her stick down against Aralyn’s foot, sending the tall girl tumbling.
Aralyn wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and hit the ground with her left side, crying out as she felt her shoulder slip and something hard hit her foot as the bigger girl tumbled down on top of her. There was a sickening crack as stick hit bone and Aralyn couldn’t breathe as she felt her foot snap inward.
This time she didn’t get up as she heard Tiffany shouting her name.
Rolling on her back, Aralyn let the hot tears come as pain lanced through her shoulder. She managed to shove the howling Seventeen off of her, and edge away as she tried to catch her breath.
“Aralyn!” Tiffany shoved an opponent out of the way roughly as she reached her cousin. “Aralyn!”
“Bitch whacked me with her stick!” Aralyn howled as her body began to throb. Ronda and Tonnie had reached her as well, shoving the smirking girls in black away. They finally realized their teammate was down as well.
Tiffany turned on the referee, who was trying to see the two fallen girls.
“Did you hear that?” Tiffany yelled at the ref. “Did you see that bitch go after her? You call her out, and now! That was uncalled for and a deliberate attack!”
“I heard it. And I saw it,” he replied grimly. “You there—Seventeen! You’re out! Off the field and suspended!”
The other team began to protest as Aralyn’s team swarmed around her. The medics on site were hurrying towards her. Many of the local EMTs and paramedics volunteered to oversee the high school sports, knowing how competitive they could be. Brian was often present at his nieces and nephews games, but not today.
Cam sat anxiously, watching. It was kind of amusing to see mild-mannered Tiffany Duke in the ref’s face. Luke put his hand on Bo’s arm to prevent him from running down there.
“Bo, you know you ain’t allowed down there.”
“She’s hurt. Luke, she ain’t gettin’ up!”
“She’ll be fine,” Luke spoke in a soothing tone. “You goin’ down there will just make more problems and embarrass her.”
“Why aren’t you allowed down there?” Cam asked.
Luke grinned. “He got in the ref’s face last season over a foul call. The ref banned him from the field durin’ game time.”
Cam tried not to smile but couldn’t help it as Bo scowled.
“I was right!”
“And the ref agreed, after he told you to get your overprotective, overcompetitive butt off the field,” Jace laughed.
“Damn Belden-Duke pride,” Bo muttered. “She won’t quit unless they break her legs.”
“She’s stubborn all right,” Cam replied.
“My friend Cooter used to say us Dukes got a double dose of pride. Pair that up with her mama’s determination and she’s one bullheaded kid.” Bo shook his head.
“Actually, that’s one of the things I enjoy most about her.” Cam smiled.
Bo turned and looked at the young man next to him. Cam wasn’t putting him on. Cam really was smitten with his girl. He laughed. “Part of what drew me to her mama too.”
Down on the field, Tiffany helped her cousin sit up. “C’mon, you’ve got a penalty corner.”
Aralyn shook her head. “You take it.”
“What?” Tiffany looked into Aralyn’s blue eyes. Her face was tear-stained, and Aralyn had her teeth clenched in pain. Aralyn Duke never turned down a shot.
“I can’t do it, cuz. I’ll be lucky to stand and my shoulder hurts so bad I think I dislocated it. Her stick hit my foot and I think I twisted it. You take the shot.”
“Medics are here,” Tiffany said quietly.
“Get me up and off the field. You take the shot. Use Amy to replace me in the middle. Move Cindy to cover her and bring Trish in to replace Cindy.”
“You think she’s ready?” Tiffany asked. The medics arrived with a stretcher, which she refused to get on.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s get you off the field.” Tiffany waved the medics forward.
“Hell no,” Aralyn snapped. “I’ve never been carried off by medics. and I won’t be now. I’m walking off if this field if you have to drag me.”
Tiffany grinned.
“Come on, get me up.”
Tonnie, a curvy blonde as tall as the cousins who played sweeper, stepped over to help Tiffany lift Aralyn to her feet. The crowd applauded and Aralyn managed a feeble wave. Supported by her cousin and teammate, she made her way off the field as Seventeen was moved to a stretcher. The breaking noise Aralyn heard had been her opponent’s ankle as it connected with the petrified wood of Aralyn’s stick. Aralyn’s ankle twisted when she tumbled down.
“We’re ahead, we just need to keep them from scoring,” Aralyn muttered to Tonnie as she sank onto the bench, ignoring the medic trying to question her.
Aralyn’s team’s goalkeeper, Mary, winced as she saw three of the huge girls coming her way.
Cindy, Diana and Amy darted in, Amy dodging between two of their opponents, startling them enough to throw them off balance, and knocking the ball back out to Cindy, who took it and ran. Tiffany was back in the game and slipped away and around the Cardinals players and caught Cindy’s pass.
Tiffany passed it back to Cindy, who hopped over her opponent’s stick and whacked it back to Tiffany. Tiffany took the shot and slammed the ball into the net, past the diving goalkeeper as the buzzer rang. The game was over, and they had won.
The girls jumped up and down, shouting as they ran together, hugging each other.
The Cardinals just glared as the Pumas cheered each other. Aralyn was cheering from the bench, irritating the medics trying to strap ice packs on her.
The crowd was allowed onto the field now, after the teams shook hands. Aralyn smiled her way through it, wanting nothing more than her bed and a heavy pain killer.
***
At home, Trixie ran her hand through her sandy curls after hearing of her daughter’s adventures, or rather, misadventures. It wasn’t the first time Aralyn had been injured a game. “Does she have to skip any games?”
“Probably the next couple.” Bo eyed his temperamental wife. Trixie had been out with Honey, and he hadn’t called her about Aralyn. “But she’ll be all right. Just sore. She’s a tough kid, Trix. ”
Trixie was clearly unhappy with her husband’s decision to not notify her, but Bo drew her close, knowing exactly how diffuse her temper and ignite something else.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
Author’s Notes
- a huge yeee-haaa! To Dana, my lovely editor!
- I hope all you Jixers enjoyed your cameos!
-you can find more about shoulder separations and dislocation here: http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/shouldersurgery/a/separation.ht
-you can find more about field hockey here:http://www.momsguide.com/fieldhockey/fh1.html It’s my second favorite sport! While it’s not in a lot of high schools, it is in my Universe. :)
-Bo and Luke and Daisy did eat a lot of barley soup, and hunt game in lean times.
-Word Count, 4,896
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