Page 71 of Ruff and Tumble

“He’ll get up,” Julian said, his mouth a grim line. “Give him a second.”

“He always gets up,” Paula agreed. Her mouth wasn’t grim or a line. It wobbled, and in such a way that Hailey’s blood turned cold. She had yet to see this woman anything but cheerful and resolute, even when standing over her husband’s hospital bed.

Inadvertently, Hailey looked to Regina. Of all the people in this room, Cole’s sister was the one who was closest to him. She was his manager and his friend, the person he turned to first when things went wrong.

What she saw in the other woman’s face didn’t just turn her blood cold. It froze it in her veins.

He’s not getting up.

Hailey clutched the puppy in her arms and forced herself to look at the television. By now, the announcers had managed to control their first outbursts of emotion, all three of them starting to speculate on what they’d witnessed and the likelihood of Cole pulling himself together again. She tuned out their voices and focused on the image of Cole instead. He was moving, which was good, but not in a vertical direction. He thrashed and shifted, his right arm hanging limp at his side.

Having so recently watched the footage of Julian Bennett’s career ending before her eyes, Hailey had no difficulty identifying what she was witnessing right now. A few days ago, she might have joined this family in willing Cole to his feet, in hoping that he’d rise up to the challenge and see this game through to the end, but she knew better now.

There would be no more games after this. Oh, he might try another surgery or a long rehabilitation, but there were limits to what the human body could endure—limits to what itshouldendure.

“I’m going to make some tea,” Hailey announced. No one in this room wanted tea, but it was the only thing she could think of to offer. “Mia, do you think you could show me where it is?”

Regina picked up on Hailey’s meaning right away. “What a good idea,” she said. “Mia, love, could you help Hailey in the kitchen? You know where Grandma keeps the tea stuff, right?”

Mia nodded, her eyes still stricken and wide, but she took the hand Hailey offered. Nala wriggled to be let down, but the puppy would serve as a good distraction if the girl started to feel overwhelmed. Taking a page from Cole’s book, Hailey tucked the puppy under her arm in a football hold. She wasn’t nearly as strong as Cole, but the puppy instantly calmed down.

In the manner of all four-year-old children, Mia was easily distracted by the task of locating and making the tea. Hailey had to fight every instinct she had not to peek at her phone or switch on the television mounted next to the refrigerator, but she managed it. There were already enough people in this house doing their best to turn the accident into a tragedy.

“You’re very good at this,” Hailey noted as Mia set about arranging plates and spoons on a tray. “You must have a lot of tea parties.”

The girl nodded as she reverently placed a bowl of sugar in the center. “Uncle Cole likes tea. We drink it this way.” She went through the motions of sipping from one of the porcelain cups, her pinkie finger held exaggeratedly in the air. She only got about halfway through before her eyes started filling with tears. “Did he have a heart ’tack? Like Grandpa?”

Hailey wasn’t sure to what extent she was licensed to console a child who wasn’t her own, but she took the initiative anyway. “No. He hurt his shoulder, that’s all. He might not be able to play football for a while, but he’ll be okay.”

This served to calm Mia’s fears, but that obviously wasn’t the case when they returned to the other room. Regina stood off to one side, her phone pressed against her ear and a low-voiced, urgent conversation taking place. Paula was wringing her hands and watching Regina talk, lines of anxiety around her mouth. And Julian was staring fixedly at the television as though he could will his son into wellness.

Hailey felt like shaking these people. Okay, so it was bad. Cole wasn’t going to finish the game. The Lumberjacks could very well lose the game. The curse had struck and struck hard, and Hailey was likely to bear the brunt of the blame.

But he wasfine. He hadn’t suffered a concussion, and from the sound of it, the only thing the announcers were worried about was the likelihood that he’d be able to finish out the season.

“Give me that lucky puppy,” Julian demanded, holding out his arms. “Marshall is going to have to pull this game out of his ass if we’re going to break the blasted curse. Lord knows he’s no Cole.”

Hailey wasn’t sure about handing over a soft, delicate creature when Julian was obviously so upset, but at a nod from Paula, she gave in. The puppy seemed to soothe the older man, calming him down as he ranted and fumed at the television screen. Nala also seemed to exert a beneficial influence on the Lumberjacks as they sent their backup quarterback in. Tucker Marshall was no Cole Bennett, it was true, but he was a perfectly good football player in his own right. He was young and untried, but he was also hungry. How could he be anything else? For the past few years, he’d been relegated to the role of Cole’s much-less-exalted shadow.

The rest of the game passed in something of a blur. Hailey drank tea with Mia and took Nala out for regular bathroom breaks. She made sandwiches for Cole’s parents and listened as Regina tried to find out what was happening in the X-ray room.

No one asked her how she felt, and no one solicited her opinion on Cole’s condition. No one commiserated with her unenviable position as the woman whose luck had caused the Lumberjacks’ star quarterback to get hit so hard that his shoulder dislocated during the final playoff game. In fact, by the time the Lumberjacks scored a touchdown in the final minute—six points that not just broke the curse but shattered it in a blaze of last-minute glory—it was almost as though she wasn’t in the room at all.

And that was fine with her. Julian was anxious but alive. Against all odds, the Lumberjacks had won the game and were officially in the Kickoff Cup. Cole might not play football again, but he was going to be okay.

In her world, that counted as a pretty good day.

“He’ll be back,” Julian said as Hailey discreetly made arrangements for an Uber to pick her up and take her home. She had the feeling this family was going to need some time to reconcile themselves to their new future. “A week of rest, another to regain his strength, and he’ll be ready for the Kickoff Cup.”

Hailey could only stare at him, so painfully optimistic, so unwilling to accept the evidence before his eyes, but he wasn’t finished yet.

“Just you wait, Hailey,” he said reassuringly. “Nothing keeps a Bennett down for long.”

Chapter 17

“If you love me, lock the door.” Cole didn’t wait for his sister to make it all the way inside his condo before issuing orders. “Put up a Do Not Disturb sign. Tell Mom and Dad that I’m asleep and likely to stay that way until next year.”

Regina clicked the door behind her. Shedidn’tlock it, but her next words allayed his fears. “Relax. I left them at home. Lucky for you, the doctor told Dad he needed to take it easy for the next few days. Mom is standing guard over him as we speak.”