Page 218 of Tangled with the Tight End

“There’s only one Winona, but we all wish there were at least a dozen. I don’t care if a supermodel or actress walks through that door.” She points to the door and then she laughs softly. “Though I wouldn’t complain if Chris Pratt or one of those Hemsworth brothers came strolling through.”

I laugh. “You’re too much.”

“I might be. You’re right. My point is, at my age, you don’t remember the achievements or the status of a person. You remember how they made you feel. And you, Winona, make people feel special.”

I sniff, the tears threatening to make me bawl in Loretta’s arms.

I manage to eke out a “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” she says. “Truly. And if you really want to thank me, you’ll take my words to heart. Stop belittling yourself, and for goodness’ sake, stop comparing yourself to other people. That’s such a waste of a God-given life.”

“Okay,” I promise. And I mean it.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve just been gutted by losing Declan.

Maybe it’s all the people who were so genuinely thankful in those texts and voicemails.

Maybe it’s the way Cass is constantly hammering me about my worth.

It’s probably a combination of all that and something more. But I hear Loretta. Her words travel past my resistance and nestle somewhere deep in my heart.

I make a difference.

I make people feel special.

Maybe I have been measuring myself with the wrong ruler.

I’m just me.

And that’s enough.

“Okay,” I say again, nodding my head with one decisive bob.

“Good,” she says. “Now that’s settled. Let’s play cards.”

Chapter 36

Declan

Life is ten percent what happens to you,

and ninety percent how you respond to it.

~ Charles R. Swindoll

Halftime at the Vikings game on their turf should be a high point for me. I’m back. Game two on the field. Finally, after all these months, I’m on the lineup.

“What’s going on?” Delaney asks me. “Where’s your head, O’Connell?”

I don’t answer. We all know where my head is.

Not here. Not on the ball. Not on winning the last game of the season.

Coach Bennett steps over to us. “O’Connell, you're looking at the coverage instead of attacking it.” He stands directly in front of me. “I’d say it’s you being rusty or maybe your ankle’s still bothering you, but that's not the problem, is it?”

“No, sir,” I admit. “I’ll get my head in the game.”

“That’s all I want to hear.”