Perfectly Ms. Matched(57)

Instead, she texted Shelby. “Chad told me the truth about TwelveCorp today. I’m upset about your part in it. Can we talk tomorrow?”

Before Jo could lay the phone down, Shelby called. Jo didn’t want to answer, but her conscience made her take the call anyway. “Hi.”

“Hey. Maybe we should talk now?”

“Why not? This whole day has been crap. What’s one more argument to add on top of it?”

“Chad mentioned he was going to confess, so I’ve been thinking a lot about this. There’s nothing I can say to pardon my part in this, except I’m sorry. It was the easiest way out of our predicament, so I took it. I was absolutely wrong to deceive you about it, and I just hope you can forgive me for it. I so badly wanted you to have your dream, so I ignored your feelings about Chad and took the money anyway. Now go ahead. Let me have it. I deserve it.”

Jo blinked back tears. She was exhausted, and her head hurt. “I don’t have the energy right now, Shelby. I need to go to bed. And in the morning, I have to make eggs Benedict for my father, while trying to figure out how I really feel about him and what he did.” Suddenly she felt an overwhelming need to tell her best friend about her father. So she did.

When she was done, Shelby said, “That’s unbelievable. Maybe I’d better come be your sous chef tomorrow? For moral support? And maybe we can wait until after breakfast for you to let me have it. Because pregnant women love eggs Benes.”

Jo smiled. It was awful hard to stay mad at Shelby. “Okay. It’ll give me plenty of time to figure out how I’m going to kill you and then dispose of your body. Does ten work?”

“Ten is perfect. Love you, Jo.”

Jo wanted to cry again. She loved Shelby too but was still too angry to tell her that. “Thanks. See you tomorrow.” They’d figure it all out. Eventually. She just wished she had the same optimism for her and Chad. At least Shelby had apologized for her part without any excuses.

After she settled under her covers, Chad’s trophy on her dresser, depicting a crouched player holding a football, seemed to mock her in the moonlight. Damned thing.

Jo threw her covers back and picked up the Heisman. “You’re part of what started all of this mess.” She opened her closet door and placed the award on a shelf with a thunk. “Get used to it in here you big hunk of metal. This might be your new home for a very long time.”



Sunday morning, Chad tied off his cleats and then closed his eyes as he sat alone in the stadium locker room. The guys would be there soon to get ready for the game, but for the moment, he had it all to himself. The docs who had just examined his knee before he suited up were happy with what they saw. That was good, but he still felt sick.

His stomach had hurt ever since Jo walked out on him the day before. He’d barely been able to eat breakfast earlier, he’d been so troubled about her and Ryan, but had forced himself because he needed fuel for the workout. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous about playing football. Usually his nerves buzzed with anticipation, not fear. But he had a job to do and wasn’t going to fail.

He stood from the stool in his assigned locker space and made his way toward the field. He walked down the familiar two-toned painted concrete hallway and then turned into the tunnel that led to the field. Grounds workers busily prepared the field for the game in a few hours, and a group of his coaches and some docs stood in a huddle across the field.

It’d be interesting to see if Rick mentioned Heather or the video. Heather had left her keycard and parking pass on the kitchen table and was gone by the time he’d gotten up at five to catch his flight. He hadn’t looked forward to a confrontation with her, so at least that had been avoided. But not even a note or text saying she was sorry. Or a “Say good-bye to Ryan.”

Linda’s text earlier had confirmed that she planned to keep Ryan until she got the back child support she demanded, and he’d hear from her lawyer soon. In the meantime, he’d assembled his own team to get Ryan back.

Chad worked to hide what remained of his limp as he approached the men who held his fate in their hands. He plastered on a smile. “Hey, guys. Good to see everyone.” Chad glanced at Rick, who looked away and quickly got busy with his cell.

The head coach slapped Chad on the back. “Good to see you too, buddy. Let’s see how you’re healing. We brought some of the practice squad over to work out with you this morning. Here they come now.”

Crap. They hadn’t even bothered to let him work with the starters he normally worked out with. The quarterback wouldn’t be near as accurate, but he’d deal with it. “Sounds great. Let’s go!”