Priceless(7)

Mack had the distinct impression she would have preferred to mention the opposite end of the horse. He had definitely not won her over. Not yet, anyway. That was a challenge for another time, though, one he was surprisingly eager to pursue. For now, his focus had to be on Tony.

“How about I sign your football for you?” he suggested to Tony.

The boy’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great! Wait till my mom comes tonight. She’ll be so excited. She’s watched all those tapes with me a million times. I’ll bet she’s the only mom around who knows all your stats.”

Mack read between the lines, but managed to keep his expression neutral at the hint that there was no father in this boy’s life. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a valuable football card from his rookie year that he’d brought along. “Want me to sign this for your mom or for you?”

“Oh, wow! I saw that card on the Internet. It was selling for way more than I could pay,” Tony said, obviously struggling to do the right thing. “Sign it for my mom, I guess. She can show it to all her friends at work. She’ll probably want to put it in a frame on her desk.”

Mack grinned at him. “Good choice. I’ll bring you your own on my next visit. I think I can come up with one from my MVP year that’s even more valuable, especially when it’s signed.”

“You’ll come back?” Tony asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Really? And we can talk about all the guys you drafted for this season? We really need that defensive lineman you got.”

“Tell me about it,” Mack said.

“Has he signed yet?”

Mack grinned at his enthusiasm and his up-to-date knowledge. “Not yet. We’re still bargaining.”

“He’ll sign,” Tony said confidently. “Who wouldn’t want to play for your team? What I don’t get is why you didn’t go after that punter at Ohio State.”

Mack laughed. “Maybe I’ll explain budgets and salary caps to you the next time I come.”

“I can’t believe you’ll really come back,” Tony said.

“I’ll be back so often you’ll get sick of me,” Mack promised. “Nothing I like more than talking to someone who remembers all my great plays.”

“And I do,” Tony said. “Every one of them. That game against the Eagles, when you threw for a team record was the best ever, but I liked the way you scrambled for a winning touchdown against the Packers, when everybody said you ought to be off the field because of a shoulder injury.”

Mack laughed. “That was a great one,” he agreed. “I still get a twinge in that shoulder every time I think about it. I had to scramble, because I couldn’t have thrown the ball if my life had depended on it.”

“I knew it!” Tony said, obviously delighted to have his impression confirmed. “I told my mom before you ran that there was no way you were going to try a pass. How come the Packers’ defense didn’t get that?”

“Pure, dumb luck,” Mack admitted. “And just so you know, I shouldn’t have stayed on the field. I could have cost us the game.”

“But you didn’t. You won it,” Tony said.

“That doesn’t mean it was the smartest play. It means I was showing off.”

“I don’t care. It was a great play,” Tony insisted.

Mack laughed at the kid’s stubborn defense. “Too bad you weren’t around to talk to the coach. He almost benched me for the next game because of that play.”

Tony’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? But that’s so unfair.”

Mack studied the boy’s face and thought he looked even paler than he had when Mack had first arrived, despite his obvious excitement. Mack glanced at Beth and saw the lines of worry creasing her forehead. He was pretty good at reading cues and he definitely got this one. It was time to go.

“Listen, Tony, I’ve got to head to a meeting. You get some rest. Maybe next time we can go down to the cafeteria for some hot chocolate. I hear it’s pretty decent.”

“Really?” Tony asked, his voice fading as if he were falling asleep but struggling to fight it.

“If the doc okays it,” Mack said, giving her a questioning look.

“No problem,” Beth said, but she didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

Mack took Tony’s frail hand and gave it a squeeze. “Take good care of yourself, son.”

By the time he released the boy’s hand, Tony was already asleep.

A few seconds later Mack and Beth Browning were back in the hall. She scowled at him with fire in her eyes.

“Why did you do that?” she demanded.