“I don’t know…”
“That’s because you don’t know her. Oh, she’s tough, don’t get me wrong. And protective. But once you get to know her, there’s no one better in the world. She’ll do anything for anyone she cares about.”
Her words echoed Will’s description, but so far, Ronnie hadn’t seen that side of Susan.
“You should talk to Will,” Megan said, lowering her sunglasses into place as she prepared to leave. “Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting you go to the house. And besides, he’s not there.”
“Where is he?”
She motioned over her shoulder, toward the pier in the distance. “He’s at the tournament. Their first game starts in forty minutes.”
The tournament. In the wild rush of all that had happened, she’d forgotten about it.
“I was just there, but when I left him, he was really out of it. He was so upset, I don’t think he slept at all. Especially after what you told my dad. You need to make things right.” Her voice was firm.
Megan was about to step off the porch when she turned to face Ronnie again. “And just so you know? Daniel and I postponed our honeymoon for a day so we could watch my little brother play in the tournament. It would be great if his head was in the game. He might have downplayed it, but doing well in the tournament is important to him.”
After showering and dressing, Ronnie raced down the beach. The area around the pier was thronged, much as it had been on her first night in town.
Temporary bleachers that sandwiched two courts had been set up on the far side of the pier, jammed with at least a thousand spectators. Even more were massed along the pier, which provided a bird’s-eye view of the game. The beach itself was so packed, she could barely make her way through the crowd. There was no way she’d be able to find Will in time, she fretted.
No wonder winning the tournament was so important.
She searched the crowd, catching sight of some of the other teams, which only made her feel more frantic. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a special area reserved for the players, and she despaired of ever locating him with so many people around.
With only ten minutes until the game began, she was about to give up when she suddenly spotted him walking with Scott near some paramedics who were leaning against their truck. As Will pulled off his shirt, he vanished behind the truck.
She plunged through the crowd, calling out hurried apologies to the people she pushed. It took her less than a minute to reach the spot where she’d last seen him, but he was nowhere in sight. She moved forward again, and this time she thought she saw Scott—he was hard to make out in the ocean of blondes. Just as she let out a frustrated sigh, she saw Will standing by himself in the shade of the bleachers, taking a long drink from a bottle of Gatorade.
Megan had been right. She could tell by the slump of his shoulders that he was exhausted, and she couldn’t see evidence of any pre-game adrenaline.
She scooted around some bystanders, breaking into a jog as she got closer. For an instant, she thought she saw surprise in his face, but he quickly turned away and she knew his dad had given him her message.
She read the pain and confusion in his reaction. She would have talked it all through with him, but with the game only minutes away, she didn’t have time. As soon as she was close, she threw her arms around him and kissed him as passionately as she could. If he was surprised, he recovered quickly and began to kiss her back.
When they finally separated, he spoke. “About what happened yesterday…”
Ronnie shook her head, placing a gentle finger over his lips. “We’ll talk about that later, but just so you know, I didn’t mean what I said to your dad. I love you. And I need you to do something for me.”
When he cocked his head questioningly, she went on.
“Play today like you’ve never played before.”
27
Marcus
Kicking at the sand at Bower’s Point, Marcus knew he should be enjoying the havoc he’d wreaked the previous evening. Everything had turned out exactly the way he’d planned it. The house had been decorated precisely as the endless newspaper articles had detailed, and loosening the tent pegs—not all the way, just enough to ensure they’d pull free when he slammed into the ropes—had been easy to do when everyone was eating dinner. He’d been thrilled to see Ronnie wander down to the dock, Will in tow; they hadn’t let him down. And good old reliable Will had played his part perfectly; if there was a guy more predictable in the entire world, Marcus would be shocked. Push button X and Will would do one thing; push button Y and Will would do another. If it hadn’t been so much fun, it would have been boring.