03

“You sure you’re okay ?” Tim asked the question again frowning a bit at the way Austin’s face was drawn up in grim lines. He could only imagine how hard it was for his baby brother to watch other guys go on and do what he could do no longer. He had hoped that Coaching would help Austin, fill in that gap that he would be missing from not being able to play football but now he wasn’t so sure that was the best idea. Maybe he should have steered him into something else.

Austin turned to his brother and pasted a big smile on his face, « Yep, I’m doing just fine Tim, don’t you worry about me. » Tim glanced at his brother still not sure that he fully believed him when Austin held up his hand and fixated his fingers in the same way that they had always done back when they were in the boy scouts « I Promise, Scouts honor, » he added.

Tim shook his head and sighed, « Alright but if you want to talk then you know where to find me. »

« That I do, » Austin agreed and inclined his head back towards the school. All of the guys had already left and headed for the locker room and Austin knew that he needed to get back as well to finish up some last minute paper work. « Walk with me ? » He asked.

« Sure, why not. » Tim said and fell into step beside his brother as they began their trek over the field. After several moments of companionable silence Tim spoke up, « Hey, did you hear about Jed Sampson ? »

Austin almost stumbled at the mere mention of his name. When he heard or saw Jed he thought about Jade, his old high school flame. It had been over five years since he last seen her and the pain that was etched in her face when she walked in on him and Tina that one afternoon still haunts him today. He made a lot of mistakes in his life but by far the worst one that he had ever made was when he dumbly decided to bed down with Tina.

To this day he can’t come up with a decent excuse for his actions. She showed up on his doorstep in nothing but a damnable trench coat and when he opened the door, she dropped the coat and every red blood cell in his body went South. That one mess up cost him more than anyone will ever know. It cost him his heart.

Swallowing hard, Austin replied stiffly as the memories swamped him, « No, what happened to Jed ? »

« He died, » Tim stated simply.

Austin stopped and his mouth dropped while Tim continued to walk towards the gym. « Jed Sampson died ? » He repeated what his brother had just said having a hard time digesting the information that he had just been delivered.

« Yep, Oliver said he thinks that he had a stroke or something. Whatever it was he was dead as a door nail when he went to check on him. »

Austin shook his head back and forth trying to clear it, thinking about Jade. Did she know ? How would she take it ? Would she be alright ? For all he knew, Jade may not have even spoken a word to her father since the day that she left this town and him for good. Not that he didn’t blame her.

And as if Tim could read his brother’s mind he added, « Oliver also mentioned that Jade was coming back to town. He expected her to arrive sometime this afternoon. »

Again Austin had to stop. « Jade’s coming back ? » He asked numbly, « Back here ? » He said pointing down at the ground, « to Hillsborough ? »

Tim wanted to laugh out loud. The usually cool and confident Austin wasn’t looking very confident right about now. He had known about Jade and his little brother’s relationship back in high school. Tim was only a year older than his brother and he as well as everyone else in Hillsborough had thought the two of them were getting pretty serious. Then, one evening, out of the blue, Austin had come home and announced that she was gone. He holed himself up in room for almost a month before finally emerging and going out on a tear.

He became a wild man and their parents worried about him daily. He went off to school focused only on women, booze and football. He barely survived the first year and then early on in the second is when he took that awful tackle, crushing his football dream.« Yeah, » he finally told his brother,” It looks like our little Jade is finally coming home. Wonder why she ever left in the first place ? »

Austin shrugged his shoulders and quickly adverted his eyes from his brothers watchful stare. He knew exactly why Jade had left that day and never once looked back. It was because of him and his stupidity. He was eighteen years old and one arrogant SOB that thought the world revolved around him. After that night he learned otherwise.

*********************************************

« Mama, who’s that ? » Libby asked pointing up at the chrome statue that stood in front of the Sheriffs office. Standing there in her favorite purple flower sundress with her dark brown curls pulled up in pigtails, Libby looked just like a little lady the way that her bright eyes beamed up at the old statute with curiosity.

Jade bent down to her level and stared up at the statue. « That is General Nathaniel Greene, » Jade replied with a small smile on her face. « There was a big battle here during the Revolutionary War and he led all of the soldier’s. »

« Revo-loo-ten-ary War ? Where people fight each other ? » Libby questioned while tugging at the hem of her dress. Sometimes, Jade thought to herself, this child was too smart for her own good. You know that something is wrong in the world when a four year old know’s about things such as war.

Smoothing back her daughters bangs because they were getting a little too long and hung precariously in her eyes Jade sighed, « Yes baby, like when people fight each other. »

« But why do they fight each other, mama ? »

A small smile crept up on Jade’s face. With each new answer she gave, Libby would surely have another question. She was like a little sponge that absorbed everything around her. She questioned everything and craved answers like Jade craved chocolate. « Just because people do honey, » she replied not sure what else to say.

« Jade, is that you ? »

Standing up, Jade turned around to see the first familiar face that she had seen since she arrived back in Hillsborough. « Oliver ? »

The red head offered her a sincere smile and quickly closed the distance between them. He held out his hand and Jade immediately took it. « It’s nice to see you again ; I just wish it could have been under better circumstances. »

Jade drew in a breath and then let it out very slowly. Since Libby had awoken this morning she had tried to push back the real reason that she was being forced to return home. She didn’t want to think about her father’s death and the impending funeral. « It’s alright, » Jade finally replied. « It is kind of nice to return home if you know what I mean. »

Oliver smiled and then glanced down at the little girl standing just behind Jade, « Yeah, I know what you mean. I love this town. » Still smiling he looked at Libby, « And who do we have here ? »