Unexpected by Karen Tuft

Author:Karen Tuft
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Love, betrayl, LDS, clean, dreams, matchmaker, perfect, fail, marriage, divorce, single, mother, housekeeper, independant, attraction, ideal, heart, friendship, courage, overcome
Publisher: Deseret Book Company

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Natalie was shivering. In her thin leather jacket, her hands stuffed in the pockets, she could feel herself shake from the cold. To say she’d been shocked when Ross had invited her to the football game was an understatement. It always surprised her when a man invited her to do something—maybe that was why she was constantly caught off guard and then typically caved in. But this time, ironically, her inability to gracefully decline had put her in the worst possible place to be for her emotional well-being. It was daunting enough to be here with this impossibly attractive, intimidating man, but to be at a high-school football game? It was at a high-school football game that her road of regrets had begun. She wasn’t sure being here with Ross McConnell was the best way to face old ghosts.

Teens screamed and yelled at football plays they didn’t understand and huddled and flirted in the deep shadows cast by the stadium lights. There was a rich smokiness in the crisp autumn air, laced with the scent of hotdogs and burning leaves. The pep band wailed off tune; the drums pounded out an upbeat tempo. Amid the shrill whistles and cheers, the music wove through the wind like the ghosts of her memories. She shook her head to clear it. This evening she had an opportunity to rise above memories and enjoy the moment, start fresh. Bury regrets.

“Where do you think the rest of your family is sitting?” she asked. The bleachers were filled to capacity, and Natalie didn’t know how they would ever find them.

Ross craned his neck to search the crowd. “Jackie usually likes to show up in time to get seats close to the fifty-yard line,” he said. “I can’t see her though. We’ll find a couple of seats for now and look for them at halftime.”

Ross located a place near the end zone for them to sit, and Natalie followed. He’d lugged a couple of stadium blankets from the trunk of his car and folded one of them to cushion their seats; the other he handed to Natalie, which she wrapped around her legs.

She glanced over at Ross. He was sitting casually, his forearms resting on his thighs, his jacket unzipped. Why don’t guys seem to feel the cold? she wondered. The occasional breeze that seemed to only ruffle his hair sent frigid spasms through Natalie. She flipped her jacket collar up to shield her neck. It was early November, and the temperature was in the forties, but Natalie, who generally liked cold weather, was a popsicle and hoped she survived. And if she was honest with herself, part of the shivering came from nerves and chilled memories, not just the nighttime breeze.

She tried to concentrate on the game. It was the second quarter, and Brett had already caught a couple of short passes and taken one long bomb in for a touchdown just since they’d arrived. She watched Ross watching the game, quiet but intense, only yelling at the refs a couple of times.

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