Game On

Chapter 1-3

"That son of a b***h!" Mary-Ann Kenzie thumped the table with her fist. "I'm going to cut his nuts off and—"

"Could you get me another plate of mac 'n' cheese," Angela prompted, holding out her near-empty plate. "Please."

Her mother froze, caught between continuing her tirade and serving her daughter.

Finally, nurture won out over anger.

She snatched the plate out of Angela's hand and headed for the counter where the still-hot casserole pan sat. "Don't think I won't go kick his ass. How dare he do that to you. To my daughter." She let out an angry huff as she refilled the plate. "You were engaged for God's sake. Engaged! There was a time when that meant something!"

She waved the cheese-encrusted spoon in the air. "True, you didn't have the date set yet, but he proposed. Made it a surprise—asked you in a nice restaurant in front of everyone you knew in Philly." Mary-Ann huffed. "He didn't invite me, of course—told you afterward he figured I'd tell you, spoil it all. But now I'm glad he didn't."

"I wish you had been there. I wish—" The words stuck in Angela's mouth as an emotional wave swept her under again.

Mary-Ann dropped the plate on the counter and ran around the table. She pulled Angela close, into a tight hug. "Your old bedroom is ready and you're staying here as long as you want to."

Angela gently freed herself from the iron grip. "Thanks, Mom. I'll be fine. Just need some time to clear my head. Figure out what I want to do." She pointedly kept from looking over at her cell phone sitting on a nearby counter.

The kitchen hadn't changed since she was a child, its sunflower motif wallpaper flowing across the wallpaper and onto the storage containers. The fat flowers trickled out into the hallway in the form of ceramic wall hangings.

The lack of change was comforting.

Mary-Ann turned back to retrieve the heaping plate of pasta. "Of course. Whatever you need."

"So." Angela took a sip of coffee. "What's Jake Weatherly doing here?"

She'd tried to make it sound casual and failed spectacularly going by her mother's wide-eyed stare.

"You met him? When?"

"Stopped me on the way in. Broken taillight. Escorted me here."

Angela wasn't sure when she'd become unable to form a single coherent sentence.

"So that's who was in the cop car I saw driving off." Mary-Ann put the plate in front of Angela and sat across from her. "I thought it might be Al. Sometimes he pulls evening duty."

"Al?" Angela scooped up a mouthful of pasta.

"Al Thorton. You might remember him, he used to work at the grocery store when you were in school, assistant manager. Decided he didn't want to stock shelves forever. Went and took some night courses and all that. Been working as a policeman for a few years now."

The thick pasta and cheese silenced Angela, forcing her to gesture onward with her loaded fork.

"Oh, yes. Jake. He came in about two years ago when Chief McQueen retired. You remember Bill? Got his pension and went to Florida with Mabel." She waved one hand. "Anyway, they put the word out and Jake applied. Had the right qualifications and the town council liked him. I thought he was a bit young for the job, but I didn't get a vote on it." Her mother shook her head. "Man's only thirty. I figure a police chief should be at least fifty years old or so."

"And you didn't think I might be interested in this information?" Angela mumbled through a mouthful of ooey gooey heaven.

Mary-Ann rolled her shoulders back. "It was none of your business. Besides, he was married and you were in Philly and dating…" She waved a hand in the air. "Him."

"Jake's married?" A trace of jealousy surged through her veins, displacing her anger at Eric for a few seconds.

Her mother took a sip of coffee, eying her over the ceramic rim. "I said he was. Woman up and left him six months ago, said the small-town life wasn't for her." Mary-Ann snorted. "Figure if you marry a cop you know what you're getting into. She was too high-strung, if you ask me. Worried about him when he was a state trooper and then freaks out when he's in a good place like Glen Barrow 'cause we've got only one Starbucks." She rolled her eyes. "Can't imagine what he saw about her in the first place."

"The guy I dated in college comes home to work as the police chief and you think I wouldn't be interested? Just as a bit of passing trivia?" Angela dug out another heaping forkful of macaroni. "Not like I didn't call you at least once a week, if not more."

"You want some trivia. Okay." Her mother leaned in, a wisp of blonde hair escaping the tight bun to fall in front of her face. "Guess you'd like to know Hunter Stratham is back as well, right? Got himself a job at the college, basketball coach. Taken the Badgers to the playoffs two years in a row."

Angela swallowed the mouthful of pasta to avoid a coughing fit. "I thought he moved to Harrisburg after graduation." She waved the fork in the air, forcing herself to tamp down the rage building inside her. "What the hell is going on with this town? How many secrets are you keeping from me?"

Mary-Ann crossed her arms and glared at her, pushing Angela back three decades in time. "Don't you get that tone with me. I talked to you once a week and didn't think it was appropriate to talk about your ex-boyfriends when you were dating Eric and later on, when you were engaged. Go ahead, tell me I was wrong." She leaned back in her chair. "I told you about everything else, from the screwed-up church bake sale to the fertilizer truck accident that stank half the town up for a week. Forgive me for wanting to keep you from having any issues with Eric by bringing up the men you used to date. Last thing I wanted to do is give him a reason to be upset with me and with you. In retrospect, I sort of wish I'd yapped your ear off."

Angela felt her face burn, the reprimand taking hold. "Okay. I understand."

Mary-Ann nodded her approval. "Now about Hunter. After you left, he cleaned himself up, did a good job turning his life around. He moved to Harrisburg like you said, and earned a degree. Got his teaching credentials, came back home when Henry started having problems, and lucked into a job at the college." Mary-Ann gave her a wide grin. "You got enough to think about now?"

"More than." Angela took another mouthful of coffee, her mind spinning.

It didn't take much to draw her into the memory well, back to her first true love.

Hunter.

* * * *

Soft butterfly kisses, love notes tucked into her locker making her blush when she read them in the hallway. Stolen moments under the bleachers, gentle caresses while sitting to next each other in class when the teacher wasn't looking. Secret rendezvous in her bedroom, stifling her moans and cries with a pillow so her mother wouldn't come upstairs and catch them together.

Her black leather bad boy.

* * * *

Her mother reached over and touched her arm, startling Angela out of her reverie. "No offense, but you look like crap. Understandable—you've had a bad day, to put it lightly. Let's get you upstairs for a hot shower and then to bed. A good night's sleep will set you right, and tomorrow we'll figure out what you want to do."

Angela slumped in the chair as the strain of the last few hours caught up with her, sucking the last of her mental and physical strength away. "Thanks, Mom. It's always good to come home."