Page 89 of Recipe for Rivals
DUSTY
The police might have wonthe football game, but only because Chad was cheating scum. It didn’t help that they had more younger guys willing to play. It certainly didn’t help our chances at winning this year’s Battle of the Badges. In direct man-against-man boxing rounds, the firefighters won every time. In flag football? You could do things to make it harder to pull flags, and I was fairly certain Chad had done that. But how would I prove it, short of finding his flags and testing them? I wasn’t going to let Chad’s childishness ruin this day for me.
There was still a chance we could take home the trophy.
I stood beside Brody at the grill after everyone had gotten their plates, doing my best to keep my eyes from straying Nova’s way. Alice and Ben were sitting with Gigi at the picnic tables eating, and Nova was alone, plating her dessert. I’d done a strawberry shortcake bar so I wouldn’t have to plate anything after the football game, and they’d turned out pretty good. You couldn’t go wrong with a shortbread crust.
“These are delicious,” Tucker’s dad, Roy, said, coming through my line a second time.
“Did my grandpa get enough to eat?” I asked, sliding a hot burger onto his prepared bun.
“He ate,” Roy said. “Not much, but some.”
“Okay. Thanks for taking care of him. I’ll try to join you soon.”
Roy held my gaze. “You say that like I’m doing you a favor. I love that man.”
My chest constricted.
He reached over the table and clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re doing great, son. You got my vote, and not just because you’re like one of my kids.”
“Glad to hear it.” My cheeks flushed, overjoyed at the praise and the kindness. “Don’t forget dessert from both tables.”
“You didn’t hear?” Roy’s face crinkled, the lines deepening. “Ants got into the police’s dessert. They’re just serving berries and cream. It’s good, but I don’t think it’s quite the same.”
My stomach fell. “Shoot.”
“Don’t worry. You would have won either way. These burgers are cooked perfectly.”
I nodded, but it felt hollow.
“Gonna join us?” Roy asked.
“Yeah, in a minute.”
He walked away, and I let out a quiet groan. Brody moved the finished sliders to the warming rack while I stewed.
“Girlfriend drama?” Brody asked.
That comment did not deserve a reply. “Grab a plate and eat while they’re hot.”
Brody looked out over the tables full of Arcadia Creek constituents, then back at the grill. “Nah, I’m good.”
When I tried to see the groups of people through his eyes, I found plenty of his friends eating with their families. For one of the popular kids in school, he didn’t seem to have a place. Or maybe he did, but he was getting in his own way about it. He needed a Tucker and Roy to pull him to their table.
Or maybe what he had was me.
“Come on. Let’s get food, and you can meet my grandpa.” It was a thin excuse, but it was the only way I could invite him to eat with me without embarrassing the kid or making him bolt. Some days he felt solid, steady, like he was the king of Arcadia High and knew it. Other days, he was more like a rabbit in the forest with a coyote lurking somewhere in the trees.
Today was definitely a rabbit day.
I didn’t wait for him to agree. I grabbed two plates and handed him one, then started filling mine with sliders, chips, and fruit.
“Are you gonna try the cops’ food too?” Brody asked.
“We have to or we can’t vote. And we are voting.”
Chad wasn’t at the grill anymore, so I took a slider from the table and moved on to dessert. “Heard about your ant problem,” I said when we reached Nova.