Hometown Hero
Susan Scott Shelley
Copyright 2018 Susan Scott Shelley
ISBN: 978-1-944220-34-1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
About the Author
Susan's Books
CHAPTER ONE
Off-season or not, a player didn't ignore a summons from the team owner.
Xavier Brennan walked through the halls of the Philadelphia Frenzy's facility, not quite ready to be back. The losing season—one of the worst in team history—was still too fresh in his mind.
Three months post-season, the sting had begun to fade. Time to focus on the future.
What could Mr. Mills possibly want to discuss? It was barely the beginning of May. Mandatory mini-camp and training camp were still months away. His contract was already squared away. Unless the owner wanted to talk more about those losses. Although, their abysmal record and how the football team could do better during the next season had already been discussed incessantly by his teammates, the front office, the fans, and football commentators everywhere.
The five teammates waiting outside Mills' office piqued his curiosity further. An odd mix: a linebacker, a wide receiver, a running back, a quarterback, a safety. And himself. Why would Mills want to see all of them?
"Boys." He nodded at the group. "Anyone have any idea what's going on?"
Everson Montgomery—linebacker, his best friend on the team, and his brother's boyfriend—shrugged. "Don't know. Didn't realize you got the call too."
The office door opened and Mr. Mills waved them inside the plush room. "Gentlemen. I guess you're wondering why I asked you to come in."
Xavier let Tyson Williams enter first. The quarterback was their leader. But he sat right beside him in front of Mills' desk. Sinking into the soft leather chair, he addressed Mills with an easy smile. "Let me guess. You missed us?"
Laughing, Mr. Mills leaned forward, tapping his pen on the desk blotter. "Not quite. I've been in talks with Food TV. As you may or may not know, my daughter is vice president of programming there. They'll be here in Philly broadcasting live during the Food and Wine Festival in June. They'd already planned to hold a baking competition, and they reached out to the league and me to make it even better. That's where you come in."
"A baking competition?" Xavier stared at the owner in disbelief. "I'm a tight end, not a baker. I couldn't bake a cake even if Betty Crocker herself was helping me and doing half the work."
Most of his teammates echoed his statement. But Mills held up a hand, pausing their protests. "It's for a good cause. They're partnering with Cakes Against Cancer, and each of you will be paired up with a professional baker."
"But, why did you pick us?" He jerked his thumb to his right to include his fellow teammates.
"Out of everyone on the team, you're the ones who are involved with specific charities, or you have your own foundations, and frankly, you choose to live here year-round. We'll have thirteen players taking part. My secretary is contacting your other teammates to see who can be in the city during the competition. We do realize it's the off-season and a lot of you are resting up or taking vacations or may just want a break from anything team-related right now. One-hundred-thousand dollars will go to the winning team. Fifty thousand will go to the winning bakery and fifty thousand to your foundation or the charity of your choice."
"If it's for charity, I'm in." As uncomfortable as it would make him, he'd do it. Fifty grand could do a lot of good. "What do we have to do?"
"There will be three rounds spread out over a long weekend. The festival runs Thursday through Sunday." Mr. Mills glanced at the paperwork on his desk. "The network has selected the local bakeries that will be working with you. The bakers had to film a short video to audition, and are still waiting to see if they've made the final cut. I tried to make it as easy as I could for you. My secretary figured out which bakery was the closest to each of your homes and paired you up that way."
Xavier sat back, letting his teammates ask questions. Losing eleven games the previous season hadn't sat well with the fans. Or the team. Maybe the competition would help in that regard too. Some fun and fluff to take out the sting. And participating in something unique like this was a good team-building activity. He glanced around the room. His teammates were stand-up guys on and off the field. Working on something together wouldn't be an issue. No divas or problem teammates here. "You said they'll be filming this?"
Mr. Mills nodded. "It'll be broadcast live during the festival. The network will also include it in their line up a few times during the first week of the new season."
A baking competition on a channel geared toward foodies wasn't quite the same as landing a national endorsement deal, but the chance to reach millions of people who otherwise might not be watching him on any given Sunday, and talk about his foundation and donations for cancer research, there wasn't any downside. Unless he embarrassed himself. He was known for having great hands on the field. What if those skills didn't transfer to the kitchen? Saying yes right away, before he'd had all the details, suddenly didn't seem
