The sunlight breaks me out of my inner thoughts as the parade float emerges from the alleyway into the sun and the crowds.
I squint forward, taking in the atmosphere of it all. Then I hear the crowd get louder.
“Scrumptious!”
I smile and pull out the little basket Kaylee gave me. It’s only about half full. I start throwing the bags out a couple at a time, but I’ll be lucky to make it more than six blocks, even if I ration them. “Hey, does anybody have extra chocolate? I’m already getting low.”
I look around and none of the other volunteers will make eye contact with me. I shake my head, but I guess there’s nothing I can say since I ate most of mine myself too. “Alright,” I tell them, “just make them last as long as you can.”
The truck pulls us slowly down one street after another as we wind our way around town. I smile, remembering these parades from the days when I was a kid.
I was always so excited that I’d barely sleep the night before. Those parades used to go by so fast when I was a kid. And now it seems like forever as we slowly pull forward.
There’s a break in the crowd as we head to a connecting road when I hear my phone chime a new message. Since we’re in between crowds, I pull the phone out of my pocket and glance down. Huh, it’s from Chad.
Chad: Hey, buddy.
Weird, I think. He hasn’t called me buddy either electronically or in real life in years. I double check that the text is, in fact, from Chad Lowe the agent before continuing.
Me: Hey, Chad. What’s up?
Chad: I had a guy take video of your workout the other day. The tape looks good, Jake. Really good. It looks like evidence that ankle finally got a chance to heal. I forwarded some clips to the Eagles, Saints, and Cowboys and I’m getting some interest.
Holy shit. I stare at the phone like it’s about to grow wings and fly away from me. I had all but given up on my career. I’m damn lucky Chad didn’t. But what does it mean?
Me: That’s great news. What do you want me to do?
Chad: Hang in there, keep doing whatever it is that you’re doing, okay? I’ll let you know what’s next just as soon as I get something set up.
Me: Okay.
I feel a little bit light-headed, so I sit back, stunned. Honestly, Chad is the last one I expected to hear from.
“Everything okay?” Brandon asks.
I look up at him just as we clear the side street and re-appear to the raucous crowd. “Yeah,” I answer. “Everything is great.”
As soon as the parade is over, I practically leap out of the parade float onto the pavement. But it’s funny because I’m so excited I can’t feel my legs as I run over to Angie’s float.
She sees me sprinting at her and smiles before looking concerned. In her defense, I’m probably smiling like some kind of maniac.
“I don’t know why you’re so happy, but if you think I’m going to flash my boobs at you, you’re at the wrong parade,” she winks at me, “so you’ll just have to wait until later.”
Then she gives me side-eye. “If you’re looking for more of Kaylee’s chocolate on the other hand, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”
She scans my face and figures out that it’s none of those things. Her expression turns perplexed. “What is it, Jake?”
She heads to the edge of the float and practically jumps down into my arms. I set her down next to me. Then it hits me that when I got the best possible news of my life, she’s the only one I wanted to share it with.
Honestly, I felt the same way when I got drafted, but I never go the chance to see her. Life feels even better than perfect right now.
I look down into her beautiful brown eyes and wipe away a stray hair that somehow escaped her floofy hat away from her face. “My agent texted me, Angie. The workout I did at Riley looks good. Chad says that the evidence of my ankle getting better might have a few teams interested in me!”
Her eyes shine with happiness and a smile takes over her face. “I knew you could do it, Jake.”
Angie sharing in my joy is everything I need for the moment to be complete.
Chapter 34
Angie
My old BMW squeaks to a halt in the circular driveway of Kaylee and Chase’s beach front mansion. Being engaged to a billionaire has its perks.
Fi’s red Mazda sedan is already here, so that makes me last.
As I get out of the car I admire the place all over again. I haven’t been here in months. Then I hear barking. It’s Cooper alerting everybody to my presence.
I smile as I walk up the entryway and knock.
“Come in, you maniac,” Kaylee yells. Her voice sounds far away. Probably because she’s in the kitchen as usual. And it’s a big ass house so she has to scream to be heard outside. “Never knock when I invite you. It just makes Cooper bark.”
As soon as I open the door and slip in, there’s a German Shepherd puppy running to attack me.
She looks serious as she bounds toward me and then at the last minute she smiles and jumps up on me while I scratch her ears. “Hi, Cooper. You remember me, don’t ya, girl.”
She wags her tail and then turns to lead me to Kaylee and Fi.
Fi’s sitting on the couch organizing wedding magazines. In front of her on the hand carved mahogany coffee table is an assortment of snacks that make my stomach rumble even though I’m smart enough to have eaten first.
Fi hears me come in and looks up. “Hey, girl. I don’t know if you’ve
