"They haven't offered me the job yet," I said gently.
She smacked my leg. "I'm just asking some questions. Now what about the team? The buildings and stuff? You'd like it there if they did?"
I sank my head back and stared out the windshield. "Mom, it was … it would be a dream come true."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I shook my head, thinking back on what I saw and the people I met—the athletes I'd followed for years. "I know the people who work there get used to seeing each other, the players, the coaches, just walking the halls like normal people, but I think my mouth hung open from the moment I walked in until the moment I walked out."
"That's wonderful, honey." She clucked her tongue. "And I'm sure you didn't gape like a fish the entire time."
I laughed. "Not the whole time."
"What was the best part of the interview?"
"Oh, man." I rubbed my palms over the tops of my thighs and grinned. I couldn't help myself. "We were in the training room. He was asking me about some of my favorite cases in school and in walks Jared Conway."
"No." She gasped. "Did you tell him you had his Vols jersey all through high school? Wore it every Saturday?"
"Hell no, I didn't tell him," I answered. "I acted like a professional and tried not to shit myself that my favorite player from Tennessee had just limped through the damn door."
"So what happened?"
I shrugged. "He asked me to assess Jared and tell him what to do."
Her smile was so full of pride, it looked like she might burst wide open. I still wanted to grab my phone, scream my story to Joss, and hear her freak the hell out that I'd met one of my football idols.
"And did you?"
"Yeah." I laughed. "Got him up on a table, and we did some stretches, I checked out his quad. There were no tears or sprains, so I showed him what I'd do, we talked for a few minutes, and then he was just … gone."
"You'll give your dad a heart attack when you tell him that story."
"I promise to wait until he's sitting down."
"And your brother? How's he doing? How was Samantha? Did she … was she welcoming?"
I smiled at her not-so-subtle dig at my sister-in-law, who'd been an adequate hostess though not by southern standards. Adequate in the way that I have a roof over my head, a place to sleep, and a bathroom to use. Any whispered statements she made to my brother about the hassle of having a guest underfoot weren't meant for me to hear, but I'd heard them nonetheless.
"Hunter seemed good," I told her. "Quiet, but you know him, he always is."
She cut me a side-eye, not at all missing the fact that I didn't answer her about Samantha.
"Levi William Buchanan, don't think I'm slow just because I'm getting old. I asked you a question."
"What do you want me to say? She's wasn't all that friendly, and I'm still just as confused about why he married her as I was the day he did it?"
Her face got sad for the first time since she met me at the airport curb. "I don't know, honey. It makes me hurt for my son. When you have kids, you'll understand. From the time they start walking, and even before that, all you want is for them to be happy and healthy and loved. Who they choose to spend their life with is such a big part of that."
"Funny, I didn't think we got to do much choosing, thanks to the Buchanan curse."
Did I sound bitter? Maybe. But five days of silence would do that to a guy. And I wasn't pissed at Joss, not really. I knew her well enough to know that facing something that scared the shit out of her would pull out the stubborn in her faster than just about anything.
"Oh Levi, the curse doesn't mean you don't get a choice," she chided gently.
I looked over at her. "I don't feel like I have one right now."
"Uncle Glenn married the wrong one," she said. "He and your aunt, I know you don't know her because she moved as soon as they got divorced, but they were never suited. It's why your cousins think we're crazy for believing in all this. But you do have a choice, son."
She was quiet for a second, waiting for a semi to pass so she could make the last turn toward Green Valley. The stretch of road ahead of us was empty. The Smoky Mountains and a town where I knew everyone were in front of us. At our backs, with one turn of the car, I could no longer see the possible future that I'd spend days pondering.
Choices. I'd had plenty of choices about a lot of things in my life. But how I felt about Joss didn't seem like one of them. A choice sounded like you could turn it on or off.
"So, if Uncle Glenn made a choice, and you're saying it was wrong, what about Hunter?"
My mom chose her words carefully when she did respond next, and it wasn't what I expected. "Do you think Samantha is the one?"
"I assumed so. I guess I never thought about it."
She smiled and gave me a quick look. "Now, it's not my story to tell, but your brother loved someone before he met Samantha at college."
"Do I know her? Does she still live in Green Valley?"
"Not my story to tell," she repeated.
My eyebrows popped up briefly. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. She's … well, she doesn't seem like the one for him."
She shrugged. "He's there, though, and that's all that matters right now."
"Hunter told me he's getting in late the night before the wedding. Promised he wouldn't miss it."
"That's what I was told too, last time we talked." She shook her head. "And he's got to go back the day after."
"Quick trip," I commented even though he'd already given me an explanation—something about
