Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

Chapter 18

Taking a deep breath, Miss Parker got up from her seat and headed down the bleachers.  It wasn’t easy, since everyone was climbing up, taking their seats as the game was about ready to start.  Just when she got down to the last step, she heard someone shout out from the field, “Hey, look out!”  Looking up, she found a football flying out of control through the air, heading straight for Zoe and Jarod. 

Jarod must’ve heard the shouting for he took a few steps back, leaving Zoe by herself.  With a plate of nachos and soft drink in her hands, Zoe didn’t have a chance.  Just when the red head looked up, the football came down, hitting Zoe squarely in the chest, scattering the soft drink and nachos all over her chest and face.

Zoe held out her arms as the soft drink and nacho cheese dripped off of her.  From her vantage point, Miss Parker could see the embarrassment an anger written in Zoe’s facial features as she looked to Jarod for help.  From the corner of her eye, Miss Parker saw two football players running towards the area where the mess just happened.  Recognizing one of them as Josh, Miss Parker made her way through the crowd, trying to get to the scene of the crime.

Busting through the small gathering of onlookers, Miss Parker made her way over to the fence where Josh and his teammate were standing, both grinning like Cheshire cats.  Folding her arms across her chest, she leaned back against the fence staring at Zoe and Jarod and stated, “I take it, this wasn’t an accident.”

Miss Parker could hear the mischievous smile in Josh’s voice as he replied back.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mom.  Eli and I were just practicing some plays when I lost control of the pass.  I can’t help it if it landed on some poor, unfortunate soul.”  Behind her, Miss Parker could hear the boys chuckling to themselves. 

Miss Parker shook her head, trying to keep her ever-growing smile from appearing.  Feeling a bit more in control, she turned around, looking up at Josh.  “Josh, I know you mean well, but you shouldn’t have done that.  I can take care of myself.”

When Josh looked over at Zoe, Miss Parker was slightly taken aback by what she saw.  The way Josh was staring at Zoe was the way she stared at people whenever she disliked or got irritated with people.  It was her infamous ice queen stare.  His blazing blue eyes held so much anger, hate, and disdain for the red hair woman before him.  Still looking at Zoe, he whispered to Miss Parker, “Why is she here?”  Glancing back at his mother he added, “Did Dad invite her?”

Miss Parker shrugged her shoulders.  “To tell you the truth, I have no idea as to why she’s here.”

“Dude, we need to get going before the coach has a coronary,” Eli commented from beside them.  Glancing at Miss Parker, Eli asked shyly, “Mrs. Hunter, I mean…”

“Just call me Parker,” interrupted Miss Parker.

“Sorry.  Could you hand us the football over there?” Eli asked, pointing over to the trashcan near by.

Smiling at the blonde headed boy, Miss Parker walked over to the trashcan.  When she squatted down to pick up the football, she heard a gravelly voice from behind her that sounded all too familiar.  “Sam,” she whispered to herself as she picked up the football and turned around.

“What in the world happened here?” asked Sam curiously, glancing between Miss Parker, Jarod, Zoe, and the two boys.  Locking eyes with the blonde headed boy, Sam strode over to him and asked, “Eli, what did you do now?”

“Dad, I swear, this isn’t my fault.  Josh and I were just practicing when he lost control of the pass, which resulted in this,” Eli replied, waving his hand around the area.  “It was an accident.”

Somewhat stunned, Miss Parker walked up beside Sam.  Glancing at the burly sweeper she asked, “Eli is your son?”

“Of course he is,” Sam replied, baffled by the question.  A few seconds passed before his face dawned in realization.  “Oh, I forgot.  You don’t remember certain people from before your little accident.  I’m sorry.  Jarod told me this morning, I just can’t believe I forgot about it.”

“Its okay, Sam,” she smiled reassuringly.  Letting her gaze fall back on the boys, she gave the football to Eli.

Gratefully taking the football, Eli looked over at Josh, “Hey, you coming or what?”

“You go on ahead.  Tell the coach I had to go to the bathroom.”

“Josh, you’re taking a big risk staying here,” replied Eli with a worried voice.

“E, I’ll be okay, now go,” said Josh, pointing back towards the field.  Without hesitation, Eli tucked the football in his arm, running back onto the field towards the bench.

From behind his mother and Sam, Josh heard Jarod say to Zoe, “Listen, how about I take you home, so you can get out of these clothes and into something cleaner.”

“I don’t believe this,” Josh mumbled to himself.  “Hey Dad,” he shouted over to his father, “You can’t leave now, the game’s about ready to start.  It’s the championship game.”  Staring at Zoe in disgust he commented, “Can’t SHE, drive herself home?”  He paused an added, “By the way, why are you doing here?  Don’t you have some ambulances to chase or another family to ruin?”

“That’s enough young man!” Jarod warned from beside Zoe. 

“You really got your priorities straight, Dad,” Josh bit out sarcastically.  “I see Zoe comes first, then your family.  And to think, I wanted to be just like you when I was younger.”  With that said, Josh abruptly turned around, heading back on towards the field.

“I…I’m sorry, Zoe,” Jarod apologized with a defeated voice.  “Josh, really is a good kid, it’s just…ever since this separation…”

Zoe reached out, placing her fingers on Jarod’s lips.  “Sshh, its okay, Jarod.  I understand.  There’s no need to apologize.”  Looking around her surroundings she said, “Well, it’s best if I get out of here.  I hope Josh does well in his game tonight.”  With a quick peck on the cheek, Zoe left, leaving Jarod to ponder his thoughts.

“Well, I better go find my wife,” Sam said, feeling uncomfortable with the current circumstances.  With that, he headed up into the bleachers.

With the crowds thinning out around them, Miss Parker took a few hesitant steps towards Jarod.  The man before her looked miserable to say the least.  Just within those five minutes he looked to have aged five to ten years.  With his shoulders hung low in defeat, he kicked an empty soda can across the pavement as he dug his hands in his pockets.

When she came to her great revelation from atop the bleachers, she thought it would be a piece of cake, but now, standing before him, she knew it wouldn’t be easy.  She was still very apprehensive, which surprised her.  Taking a deep breath, she gathered up as much courage as she could.  Finally, when she felt brave enough, she walked over to Jarod.  Standing before him, she reached out, pulling him into her arms.  She felt Jarod’s arms wrap around her waist, holding onto her.  Running her hands up and down his back and through his air, she kept repeating, “It’s alright, Jarod.  Everything is going to be fine.”

Feeling Jarod’s hot breath on her ear, Miss Parker felt a shiver a go down her spine.  “I wish that were true,” he whispered to her, his voice filled with emotions.  “I wish it were true.”

“You and Josh will come around eventually, just give it some time,” she said, still consoling him.

“I hope you’re right.”  Giving her one last squeeze around the waist, Jarod pulled back slightly, getting lost in her blue eyes.

Miss Parker reached up, wiping the few stray tears that ran down his cheek.  Smiling up at him, she said, “Have you not learned by now?  Of course I’m always right.”

Jarod reluctantly pulled out of her embrace, chuckling to himself as he swiped his hand across his eyes.  “Yeah, how could I forget that, silly me.”

“Come on, Pez Head.  It’s time to watch our son’s football game.”  Miss Parker held out her hand to him.  

Grinning at her, he reached out, taking hold of her hand.  Bringing her hand up to his face, he placed a gentle kiss on top of her fingers.  “Thank you.”

Jarod’s words held such sincerity that she was surprised by the emotional impact that they had on her.  Wiping a stray tear from her own eyes, she replied back a simple, “You’re welcome.”  With that, they headed back towards the bleachers. 

They were a few steps from the stairs when Miss Parker stopped abruptly.  “What’s wrong?” Jarod asked with concern.

“I don’t know.  Something doesn’t feel right.”  Spinning around, her eyes scanned the area.  When she looked up to where Sydney was, she realized someone was missing.  Turning back around to face Jarod, she asked with worry, “Where’s Brandon?”

XXXXXX

The man watched from the distance, disgusted with the way things turned out here tonight.  Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed her number.  After four rings she finally answered.

“Hello?”

“Why are you not still at the football game?”

The woman let out an impatient huff.  “Well, as you can see, a lot of disturbances happened tonight.  I don’t know what else you want me to do.”  She paused.  “Jarod loves her very much.  It’s not going to be easy to break their bond between one another, especially with the kids in the picture.”

The man chuckled into the phone.  “Ah yes, the children, it would be a shame if something bad happened to one of them tonight, especially right below their parent’s noses.”

He could hear the woman let out a throaty laugh.  “That would be something, and of course, if something did happen, I would be there to console the troubled Jarod.”

“Are you sure about that, Zoe?  From where I’m sitting, it seems the two love birds are finding their way back to one another,” the man teased, knowing full well how much this would get under Zoe’s skin.

“That bitch has nothing on me,” Zoe spat out.  “She and that son, Josh, are too smug for their own good.  Did you see what he did with the football?”

“Calm down, Zoe.  You’ll get your chance to even the score,” he said with delight.

“Yeah, well whatever.”  Changing the subject she asked, “So, how’s Brad doing with Sarah?”

The man smiled to himself.  “Brad’s charms seem to be working very well on the poor girl.  By the time she realizes that Brad was putting on an act, it will be too late.  My, I can’t wait to see the look on Jarod’s face once he realizes we got to his daughter also.”

“Are you sure about, Sarah?  The girl is only sixteen years old,” commented Zoe.

“Zoe, you’re not growing a conscience on me, are you?  As you know, I tried to play nice with Jarod, but he just doesn’t want to drop his investigation into Catherine’s death, so drastic times call for drastic measures.”  Looking out into the distance, he could see that Parker and Jarod just now realized that their little boy was missing.  “Ah, would you look at that, it seems are troubled parents have lost their youngest son,” he grinned into the phone.

“You didn’t hurt him, did you?” Zoe asked, slightly concerned.

“Well now, I can’t reveal all my secrets.”  With that, he clicked off the phone, sliding it back into his pocket.  From afar, he watched as the troubled parents searched frantically for their youngest son.  He smiled to himself, realizing that this was his Christmas morning.

XXXXXX

To Be Continued….