Did Anton know the man that scouted me for the college I attended?
I knew he came to all of my football games, but I never really thought anything of it. He raised me through my last year of high school. It didn’t shock anyone that he came to the games, especially when I was playing. But I’d always wondered how a scout like the man who found me knew to come all the way to podunk Stillsville, Illinois.
How much influence did Anton actually have in my athletic career? Because looking at that picture only raised questions in my mind I didn’t have answers for.
Chapter 6
Michelle
I hated being back in Williston. The last few days in North Dakota had been a nightmare. Although Stillsville had been nothing to write home about, being away from home—no matter how rough it was—gave me some perspective. Especially on the idea of home and what it consisted of. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, but I wanted to do it in a place I could call home. A place where I could start fresh and raise my child away from the sadness, depression and anger that came with my mother and all of the small towns that seemed to riddle my life.
The opportunities in Williston were miniscule, but compared to the nonexistent opportunities in Stillsville, it was a step up.
But I wasn’t the only one coming to that conclusion.
“Hey, sis?”
“Hmm?” I asked with a groan.
“Wanna go fishing?” Nick asked.
“Is it before six o’clock?”
“It’s five forty five.”
“Can it wait until six?”
“I’ve got coffee,” he said.
“I can’t have coffee.”
The words flew from my mouth as my eyes widened. If I wasn’t awake before, I was now. I slid the covers off my head and I watched Nick’s face fall as his mind began to race. He was intelligent. I knew the second those words fell from my mouth that he would put two and two together. But I knew he would also be courteous enough not to bring it up until I did. I sighed and sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes to clear them of their hazy sleep.
“Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be downstairs,” I said.
“I’ll grab you some juice to take with us,” Nick said.
I pulled on some clothes I had lying nearby and tossed my hair up. No use in brushing my teeth or washing my face. I could clean up once we got back. I slipped into my shoes and shuffled down the stairs, trying not to wake our mother as I made my way to the front door. Nick held out the bottle of juice for me and I took it, but I saw his eyes fall to my stomach quickly before he led me out the door.
Shit.
He knew.
“We used to do this all the time, you know,” I said, as I held my fishing rod.
“No, I did this all the time. You usually fell asleep on my shoulder,” Nick said.
“I only did that until I was like, fourteen.”
“Sixteen.”
“I was not falling asleep on your shoulder at sixteen,” I said.
“You really were,” he said with a grin.
“Whatever. I might’ve fallen asleep on your shoulder, but the big bad mili
tary man always crawled into bed with me during North Dakota storms. All the way up until he graduated from high school.”