LIFE Interrupted

“It was starting to come out, Ally. Roman shaved it off for me,” she explained. “His is shaved too.”

“I’m so sorry Mom.” Ally’s eyes filled with tears. It was a shocking moment for her daughter; one she should have prepared her for. Now, she knew. She would alert the rest of the family.

“As Roman said, it’s just hair.” Ally leaned over and kissed her mom. “So, did you win?” She asked her daughter.

“You hate football.”

“Ally,” Sophie scolded her.

She laughed. Then she stood and turned to Brian. “Brian Wilkes this is my Mom and Dad, Sophie and Josh Russack. This is Brian Wilkes.”

Josh got up and shook hands with Brian. Taller than her dad who wasn’t a small man. Blonde haired and big, brown eyes. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Russack.” Polite too.

“Call me Josh.” Sophie could tell that Josh was excited to meet the college quarterback. She knew he paid closer attention to him now that Ally was friends with him. “I hear a lot of talk on ESPN that you’re a possible Heisman can

didate.” Sophie almost laughed at her husband. Ally rolled her eyes at her dad.

“I try not to focus on the hype surrounding me right now,” Brian told him. “I just want to keep winning to get our team a spot in the playoffs.”

“You’ve held onto number two since they started tracking the teams.”

“But the hardest part of our schedule is coming up,” Brian explained. “We have to face all the tough Big Ten teams in our division.”

“Good luck to you.”

“Thanks, we’re going to need it.”

Ally reached for her bag in Brian’s hand. “I’ll take that to my room.”

She left Brian with them. Sophie watched the young man’s eyes travel with her daughter to the hallway where she disappeared.

“Would you like to sit?” Josh asked.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay long. We had to wait for me to sit through films of Saturday’s game before I could bring Ally home. I have a team meeting at six, so I’ll have to head back soon. We’re on a pretty regimented schedule.”

“Everything is all about football,” Josh declared.

“Yeah, it is,” Brian agreed nodding his head.

“Josh was a high school quarterback,” Sophie informed him.

“Ally told me,” Brian answered. “She said you were pretty good.”

“Not your caliber,” Josh protested.

Brian rubbed his hand across his jaw. “It’s perspective you know. Where you went to school in Cooper is a small town. I went to a large, well-known high school that gave me a lot of exposure. If you had that you might have been where I am.”

“We had Heath seven months after graduation. My family became my priority, I’m afraid.”

“No regrets?” Brian asked.

Sophie thought that was a strange question to ask a man he’d just met.

“None.” Josh was frowning at the young man too. “I have two great kids. A beautiful wife and a thriving business. I’m a very lucky man.”

“Ally is great. I’m lucky to have her,” Brian agreed.

Josh’s eyes met Sophie’s. Something was going on between these two kids and no matter how badly Sophie felt she was picking up on it. Ally returned to the living room. “Brian can’t stay. He has to get back to campus for a team meeting.”