Hard & Deep: A Football Romance

“You really want my advice?” Frank asked.

Elsie pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “Yes. You know how much your advice means to me.”

It was true, too. She'd always looked up to her uncle in helping to make life decisions. This was the first time she'd ever sought out advice about a guy she liked, but she knew that her uncle's wisdom could apply to just about anything. He'd seen it all. He'd been to war as a young man, lost friends along the way and eventually lost his wife. Frank had lived and had lived deeply. The scars of his experiences showed up as wrinkles around his eyes.

“I'm eighty-two years old, Elsie,” he said, after clearing his throat. “No matter what happens with my health because of this cancer, I only have so much time. I've lived a long life, though, and I've learned a very important lesson over the years. It's a lesson that I wish someone had taught me when I was younger. If you want something, you have to go after it. You have to, Elsie, because nothing in life that's worth having will fall into your lap. Your heart knows what you want, and you need to listen to it. If you ignore it, you'll survive. Sure. You'll live a long life and maybe even find some degree of happiness. But when you look back one day, I promise you, you will have wished that you followed your heart every step of the way. Because it always knows what is right for you and it never lies. Don't ignore it, just follow it.”

Goosebumps popped up on Elsie's arms as she listened. She hadn't ever heard him speak about something so deep and it resonated with her. Her heart had been trying to tell her this whole time. From the moment she met Oliver, her heart had been knocking on the door of her mind, trying to tell her that he was the one. And for three months, she'd done her best to ignore the message. But now she couldn't any more. She couldn't let Ollie go, at least not without giving a legitimate effort first.

“What should I do?” she asked, wiping her tears from her cheek. “My heart tells me that I should be with Oliver, but he's hundreds of miles away and I'm here. My life is here.”

“Your life is where you want it.” Frank pushed his little round glasses further up on the bridge of his nose. “Go get him.”

“Just... leave?” Elsie said, shaking her head. “You mean fly to California?”

He shrugged. “I mean you're welcome to walk, but I think flying might end up being a little faster.”

“What about the clinic?” Elsie looked around the room. “My patients? Our patients?”

“You see, Elsie, that's your mind that's talking right now,” he said, with a smile. “Your heart doesn't need to worry about the business. Let me handle that part. I know someone who can cover everything here. Besides, running this clinic was never your dream anyway. That was my dream and I had foisted it on you.”

“But...Uncle...” she began to say.

Frank gently grabbed her hands. “Look, Elsie, this is a beautiful moment in your life. Please, just grab it. Run. Follow your heart. If you don't, you'll live out your years here and be miserable. I don't want that for you.”

“What if I go out there and Oliver wants nothing to do with me?” Elsie asked, putting voice to her fears. “What if it's all for nothing?”

“What if it's not?” Frank asked. “Besides, you know this old place isn't going anywhere and either am I. It's not like you couldn't come back, if push came to shove. You do have an in with the owner.”

For the first time since Ollie had left, Elsie's lips curled up into a smile. A real smile. One that wasn't forced or fake, but a genuine beam of happiness written all across her face.

“You're serious, aren't you?” she said, squeezing his hands. “You know someone who can handle things around here for a while?”

Uncle Frank nodded. “I do. I'll give him a call and arrange everything.”

Elsie dropped his hands and then wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him so hard that she squeezed the air out of his lungs. “Thank you, Uncle Frank. Thank you so much.”

He patted her back and when she finally released him, she noticed that a tear had streamed down his cheek. “Why are you crying, Uncle?”

“Because it's nice to finally see you happy again,” he said. “Now go. The clock is running. Buy a plane ticket and get on that flight to California. Call me when you get there.”

“Okay. Yes, okay. I'll call you.” Elsie nodded eagerly. “Oh, my gosh, I'm really doing this. Thank you, Uncle.”

She gave him one more hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Her uncle's talk was exactly what she needed. It had given her the confidence to get out there and pursue the only thing that could possibly ease her anxieties; Ollie.

“I'll call you as soon as I land to let you know that I got there safely,” she promised. She stood up and started organizing things in a last minute need to put everything away before she left. “If you need anything at all, just pick up the phone, okay?”

“I will,” Frank said, watching her with a wry smile. “But I don't expect that to happen. Everything will be fine around here. You know that nothing too dramatic ever happens in this town and I highly doubt that anything will while you're gone.”

Elsie gave Uncle Frank one more hug. He laughed as he patted her back.

“Now get going,” he chastised. “Go pack!”

She went straight upstairs to her apartment, where she quickly threw some clothes into an old dusty suitcase that she hadn't used since college. With no idea how long she'd be gone, she ended up packing another suitcase in addition to that one, just in case. Then she hopped on the computer and ordered a plane ticket for that very afternoon.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this, she thought. But Uncle Frank is right. If I stay here, I'll just be moping around forever. I have no idea if Oliver even wants to see me again, but at least if I go out there, then I'll know for sure. At least then, I can rest. Because I tried.

Chapter 19