“You know you’re in Patriot territory, right?”
Logan shrugs. “I know, but my mom says I can root for whatever team I want, and poppy says I can still be a Ravens fan and root for the Patriots.”
“That’s until they play each other, right?”
He nods. “Yep, then those Pats are going down.”
I sigh. “Honestly, with the year they’re having, I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Do you ever root for other teams?”
“Only those who are playing against the Steelers and the Cowboys.”
“Yeah, Poppy doesn’t like the Steelers either.”
Logan and I continue to eat our Oreo’s. This wasn’t what I had in mind for lunch, but it’ll suffice. We talk about his school and how he thinks it’s funny that his teacher also taught his mom. He tells me about his peewee team and how their season is almost done and invites me to a game next week, which I tell him I’ll be there.
“Are you going to forget?” he asks. “Because my dad forgot all the time.”
“Nope, I don’t forget anything.” I fetch my phone from my pocket and open my calendar. I type in “Logan’s Game,” add the time and location and click save. “There, one hour before game time, my phone will remind me. But I won’t need one.”
Logan looks at me warily. I hate that look and wish I could understand why some people put their careers in front of their children. When Tessa told me she was pregnant, I never thought twice about leaving school. I was hurt, had a long road of recovery, and the kid who took my place as the starting quarterback was much better than I was. At best, I would’ve seen a down or two if we had a commanding lead. That was no way for me to earn a spot in the draft, so I bailed. There are times I regret it, but I’ve done pretty well for myself. I know I’m stuck in a small town, but it is what it is.
After we gorge on fried Oreo’s and ice cream, Logan wants to ride the rides. In my first and only fatherly act, I tell him we must wait for a mandatory one-hour so our food can settle. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it seems plausible. All I know is, if I get on the ride right now, I’m heaving my cookies.
We do end up taking Maeve a chocolate milkshake. According to Logan, it’s her favorite. I’ve taken this tidbit of information and locked it away for future use. She beams when he hands it to her and deems it to be the best milkshake she’s ever had. When a friend of Logan’s calls his name, he tells us he’ll be right back. I watch to see where he’s going and then step toward Maeve.
“I may have fed him some sugar.”
She sighs. “I figured. I forgot to set the rules.”
“He totally suckered me with fried Oreo’s and ice cream.”
Maeve laughs. “He’s very good like that. He’s definitely a sweet talker.” She steps away to talk to someone who has approached the booth. While she works, I study Logan and how he interacts with his friends. He’s much like me or much like most boys his age. We wanted to play football, get dirty, eat everything, and talk about pretty girls when our parents weren’t around.
Logan comes back to the booth and asks me if I want to play some games with him and his friends. I stifle a laugh but quickly realize that Logan wants to include me. “You bet.” We tell Maeve we’ll be back, and we both say it in the Terminator’s voice.
“You’re too young to watch a movie like that,” I tell him as we head to the games.
“I haven’t seen it, but sometimes the commercial plays on TV, and mom tells me about it.”
After an hour or two, I’m exhausted, and Logan has his arms full of stuffed animals. We head back to the medic tent with our loot.
“Oh, boy,” Maeve says when she sees us. “Logan, what are you going to do with all these toys?” She asks as he dumps them down onto the table.
“Well, I thought you could put them out here so the kids who don’t win can take something home.”
Maeve squats down so she’s eye level with her son. “That’s very thoughtful of you. Did you ask Kyler if it’s okay since I’m assuming he paid for the games?”
Logan looks up and smiles. “Ky, is it okay if we give these away?”
“Absolutely,” I tell him. Logan drops the toys and organizes them into a line. Once he’s done, he tells his mom he sees a friend and must say hi.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you for spending time with him. You didn’t have to.”
“I know I didn’t, but I want to get to know him. Just like I want to get to know you.”