This Christmas Rivalry Read online

  He shook his head and sighed.

  “Our guys looked so promising last week at home.”

  “I know. Season’s not over. Long way to go to the championship game on New Year’s Day.”

  “If we lose next week to Kevin Blount, I’m jumping off the Ambassador Bridge.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  But they didn’t lose. They whipped Kevin “Call me Kev” Blount’s Fort Wayne Rockets in Fort Wayne twenty-one to three. When Tasha stepped on the new team bus, the players let out a roar. She was so happy, she couldn’t find words. The roar turned to chants of “Tasha! Tasha!” and she had to force back her happy tears. Finally, when the noise died down, she said, “You made me so proud today. So proud. Next ass to be kicked—South Bend!”

  The men roared their approval.

  That night, lying next to Drew, she said, “I like winning.”

  He chuckled.

  She rolled over to look into his face. “But you know what I like even more?”

  “What?”

  She slid her hand beneath the sheet and took a gentle hold on his pride and joy and felt it rise in welcome.

  “You are such an insatiable woman.”

  “Yep, I am, so how about another round, Mr. GM?”

  Laughing, he caught her by the waist. “Come here.”

  * * *

  For Halloween, Tasha threw a costume party for the team and their families at the mansion and everyone had a ball. With six weeks left in the season, no one expected the once-lowly Freighters to be in the hunt for the championship, but at the Thanksgiving break, their only losses were the two they’d suffered at the hands of the Lumberjacks.

  Tony and Carmen were now officially engaged, and the two of them flew to Atlanta to share Thanksgiving with Carmen’s daughters and grandchildren. The weather was cold and for someone more accustomed to California temperatures, Tasha was not liking the onset of winter.

  “I may have to move if it gets any colder,” she remarked as she and Drew shared Thanksgiving dinner together in his suite at the club.

  “You’ll toughen up.”

  “I don’t want to. I just want seventy-five degrees and sun. Sammy’s wife, Claudia, suggested long johns.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you warm.”

  “I need you to get on your job then. It’s freezing outside.”

  He laughed. “I’ll work on it right after dessert.”

  Tasha wondered what she’d do without him. They’d been having such an awesome time together these past five months and she didn’t want it to ever end. “You’re a good man, Drew Davis,” she said quietly.

  He searched her face. “You said that so seriously.”

  “Because I am. You’re one of the best people I know.”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “You’re the bomb, too, Tasha Bloom.”

  Filled with the love she felt for him she could hear her grandfather somewhere laughing. He’d been right. Drew was the man for her. Even if they split tomorrow, he’d always have her heart. She touched his face. “Can we go make love now?”

  “You’re a mess. You haven’t even finished your dinner.”

  “Got an appetite for something else.”

  He stood and swung her up into his arms. “Okay, you twisted my arm, but I’m changing your name to Delilah.”

  “Lead the way, my Samson.”

  Drew drove her home afterward, and as she entered the quiet house, everything she felt for him seemed to come to a head. She loved him from head to toe and knew the time had come to make a decision. With her mind made up, she put on her sleep sweats, sat on the bed and called Monty to tell him what she wanted to do so he could get the ball rolling.

  * * *

  By mid-December the Freighters were still winning, and from the way things looked it would be them against the Lumberjacks for the championship. Tasha and her team were ecstatic.

  One morning a few days before Christmas, Drew drove out to Woodlawn Cemetery. It was his mom’s birthday. Tooling slowly down the pathways leading to her resting place, he thought back on growing up under her love, their life together and how much he missed her. He visited her grave at least once a season and always made a special trip out to wish her a happy birthday.

  Getting out of the truck, he made his way over the solemn grounds to her grave site. He used a gloved hand to brush away a few leaves before gently placing the dozen white roses he’d brought with him at the base of her headstone. They’d been her favorite. “Happy Birthday, Mom,” he whispered and felt his heart sadden as it always did. “Still missing you.”

  For a few moments he simply stood there in the silence and let the grief rise. Even though she’d been gone six years and the pain of losing her had dulled somewhat, it still hurt, probably always would, he supposed. “Need to tell you about this lady I’m seeing. Her name’s Tasha and she’s rich as the old Rockefellers, but she’s kind, smart and so gorgeous my teeth ache just looking at her. There’s nothing I can give her that she doesn’t already have, except my love, so I’m hoping that’ll be enough for her to marry me.”

  He got no reply, of course, but truthfully, now that he’d admitted his true feelings out loud, he knew what needed to be done. “Hope you’re resting well and staying out of trouble up there in heaven. Love you, lady.”

  Giving the headstone a parting squeeze, he left the roses and returned to his truck, but instead of driving home he headed to the mall to pick out a ring.

  * * *

  On Christmas Eve, as he and Tasha sat in his suite at the club eating dinner and enjoying the vocalist on stage, she said, “I’m thinking about flipping the script on my life.”

  He studied her for a silent moment. “Meaning?”

  “Going to sell my firm and start a foundation.”

  “When did you decide this?”

  “A few weeks ago. Talked to Monty. He’s handling the paperwork. Talked to my staff about it already, too. I want to help kids and entrepreneurs and schools and whoever else might need all this money my grandfather left me.”

  “Sounds great, but selling your firm? This is all pretty sudden.”

  “Not really. I’ve been brooding on things for a while now, and this is what I want to do.”

  Drew studied her and wondered what this meant for the two of them. “And the team?”

  “No changes there. I’ll run the foundation and the team, with your help, of course.”

  “Where are you going to be based?”

  “Right here. I may take off during the winters after the season ends because I am so not liking this ice and snow, but the rest of the time, I’ll be in the D.”

  “And us?”

  “I would like to have you in my life for the rest of my life, even if we never commit.”

  He watched her grab her purse and fish around for something inside. She pulled out a small black velvet box and said, “But in case you would like to commit—will you marry me?”

  He chuckled softly at the ballsy Ms. Natasha Bloom.

  “No? Sorry then.” Her lips were tight and she looked very unhappy.

  He covered her hand before she could put the box back in her purse. “Hold on a minute. Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. The only reason I laughed was because of this—” He withdrew his own little black velvet box from the pocket of his coat and watched her eyes widen. “I planned to propose to you, but you being you, you’d, of course, try and beat me to the punch.”

  There were now tears standing in her eyes.

  “I love you, Natasha Bloom. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes, I love you, too. Will you marry me, Drew Davis?”

  “Yes.”

  They exchanged rings and then spent a very long time trading celebratory kisses.
When they finally came up for air, she said, “I want to get married New Year’s Day, right after we win the championship.”

  He laughed. “Okay, you’re on.”

  But on New Year’s Day, the Freighters lost the championship to Colonel Powell’s team fourteen to ten. Tasha didn’t care. After the game, they had a huge party at the mansion to celebrate the New Year and the successful season, then she and Drew were married in the conference room that was transformed into a chapel. True to his word, Monty flew in to give her away but ended up sharing the honor with Tony. Carmen and the wives cried, the team raised glasses in a toast and the cheerleaders shook their silver pom-poms.

  Later, lying in bed next to her sleeping husband, Tasha thought herself to be the luckiest woman in the world. She had a winning football team, the respect and admiration of her players and most importantly, she had the love of a good man. And she had her grandfather to thank. Who’d’ve thought on that day the will was read that he actually knew what he was talking about? She shook her head and whispered, “Thank you, Walker Bloom. Wherever you are, I love you.” And with that, she cuddled closer, closed her eyes and slept.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at USA TODAY bestselling author Beverly Jenkins’s newest book in her Blessings series, On The Corner of Hope and Main!

  As the calendar welcomed October, the residents of Henry Adams basked in the fading warmth of fall. The kids broke out their fleeces and hoodies. Farmers stock piled wood, cleaned up the now empty corn and soybean fields, put up hay for their animals in anticipation for winter, and stored their combines. Everyone knew by month’s end, there’d be far colder temperatures, and maybe the first flakes of snow, so they enjoyed it while it lasted.

  On this Saturday, the sun was shining, the temperature in the fifties, and Bernadine Brown, owner of Henry Adams was behind the wheel of her new truck Baby Four, on her way to a morning meeting at the Power Plant where she worked. Like the previous three versions, the truck was a cobalt blue, Ford F-150, and the chrome was so bright you needed shades. Baby One had been destroyed a few years ago in an arson fire set by Big Al Stillwell’s vengeful mother, Odessa, angered by Bernadine’s opposition to Salem Oil’s proposed pipeline. Baby Two was totaled a short few weeks later when Odessa ran Bernadine off the road. This past summer, Baby Three was hauled to the junk yard after being shot up by members of the Russian Mafia who’d paid the town an uninvited visit. Bernadine thought the new truck might’ve needed to be a different color and given another name, but she’d chosen to stay with what she loved.

  Five years ago, she purchased Henry Adams off E-Bay, and for a tiny town on the plains of Kansas, there’d been enough drama during her ownership for a Netflix series. Examples? Riley Curry’s six-hundred pound hog, Cletus, sat on a nasty old man named Morton Prell and squashed him to death. Crystal, Bernadine’s adopted daughter was kidnapped and held for ransom by her birth father Ray Chambers, who was promptly given his comeuppance when a tornado killed him. Gold was discovered by a local farmer, and when a bunch of half-wits came to town looking for more, a riot ensued. Under her guidance and limitless checkbook, Henry Adams had gone from barely breathing, to a high tech show case with far reaching WIFI, solar street lights, and a town wide security system that helped foil the plans of a revenge seeking social worker who tried to burn down Gemma Dahl’s home last year. A state of the art school had been built, along with a new church and a rec center that served as the hub of the community. The town was thriving, but one never knew what kind of craziness a day in Henry Adams might bring, so she stayed on her toes.

  She parked Baby Four in the parking lot of the Power Plant, the red, flat topped building where she and the town’s executives worked. Inside, she bypassed her office and went straight to the conference room to attend the first meeting of the newly formed Henry Adams Advisory Council.

  Helping themselves to the breakfast buffet she’d ordered were town fire chief Luis Acosta, town security VP Col Barrett Payne, Mayor Trent July, and town CFO, Lily Fontaine July, aka Trent’s wife. Also on the council, and seated at the table was Mal July, her former sweetheart—who she chose to ignore—and Rocky Dancer James. Both were part owners of the town diner, the Dog and Cow aka The Dog. Next to Rocky was her husband, Jack James, the school’s master teacher. To his right, Marie Jefferson, superintendent of schools, and Dr. Reg Gardner, town pediatrician. Also in the room were Reverend Paula Grant, and the Henry Adams matriarch, Tamar July, the ninety year old mother of Malachi, grandmother of Trent, and ruler of everything and everyone—including Bernadine.

  Once everyone had plates and were seated, Bernadine began the meeting. “I want to thank you for agreeing to be here this morning. We don’t have a traditional town council anymore, but everyone here has contributed to Henry Adams’ success and growth, so I’d like for us to act as a replacement and meet once a month.”

  “And the purpose?” Marie asked.

  “Discuss items and issues that impact the town.” And she gave examples. “Maybe Barrett wants to talk about new security systems, or you and Jack need updated school equipment, or Reg comes up with ways to ensure all the kids in our area of the county are vaccinated. I’ve been talking to each of you individually about the things you’re handling, so I thought if we met once a month it would help eliminate some of the items on our calendars, and everyone would know what everyone else is doing. Does that make sense?”

  Marie replied, “It does.”

  Jack added, “Sounds way more efficient.”

  Reverend Paula said, “I agree, because I may not know what’s going on with Luis or Colonel Payne, for instance, if it isn’t discussed at the regular town meeting.”

  Tamar said, “I think this is a great idea, Bernadine.”

  She was glad they were on board. She glanced at Mal. He met her gaze emotionlessly. She refocused. “So, first off. We have the election coming up. Anyone have thoughts on that—other than wanting Trent to stay in the job?”

  He grinned. “No. I’m done. Someone else’s turn.”

  “Do we have an election commission?” Barret asked.

  Bernadine had no idea. Lily shrugged and looked to Trent who shook his head, no.

  Reverend Paula asked, “Is one needed?”

  Barrett said, “I think so, yes. To have a commission setting parameters on what’s allowed and not during the campaigning speaks to transparency.”

  “This is just a small town, though, Barrett,” Trent said. “For mayoral elections, we don’t even use printed ballots. People write down their choice on a piece of paper and put it in the box at the Dog. Has always worked. Why make it complicated?”

  “Because this is no longer 1950, Trent.”

  Thin-lipped, he acquiesced with a tight nod.

  Bernadine thought the system outdated as well but held off on saying so for the moment.

  “Who’s allowed to vote for Mayor?” Luis asked.

  “Anyone over eighteen with a Henry Adams mailing address,” Mal answered.

  “Which is how many?”

  Trent shrugged. “Maybe eighty, eighty-five households. I’d have to check for an exact number, but I’m guessing a bit under two hundred people. Most don’t bother voting for mayor. There’s more focus on the state and national elections.”

  “Are there defined duties for the mayor?” Barrett asked.

  Tamar replied, “Not anything written down, that I’m aware of.” As town historian, she’d know better than anyone.

  “Don’t you think there should be? Vague duties may have worked in the past, but this is a growing community now. Mayoral powers need to be codified.”

  “Why?”

  “Suppose the mayor and Bernadine don’t agree on something. Who prevails?”

  “I do,” Bernadine replied him frankly. “The person writing the checks carries the most weight. I’m not saying I’m right in every instance, but I’m always open to compromise or to being proven wrong, Barrett. You know
that.”

  “So, what you’re really saying is, the mayor has no power.”

  “No, I’m not. Trent advises, consults, and steers the ship in areas I know nothing about. We’d not be this successful were it not for his expertise. There’s plenty of power in the hands of the right individual. Are you going to run?”

  “Thinking about it.”

  “Then keep this in mind. Henry Adams needs a team who’ll work together to get things done. If you want to waste time fighting over who holds the reins, the town loses.” The colonel was a good man, but he was accustomed to being large and in charge, and that wasn’t going to be helpful at the end of the day. This was not the Marine Corps, and she and the citizens of Henry Adams weren’t recruits.

  He asked, “Who else is running?”

  Lily replied, “Officially, only Riley’s expressed any interest so far.”

  Bernadine said, “For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a great mayor, Barrett.”

  “As long as I don’t step on your toes.”

  And sometimes he could be a jerk. “Yes.”

  Lily said, “I think what Bernadine just said about the ways Trent helps is a good mayoral job description: advise, consult and offer expertise to the town owner.”

  Jack said, “I agree.”

  Bernadine did too, and asked Barrett, “Would you be willing to head up an Election Commission and report back as soon as possible so we can present the parameters at the town meeting next week? But if you decide to run, you’ll have to step down.”

  “Of course.”

  She added, “And for the record, I agree that we need a better voting system than pieces of paper and a cardboard box.” She gave Trent a smile.

  Barrett responded, “Then the commission can come up with a plan. Anyone wanting to work with me on this is welcome.”

  Reg spoke up for the first time, “I’ll help.”

  Tamar weighed in. “So will I.”

  Bernadine was pleased by their responses. With Tamar on board, any of Barrett’s over the top recommendations such as all candidates had to be Marines, would be quashed.