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  “So, Uncle DJ.”

  “Yes,” he said, and she realized he was restringing his pole.

  “Was my dad a good football player?”

  She waited, her heart racing as she remembered all the crap between Travis and DJ. What would he say to her son?

  “Your dad…” He sighed, and then let out a laugh. “Your dad was pretty much the best quarterback in the state of North Carolina.”

  “Really?” asked Travis, his smile widening. “Mama said he played quarterback, but I didn’t know he was that good.”

  “Oh yeah,” said DJ. “Your dad was good. So good at football, but see, your daddy chose to do something really important instead.”

  “I know,” Travis said quietly. The resignation in his voice made Aspen’s heart hurt. “He went to war.”

  “Travis,” DJ said quietly. “Your dad died a hero for this country, protecting our rights and freedoms. I’m really proud of him.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting tears. It meant so much to her to hear DJ say this.

  “He was a hero?” Travis asked, uncertain.

  DJ nodded solemnly. “He was a hero, and he was a really good football player.” He let out a sigh. “And he would be so proud of you.”

  “Really?”

  “He would have loved to see how hard you’re working at football and how good you are to your mama.”

  Travis smiled. “Ever since Grandpa went in the care center, I told myself I had to step up and be a man. Maybe, Uncle DJ, you could help her now, too.”

  Every part of Aspen froze.

  “I’d like that.” DJ looked out at the sunset.

  Her heart raced. What did that mean? Luckily, now wasn’t the time to analyze all of that. She waited a couple of seconds, then cleared her throat and began walking down the dock. “Hey, guys!”

  Travis bolted to his feet. “Mama!” He carefully put the fishing pole down and then ran down the dock, his arms open. She scooped him up in a hug.

  DJ stood, picking up both poles and the box of tackle gear. “We’re hungry.”

  “I can see you’ve been busy,” she said.

  “Mama,” Travis said, starting in. “We have pizza and salad and some soda pop and water, and Uncle DJ got me some ice cream and said you could have some, too.”

  She laughed and walked with him toward the house, her eyes meeting DJ’s.

  The man was huge as he moved toward them, and her breath caught as she watched his arms flex while he held the equipment. More startling was the way his blue eyes shone at her. “Travis, you need to tell your mom what you decided about her day off tomorrow.”

  “Oh no,” she said, feeling worried and excited at the same time.

  Travis started jumping up and down. “Uncle DJ fixed the boat, and he said he will take us out for a spin on the ocean! Can we, Mama?”

  “Only if you want to,” DJ told her, heading to the garage. “No pressure. I thought I’d take Dad, too.”

  Aspen bit her lip. She wasn’t sure how she felt about spending her day off with him.

  Travis tugged at her hand, leading her toward the house. “The table is set, Mama. Let’s eat.”

  As they finished up the pizza, salad, and ice cream, she laughed at the way DJ and Travis interacted.

  “Uncle DJ, you know who you have to take down next week against the Miami Surf?”

  DJ grinned at him, leaning back and taking a swig of water. “Who’s that?”

  Travis threw his hands up. “Sam Dumont, if you can get to him.” He motioned in a grabbing gesture, scrunching up his face. “If you can take his head and yank it down and maybe cause an injury, you could win.”

  DJ roared with laughter. “Cause an injury? I don’t know who taught you football, but it sounds like the kind of move your mother would make.”

  Aspen chuckled. When they were younger, she’d played football in the yard with Travis and DJ. She’d always had to cheat to get around them. “Hey, I never did anything I didn’t have to do.”

  DJ laughed again, and she laughed, too. It was so interesting how different DJ was now, as a man. Yet even though it had been ten years, so much still felt the same.

  She pointed at DJ. “I saw you in that game against the Destroyers when you took out Dax Brady. I couldn’t believe you didn’t get a call against you.”

  His eyes gleamed. “You were watching the game?”

  Travis was ecstatic. “Oh, Mama watches every game the Rebels are in. But she only started this year because I told her we needed to watch my uncle.” He put on an exasperated face.

  “Heck, yeah, you do!” He put his fist out.

  Travis fist-bumped him back. “Harrison doesn’t like to watch football.” He pointed at her. “But we do, right, Mama?”

  Aspen kept her face guarded. “We do, but it’s okay when someone else doesn’t.”

  DJ cleared his throat. “That’s okay. Football isn’t for everyone.”

  Aspen rolled her eyes at that, but she could tell DJ really, really liked that Travis loved football so much. Of course he would. She stood. “It’s time to go, Trav.”

  “No!” both of the boys cried out at once.

  She laughed, surprised at how they were in sync.

  DJ’s eyes met hers like they were sharing in the same private joke again. He stood. “Okay, I guess we listen to your mom.”

  Travis stood, taking her hand. “Can we do fishing and the boat tomorrow? With Grandpa?”

  DJ looked at her. “If it’s okay with your mother.”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  Travis pushed his bottom lip out. “Please? It’s just one day, Mama. And your class is over, and you said you’d spend time with me.”

  She looked at DJ again.

  “Whatever you want to do,” DJ said, “but I am going to be taking my dad out, and it would be no big deal if you guys came, too.” He gave Travis a light push. “And if we’re out there, we have to fish.”

  Travis laughed. “Please?” he said again, jumping up and down.

  She laughed. “You two are ganging up on me. Fine!” She shook her head and rushed to the front door, suddenly nervous. This wasn’t a date, she reminded herself. DJ was Travis’s uncle. It was nothing.

  DJ walked them out, opening her car door for her.

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said, hating that he was always a gentleman, and liking it at the same time.

  “I want to.” He held the door as she slipped inside.

  Travis climbed into the back.

  “Thanks again for watching Travis.”

  He winked at her. “Thanks for letting me.” He leaned in, taking her hand. “See you tomorrow.”

  Every part of her lit up with attraction.

  “I mean it. Thank you for everything.”

  Her heart rate kicked up a notch. She pulled her hand back. “Ha. No, that thank you does not cover ten years.”

  “I know. Maybe I can figure out how to make up the rest to you.”

  It didn’t sound like DJ was saying anything suggestive, but her cheeks burned nonetheless. She hurried to start the car. “Better run.”

  He peered into the back window. “Bye, Trav.”

  “Thanks, Uncle DJ.” The boy’s voice was a bit too loud.

  She laughed, and so did DJ.

  As she pulled away, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw DJ standing by the road, watching her go.

  Chapter 11

  DJ got a text at six in the morning. Thinking it must be one of his football brothers, because they were the only crazy people he knew would be up at six to train, he picked it up as he got out of bed.

  Care center is short staffed. I have to work half a day. Sorry to ask, but can I drop Travis off at your house? He’s insisting he wants to be with you.

  With a huge smile, he texted back: I’ll come over there.

  Thank you. Can you be here by eight?

  He responded with a thumbs-up. It was so simple to text back and forth with
her. So simple to watch her kid—his nephew. So simple to be in her life again.

  He put on his tennis shoes, and then popped in his ear buds, heading for the door. Five miles didn’t run themselves.

  When DJ showed up at Aspen’s house, he brought more of his father’s tools and some extra supplies he’d gotten from his dad’s garage. He’d noticed some simple fixes he could do for her.

  She opened the front door, looking amazing in her scrubs and ponytail. He noted she had a touch of makeup on, and she smelled of tangerine. Had she done that for him? No, he wouldn’t think like that.

  “Thanks so much for coming,” she said.

  He nodded, walking in as she stepped back. “No problem. Hey, what are uncles for?”

  She stammered when he handed her the tools. “What is all this?”

  Before he could answer, Travis bolted across the room for him. “Uncle DJ!”

  DJ took the impact of the hug and loved it. He picked his nephew up, putting him all the way over his head. “I heard someone needs to be funned up today.”

  Both of them laughed as DJ gently tossed Travis onto the couch.

  When he turned back, Aspen was just watching them and smiling.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, it’s just good for him. Roughhousing like that. Harrison doesn’t like to roughhouse.”

  The mention of the other man stopped him in his tracks.

  Aspen put the tools down. “Why did you bring those?”

  “I’m going to fix up a couple of things.” He picked up a bag and pulled out a light bulb. Then he walked back to the front door. He opened it and quickly took out the old porch light bulb and slipped the new one in.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  He grinned. “The light is done, but I won’t do the other things if you don’t want me to,” he said uncertainly.

  She blinked and moved into the kitchen. “It’s fine, I guess. Okay, there’s food. And if you need me, just call. Travis can walk you through breakfast and lunch.”

  DJ nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

  She looked up, taking her keys off a peg on the wall. “I know. Thank you.”

  Travis ran to her, hugging her around the waist. “And then we’ll have the rest of the day with DJ, right, Mom? We can go out on the boat. Or he could help us put up a Christmas tree.”

  She froze for a second, and then relaxed. “Yes to going out on the boat.”

  Travis jumped up and down. “Wahoo!”

  DJ frowned. It was nine days until Christmas, and there weren’t any decorations in this house.

  Aspen picked up her purse. “Thank you. See you in a bit.”

  He wanted to ask why Harrison hadn’t manned up and helped her around this place. She was doing an awesome job, but if he had been around sooner, they’d already be done with this stuff. “See ya.”

  After Aspen left, DJ got some breakfast together for Travis. The kid wanted cereal, but DJ taught him how to make scrambled eggs instead. They ate together. “Man rules. Number one: always remember that protein has to be a big part of your diet for muscle building and recovery.”

  Travis nodded, digging into the eggs. “Man rules. Protein is part of breakfast.”

  DJ grinned; he could tell that the kid pretty much worshipped him. The funny part was that the feeling was mutual. He lightly touched Travis’s nose. “Your grandpa taught me and your dad the importance of eating eggs in the morning at an early age.”

  Travis grinned, then frowned. “I like Grandpa. Is he going to be okay?”

  Touched at the way Travis cared, he nodded. “We’ll make sure he’s taken care of. He’s going to love a boat ride this afternoon.”

  Travis laughed. “I can’t wait.”

  DJ focused. “Okay, man rule number two: hydration. When you start your team drills, make sure you are getting proper amounts of water.” He wagged his fork at him. “It may seem like people push water too much, but you can never push enough water.”

  “Man rule two: water.”

  DJ grunted. “Man rule three: grunting.” He did some more grunts to illustrate.

  Travis laughed and tried to grunt too.

  It took a while before they could stop laughing long enough to finish their meal. Travis was an awesome kid, and DJ was sorry he hadn’t met him sooner. He vowed to do better.

  As they cleaned up the dishes, Travis asked, “Why don’t you just move back here and coach my team, Uncle DJ?”

  DJ froze, plates in hand. “What do you mean?”

  Travis smiled at him. “Move back into Grandpa’s house, and then we can spend lots of time together. You already fixed your boat. You and Mama could restore your house, and then the boat dock, and you could put a new coat of paint on it.”

  The fact that the kid was already building a life for them was a bit unnerving. He put the dishes back in the sink. “I don’t think that would work, bud. I still have my football career, remember?”

  Travis shook his head. “You might retire this year.”

  DJ started hot water into the sink and added dish soap, smiling. “Oh, you do read a lot about me.”

  “You’ll retire from the Rebels if you win this season. You said that in Sports Pro Magazine.”

  “I don’t know if we’ll win at this point, but we’re going to give it the Rebel try.” He took the wet dishcloth and flicked some water on him.

  “Hey!” With a giggle, Travis put his hand into the sink and then flicked some water in return.

  DJ laughed, and they continued until both were dripping.

  “Go get dressed,” DJ said when he was finished. “We have man work today.”

  Travis lifted his eyebrows, and DJ could swear he was looking at his twin brother when he was a kid. “Football drills? If I get my team together, can we do football drills?”

  “No, we have to fix up your house today.” He inspected some of the leftover tiles for the kitchen backsplash. He could finish what she had left if he cut it just right.

  “No, I want to do football drills.” Travis rushed down the hallway.

  DJ followed the kid into his mother’s room, and his eyes were drawn to all the little holes in the walls and ceiling. Those would need filling.

  Travis was typing on an iPad.

  “What are you doing, bud?”

  “If we do man work first, then can I get my team together and do drills at the park?”

  “How would you get them together? Call them?”

  Travis scrunched up his face. “Group Me!”

  DJ was mystified by the app Travis was navigating into. “Hmm.” He frowned. “Maybe.” He noticed a tattered box with a fake Christmas tree inside of it sitting next to Aspen’s bathroom. “What’s this?”

  Travis sighed. “It’s our Christmas tree, but Mama hasn’t had time to put it together because it’s a pain.” He continued tapping on the screen. “Please, can I tell them so we can do drills with them?”

  DJ picked up the box and hauled it out of the room, down the hallway, and into the living room. Why hadn’t Harrison helped her with this, either?

  “Please?” Travis followed him. “I’ll help you do man work fast.”

  DJ grinned at the persistent boy. Persistence would serve him greatly on the football field. “Okay.”

  Travis rushed down the hallway, letting out a holler. “Man stuff! Football! Wahoo!”

  Chapter 12

  Aspen pulled up to her home at two-thirty and saw a note on the door. She recognized DJ’s writing. Got done with projects, now at the park doing football practice.

  She smiled reluctantly, hating how much she liked that DJ was spending time with Travis. Strike that. She liked how Travis wanted to spend time with him and DJ had taken to it like it was natural.

  It mystified her. They hadn’t known each other at all two days ago, and now all she had heard about was Uncle DJ this and Uncle DJ that.

  She opened the door and saw the toolbox there. When she stepped into the kitchen, she couldn’t
believe the rest of the tile was attached to the wall. “What?” She’d only been gone five hours. If she’d cut the rest of the tile and put it up, it would have taken her two days. She also noted the loose cupboard door had been fixed.

  Dazed, Aspen wandered through the rest of the house. The living room had been set up with the very complicated fake Christmas tree and the annoying stack of lights that she swore every year she would trade in for a new set. The holes in the hallway were puttied. In Travis’s room, the posters had been taken down for a whole big project of re-patching. Her bedroom and bathroom walls had been fixed too. Even the shelf that she’d had in a box next to the toilet had been put up, as if in defiance of her procrastination.

  She was overwhelmed with gratitude. They weren’t hard things to do, but they were time-consuming. And DJ had just done them without asking. Why had he just done all of this?

  She rushed out of the house, walking quickly to the park. It was windy, but the sun was out. Christmas music played over the speakers, and all of the little tourist shops were open. A bus was parked down the street. Tourists were still coming to Southport, even a couple of days before Christmas. She always wondered why people would want to travel during the holidays.

  When she turned the corner, she didn’t see just Travis and DJ; about a dozen boys and some parents surrounded DJ too, watching as he demonstrated some football maneuvers. As she got closer, she could pick out what he was saying.

  “Now, when you hit, you don’t put your head up. You put your head down and turn a bit so no one gets hurt. You want clean tackles, not junk, you boys hear?”

  The boys nodded eagerly.

  Aspen smiled, marveling that he felt so at home with the boys. She wasn’t sure whether to feel joy or melancholy as she watched the way he interacted with her son. Travis would have acted this way too. DJ and Travis had been a lot alike. They’d been best friends until the disaster on graduation night.

  She’d never understood exactly what had happened. Travis had taken her to the dance. DJ had shown up. They’d fought. Then, their father had done what their father always did—got the cops called. DJ left. Travis had gone to boot camp, and when he’d come home, he and Aspen had gotten close.