CHAPTER 23 LINCOLN

We lose in Denver, bringing our record to three and two on the season so far, and the plane ride back home is quiet. It wasn't a blowout, but it wasn't close, either.

Fletcher is inconsistent at best, and with Miles out, I need to figure out what to do. Mike assured me he still sees the beast inside Fletcher that's waiting to be unleashed, but I'm not so sure. I'm planning to start Zach Everett, our QB3, in our next match-up unless I can see some real strides with Brandon this week at practice.

But even so, it wasn't just a Fletcher problem. Our defense made too many mistakes and cost us over forty yards on a single drive due to penalties.

We need to fix this, and fast. If we don't, I might find myself out of a job.

And to that end, I'll be spending more time at the office than usual.

Except for the podcast this week. That is a priority, and not just because it'll be our first time filming in our new home studio.

Because this is it.

I run through the speech I prepared for the millionth time when I should be focused on this week's game plan.

I meet with Mike and Andy.

I run through my speech again once our meeting is over.

I meet with John, the quarterback coach, and he tells me what he'll be working on specifically with Brandon this week.

I tell him I'm considering starting Zach instead.

He tells me Brandon is ready for this.

I was only planning to give him one more shot. There are too many mistakes and not enough rushing—which I was expecting out of Miles this season. We end up agreeing that we'll see how the week goes and make a game time decision.

Once that's out of the way, I run through my speech one final time.

This is it.

I head home, and I find Jonah sitting on the couch playing Minecraft. He drops his device to the side of him when I walk in and hops up to rush over toward me.

"Lincoln!" he says excitedly, and he gives me a hug.

Well if that isn't the nicest greeting I've had in a while…until his mother walks out of the studio to greet me with a kiss.

"We're all set in there whenever you're ready, Coach." She winks at me and moves past me toward the refrigerator. "Jonah, do you need anything?" she calls.

"A snack!" he requests, and she rolls her eyes.

"I swear, this kid is going to ruin his dinner with the number of snacks he's had since he got home from school." She yells toward the boy who has taken his seat on the couch again with his game. "What do you want?"

"Surprise me!"

I grin.

"What are you smiling at?" she asks.

I lift a shoulder, and then I hook an arm around her and pull her into me. "This is just…perfect."

"What is? Me complaining about Jonah needing another snack or Jonah telling me to surprise him when we both know he will not like the surprise I come up with?"

I shake my head with wonder as my smile widens. "All of it. Having the two of you here. The little details of this new life we have." I lower my lips to hers for a soft kiss. "I'll grab him a snack if you want."

She looks surprised. "Go for it."

"Hey Jonah, you want pretzels with peanut butter, trail mix, or cereal?"

"Trail mix!" he calls back.

I lift both shoulders innocently as if to say, well that was easy.

She purses her lips. "It'll wear off, you know. He's just being nice to you because this is all new and you have a really badass house with a swimming pool."

I laugh. "I'll take what I can get for now."

We get Jonah settled in with his snack, and then we head toward the studio as Jolene calls back to him, "We'll be in here talking for the podcast if you need anything, okay?"

He grumbles some reply. He's into his game, and it's nice that he's occupied so we can get this week's episode recorded.

We take our seats next to each other, and she hands me the agenda with talking points. "Any questions?" she asks.

I shake my head. I've got one more item for the agenda, but I'll find the right time for it.

She starts the recording and moves through her intro, and nerves flitter around my chest.

I know she's going to say yes. There's no doubt about that.

Except…I sort of already asked her, and she definitely avoided the question, so even though I don't doubt this is what she wants, too, it still feels scary to pose the question.

I say my introductory stuff, too, and then she starts with the items on the agenda. We talk about what went wrong in Denver and what we're going to do to course correct. I'm careful not to give too much away while still dropping enough hints to keep our audience interested.

"Will Fletcher be starting quarterback this week?" she asks.

"It's day to day right now. We're running some different drills in practice, and I'm confident we'll be ready to take on the Chargers on Sunday," I say.

"I have a surprise for you," she says, and she reaches to the side of her and pulls out two containers. "It's been a wild week personally for the two of us, so instead of slotting in a time to go out to eat, I brought a little snack here to the studio." She hands a container to me and opens her own. She pulls out a cookie that looks like it's stuffed full of delicious goodness, and she holds it up to the camera. "This is the kitchen sink cookie from Cravings, an off-Strip bakery in the heart of Vegas."

"What's in it?" I ask as I pull my cookie out, too.

"Everything but the kitchen sink." She grins as she inspects the cookie. "Looks like chocolate chips, toffee, pretzels…"

"Is that a potato chip?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Maybe butterscotch chips, and oh, is that a peanut butter cup? And some malt balls." She takes a giant bite and closes her eyes in pure ecstasy.

"Well?" I ask, shifting in my chair.

She chews thoughtfully, and then she nods. "Ten out of ten. Highly recommend."

I take a bite of mine, too, and yep. That pretty much sums it up. "Wow," I breathe.

She laughs, and she reads the information for the bakery where she got the cookies so our listeners will go check it out.

I try to transition from that into what I want to say, but I just can't seem to find the right time that works.

We're nearing the end of our agenda, and I still haven't started my speech.

"Anything else you'd like to talk about?" she asks.

I draw in a deep breath. "Yes. There's one more thing."

Her brow quirks, and I stand and open the door. "Jonah? Can you come in here?"

"Oh, Linc, I don't want him on the video," she says, and she moves to shut off the recorder.

"We can edit this out or blur his face," I promise. "Just leave it on."

Her brows crinkle together in confusion, and Jonah appears in the doorway. "What's up, Coach?" he asks.

"Hey, little dude," I say, and I get a little choked up as I call him the name I've called him since I first met him. If all goes according to plan, I'll be his stepdad. And there doesn't seem to be a much higher honor than that. "I have a question for you."

"What is it? If it's how to play Minecraft, I'll show you right now," he says, and I laugh.

"I would love to learn, buddy, but first…" I motion for him to come over toward me, and I whisper into his ear.

His eyes grow wide and his face breaks out into a smile as he gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Yes!"

I muss his hair, and I glance over at Jolene, who's looking at us with suspicion.

"What's going on here?" she asks.

I draw in a shaky breath, and then the speech I prepared basically falls right out of my head.

I'm a coach. Speeches are sort of my jam at this point. And yet faced with this, I'm drawing a total blank.

So I speak from the heart.

"I love you, Jolene Lorraine Bailey," I begin. "And you, Jonah. I love you both so much, more than I ever realized I could love two people. You are my family. My home. My world." I turn to Jonah. "I promise to take care of you and your mom." I turn back to Jolene. "And I promise to give you and our kids everything I am for the rest of our lives." I get down onto my knee in front of the woman who has always held my heart in her hands as my trembling hands draw the box out of my pocket. I open the box to present the ring to her, and it glitters in the lights of our new home studio. "Will you marry me?"

Her hand covers her mouth as the words register, and tears gleam in her eyes. "Of course I will," she says, and I take the ring out of the box where it's nestled and slide it onto her finger.

She pulls me up as she lifts to her feet, and her mouth meets mine as we seal our new promise with a kiss. She pulls back and looks at me in wonder as the tears fall freely down her cheeks now.

"I love you so much," she murmurs, and then she kisses me again.

I pull back and grab Jonah to join us in a family hug, and there is nothing that could be more perfect than this sweet family moment.

Until, of course, I get my future bride naked a little later.