Wes forced a smile. “Well, I only played a few seasons…” While it was nice and to be expected that everyone still associated him with football, he really wanted to move on and be known within the community for his new endeavor. He may not be able to be a source of local sports pride anymore, but he could help families in the community have their dream homes with new affordable developments.

Shawn nodded, his light-brown hair falling into his eyes. “That must have been incredible. Being in the action, tasting the blood and sweat out on the field, the rush of adrenaline and the roar of the crowd.”

Obviously they weren’t done talking about football. “Yeah, it was amazing.” While it lasted. “Do you play?” The man was six foot and about 110 pounds, but Wes had definitely asked the right question.

“Only beer leagues, but I’m pretty good. Fast,” he said with a look of pride. “Hey, you should come out and play sometime.”

“Yeah, sure, yeah…” He cleared his throat. “So, about the loan application, I was wondering how soon I’d know.” If he was going ahead with this, he didn’t want to lose out on the space to someone else. And the faster he could get the ball rolling, the less time he had to chicken out.

Shawn sat straighter and turned to his computer. “Usually takes about a week or ten days.” He reached for several documents on the printer behind him and slid them across the desk toward Wes. “Just fill these out, and we can get the process started.”

“Great,” Wes said, reaching for a pen and hesitating only briefly before starting to answer the questions. He was painfully aware of Shawn’s starstruck gaze on him. He paused and glanced up at the man. “Okay, hand it over,” he said.

Shawn reached into his desk and produced Wes’s football collectible card. “Can you personalize it?”

Wes sighed. “Sure thing.”

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Why had she tried to keep up with Lia on that ridiculous run the day before? Already the muscles in Sarah’s legs ached, and the hot shower hadn’t helped.

She’d barely had any time alone since the woman’s arrival, and she’d had to sneak away while Lia was on a call. Sarah was convinced she didn’t sleep—up well past midnight the night before planning the catering menu and then knocking on Sarah’s bedroom door before seven a.m. that morning to go over the table and chair rentals.

They still had twelve days before the reunion, but Lia was hell-bent on finalizing all the details right away. Sarah was creative when it came to figuring out solutions to technological issues or designing new ways for people to communicate across distances, but coming up with pretty party decorations or knowing how to communicate with large groups of people face-to-face were skills that eluded her.