“Yeah, c’mon, Dad,” Marti joined in. “Your son’s not scared of a little cold.”

“True, my dear. But our son is not scared of my chain saw either, so I need to be scared of it for him and encourage him not to do anything dumb. That’s what parents do, O love of my life; they encourage their children not to do stupid things. And even as I’m standing here trying to reason with you, I’m realizing that there is absolutely no chance of me winning this argument, so I might as well give in now while I still have a scrap of dignity left-dignity that will be stripped away from me tonight the moment I remove my shirt from my colorful body.”

“So, is that a yes, Dad?”

“That’s a yes, Son.”

Kevin ran to hug his dad, remembered his wet paint, and instead renewed his dancing, now chanting, “Go, Dad! Go, Dad! Go, Dad!”

Marti motioned for Michael to follow her back to the “paint room.” “Tell you what,” she told him over her shoulder, “if you let me paint this on you now, I promise to help wash it off tonight.”

“Hmm, suddenly body paint doesn’t seem like such a bad idea…”

Monday, December 29

Platte River Stadium

Denver, Colorado

The temperature had dropped to thirty-six degrees, and a light mist hung in the air. Not necessarily the perfect temperature for tailgating, but traditions must be kept. The four couples-the Markses, Rawlinses, Newmans, and Ashtons-met in their usual place in a small parking lot just off the 21st Avenue exit. They had been doing this for so many years that they had the setup down to a science.

One corner of an awning was attached to the top of Paul and Carol Marks’s Suburban, with the other connected to a corner of the shell on Doug and Abby Rawlins’s Dodge Ram pickup. The awning was long enough to fit eight chairs and a barbecue, which the Rawlinses brought each week in the back of their truck. The only element that varied was the food. There were eight home games every season, so each couple was responsible for bringing the meat two times.

This week promised to be an experience. Andy and Liv Newman, always the adventurous couple in the group, had recently bought Steven Raichlen’s The Barbecue! Bible and were anxious to try out some recipes. This week they brought evapi-a Bosnian burger recipe that blended beef, pork, and lamb with various ethnic spices. Carol was excited about trying it out, but Paul grumbled to Gil Ashton about how no one seemed to be able to just bring brats soaked in beer anymore.

When the barbecue was finally heating up and everyone had a cup of Carol’s spiced cider in their gloved hands, Doug Rawlins spoke up. “Well, Buckaroos, we’ve got an announcement to make. With Doug Jr., Jim, and Kelly all living around Phoenix now, and with my retirement last year, Abby and I have been deciding what we want to be now that we’re all grown-up. The answer that we both came up with is that more than anything we want to be grandparents.”

As Carol listened, her eyes began to tear up. Please don’t say it, Doug; please don’t.

Doug’s own voice was starting to crack a bit. “We’ve got three kids, three kids-in-law, and seven grandkids down there, and up here all we have is you. Now, don’t… please, don’t get me wrong. You all were the whole reason why this was a hard decision to make. But family’s family. I want my grandkids to know their granddad. I want to be a part of their lives. So… this will be our last game, fellow Buckaroos. We’re both so sorry.”

A chorus of “Don’t be sorry” and “Of course you have to go” and “We’d make the same decision” came from everyone-except for Carol. She stood with her back to the others as she fiddled with the thermoses that held the cider.

Abby walked up and put her hand on Carol’s gently trembling shoulder. “Carol, are you okay with this?”

Carol turned and burst into tears. “Of course I’m not okay with it, but… but… well, hang it all, it’s the right thing to do. Oh, Abby, I’m going to miss you guys so much.” She fell into her friend’s arms, and they both cried together.

After a few minutes, Carol looked up and saw that everyone was silently staring at them. “Well, don’t just stand there, Buckaroos. This is our last game before two of our members ride off into the sunset. Let’s make tonight a shindig we’ll never forget!”

“C’mon, Manny, let me have the hot chocolate. You know when it gets like this no one’s going to be buying Cokes. This is beer and chocolate weather.”

When Todd Penner had arrived at Platte River Stadium and discovered that he was scheduled to tote around cold drinks, he saw his hopes of getting the ring out of layaway fading. He knew the way things worked, and “cold drinks” was not where he wanted to be.

Todd gave his biggest smile. “Please, boss, I need the money. I’m using the tips to get Jamie’s ring. Do it as a favor to me.” He saw that he was getting nowhere, so he clasped his hands together, batted his eyelashes, and added, “Better yet, Manny, don’t do it for me; do it in the name of true love.”

Manny’s resolve never stood a chance. Todd had been too good a worker for too long, and the boss broke into laughter at this performance. “Okay, lover-boy, you can have hot chocolate. But careful on the whipped cream-you go through twice the cans that everyone else does.”

“What can I say?” Todd responded, still batting his eyelashes. “I like my chocolate extra sweet.”

“Get out of here, you freak, before I change my mind.”

Todd was totally stoked when he left the room. All his plans were coming together. As he walked across the ramp, his mind went back to his clandestine meeting with Jamie’s dad yesterday. They had met at the Starbucks in Arapahoe Crossing; Todd offered to buy.

“In that case, I think I’ll splurge,” Brian Starling had said. “Order me a venti caramel macchiato.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Starling.” Todd turned to the menu board, mentally comparing what he saw with what he knew was in his wallet. He said to the barista, “The gentleman will have a venti caramel macchiato… and make mine a tall drip coffee.” Then, turning back to Jamie’s dad, he said, “Go ahead and have a seat, sir, and I’ll bring the drinks over.”

As he waited for the drinks, he went over his spiel again in his head. It had taken him half the night to process through exactly what he should say. He felt he had put together a fairly persuasive presentation-even alliterating his main points: facts, figures, future, and faith. The drinks came, and with them came the moment of truth.

Sitting down across the table, Todd began, “Mr. Starling…”

“Satchmo.”

“Okay… uh… Satchmo.”

“No, the music playing in the background. ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong, also known as Satchmo. One of my favorite songs.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a great song. Do you want me to wait to talk until it’s over?”

“No, go ahead,” Brian said.

Todd couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw the man hiding a smile behind his coffee cup. “Thanks. Okay. Well, sir, Jamie and I have known each other for a long time now…”

“I know, Todd. I was there.”

When Todd had called Mr. Starling to request this meeting, he assumed Jamie’s dad probably had at least a strong hunch about its purpose. But so far, this was turning out to be more difficult than he’d anticipated.

“Right. Stupid me. Of course you were there. So you know that I’ve known Jamie for a long time. I’ve also had strong feelings for-”

“Strong feelings, huh? You know, Todd, I have strong feelings for my wife’s meat loaf. Do you consider my daughter on the same level as my wife’s meat loaf?”

“No, of course not. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do have strong feelings for Mrs. Starling’s meat loaf-it’s incredible and all. But what I’m trying to say is that I’ve loved Jamie for a long time.” Todd paused for a moment, doing his best to regroup. Okay, “facts” is not going so well, and I can’t even remember what “figures” was about. Time to wow him with the future.