“Wow.” He pulled her in, hugging her. “That’s amazing. You’re…amazing.”

She pushed back. “Do you really think so?”

He loved the way she looked so vulnerable and beautiful and happy. He grinned. “Of course I do. That’s why I got so frustrated with you when you wouldn’t take a chance…Chance.”

She let out a light laugh and hugged him, then pulled back. “Oh man, I have so much to do.” She shook her head. “We leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” If he were to describe this surprise in football terms he would have to say this would be like getting sacked by a kicker during a play. It sounded that improbable.

Her face held excitement and expectation and worry all rolled into one, and she was waiting for his reaction.

He recovered from the shock. “I’m really happy for you.” She was going to live her dream. He covered his disappointment that she was leaving so soon by picking her up in a big bear hug. “Woot! Ladies and gentleman, I give you Tiffany Chance—famous Country Western Singer!” He put her down and cupped his hands around his mouth and made a stadium noise.

Her face burned red, and she laughed, hitting his shoulder in embarrassment.

The old men looked at him curiously with smiles on their faces now.

She laughed even louder.

“What’s going on?” Lou rushed out.

Tiffany turned to Lou with a big grin on her face. “I’m quitting, Lou.”

Looking baffled, he scowled at Dumont. “What did you do?”

She laughed again and peeled off the apron. “It’s not him, Lou. It’s me.”

He looked dumbfounded. “Why?”

She grinned and moved to Sam. “I’m going on tour. And,” she said with a mischievous look in her eye, “I’ll be joining Sam and Maddy for breakfast, and we’d like pancakes.”

Sam stared at her and wondered how he’d fallen in love…in only two days? He grinned. “Yes, let’s eat pancakes.”

28

Tiffany sat across from Sam, shoving in another bite of pancake and starting to feel sick from carb overload, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing at another one of Sam’s silly impressions he was doing for Maddy.

Maddy was next to them in her high chair, completely sticky and happy, with so much syrup on her that every time she flapped her little hands down in the mess it sounded like a sticker ripping. “Gaa.” She blurted, happily chatting back at Sam’s silliness.

“That’s right.” Sam smiled at her, taking the wet towel next to him and trying again to wipe Maddy, but she started squawking. He finally gave up and put the towel down, shaking his head. “This girl.” He looked at Tiffany.

She held a napkin over her face, dabbing at her own messy syrup. The way he stared at her, like he could see into her soul, made her feel heady and light. Or maybe it was the fact she hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.

“What?” he asked.

Not liking that she was reacting so much to this man, she reached for her water and shook her head. “Nothing.”

Sitting back into the booth, he crossed his arms. A wide grin spread across his face, stretching the tiny scar above the right part of his lip that she found so attractive. “You did it.”

Excitement filled her. She grinned back. “We’ll be in Omaha tomorrow night, then Boulder in two days, and then Denver two days later.” She held up a finger. “Then Phoenix two days after that. It’s...” She’d never felt so happy and wired and filled with nerves in her entire life. She pushed back her plate. “Because of you.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Me? No.”

“Yes.”

Emphatically, shaking his head, he pointed at her. “No, that was all you.” He paused and grinned. “Wow, I just realized that soon I’ll be chartering a plane to see one of your concerts.”

The idea of anyone chartering a plane to get an opportunity to hear her sing was completely overwhelming.

The side of his lip turned up. “But I have news, too.”

Excitement stirred in her. “What?” She knew he was waiting to hear from Miami and he looked happy.

He shrugged, then a wide grin cracked his face. “Not as exiting as yours.”

“Come on,” she begged. Not used to being the center of attention, especially because Brett had always been the center, she rapped the table with her knuckles for emphasis. “Tell me.”

Picking up a napkin to dab the corners of his mouth, he sighed, acting all bothered. “I got my contract with Miami.”

She laughed at the way he tried to under play it, but he was blushing. It didn’t surprise her, but she was supremely happy for him. “That’s amazing.”

Lifting and then dropping a shoulder, he acted casual. “Yeah, starting quarterback.”

“That’s a big deal.” Warmth filled her, and she reached across the table and put her hand over his. “So you got your dream back, and I get to start mine.” She laughed. “It’s exciting.”

For a brief second, she could have sworn that Sam didn’t look that happy. Then he grinned and lifted his orange juice for a toast. “To dreams.”

She lifted a glass. “To dreams.”

He held it against hers. “It looks like I’m going to have to be a groupie sooner rather than later.”

Nervous electricity filled her. “Just as long as you’re not one of those creepy, stalker ones.”

He flashed her a grin. “I’m not promising, I’ll do what I gotta do to get noticed by you, even if that means taking off the shirt.”

29

When Sam woke up later that afternoon to the sound of a baby crying, he rolled over and checked his running watch. Four-fifteen. Sitting up fast, he paused, clearing the fog from his brain. He couldn’t believe how much had happened in such a short period of time.

He thought about Tiffany and how her mother had run into the diner and thrown her arms around her and shouted, ‘Praise the Lord!’ at the top of her lungs when Tiffany had told her. Excitement for her wove its way through him.

If he were being truthful, he was slightly sad she would be leaving so soon. He’d looked forward to a couple more days with her in Wolfe Creek.

Grabbing his clothes, he rushed to the bathroom and almost slammed into Roman, who was headed to Maddy’s room.

“You and Maddy are keeping the same nap times now?” Roman teased.

“Yep,” Sam agreed and quickly shaved and showered. He hadn’t had time to fill Roman in all that had happened the night before because he’d been too tired. As he got dressed and cleaned up his things and his room, he thought about Tiffany. He wanted to go spend a few hours with her. He grinned, but first he had to tell Roman the good news.

He rushed down the stairs and found Roman wearing the pink apron and feeding Maddy.

“Guess what?” Sam stood at the counter across from him.

“You got the contract with Miami.” Roman didn’t even look at him, carefully scraping baby food off the backside of a spoon before placing it into Maddy’s mouth.

“How did you hear?” Sam threw his hands into the air and moved to the kitchen sink, taking out a glass and getting himself some water.

Roman looked at him. “They issued that contract early this morning. You didn’t think ESPN would be privy to that information?”

“But I haven’t even formally accepted.” Sam put down the glass and picked up an apple on the counter.

Roman shrugged. “You will. You know you will.” He glanced at him and then broke into a wide grin. “Those are some good numbers, Dumont. I’m happy for you.”

Happiness surged through him. He grinned back. “Thanks, man.”

Roman gave him a quick nod, then turned back to Maddy and spoke to her. “Yes, Maddy, we’ll have to go see your Uncle Sam play in some pre-season games, won’t we? We’ll be making some trips to the beach.”