testosterone, I guess. Anyway, I damn near beat the shi—, uh, devil out of him, before his friends piled in, then my friends joined the fight.” His eyes gleamed with remembered enthusiasm. “The coaches leaped in and pulled us all apart. We were read the riot act and three or four of us were benched for the next game. By then we had cooled down and thought we'd gotten off easy—we could have been out for the whole season.”
Shelly raised a brow. “In St. Galen's? Where the entire high school can barely put together a full team? I don't think so.”
Nick smiled. “Yeah, you're probably right. But Jim Hard-castle, the guy I'd been fighting with, started whining and complaining. He was always sort of a troublemaker and the coach told him that he'd make an exception for him: two games. That really set Hardcastle off. He started yelling that it wasn't fair. That I had started the whole thing and that I was nothing but a half-breed Mex and that if my father wasn't Josh Granger, I'd have been thrown off the team.”
Shelly paused in the act of pouring another round of milk for the pair of them. “Wow! That must have been a shock.”
“To say the least,” Nick commented wryly. “I went at Hardcastle, calling him a liar, and punched him in the nose for bad-mouthing my mom.” He made a face. “The adults separated us again, and I ended up being benched for three games—which for us, was most of the season. Coach ordered me home right then—wouldn't even let me finish practice.”
“You sound more pissed off about that than finding out about Josh and your mom.”
Nick grinned. “Well, in a way I was. Man, I hated getting benched! As for the other—I didn't really believe Hardcastle—I thought he was just being a blowhard and a pain in the ass. It wasn't until I got home and was in the kitchen—” he paused and winked at her—“cramming my face full of Oreos and milk, and spouting off about what a jerk Hard-castle was, and asking Mom how he thought anybody would believe such a damned lie, when I noticed her expression.” He shook his head. “I took one look at her face, and my stomach dropped right to the floor.”
Shelly stopped eating her Oreo and stared at him, sympathy in her gaze. “Must have been hard. What'd you do?”
“I tackled her with it right off, but I didn't get anywhere then or ever.” He glanced away, his expression bleak. He took a deep breath, and, meeting Shelly's sympathetic gaze, blurted out, “You have only my word for it. Mom simply will not talk about it. Even now if I press her, she starts to cry, and says she promised. Says she swore never to tell anyone. But it's the tears that get me. She almost always bursts into tears…she cried a lot that first day.” Nick's eyes dropped, his jaw working. “I never saw my mom cry before, and it shook me—bad. I was in a rage”—he smiled deprecatingly—“as only a sixteen-year-old-almost-a-man can be. Not at her,” he added quickly, “never at her, but I resented the situation, and I was furious that they'd kept the truth from me. I was furious that they'd allowed me to find out in such a manner.”
Shelly shook her head. “Knowing Oak Valley, you'd have thought that they'd have realized that someone was bound to put two and two together eventually. They should have told you—it was cruel and thoughtless not to. They had to know that you would find out sooner or later. Surely they didn't think you'd never find out?”
Nick shrugged. “Don't ask me. Mom keeps her mouth shut, just saying that your family was kind to her and that they supported her when she needed help. It's obvious she never expected more than what she got, and she was satisfied with it—that's the part that eats at my gut.” The expression in his eyes hardened. “Your mother gave Mom money and paid for her to go back to Mexico…and stay there.”
Shelly made a face. “Sounds like Mother. She really took her position in the valley to heart. She
Shelly raised a brow. “In St. Galen's? Where the entire high school can barely put together a full team? I don't think so.”
Nick smiled. “Yeah, you're probably right. But Jim Hard-castle, the guy I'd been fighting with, started whining and complaining. He was always sort of a troublemaker and the coach told him that he'd make an exception for him: two games. That really set Hardcastle off. He started yelling that it wasn't fair. That I had started the whole thing and that I was nothing but a half-breed Mex and that if my father wasn't Josh Granger, I'd have been thrown off the team.”
Shelly paused in the act of pouring another round of milk for the pair of them. “Wow! That must have been a shock.”
“To say the least,” Nick commented wryly. “I went at Hardcastle, calling him a liar, and punched him in the nose for bad-mouthing my mom.” He made a face. “The adults separated us again, and I ended up being benched for three games—which for us, was most of the season. Coach ordered me home right then—wouldn't even let me finish practice.”
“You sound more pissed off about that than finding out about Josh and your mom.”
Nick grinned. “Well, in a way I was. Man, I hated getting benched! As for the other—I didn't really believe Hardcastle—I thought he was just being a blowhard and a pain in the ass. It wasn't until I got home and was in the kitchen—” he paused and winked at her—“cramming my face full of Oreos and milk, and spouting off about what a jerk Hard-castle was, and asking Mom how he thought anybody would believe such a damned lie, when I noticed her expression.” He shook his head. “I took one look at her face, and my stomach dropped right to the floor.”
Shelly stopped eating her Oreo and stared at him, sympathy in her gaze. “Must have been hard. What'd you do?”
“I tackled her with it right off, but I didn't get anywhere then or ever.” He glanced away, his expression bleak. He took a deep breath, and, meeting Shelly's sympathetic gaze, blurted out, “You have only my word for it. Mom simply will not talk about it. Even now if I press her, she starts to cry, and says she promised. Says she swore never to tell anyone. But it's the tears that get me. She almost always bursts into tears…she cried a lot that first day.” Nick's eyes dropped, his jaw working. “I never saw my mom cry before, and it shook me—bad. I was in a rage”—he smiled deprecatingly—“as only a sixteen-year-old-almost-a-man can be. Not at her,” he added quickly, “never at her, but I resented the situation, and I was furious that they'd kept the truth from me. I was furious that they'd allowed me to find out in such a manner.”
Shelly shook her head. “Knowing Oak Valley, you'd have thought that they'd have realized that someone was bound to put two and two together eventually. They should have told you—it was cruel and thoughtless not to. They had to know that you would find out sooner or later. Surely they didn't think you'd never find out?”
Nick shrugged. “Don't ask me. Mom keeps her mouth shut, just saying that your family was kind to her and that they supported her when she needed help. It's obvious she never expected more than what she got, and she was satisfied with it—that's the part that eats at my gut.” The expression in his eyes hardened. “Your mother gave Mom money and paid for her to go back to Mexico…and stay there.”
Shelly made a face. “Sounds like Mother. She really took her position in the valley to heart. She
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