Chapter 641: In The Stands
Saturday, March 11th, Afternoon
Chase took her seat roughly next to Huck. Huck looked at his wife, then Brooke, and finally at Buck. Brooke shrugged, and Huck gave Buck a look to stay out of it. Huck took his bride's shaking hand and rubbed it.
Huck knew better and waited for Chase. If he pushed her, she'd snap at him. It was always better for Chase to process than she'd talk about it. How long it would take Chase to talk about anything was unknown; there are things Huck is still waiting for Chase to talk about.
"I'm not sure I like Grant," Chase said softly.
"Why?" Huck asked, not sure to be shocked or ready to kick ass.
"He said I reminded him of him," Chase said.
"Now, I'm the one that's supposed to say confusing things," Huck said.
"I'm not in the mood," Chase said dryly.
"Who compared you to who?" Huck asked.
"Grant said I reminded him of HIM," Chase said.
"Which HIM?" Huck asked.
"He who shall not be named," Chase said.
"Voldemort?" Huck asked.
"No, asshole," Chase snapped.
Huck held Chase's hand in both of his. Chase was physically the tallest and most athletic of her sisters, but Chase's hand was still tiny compared to Huck's bear paws. Huck felt her hand shake, still, but she was calming down.
Huck looked at his wife and looked deeply into her eyes, showing hurt, anger, and this emotion that Huck could only describe as a lost child.
Chase was a genetic outlier in her family. Though you could tell she was related to Izzy, Trin, and Keni, she could never be confused for one of them; that was Trin, and Izzy people would do that too. Height-wise, Chase was only about five or six inches shorter than her brother Tucker. Izzy and Keni were short, and Trin was just above average in height. In summary, Chase looked like her dad more than her two sisters, who shared that dad did.
"I don't think Grant knows," Huck said.
"Fallon could have told him," Chase said.
"Fallon? You said it yourself; she played her games with him," Huck said.
"Still, she should have warned him or me," Chase said.
"That you have daddy issues?" Huck asked.
"Not funny, James, and for your information, most women have daddy issues," Chase said.
"Don't I know it," Huck said.
"How do you know that?" Chase asked.
"I've been on a few interesting rescues; you learn that people will do almost anything with anything," Huck said.
"Okay, but what do I do?" Chase asked.
"Confront your daemons, and don't blame Grant. I have a feeling he might stick around," Huck said.
"Yeah, one of those will happen when hell freezes over," Chase said.
"Never say, never again," Huck said.
"Funny," Chase said.
"The third quarter is about to start," Buck said.
"Thank you," Huck said and turned back to Chase, "The other stubborn redhead in your life is about to start playing again."
"If she wasn't the only other redhead I had to deal with," Chase said.
Huck chuckled and looked to the court. Chase handed him a water bottle. Huck nodded, the meltdown was avoided, but the issue wasn't dealt with, he reflected. That was Chase's stubbornness; she needed to face her daemons but often refused to. So, this was going to happen again.
Watching the game, Huck opened his water bottle. Chase was happily and peacefully enjoying her lunch. Huck studied his wife's profile and noticed his daughter PJ had the same or at least a similar facial profile. PJ always reminded Huck of Chase; he wondered if the only thing he gave her were the freckles on her nose. Maybe, his height would translate into PJ, but it was too early to tell.
Huck focused on the game; Northwest Guilford started the half with the ball. They were still playing ball control, but they were trying to keep the ball out of Tree Hill's hands. Huck noticed Brett was talking with the girl guarding her. The body language of the Northwest Guilford player wasn't good.
"Careful, Brett, read your player," Huck said.
"What do you say that?" Chase asked.
"She's talking to her defender," Huck said.
"Brett always does that," Chase said.
"Yeah, but the defensive player isn't liking it," Huck said.
"Well, hopefully, nothing happens from it," Chase said.
"Yeah, hopefully," Huck said.
As Huck finished his statement, the ball broke toward the Northwest Guilford player Brett was guarding. Brett, the ball hawker she was, timed her move, knocked the ball aside, twisted away from Tennent, secured the ball, and turned up the court. Brett turned on the jets and raced down the court for the basket.
Huck watches Brett race down the court like a gazelle. Tennent turned up the court and chased after Brett; Huck wondered if Brett was going for the layup or the dunk. He had seen her do it a few times on the old hoop in their outbuilding. Lucas discouraged stuff like that, but once just once, Huck wanted his daughter to do a Diesel Power slam dunk.
Brett made her final approaches, adjusted, and was in the air. Tennent was up at night behind Brett. Tennent didn't even try to make it look like she was going for the ball. It was classic Jordan Rules Stuff.
The ball finger rolled in for Tree Hill's first points in the second half. Brett didn't see it as she came down like a lead balloon. The two young women impacted the floor. Brett was on the bottom.
The referee blew the foul on Tennent. The Northwest Guilford player shot up and started arguing with the referee. Baylee was the next player to arrive, saw the argument, then turned to see Brett still on the hardwood, a small red puddle forming by her. Baylee signaled for the trainer.
In the stands, Huck's face went white. Chase's hands went to her mouth in shock.
"My god!" Chase said.
Huck nodded in shock.
"What happened to her?" Chase asked.
"I don't know," Huck said.
"Norte Dame? College? Basketball?" Chase asked.
"I don't know," Huck said as he watched the trainer and coaches come onto the court around his oldest daughter.