grab a sweatshirt from the pile of clean clothes on the wicker chair sitting in the corner of her room.
~~~
Derrick decided they couldn’t have picked a nicer day to visit the park. Chelsey was a character with her wide smile and enthusiastic spirit. Sandy, on the other hand, was proving to be a hard nut to crack. No matter how charming he was, she would not cave.
As Sandy and Chelsey passed out coupons to people so they could receive a discount on the Food For All magazine along with free samples of the chili, Derrick made small talk with strangers and signed autographs. A woman and her son walked his way. Derrick bent down on one knee so he could talk to the boy. “What’s your name?”
The kid blushed and handed him a jagged piece of paper ripped from a magazine. “Eddie.”
“How old are you, Eddie?”
“Eight.”
“Do you like to play football?”
He shook his head. “Mom says I can’t. I’m too thin. She thinks the other guys will break my bones.”
“Do you have a football at home?”
He shook his head again.
Derrick signed the piece of paper “Hollywood” and then scrawled his e-mail address beneath his signature. “E-mail me your address and I’ll send you a football. It won’t hurt you to practice throwing to your friends.”
The kid smiled and then looked over his shoulder at his mom to make sure it was okay. She nodded, prompting Eddie to take the slip of paper and run back to her with an energetic hop in his step.
An elderly woman had been waiting patiently for him to sign a coupon Sandy had given her for next month’s issue of Food For All . He signed it and then hooked his arm around the woman’s shoulders as her husband took a picture of the two of them. The couple then reversed positions and took another picture. After they walked away, he glanced at his watch. “It’s three o’clock,” he told Sandy and Chelsey as they passed out the last of the chili and coupons. “I should head back before Jill wakes up and finds the place empty.”
“Jill is going to love what we’ve done here,” Chelsey told him. “Thanks to you we passed out more than 250 twenty-percent-off coupons for next month’s issue. We also got the thumbs up from every person who tried the chili.”
“I must admit,” Sandy said. “This was a great idea. No offense, Derrick, but I had no idea so many people would go out of their way to meet a football player. Jill will be very pleased.”
“No offense taken,” he said.
Derrick leaned over the stroller to check on Ryan. After having everyone fawn over him for the past two hours, the little guy was worn out. The temperature hovered around the low eighties and high seventies—a perfect day for an outing with his son.
When Sandy and Chelsey had mentioned that they were going to pass out chili along with discount coupons at the mall, he’d suggested they keep it simple and take the chili and coupons to the park. So that’s what they did and it hadn’t taken long for word of mouth to get out that a pro football player was passing out free chili and taking pictures.
“You have some gall taking my baby without asking me.”
Derrick turned to the sound of Jill’s angry voice.
Chelsey put a hand on Jill’s shoulder. “This was my idea,” she said, trying to take any blame off of Derrick. “And you won’t be angry once you see what he’s done for the magazine. Hundreds of people found out that Hollywood was in town and they came by in droves—all from word of mouth. Once they heard that a celebrity was at the park handing out free chili and autographs, people streamed in and just kept coming. It was fascinating to watch.”
Derrick could see it coming, but poor Chelsey had yet to see the power of a woman’s hormones after having a baby. Unfortunately Chelsey was about to see the full effects first hand.
Jill pivoted so she was face-to-face with Chelsey, their noses inches apart. “Since this was your idea,” she said, “you’re
~~~
Derrick decided they couldn’t have picked a nicer day to visit the park. Chelsey was a character with her wide smile and enthusiastic spirit. Sandy, on the other hand, was proving to be a hard nut to crack. No matter how charming he was, she would not cave.
As Sandy and Chelsey passed out coupons to people so they could receive a discount on the Food For All magazine along with free samples of the chili, Derrick made small talk with strangers and signed autographs. A woman and her son walked his way. Derrick bent down on one knee so he could talk to the boy. “What’s your name?”
The kid blushed and handed him a jagged piece of paper ripped from a magazine. “Eddie.”
“How old are you, Eddie?”
“Eight.”
“Do you like to play football?”
He shook his head. “Mom says I can’t. I’m too thin. She thinks the other guys will break my bones.”
“Do you have a football at home?”
He shook his head again.
Derrick signed the piece of paper “Hollywood” and then scrawled his e-mail address beneath his signature. “E-mail me your address and I’ll send you a football. It won’t hurt you to practice throwing to your friends.”
The kid smiled and then looked over his shoulder at his mom to make sure it was okay. She nodded, prompting Eddie to take the slip of paper and run back to her with an energetic hop in his step.
An elderly woman had been waiting patiently for him to sign a coupon Sandy had given her for next month’s issue of Food For All . He signed it and then hooked his arm around the woman’s shoulders as her husband took a picture of the two of them. The couple then reversed positions and took another picture. After they walked away, he glanced at his watch. “It’s three o’clock,” he told Sandy and Chelsey as they passed out the last of the chili and coupons. “I should head back before Jill wakes up and finds the place empty.”
“Jill is going to love what we’ve done here,” Chelsey told him. “Thanks to you we passed out more than 250 twenty-percent-off coupons for next month’s issue. We also got the thumbs up from every person who tried the chili.”
“I must admit,” Sandy said. “This was a great idea. No offense, Derrick, but I had no idea so many people would go out of their way to meet a football player. Jill will be very pleased.”
“No offense taken,” he said.
Derrick leaned over the stroller to check on Ryan. After having everyone fawn over him for the past two hours, the little guy was worn out. The temperature hovered around the low eighties and high seventies—a perfect day for an outing with his son.
When Sandy and Chelsey had mentioned that they were going to pass out chili along with discount coupons at the mall, he’d suggested they keep it simple and take the chili and coupons to the park. So that’s what they did and it hadn’t taken long for word of mouth to get out that a pro football player was passing out free chili and taking pictures.
“You have some gall taking my baby without asking me.”
Derrick turned to the sound of Jill’s angry voice.
Chelsey put a hand on Jill’s shoulder. “This was my idea,” she said, trying to take any blame off of Derrick. “And you won’t be angry once you see what he’s done for the magazine. Hundreds of people found out that Hollywood was in town and they came by in droves—all from word of mouth. Once they heard that a celebrity was at the park handing out free chili and autographs, people streamed in and just kept coming. It was fascinating to watch.”
Derrick could see it coming, but poor Chelsey had yet to see the power of a woman’s hormones after having a baby. Unfortunately Chelsey was about to see the full effects first hand.
Jill pivoted so she was face-to-face with Chelsey, their noses inches apart. “Since this was your idea,” she said, “you’re
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