"I'm sorry," said Carrie. "Did I interrupt something?"

Jesse stared after Annika. He wanted to run after her. To ask her to sit and talk to him. To let him explain. But he didn't. Instead he watched her frame grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared around the side of a building.

"It's fine. Come on, let's find some lunch."

They walked in silence back to the awaiting Land Rover and Jesse jumped in the passenger side. He stared out the window as they pulled away from the school.

"What do you feel like eating?" Carrie asked.

"Anything."

"Okay, cow tongue it is." Jesse looked over at her. "So you are paying attention. You want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"About why you've seen Annika twice in the last week and both times you've parted in silent contemplation, which looks a little like brooding and regret."

Jesse snorted. "You are going to make a great psychologist." It'd been a long time since he'd talked about Annika to anyone. "Annika and I used to... be engaged."

"What? Jesse Winchester engaged? She must have been special."

"She was more than special. She was the one." Was still the one.

"Wait. That's her? That's the college girl? Man, I should have put that together sooner."

Jesse raked his hands through his hair. "I was an idiot."

"Sounds plausible."

"Seriously? Kick me in the nuts much?"

Carrie pulled the car into a drive thru. "Please, after what I've been through I can attest to the fact that football players can be just that. Players. They can also be jerks. And self-absorbed, conceited, frivolous-"

"All right, you can stop describing me now."

She laughed.

"But I'm not that guy. You know that."

"You aren't now, but three years ago..." Carrie's words trailed off as she rolled down her window and ordered for both of them. "I'll admit it. You've changed a lot since I first met you. It's why I agreed to come here with you. Well, that and your offer for free tuition so I could finish my degree."

"Ah, see, you're as bad as the rest of them. Using me to get ahead."

She batted her lashes at him. "At least I was up front about it."

Jesse chuckled. "Why is it we couldn't make things work between us?"

"Because you've always been in love with someone else. And now that I've seen you two together, I'd never have stood a chance at comparing to her. Smart. Gorgeous. Kickass."

Carrie paid and handed Jesse his large bag of food. It was true. Every relationship he'd ever been in had been tainted by his lingering feelings for Annika. One way or another his comparing of other women to her had been the end of every possible new beginning.

It sucked that he couldn't pull his crap together enough to tell Annika that. But there was time. He had all the time in the world now to win her back. Or so he hoped.

Friday rolled around and Jesse wrestled with his nerves as he stood back stage of Chapman Elementary School getting ready to speak to the students about the importance of staying in school and doing well. It was a ridiculous topic considering he hadn't finished college himself, but hey, he'd had to speak on worse topics before than that.

He took several short breaths and jumped up and down a few times as the principal finished introducing him. It was ridiculous to be that nervous about speaking to a bunch of first, second and third graders. It was the fourth through sixth graders he should worry about.

The clapping started and Jesse rubbed his knee before ambling out on the stage and shaking the principal's hand.

"Hey everyone!" he yelled as enthusiastically as possible. "How are you today?"

The kids answered with a resounding, "Good."

"That's great." He peered out at the tiny faces and the faces of the teachers and staff. "Well, I want to tell you that I am kinda nervous standing up here. Have you ever had to stand in front of the class and do a report?"

There were many nodding heads.

"Just imagine you had to do that in front of as many kids as are in this room."

There were murmurs from the audience.

"So, tell me by raising you hand, how many of you recognize who I am?"

Half the hands shot into the air. Okay, not as many as he thought but then they were young.

"How many of you like football?"

Almost all the hands shot up.

"I was a football player in the NFL until last year."

"What happened?" someone called out.

"I got hurt. Injured my knee pretty bad and now I can't play anymore."

A hand shot into the air.

Jesse pointed at the little boy. "What's up, chief?"

The small blond-haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "My mom says that you could play again if you wanted it but you don't want to put in the work to make it happen."

Jesse cleared his throat as the boy's words punched him in the gut.

Several of the kids laughed.

"Well, does your mom understand what happened to my knee?"

"Yeah. She said she also knows you and that's why she knows you could do it if you wanted to."

Jesse laughed like he used to, unsure of what to say.

"Well, I'm not sure I've met your mom, but what I can tell you is my injury is extensive. And yes, there is a lot of work involved in getting my knee back where it needs to be. And even if I did the work there's no guarantee I would be able to play again. But you know what is a guarantee? Education. Education is important because..."

Jesse spent the next twenty minutes talking to the kids about how important staying in school was. But every once in a while he found his gaze traveling back to the little boy in glasses and wondering who he was.

In the end he lead a Q&A letting the kids ask him anything they wanted. He got questions from: what it was like to play in front of thousands of people, to who his favorite player was. By the time the assembly ended he felt like tough ESPN reporters had grilled him.

He walked off the stage and the vice principal handed him a bottle of water.

"That was just great."

Jesse gulped the water. "Who was that kid with the glasses?"

A grin passed across the vice principal's face. "Oh, that was TJ Marshall. Sweet kid but he has no real filter."

"And who's his mom?"

"That would be Annika Marshall."

Of course. Jesse peeked through the curtain to the kids filing out of the cafeteria.

"Do you know her?"

Jesse snorted. "Sure do."

"I read her latest book. Heartbreaking."

Jesse chugged his water without even listening. "Uh-huh."

TJ's words sounded just like something Annika would say. He wondered what sort of things the older students would say to him. Or if Annika had any other kids who wanted to tell him what they thought. A parade of voices floated through the cafeteria. His next public execution squad was arriving.

An hour later Jesse walked out the front of the school to find a row of parent cars already lined up waiting. He spotted the person he was looking for and stopped along side a red Prius. He tapped on the window and Annika's head whipped. He gave her a small wave and she rolled down the window.

"Hi."

She pushed her hair behind her ear and dropped her phone to her lap. "What are you doing here?"

"I was talking to the kids about staying in school."

She nodded and smiled. "Ah. You were the big surprise they told the kids about."

"Well, I'm not sure I was much of a surprise. Half the kids didn't even know who I was."

"That must have been different."

He studied her for a moment, but there was no judgment in her words. "Relief would be a better word."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you loved the limelight."

"Used to. Back when I was young and cocky, and stupid."

"And you aren't those things anymore?" She laughed.

Was that an invitation to share or a jibe? He couldn't tell. "Why don't you let me take you out and you can find out for yourself."

TJ stopped beside him. "It's you."

Jesse looked at the cute blond kid with glasses. "And it's you as well."

The boy jumped into the back of the car and put on his seatbelt. "He talked to us about staying in school mom. I told him you said he wasn’t going back to football because he didn’t want to put in the hard work to get back where he was before."

Annika's cheeks flushed and she cleared her throat. "No... Uh- What I meant was-"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you meant." Jesse smiled. "When he told me I practically heard it coming from your lips."

She dropped her gaze and licked her lips. He'd always loved it when she got flustered. Mostly because she wasn't one who flustered easily.

"He talked to us about staying in school mom." TJ turned to Jesse. "It’s kind of ironic when you think about it because you didn’t finish college did you? So that’s two things you quit. The school must be pretty desperate for good role models this year." TJ pushed his large glasses up his nose.

Jesse coughed. "Actually, I didn’t finish college you are correct. But I'm trying to remedy that now. Never too late to finish school."

TJ leaned over the seat and held out his hand. "Todd James Marshall. But everyone calls me TJ."

Jesse shook his hand. "Nice to officially meet you Todd James Marshall. I’m Jesse Winchester."

"Yeah, I kinda got that." TJ chuckled.

He waited until Annika met his eye again. "I was just telling your mom that I’d love to take you both to the tree lighting ceremony."

TJ looked at Annika eagerly. "Wow, Mom, can we? Please? We haven’t been since-"

Her eyes rounded like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uhm... I’ll think about it. But right now I have to get you to your dad for the night." She turned the car over as Jesse backed out of the window.

"That wasn't a no."

"That wasn't a yes, either," Annika called.

"TJ, talk to your mom about it and if she says yes, I'll see you both at Showtunes tomorrow night at six. If she says no-" He leaned to the back window and whispered, "Sneak out and we'll go just the two of us."

"Jesse!" Annika stared at him.

"I was kidding. Kidding." He laughed and she shook her head.

"I'm not kidding." He mouthed to TJ.

TJ pushed his glasses up his nose and gave him a thumbs-up.

Annika put the car in gear and Jesse quickly reached in his pocket and pulled out one of his cards and tossed it to TJ. The little boy smiled.

Jesse watched as they drove away from the school. With TJ on his side he might stand a chance with Annika. The idea gave him hope.

"Mr. Winchester?"

Jesse turned to a large group of moms standing with their kids.

"Uh... Hello."

"Can we take pictures with you?"

The women mobbed him, all speaking at once and pulling out their phones while snapping photos. Unsure of what to say his heart pounded as he fell into his public persona and smiled and signed books, papers, and even a pair of snow boots.