Mary was charmed. “It’s nice to meet you.” She still didn’t know what the surprise was.
“Ridge and I were in the same unit in Afghanistan. One of the best poker players I consistently beat.”
“Then why do you still owe me fifty bucks?” Ridge asked.
“You know I’m good for it!” Jake said.
“You two ready?” Ridge asked, leading the way onto the field.
Mary knew this was a big deal. Her brother Frankie was mad about sports and had texted her to explain just how cool it was to go to Lambeau Field. The crowd was cheering, the Cheeseheads were going crazy.
And that’s when Mary decided to go for her big reveal. She slipped her hand from Jake’s grasp and whipped off her Packers sweatshirt to reveal an old Packers’ Aaron Rodgers jersey.
The atmosphere changed immediately. People on the field backed away from her, and the crowd started booing.
“Mary! What in the hell are you doing?” Jake cried.
“What? I thought you all love him!” she cried.
“Loved! Past tense! We hate him now.”
“But he won you a Super Bowl.”
“It’s a long story. But he’s dead to us.”
“I had no idea!” Mary scrambled to put her sweatshirt back on, feeling terrible about ruining the moment for Jake. The boos from the Cheeseheads continued to rain down.
Jake caught Ridge’s attention and led Mary back to safety.
“I’m so sorry. I thought it would be fun. Or at least funny!” she said.
“It was actually the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” Jake and Ridge were laughing, and she was coming down off the embarrassment.
“Come here.” Jake wrapped Mary in a hug. “I know you know a lot about football. But you have some things to learn about Green Bay!”
“Maybe you can teach me more about it,” she suggested.
“Next time, you’ll know everything you need to know.”
She liked the sound of that—next time.
MEANWHILE, TOMMY ANDHarper returned from a halftime run up to the concession stand. They’d brought back bags of cheddar popcorn for everyone.
Tommy tore one open and offered some to Harper. She grabbed his hand and kissed him.
“Get a room!” someone behind them yelled. “We’re trying to watch the game here!”
Harper’s face reddened as she pulled back from Tommy. He held up a hand in apology, and they sat down to watch the rest of the game.
IN THE END,the Packers beat the Lions, and eighty thousand fans were in a great mood.
“What happens when they lose?” Harper asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Tommy said.
Before they left their seats, Dot asked a fan behind her to take a group shot of them. Then she posted it to her story and tagged Harper and Mary. #Packers #WisconsinLife #FriendsForever
“This was a great day,” she said to Danny as they got in the car for the drive home.