The phone on Marsh’s desk rang before any of the kids entered for their first class of the day. He grabbed it, his mind half on the basketball practice and upcoming tryouts. “Hello.”
“Marshall Willmore?” a man’s voice asked in a clipped tone.
“Yes.” The voice seemed a little familiar, but Marsh couldn’t place it. “Can I help you with something?”
“This is Ed Locke. I want to know what you think you’re doing kicking my son off the team like that. Those drug tests must have been tampered with. No way was my son doing drugs.”
Craig’s father. Marsh rubbed his eyes. He had barely slept the night before, thinking about the decision he’d had to make, the struggle still ahead. “If you have a question about the drug tests, you’ll have to contact the school board as they hired a professional service to conduct them. All I know is the results came back showing drugs in his system. According to the contract I had all of the boys sign at the first of the season, Craig understood that he’d be kicked off of the team if he used any controlled substances. Trust me, the last thing I wanted to do yesterday was follow through.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have kicked him off. How’s he supposed to play college ball now? Do you know how expensive college is going to be without that scholarship? And you don’t even care!” The man’s voice rose in volume with every sentence.
Marsh tipped his head back in frustration. “I’m sorry, Mr. Locke. Really. But my hands are tied. If you have questions about the test results, you’ll have to take them to the school board.” He looked up as students started to trickle into the room and glanced at the clock in relief. “I’m sorry. I really have to go now. Class is about to start. Good luck with your discussion with the superintendent.” He hung up and let out a long breath. So it had started. He’d have expected to receive a phone call or visit the previous day. Maybe that meant Mr. Locke was the only angry parent. Marsh doubted it but decided to hope for the best.
***
Marsh studied the current varsity and JV players along with the new boys who were trying out for the open spots on the teams. There was a new student in the group, Ryan, and it had only taken ten minutes into the first practice for Marsh to start thinking about where he’d fit best. Ryan had moved into the area after the original round of tryouts were already past, but he obviously had training.
Marsh’s mind drifted to the spate of phone calls he’d received in the past two days, including one from Alana Jenkins, a local newspaper reporter. He’d deferred to the superintendent and principal’s public announcements and kept his mouth closed. Now he thought he understood why the coach he’d seen on TV had seemed wishy-washy.
Coming back to the moment, he called out encouragement to one of the JV players who struggled to hit shots from the top of the key. Marsh walked over to pull the boy aside for some one-on-one training. The JV coach was on the other side of the gym working with the guys trying out for the teams.
After Marsh sent the boy back to the group, Rex walked over and stood beside him.
“Our chances at a state title really are sunk,” Rex said. He pushed his hands deep in his pockets, watching the boys go through their drills.
Massive understatement. “I’ve seen teams come out of pretty bad odds to win. Let’s just focus on one game at a time.” Optimism was the word of the week, so even though Marsh agreed, he wasn’t going to dwell on it.
“Those boys getting caught has ruined everything. This isn’t a movie, you know. We have to be honest.”
Marsh felt his jaw twitch, but fought to keep his voice even and his face impassive. “I honestly don’t know what these boys are capable of if they put their minds to it and work hard. That’s all we can ask.” He called out a correction to Chris and moved that direction to escape the conversation.
***
Karissa’s cell phone rang while her hands were deep in a sink of hot, soapy water. She pulled them out and wiped off on the drying cloth, then grabbed her phone, grimacing a little when she saw Dennis’s number on the Caller ID. It might not be a big deal. He may just be calling to make arrangements for their son’s visit the next day.
“Hello.” She tried to keep her voice friendly and upbeat.
“Hey, Karissa. I’m calling to say that Sheryl has gone into labor, so we won’t be able to take Paul this weekend.” He sounded a little harried and she could hear other people’s voices in the background, along with the beeping of machines.
“All right. I’ll let him know. I know he’s excited about the baby.”
“That makes three of us. I can hardly believe she’s almost here. Anyway, I gotta go, but tell Paul I love him and I’ll call when his little sister’s here.” He hung up.
Karissa swallowed hard at the anticipation in his voice. He hadn’t wanted any more children, had put her off for years, but now that he was with his new little woman, he could hardly wait, he was so excited.
She sucked in a breath and shoved the phone back in her pocket, then plunged her hands back in the hot water to finish up the serving bowls she hadn’t gotten to after lunch. When hot tears began to fall down her cheeks, she brushed them against her shoulders and kept going.
By the time the dishes were washed, dried, and put away, Karissa was back under control, but she needed to get out. She had a strong pull to talk to Marsh and no desire to fight it.
After checking her makeup, she went downstairs and smiled at her mom. “I thought maybe I’d run into town and do some shopping and maybe grab dinner.” She dug into her purse checking for her debit card and keys.
“Alone?” her mom’s voice was full of questions.
“Unless I find someone to eat with.” Karissa looked up to see her mother’s cocked eyebrow. “Dinner’s in the crock pot. Do you mind?”
“Taking care of Paul? No. That’s fine. What’s going on?” She touched Karissa’s cheek, studying her face. “You’re upset about something.”
Obviously she hadn’t eliminated all of the signs of tears. “Nothing, really.”
Paul ran into the room, zooming his toy airplane through the air. “Hi, mom. Want to go to Disneyland with me? Dad says he’s gonna take me when my baby gets big like me.”
Karissa clenched her jaw for a few seconds, then pushed the emotions back, not wanting to give into the tears again. Why did she care what Dennis said or did? It didn’t affect her if he had another child—not as long as things were fine with him and Paul. Still, she felt terrible.
She sat on a nearby chair so she was at his level and pulled him close. “Hey, I talked to your dad a little while ago. Sheryl’s going to have the baby tonight, so you’ll have to wait to go visit them.”
“But I want to see my baby!” Shock filled his face.
“I know, honey, but Sheryl and the baby will be in the hospital for the whole weekend, and the doctors probably won’t let you go inside.” She didn’t actually know if that was true, but it was kinder than to say that his dad didn’t want to hassle with him when he had a new child to dote over. She told herself to cut out the pessimism. Some women took more than twenty-four hours in labor. If Dennis stayed for all of it, he’d be exhausted, and dealing with a kindergartener in that condition wouldn’t be fun.
“Why not? I’m good. I won’t touch anything if they don’t want me to.”
“I know, honey. I promise I’ll take you to see your new baby before Christmas, okay? I promise.” She would probably regret it, but when she saw her son’s tears start to rise, she knew she had to stop them before she lost it again as well—though for a totally different reason. “And then the baby will be happier and you’ll get to spend more time with her.”
Paul frowned, still drooping a little from having his excitement put on hold. “Okay.”
That was the best she could do. “Hey, honey, I’m going to go run some errands. Be good for Grandma and Grandpa, okay?”
“Can I go with you?” he asked, brightening.
“Not this time, sweetie.” Karissa kissed his pouting face and turned away when he whined about how he never got to do anything fun.
Beth’s eyes held understanding. “Go. Enjoy dinner. Tell Marsh hello for us.” Her lips quirked.
Karissa decided to take the advice and run. She grabbed her coat and called a goodbye over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.
***
Karissa stood in the doorway to the gym and watched the coaches put the boys through their paces. Though she tried to spend equal time on everyone, her gaze kept gravitating back toward Marsh. He looked stressed out; she could see it in the way he held his shoulders, his hands on his hips, and the tightness around his mouth. However, when he called out to the boys, he managed to sound encouraging in his corrections instead of harsh.
He loped across the floor to one of the boys, his muscles strong and supple, making her bite her bottom lip in appreciation. His voice was loud enough that she could hear his tone, which was patient and understanding, though she couldn’t hear the words.
The kid nodded and Marsh patted him on the shoulder. He glanced at his watch and then blew his whistle. “All right, that’s it for the day. Hit the showers.” Rex nudged him and said something in a low voice. Marsh glanced at a large clear bag holding something red in it. “Oh, and we had water bottles donated to us from Lone Tree Engineering. Come get one.” He grabbed the bag.
The boys drooped in relief, collecting the balls and tossing them in the bag with the others on their way to the dressing rooms. They filed past Marsh taking the plastic refillable bottles. A few looked Karissa’s way but didn’t say anything, until finally one blond boy grinned and tossed over his shoulder to Marsh, “Hey, Coach Willmore, your girlfriend’s here.”
Marsh’s head shot around to where Karissa stood. She forced a cocky smile, though she was suddenly very self-conscious with the speculative gazes shooting her way. A big grin spread on Marsh’s face and, water bottle bag now empty, he tossed it in the garbage before crossing the room to her, tucking a clipboard under his arm.
“Hey,” he greeted when he got close enough to talk in normal tones. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I was out running errands.” And followed the impulse to stop by to see him? That sounded idiotic now that she thought about putting it into words. “I wondered if you could eat.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I could eat. Is Paul hanging around here somewhere?”
“Nope. He’s at home.”
His smile deepened. “Then how about if we order something to go and eat at my place?”
Her mouth went dry. “That sounds good.” She glanced over and saw the other coaches watching with interest. “You probably have a few things to take care of first.”
“Yeah. Can you wait a few minutes?”
“How about if I grab dinner and meet you at your place?” she suggested instead. “Take as much time as you need to.” She shifted toward the door, wishing she’d called instead of making a spectacle of herself. It always made her uncomfortable to be the focus of attention.
He winked at her before turning back to the other men.
Karissa caught the speculative look in the eyes of the assistant coach and hurried out of the building.
She picked up a couple orders of chicken enchiladas with sides of beans and rice, and two empanadas at a local Mexican restaurant, then headed for Marsh’s home. She waited in her car for only a few minutes before he pulled up beside her, getting out of his truck and coming around to open her door.
He waited for her to gather the bag of food and get out. “Hey, beautiful. You didn’t say what was up. To what do I owe the pleasure of dinner with you?” As soon as the door shut behind her, Marsh slid his hands around her waist and pulled her in for a lingering kiss.
“That, right there,” she said when he shifted away. “That’s why I came here tonight.”
“In that case,” he leaned over, reaching for her again, but she slid out of reach.
“Dinner. I’m starving,” she said. “Aren’t you starving?”
“Yeah.” He opened the gate for her and followed her up the sidewalk to his house.
“But seriously,” he continued, “it’s not like you to leave your son with your parents again so soon. Especially when he’s going to be in Boulder this weekend.”
“He’s not.” Her throat tightened with tears, and she forced herself to push the emotion back, at least enough that she wouldn’t start crying again. Seriously, how stupid was she?
He slid his key into the door lock. “Something come up?”
“The baby, apparently. They’re at the hospital now. You know how it is. It could take most of tomorrow, and then they’ll still be in the hospital. It’s not like I wasn’t prepared for this to happen.”
“Right.” He let her lead the way into the house, shutting the door behind them, then took the plastic bag of food and her purse away, setting them on the end table. Marsh pulled her into his arms, not even trying to kiss her, just holding her close. “Is it hard for you, watching him make a happy family without you?”
She wanted to lie and say no, but she didn’t. “Yeah. It’s stupid. I know that I’m better off without him, and you’ve been nothing but good to me. So great all the way around, and I love Paul more than anything, so I have no reason to be upset.” But she was upset, and that bothered her. She didn’t want Dennis’s actions to be able to hurt her anymore.
“I’m going to try not to be jealous that you still care about him.” His voice held a tinge of amusement.
Karissa didn’t buy that he wasn’t bothered by all of this. She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “You scare me.”
“Why?”
She was terrified to say it but decided to push forward. She was shooting for honesty, right? “I think I might be falling in love with you. After what I’ve been through, that’s scary.”
It was a good thing she didn’t have anything else to say, because his kiss would have cut her off anyway.
“I love you so much, Karissa,” he said between kisses. “So much.”
This time when the tears rose, they were filled with joy.