No. Not here. Not with my boys.
I put my hand on the small of her back. Light pressure. Steady.I've got you.
"This is Jessica. She's handling team admin. Schedules, equipment, travel. You have questions about that stuff, you talk to her. Not me."
Silence.
Then Connor, because of course it's Connor: "You're the raccoon lady."
Jessica goes rigid under my palm.
"The one who called in every deputy in the county for a trash panda. My mom told me."
I open my mouth to shut him down, but Jessica beats me to it.
"In my defense, it was a very aggressive raccoon."
Connor grins. "My uncle got bit by one once. Had to get rabies shots. In his stomach."
"That's horrifying."
"He deserved it. He was trying to pet it."
"Why would anyone try to pet a raccoon?"
"He was drunk."
"That explains nothing and everything at the same time."
The tension breaks. Boys start laughing. Tyler snorts so hard water comes out of his nose. Even stoic Danny cracks a smile.
Jessica's shoulders relax under my hand. She steps away from my touch—I feel the loss immediately—and moves toward the benches.
"Okay, show of hands. Who else has cracked a helmet this season besides Marcus?"
Three hands go up.
"Who's still using equipment from last year that probably doesn't fit anymore because you've grown four inches?"
Five more hands.
"Who's been hiding gear issues because they didn't want to bother Coach?"
Every hand in the room.
She looks at me, eyebrow raised. "We have some work to do."
I should be annoyed. Should be defensive. She just exposed problems I should have caught months ago.
Instead I'm fighting a smile.
"Get started after practice. I want a full report."
"You'll have it."
She says it like a promise. Like a challenge. Like she's daring me to doubt her.
I don't. Not for a second.
