“See, she’s blushing because she knows he’s a fine, fine man.” Miri laughed and reached for my hand.
“Have you ever seen a picture of him in his younger days?” Edith tapped on her phone and turned it to show everyone. I leaned in closer to take a good look, and Miri was right: Weston was definitely good looking.
“Ah, you’re interested,” Edith said as she took her phone back.
“He’s been a good coach,” I pointed out. “Cutter needs that right now.”
“Well, I heard from Jerome that Weston has eyes for someone,” Samira said.
“See,” I said to Miri as I pointed toward Samira. “He likes someone, so whatever you’ve conjured up in that mind of yours is wrong.”
Miri laughed. “I still think it’s you,” she said and then proceeded to tell the women about him coming over to the house on more than one occasion, when he’d never been over before, other than to pick up or drop Cutter off.
I lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes and had never been more thankful for work interruptions. Having the four of them, three of whom I barely knew, discuss my love life as if I weren’t in the room was a bit unnerving. You could easily tell they were all out of the dating game. Weston was being neighborly and hadn’t once put it out there that he was interested in me.
Not that I was looking. A week ago, I had a boyfriend. Weston wasn’t even on my radar, and I had no intention of putting him there, despite Miri’s insistence. This would have to be one of those deathbed requests I’d ignore.
The ladies left when Miri started to fall asleep. We hugged in the hallway, and I thanked them for coming. They each volunteered to bring dinner for us while Miri was in the hospital, but I assured them we were fine since my mother was in town.
While she slept, I did more work and received a reply from Brendan’s father to the email I’d sent, assuring me my job was safe, which was a relief. I still had to figure out what the kids and I were going to do.
Cutter wanted to stay in Grove Hill, which I didn’t fault him for. His friends, his teams, and his life were there. My job was in Boston, and working remotely was only going to last for so long. It wasn’t like my job could be in Grove Hill, and it was sort of late to start a new career.
As I looked at Miri, sleeping in the bed with a machine feeding her drugs to try—and do what, prolong the inevitable?—I didn’t know what to do. Staying here was right for the kids, and I’d promised to make them my priority.
Chapter 23
Weston
I stood a few feet from the boys, with the ball on my hip and my wrist draped over it. They were on the baseline, bent over and sucking air after running the snake. This was part of our conditioning and not a punishment, as many might think. Anytime they had to run, it was as if their lives were over. Teenagers were dramatic.
“Tomorrow is our last regular season game,” I told them. “We’ll have our normal warm-up, and then we’ll stop the clock with three minutes to go and have our Senior Day celebration. Each senior will have their name called, and your parents will meet you at half-court for photos. Once we’re done, we’ll put another five minutes on the clock and warm up. Any questions?”
The boys all mumbled a no. I paced a bit, increasing the anticipation of me blowing my whistle. When I did, they turned and sprinted. Coach Levy timed them with the scoreboard clock so the boys would know their times. Normally, each boy would run individually, but I’d put the fastest boy at the front of the line, and they all had to keep pace with him.
When the last boy touched the end line, I blew my whistle and told them to bring it in. “Great practice, guys. If we take care of business tomorrow, we’ll be the number one seed going into playoffs. We’ll havea first-round bye. Like last year, you’re more than welcome to attend other games with Coach Levy and me. I just need to know so I can tell the other school how many tickets I need. Timberwolves on three.”
Malik’s voice boomed as he counted the team down, and everyone yelled. Each of the boys took off to the locker room, but Malik stayed.
“Hey, Coach?”
“What can I do for you, Malik?” It’d only been two days since he’d dropped the bomb that his girlfriend was pregnant. I’d told him I’d support him in any way I could and had even reached out to Lee about giving Malik a job.
He looked around, which I assumed was to make sure his teammates were all out of the gym. “Are you free tonight? To talk to my dad with me?”
I nodded. “Of course.” I hadn’t expected him to be ready to tell his dad so soon.
“I saw Mr. Waters the other day, and he gave me a job. I’m going to learn how to host and bus tables, and then I’ll start the training to be a server. I wanted to thank you for reaching out to him.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“And Janelle ...” He sighed and took a deep inhale. “She’s telling her parents this weekend, and I thought that maybe I should tell my dad first. I hoped she would come with me, but she doesn’t want to.”
“I understand. This is a hard situation to navigate.”
Malik nodded. “It’s making me sick to my stomach. She keeps going on and on about how we’re going to be a family, and all I can think about is how this was a mistake and we’re ruining our lives.”
My lips went into a fine line as I tried to find the right words to ease his mind, but the truth was, there weren’t any. Malik and Janelle were young, and a baby was going to change their lives, no matter what. For good and bad, but for teens, it was likely the latter, until they figured it all out.
