Now, she avoided attention, if at all possible.
However, it didn’t look like she was going to be able to avoid it right then. Amelia could see the girl’s reluctance to walk in late, and she felt for her.
Giving Jessi a smile, she said, “Let’s go.”
Jessi walked just behind Amelia as they headed into the gym. Amelia kept her gaze on Cole as they crossed to where he stood in front of the group.
“Cole, excuse me.” Amelia reached out to touch his back. He was her uncle through her dad’s marriage to Charlotte, Cole’s older sister, but she’d never called him that.
Turning, he gave her a smile. “What’s up?”
“Jessi is here for the clinic. Her ride was just a bit late getting her here.”
Cole shifted his attention to Jessi. with a warm smile. “Welcome. I’m glad you made it. Why don’t you line up there? We’re just doing some warmup exercises, so you haven’t missed much.”
When Jessi headed to where Cole had pointed, Amelia glanced over the group, and her gaze caught Ben’s. He gave her a quick smile before returning his attention to Cole.
Amelia kept her steps measured as she left the gym, even though she wanted to hurry. She didn’t want it to look like she was running away.
Back at the table, she sat down with a sigh. Though she’d taken painkillers before leaving her apartment earlier, her muscles and joints were still aching dully. The meds never really helped with the pain, but she continued to take them, hoping that one day they might.
She rubbed her thighs for a moment, then turned her attention to the work that she’d brought with her from the office. The church’s landline had been forwarded to her cell phone, and she had the laptop from the office as well, so she could do some work while she manned the table.
There was a cooler next to the table with water and sports drinks, and there was a box of snacks for the teens and coaches as well.
After making sure the laptop was plugged in, Amelia opened it and scooted her chair closer to the table. She and Miss Marian shared the job of church secretary, with the older woman working the mornings and Amelia the afternoons.
It worked out well, since mornings were never a great time for Amelia, and Miss Marian helped watch her grandchildren in the afternoon. Amelia had ended up taking on most of the technical stuff since the older woman claimed to be allergic to technology.
Though it was only Monday, Amelia opened the file for the weekly bulletin. She’d already received some emails from people with information they wanted included in the bulletin for the next Sunday and also in the information projected on the screens at the front of the sanctuary before and after the service.
The job certainly wasn’t what she’d envisioned for herself, but it fit her current life better than most other jobs that were available to someone with just a high school diploma.
In spite of the background noise of basketballs hitting the gym floor, the squeak of runners, and the sound of whistles, she managed to focus on her work. She was used to tuning out distractions, so it wasn’t too difficult.
“Hey, Amelia.”
She looked up to see Ben coming toward the table. Her heart skipped a beat, then began to race.
As she dealt with her physical reaction to seeing him, Amelia realized that she needed to take some time to sort through how she felt about him.
“Cole’s taking a few minutes to speak with the kids,” Ben said. “He told me to come help you set up the drinks and snacks for the break. Are they here?”
“Yes.” She gestured to the cooler and box sitting on top of it. “They’re going to come out here to get them?”
“Yep,” Ben said as he rounded the table to where the cooler sat.
“Okay. Let me move this stuff.”
They ended up moving the laptop and her papers to another chair he found, then they unloaded the cooler, putting the drinks on the table and the snack packs in a pile next to them.
“Thanks for helping with this,” Amelia said.
"You're welcome," Ben said with an easy smile. "So, how have you been?"
The question, though casual, seemed loaded with so much more. He could see that she had changed, and she assumed that people had told him what they knew about her health issues. Still, she wasn’t going to give him a glimpse of her daily struggles.
Amelia focused on arranging the drinks in neat rows to avoid meeting his gaze.
