That sent all three of them into a fit of laughter. “Oh, this just makes it even better,” Preston mused.
“Rey!” I turned and saw Rome about thirty feet away, motioning me over. “Need you.”
I nodded.
“See you later?” I asked Jake.
He nodded. “Yeah, definitely.”
About a half hour later, Rome announced that, thanks to the sizeable donations from some of the local businesses, we surpassed our fundraising goal by nearly $10,000. One company, Phoenix Feather Creations, had even offered to build us a new custom sign, in addition to their $5,000 donation. It shouldn’t have surprised me. We’d always raised a considerable amount of money when we hosted this event back in college, but this felt different. Reedsport was a much smaller town, as were the surrounding cities, so that amount of money felt like so muchmorecoming from such a smaller community. It made meeting our goal even more amazing, and the dream for a new facility more meaningful, knowing we had that kind of support behind us.
I realized my mistake when I was walking to the car a little later. There was noweorusin this. Onlymeandthem.I was only a temporary coach, not a real member of HotShots. It made my steps feel heavy and my chest tight. I was happy for Rome and the company, but it was disappointing to remember I wasn’t even going to be around long enough to see the floorplans of the new building.
