Page 32 of Coached By the Grumpy Gargoyle

Gene doesn't argue.

I wait for it anyway. I've heard him argue with referees, parents, school boards. He sits with his hands on his knees and his eyes on Patricia's pad. His whistle is still around his neck. After a moment he takes it off and closes his fist around it, then drops it to the ground, where it stays.

"Coach Stryge." Patricia looks toward me. "The team is yours. Make us all proud."

"Yes, ma'am."

I thought I'd be happy the day I got my own team. Gene was supposed to shake my hand and tell me I was ready. Now I can't look at him without remembering how proud I was when he hired me, and how he spoke to Rory this morning. I don't know what to do with eight years of respect for a man who clearly didn’t deserve it.

"Ms. Hale, this will not affect your contract renewal negatively," Patricia says. "But more than that, I will personally put in a request to have your position become permanent this June."

Rory closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, she's looking at Eli. He has moved closer to her chair, and she reaches back to touch his arm. Whatever else happens between us, she gets to keep being here for him. My shoulders ease for the first time all day.

The dismissal buzzer goes off up the corridor. Outside the office, classroom doors open and voices rise as kids head for their buses. Athena gets up and holds the door for Cole. He walks past her with his head down. Before following him, she stops beside Eli and gives him a small nod. He straightens a little and nods back.

Gene leaves without looking at anyone. There’s a small part of me that feels sorry for him.

Rory picks up Eli’s phone and gives it back to him.

"Go catch your bus," she tells him gently. "Text me when you're home."

He pushes his glasses straight with one knuckle. His sneakers squeak down the corridor, and Rory watches until he turns out of sight.

A moment later, Principal Oakes leaves the room.

We're alone in the office. The radiator knocks beneath the window, and beyond it the buses are pulling into line on the drive. Rory reaches for her bag. I step away from my chair.

"Rory."

She stops. Her fingers tighten on the strap, but she turns toward me.

"I'm sorry I didn't speak up earlier." I stay beside my chair. "I was afraid Gene would realize how I felt about you and use it to undermine your complaint. I thought keeping quiet would protect your job."

She looks down at her bag, then back at me. "I needed you beside me."

"I know. I'm sorry I left you standing there alone."

Her eyes shine, and she sets the bag down. I want to cross the room so badly my hands ache with it. I don't know whether she'll let me hold her. I don't know what she'll say to what I need to tell her, either, but I've kept quiet long enough.

"I love you."

Her breath catches. She grips the back of the chair, and I keep going.

"I don't expect you to say it back. Not yet. Maybe not for a long time, and I'm not asking you to. I had to say it once, out loud, if only for myself."

I stop there. She heard me. I want an answer, of course I do, but I won't ask her to give me one just because I'm desperate to have her close again. I stay where she can see me and wait.

She looks at me for a long moment, then laughs. It breaks in the middle. One tear runs down her cheek, and she swipes it with the heel of her hand, still laughing.

"I must have lost my mind," she says. "But I love you, too."

She comes around the table and catches the front of my shirt in both hands. I gather her against me, bending until I can rest my forehead against hers. She's warm and crying, and when she laughs again, I feel it through my chest. I hold her closer.

Outside, the buses pull out. There's a playoff tomorrow night and loads of work that awaits me. In a minute I'll have to think about all of it. Right now Rory is in my arms, and she loves me.

That’s all that truly matters.

Epilogue