Chapter Ten
A knock on his office door interrupted Quinton as he reviewed the drills he planned to run the kids through before their first scrimmage of the season. Zachariah stood at his door. “Umm, you got a second?”
Quinton pushed aside the three-ring binder that contained the outline of the drills he liked to run, some of them familiar ones, some plays he’d come up with over the years, and nodded. “Yeah, what’s going on?”
Zachariah looked over his shoulder before coming into the office and shutting the door. “I need to ask you something.”
Quinton frowned. Typically, Zachariah would come straight in, plop down in a chair and get straight to whatever was on his mind. He didn’t typically close Quinton’s door. Which meant his question couldn’t be good.
“What’s wrong?”
Zachariah shifted in his chair and wrung his hands. “Nothing, I hope. It’s just... I kind of overheard your conversation with Shania and Halle the other day.”
Quinton’s body stilled. “What part?”
“The part where you and her told Halle that she was your daughter.” Zachariah raised one bushy brow. “Is it true?”
Quinton swallowed and considered his words. Halle didn’t want this information out there already. Hell, he didn’t want the information out just yet. He didn’t doubt the online DNA results Shania showed him, but a part of him still didn’t feel like the situation was real. He was good with focusing on the ramifications of this after Halle got her second test.
“Did anyone else overhear that?” That was the most important thing. If this had already gotten out, he needed to know how much damage control he’d have to do.
Zachariah shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Quinton’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t think so or you know for sure?”
“No one else was in the hall when I heard. I was coming down looking for you to make sure things were good when I overheard. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.”
“But you did.”
Zachariah held up his hands in defense. “Aye, I was just coming down the hall when Shania blurted it out. I wasn’t eavesdropping like that. Besides, that’s a conversation you have behind a closed door.” He pointed to the shut office door.
Quinton sighed. He had a point. “Alright, I’ll give you that.”
“So you and Halle...”
“It’s not what you think. In fact, I don’t really want to get into it. For now, please, just keep what you heard to yourself. We’re still trying to figure this entire situation out.”
“What’s there to figure out? Either you’re her dad or you’re not.”
“It’s complicated,” Quinton said. Two words that were the biggest understatement he’d ever heard.
Things were more than complicated. They were tangled and twisted and could spiral out of control. He wanted to be a part of Shania’s life. Being a part of her life was also being a part of Halle’s life. But from the way she’d rushed off his porch with her hand in Gregory’s reminded him that he was not Halle’s type. He may be clocking for her, but she most definitely wasn’t thinking about giving him the time of day. Gregory was whom she wanted for Shania’s father. Not Quinton.
“Damn right it’s complicated,” Zachariah said, scattering Quinton’s thoughts.
“Huh?”
Zachariah scooted forward to the edge of his chair. His eyes intent as they met Quinton’s. “I know you’re not going to act like you don’t know how this changes things.”
He had a good idea that this would change a lot. His life. His relationship with Shania. Everything was changing, but he wasn’t sure how that was Zachariah’s concern.
“Changes what things?”
“The team,” Zachariah said as if that was the obvious answer. “Its dynamics. The way the rest of the school and the district is going to view things.”
Quinton wanted to play dumb, but he immediately understood. “I don’t play favorites.”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t play favorites or not. When you have a kid on the team it’ll look that way. You’ve already gotten into Clyde’s ass about not including Shania enough.”
“I did that because he wasn’t. He doesn’t want a girl on the team.” In the practices since then he’d done a better job of including Shania, but only marginally.
“You think he’s going to care about the reasons after this gets out? He’s already a borderline crybaby. He’s going to assume that anything you say to him about the way he coaches her is because she’s your daughter. Then there’s the district.”
Quinton scowled. “Why would the district care?”
“They’ve let us make concessions for Shania playing ball with us. But they also want to see us win. No matter how you frame it, Shania being on the team is already something they weren’t sure we’d be able to accommodate. We have, but any other requests might be viewed the same way. Then there are the parents who’ll get mad that she’ll get play time and their kids don’t.”
“She’ll get play time because she’s a good receiver.”
Zachariah placed a hand on his chest. “I know she’s good. You know she’s good. But all they’ll see is a parent letting his kid get play time instead of putting their kid on the field.”
Quinton held up a hand, realized he was mimicking Halle, and dropped it. “Look, I get it.”
“Nah, you don’t get it. It was easy for you to ignore some of the taunts before because they were just directed at you. Now they’ll be at you and your kid, and you can’t pop off.”
Quinton blinked and drew back. “I don’t pop off.”
“Wait until someone talks about your kid. I almost got into it with another parent at my kid’s soccer game when they were eleven. It’s why I’m glad he stuck with that over football. It hits different when it’s your kid.”
“I’ll be able to handle it,” Quinton said confidently. “No matter what they throw at me.”
It couldn’t be worse than what he’d heard from angry fans in the stands in high school and college. Not to mention the people who criticized everything he did from sports reporters to couch coaches online. Quinton had formed a thick skin.
“You say that now, but I’m telling you. Shania being your kid is going to be a problem.”
“Shania being my kid is my problem. Not the team’s, not the school, not the district and damn sure not any of the other parents. I’m not the kind of person to let this change the way I coach. I’m still the same Quinton Evans.”
Zachariah sighed and shook his head. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“And I appreciate that.” He really didn’t. He wanted to tell Zachariah to kiss his ass and get out of his office, but he wouldn’t. Zachariah really was trying to be a good assistant coach and colleague. “Trust me. I’ve got this.”
“Quinton is Shania’s what!” Tracey’s yelp echoed across the lake.
Halle placed a hand over her face. She, Tracey and Imani sat on their boulder close to the banks of Ridgeview Lake. Their high school hangout spot that they’d turned into their adult hangout spot after Imani moved back to Peachtree Cove. When they were teens the boulder at Ridgeview Lake was a place where they could talk without being overheard by their parents. As adults, the lake was a place where they could slip away to and forget their responsibilities for a little while. Today, Halle suggested the lake because she needed to slip away and the privacy to tell her friends what happened.
They were in their typical setup. A blanket spread out, with Solo cups filled with cheap wine instead of soda and homemade charcuterie spreads on paper plates versus eating whatever junk food they’d get from a convenience store.
“Can you not yell it so everyone in Peachtree Cove can hear you?” Halle said from behind her hands.
There was a tug on her arm. She dropped her hands from her face. Imani gave her arm a gentle squeeze before raising a brow.
“Are you for real?” Concern filled her friend’s eyes and voice.
Halle slowly nodded. Tracey’s eyes narrowed and she leaned in closer. “How? Not once since he moved here have you said anything about you two hooking up.”
“Because we never hooked up.”
Tracey shifted and waved a hand as she shook her head. “Nah, that’s what I don’t understand. You got to explain to me like I’m in kindergarten. Simple words because this ain’t making sense.”
Sighing, Halle held up her cup. “Pour me some wine before I tell you this story.”
Tracey quickly lifted the bottle and poured rosé into Halle’s cup. Halle took a fortifying sip before spilling the truth she’d kept to herself for nearly fourteen years. She was barely able to get the story out; Tracey and Imani kept interrupting her for clarification.
“Why would you do that?” Tracey.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Imani.
“Where did you go?” Tracey.
“How did you get this idea?” Imani.
Halle threw up her hands. “Can you give me a chance to get the story out?”
Tracey pursed her lips. “You’re not talking fast enough.”
Imani patted Tracey’s arm. “Okay, let her talk.” She looked back at Halle. “Just talk quickly.”
Halle uncrossed her legs to fold them and rest her chin on her knees. “I told you why I did it. I felt so alone after losing my dad. Suddenly, I realized I was all that was left of them. No one would talk about or remember them once I was gone.”
Imani frowned. “That’s not true. I remember them. What happened to your mom is the reason I became a doctor.”
Halle gave her cousin a small smile. When Halle’s mom had died after complications with her pregnancy and the poor medical care she’d received, Imani had decided to become a doctor. She was a dedicated and great OB-GYN.
“A part of me understood that, but having my aunts and cousins remember or tell me things were going to be okay didn’t feel like enough. I wanted my own family. I wanted to share the love they’d given me with someone else. I was interning at that private school and when the principal mentioned that’s how she’d had her child... I thought it was a good idea.”
“Why on Earth would anyone artificially inseminate a twenty-two-year-old?” Tracey asked. She pointed to Imani and Halle. “I clearly remember both of you saying I was too young to get married, but you can have a whole baby on your own?”
Halle sat up straight. “For the record, that was Imani who said you were too young.”
“Hey!” Imani slapped Halle’s calf.
“It’s true. And they inseminated me because I had the money. They didn’t care about my reasons why. It was a private donation company. I didn’t need anyone’s permission but my own.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Imani sounded not just surprised but hurt about being left out.
“I didn’t want anyone to judge me or Shania. You’ve met my dad’s side of the family. My aunt Lydia? Do you really think she wouldn’t have thrown the words test tube baby in Shania’s face?”
Imani cringed but Tracey shook her head and pointed a finger. “That’s your mean-ass aunt. I’m talking about us. We wouldn’t have judged you.”
“Yes, you would. You’re judging me now.”
“No, we’re not!” Tracey and Imani spoke in unison.
Halle finished drinking the wine in her cup. “Yes, you are. You’re asking why I did it? You would have done the same thing then. I knew that I was walking into a hard situation. I was just out of college. I was starting graduate school and starting out as a teacher. Throw in having a kid with no father on purpose, I knew people would tell me that I was making a mistake. So, instead of dealing with that—”
“You made up a story about some nameless guy on some random night,” Imani said.
Halle shrugged. “Would I make a different decision about telling the truth now? Probably, but I don’t regret what I did. I know that side of my family. She was going to have a hard enough time not having a father around, but if they knew that I really had no idea who he was, then that would be just another thing for her to overcome.”
“And to think the guy is Coach Q. You two were meant to meet up,” Tracey declared.
Halle unfolded her legs and leaned forward, one hand raised to stop that train of thought. “This was a fluke. It’s not fate, or anything meant to be.”
“Yes, it is. Shania has been bugging you about who her dad is. Then she ends up playing football for him.” Imani shrugged. “I don’t know, Halle. Maybe you two will end up—”
Halle pushed forward her already raised hand. “Nope. Don’t go there. We are not ending up together. I’m making things work with Gregory.”
Imani cringed. Her short, manicured nails tapped the cup in her hand. “Have you told him yet?”
“Not yet. I need to get the results verified before I say anything to him.”
Halle didn’t know how to break the news to him. He’d easily bought her explanation for being at Quinton’s place as something to do with football. He was sweet and genuinely seemed to want to see where things would go with their relationship. She was afraid of hurting him, even though she knew she couldn’t keep this a secret.
“How do you think he’ll take it?” Imani asked.
“He’s a reasonable guy. I think he’ll understand that even though Quinton is Shania’s biological father, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be together. If things work out with him we’ll be a different kind of family.”
“So, you’re giving Shania two daddies?” Imani asked, sounding skeptical.
Halle opened her mouth to give a smart reply, but stopped. She perked up. “I didn’t think about it like that, but I guess so.”
“Oh, Lord,” Tracey said. “Don’t tell her that, Imani. You know she’s an overachiever. Now she’s going to try and get Quinton and Gregory to really co-parent.”
Halle waved a finger. “Now that you say that it’s not a bad idea. Quinton already has a bond with her through football. She gets along well with Gregory. We could make this work.”
The more she thought about it the more the idea took hold. Shania could see Quinton and talk to him whenever she wanted. Halle could keep Gregory and still have the relationship she wanted. Shania would have two positive role models and father figures.
“This doesn’t sound like it’s going to work out the way you want it to work out,” Tracey said skeptically. She tugged on her braids with one hand before sipping from her cup.
Undaunted, Halle straightened her shoulders. “Maybe it will. You know me. I can make anything work if I stick my mind to it. If this is the hand I’ve been dealt, then I’m about to win this game. Just wait and see.”