The Talk of the Town

Chapter Thirty

Halle was going to be late, and she didn’t care. She grinned as she buttoned up her dark red dress shirt and watched Quinton in the mirror behind her slide on his joggers. She liked watching him get dressed in the morning. Liked the way he placed his hands on her back, hip or thigh as he’d passed her in the bathroom where they’d showered and gotten ready for the day. Liked the way he pulled her back to his front and kissed the side of her neck after they’d showered. Was this what it was like to have someone who cared about you living with you? She could understand the appeal. She’d always believed she didn’t need this in her life. That she was fine without a partner, and while she had been fine and she had been happy, she also couldn’t deny that this was nice, too.

Quinton slipped on his shirt and looked up. He caught her watching in the mirror and grinned. “Quit looking at me like that.”

Halle finished buttoning her blouse and tucked it into the dark gray pants of her suit. “Like what?”

“Like you want me to come over there and do some things to you.”

“Who says I don’t want you to do that?”

He grinned; his eyes flashed with desire and the same happiness she felt deep inside her gut. “You know, we’re both going to be late. I’ve got to go home and change.”

“You’re right,” she said, using her principal voice. “We shouldn’t get one more in before we go to work.”

Desire flashed again in his dark eyes. He crossed the room and slipped an arm around her waist. “You know what? I can be late.”

Halle laughed and turned in his arms. More than ready not to follow the rules for once in her life. The sound of the front door opening made her freeze.

“Mom?” Shania asked. “Why is Coach Q’s truck in the yard?”

Halle’s eyes widened. Her stomach dropped to her feet. “Shit.”

“Damn,” he said at the same time.

She pushed him away, but it was too little too late. “What are we going to do?”

Quinton took a slow breath. “Go out there and tell her,” he said in a steady voice.

“It’s Monday,” she hissed.

He cocked his head to the side. “Would Tuesday be better?”

She cut her eyes at him. “Of course this would happen on a Monday.” She hurried to go out the door. She crossed the threshold just as Shania came into the hall.

“Mom?” Shania said, a frown on her face. Her eyes darted behind Halle and her frown deepened. “Coach?”

“What are you doing here?” Halle asked in a too bright voice. “I thought you were going straight to school?”

Shania looked back at Halle. “I live here. Mom, what’s going on? Are you two...” The words trailed off as the frown on Shania’s face went to horror. “Eww...please tell me you’re not.”

“Shania, girl, come on. I need to get you to school,” Kayla’s voice came before she appeared in the hall. When she spotted everyone, her eyes widened. “Halle, Coach Q... Damn, girl! I didn’t know.”

Halle glared at her cousin. Who’d probably come into the house just to find out why Quinton’s car was in the yard, too.

She pointed to Kayla. “Not right now.” She looked at her daughter. “Shania, let’s talk.”

Shania’s face hardened and she shook her head. “You know what? Let’s not. I don’t need my headphones today.” She turned to Kayla. “Let’s go.” She pushed passed Kayla and went toward the door.

Kayla shot Halle an apologetic look. “Next time give me a heads-up and I won’t bring her by the house.” She turned to follow Shania.

Halle moved to go down the hall, but Quinton stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Give her a minute.”

“What? I need to talk to her.”

Quinton held fast when she tried to jerk away. “Do you really think she wants to talk about this rationally right now?” he asked gently.

Halle would make her talk. Make her understand. This couldn’t be ignored. “I don’t care. I can’t let her go to school like this.” She jerked on her arm and he let her go.

Quinton’s long stride followed her down the hall. “Halle, she’s with your cousin. She’ll be in school at a safe place. I’ll talk to her today.”

Halle spun on him. “It’s not your job to talk to her.”

He didn’t flinch or look away. “She’s my daughter, too.”

Halle sucked in a breath. The words a reminder that she couldn’t fix this on her own even if she wanted to. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what? Remind you that she’s just as mad at me as she is with you? That she’s going to want to know that I’m not just playing around with her mom and that I won’t hurt you?”

Halle frowned. “Do you think she’ll believe that?”

“You said yourself you never brought guys around. Gregory was the closest and even then, she wasn’t okay with you two. Let me talk to her.”

She held up a hand. “I should handle this.”

Quinton placed his palm against hers, then wrapped his fingers around hers. He stepped closer, his eyes just as worried, but also calm and steady. “Let’s handle this together. You aren’t alone in this parenting thing anymore.”

Halle stared back. Frustration warred with relief. She wasn’t in this alone. She should be happy about that. And she was, but still felt like the last bit of control she had on her life had slipped away.

Shania did a great job avoiding Quinton at school. Every time he saw her in the hall, she’d disappear in the crowd. When he tried to talk to her during the lunch period she huddled with a group of friends and rushed out of the lunchroom. She even found a way to avoid him during football practice. She stayed with the special teams coach, avoided eye contact and kept to the opposite side of the field from him.

He admired her ability to give him the cold shoulder so completely. But he was still the coach and her father. Something he hadn’t pressed before. He wasn’t about to let her go home without speaking a word to him.

“Shania.” He called her name after practice. His voice crisp and to the point.

She stopped talking, cringed and looked his way. “Yes, Coach?”

“Come to my office after you get the rest of the equipment put up.”

“But my mom will be waiting.”

He lowered his aviator shades and met her eyes. “My office.”

Shania sighed. “Yes, Coach.”

Quinton slid his shades back up and nodded. He headed back to the school. Zachariah jogged up to him. “Everything alright?”

Quinton kept walking. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, Kayla told me about what happened this morning.”

Quinton stopped in his tracks. He didn’t have to worry about the Peachtree Cove gossips; Halle’s family was going to spread the news faster than anyone else. He turned to Zachariah and said with steel in his voice, “We’re not talking about that.”

Zachariah held up his hands. “I’m just checking to make sure all is good. I mean, we’re practically family now.”

Quinton rolled his eyes behind his shades. He was inheriting all of Halle’s cousins and their boyfriends. “Everything is good.”

“So, you and Halle?”

Quinton shook his head and turned to walk away. “Mind your business.”

Zachariah took the hint and stayed behind. Quinton kept going until he got back to his office. He really hoped Kayla kept what she found out between herself and Zachariah. The last thing they needed was for everyone in the town to start talking about him and Halle getting together. He was happy to be with her. Happier than he ever would have expected and didn’t want to hide that they were together, but the gossip would splash back on Shania. He didn’t want that.

Ten minutes later, Shania knocked on his office door. Her arms crossed and lips pinched as she looked everywhere but at him. Quinton hated that she’d avoided him. He was used to being on the end of a teenager’s anger or frustration. He was a coach and teacher, so of course some kids had an automatic problem with him. But having it from Shania hit different. He didn’t want to hurt her. He only wanted to protect her.

“Have a seat, Shania,” he said, pointing to the chair across from his desk.

Shania let out a sigh but sat. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Do what? You’re a mind reader now?”

She slouched in the chair. Her arms remained crossed, and she avoided looking at him. When she didn’t speak, he continued talking.

“About this morning...”

Shania held up a hand. “Spare me the details.”

“I have no intention of giving you any details. But what I do plan to tell you is that I like your mom and that has nothing to do with you.”

She cut her eyes at him. “Yes, it does. You never would have bothered her if it wasn’t for me.”

“That’s not true. Are you saying the only thing your mom has going for her is the fact that she’s your mother? That I wouldn’t have been interested in her for any other reason?”

Shania sat up straight and glared back. “My mom has been happy by herself.”

“Does that mean you want her alone for the rest of her life?” He kept his voice calm compared to the angst in hers.

“No, but I don’t want her to think she has to be with someone just for my sake. She was into Gregory and that didn’t work out. Now we find out you’re my dad and suddenly she thinks she should be with you? I don’t want her to do that.”

Quinton folded his arms on his desk and leaned forward. “Do you really think your mom isn’t smart enough to pick a guy for herself? That even if she didn’t like me, she’d just throw herself at me for your sake? Especially after you told her you didn’t want us together?”

Shania pouted for several seconds as she considered his question. Finally, she looked at him with worry in her gaze. “I don’t want her getting hurt. She does everything for me. I want her to date for herself.”

Some of the tension eased out of Quinton. Her walls were down, and she was finally ready to hear him out. “Shania, I’m here to tell you that your mom doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“Then how come she likes you so much after she liked Gregory?”

“Gregory wasn’t the right guy for her.”

“And you are?” she shot back with a raised brow.

He knew that just as sure as he knew he could coach this team to their first division title this year. “I’d like to be. Not just because I’m your dad, but because I liked your mom from the moment I first saw her when I moved to town.”

Shania absorbed that information before asking warily, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I’m a patient man. Which is why I’ll be patient with you, too. You don’t have to trust everything I’m saying today. Time will tell. But please trust that neither of us would have gone with this if we didn’t really think there was something there to go after. We don’t want to hurt you, Shania. We love you.”

Shania’s eyes widened. “You love me, too?”

He nodded; the realization that he did brought a smile to his face. “I do. You’re my daughter. I’d do anything to protect you.”

“Do you love my mom, too?”

Quinton considered her words. He loved Halle’s stubborn independence. Loved the way she would do anything for Shania and her friends. Loved how she looked at him. The sound of her voice.

“I love a lot of things about your mom.”

“But do you love her? Gregory didn’t. He just wanted to fit into her life. He never did, but you do. If you love her then that’s okay.”

“I think your mom should be the first person to hear my feelings.” Because the realization that he had fallen in love with Halle had his world spinning. He wanted to believe it was too soon, that he was still in the throes of infatuation, or that this was the precursor to love, but he knew that wasn’t the truth.

Shania grinned and sat back in her chair. “You love her. I can see it.”

Quinton sat up straight and frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Because everyone gets a goofy look on their faces when they fall in love. You look goofy.”

Quinton grunted and scowled. “Teenagers.”

Shania laughed off his comment. “Can I go to your place and see Grandma and Grandpa? Mom won’t mind.”

Quinton blinked, surprised that she would want to spend time with his parents instead of going home, but thrilled that she believed what he said. “First, you need ask your mom if it’s okay. And, you need to talk to your mom about what happened today. You stormed out today without talking to her. You shouldn’t do that.”

Shania lowered her eyes and bit the corner of her lip. “I know. I was just upset.”

“Even when you’re upset you need to talk to us. Storming off and ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Understand?”

Sighing, she straightened her shoulders and met his gaze. “I understand. So, I’ll say this. I still don’t understand how you two got together, but you’re right about Mom. I’ll wait and see what happens. I just don’t want my mom to get hurt.”

“Neither do I, Shania. Believe me when I say, you and your mom are two of the most important people in my life right now. I don’t want to hurt either of you.”