23. Wyatt
WYATT
I flipped the last piece of french toast onto the plate and doused it with maple syrup. “Blueberries?”
“Are they Uncle Duke’s?” Penny was very serious and very loyal about her blueberries lately.
“Of course they are, Pickle.”
“’Kay. Then yes.” She sat at the table, ready to devour her breakfast. Kevin sat next to her, cramming for another exam, and when I set her plate down, he plucked a ripe berry from the top and popped it into his mouth.
Penny stuck her tongue out at him and grinned.
A squeeze tightened in my chest and wouldn’t let up. I stacked the dishes in the sink. I hated to leave them, but if I didn’t head out in five minutes, I’d hit traffic and be late. I stared down at the sink as indecision gnawed at me.
“I’ll get ’em, Coach.” Kevin tipped his head toward the dirty dishes.
“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”
He shook his head. “Just remember this when you’re making the starting lineup.”
“You got it.” I grabbed my hat and sunglasses before swiping my keys off the table. When I walked toward the door, there she was.
Lark twirled the small bundle of wildflowers—the ones I had collected from the edge of Beckett’s property and left on her doorstep—under her nose as she walked into the house. It hit me that she didn’t bother to knock anymore, and a strange part of me didn’t mind that in the least.
The honey flecks in her eyes sparked to life when she saw me approach. “Morning!”
I swallowed hard. Lark was always so happy. Lately I’d felt pretty damn happy too. And worried. All this seemed a little too good to be true.
“Hey, I’m sorry but I gotta run. Do not do the dishes.”
Lark offered me a cute little salute. “Yes, sir.”
I sidled up to her, cocooned in the privacy of the small entryway. “I’m serious. If I find out you did them, I’m going to have to punish you.”
Fire danced in Lark’s eyes. I loved that she was a bit of a brat and liked to push my buttons. She walked her fingers up my chest before tapping the end of my nose. “Noted.”
The smirk on her lips told me exactly what we’d be in for later, if I had any say. “You’re still coming up later?”
“Three o’clock, right?”
I dropped my keys into my pocket and secured my hat on my head. “I’ll be at the field anytime after noon. You and Penny can watch the practice if you’re bored.”
Lark stepped up to me. Her hand went to my hat and turned it backward with a grin.
“ Much better.” She leaned in closer. Her warm breath floated over my ear and made me swallow back a low groan.
“So hot,” she whispered, then slapped me on the butt and laughed as she turned toward the kitchen. “Have a good day, dear!”
* * *
The shit-eating grin didn’t leave my face all day.
The summer sun was high, and it was brutally hot. I made sure the other coaches were cautious. It was Friday and we had a field full of high school students for a one-day summer training camp.
Pride coursed through me as I looked out onto the field.
These kids would have the opportunity to be trained by some of the finest coaching staff in the country.
The kids could see the university, tour the facilities, and hopefully be eager to join our ranks in the fall.
I wanted them to feel like our school was a special place.
But that didn’t mean we went easy on them.
The kids were grouped by position and ability.
I had worked hard to make sure that no one group far outmatched another.
Those with less skill could learn from the technically skilled players.
I also found that players who weren’t born ready had a tenacity that others lacked.
I liked mixing those groups together—building up their confidence while also stretching them as players.
Their attitudes also played a major role in whether our scouts would pay special attention to them.
Depending on their positions, each player had the opportunity to work on passing, skill and combo drills, and scrimmages.
As I walked on the field, a group of comically large kids—the big dogs—were ready to start work with my lineman staff.
I nodded at them as I passed, ignoring the whispers as I found the group of coaches running the individual training squads.
“Great turnout, Coach.” Ricky, my offensive coordinator, crossed his arms and looked out onto the field.
“As it should be. We’ve got one of the best teams in the country.
” My eyes skated over the small clusters of hopefuls.
If they were lucky, maybe one or two would have a shot at the NFL.
If that were the case, they had four years to prove their worth, and it all started right here.
“Maybe we’ll round up a few more before fall.
” I clamped a hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “Let’s get ’em started. ”
“Should I run the dog piss out of them?”
I huffed a small laugh. “Nah. We’ll go easy on them for now. Normal warm-up.”
Ricky nodded and blew his whistle. I scanned the schedule on my clipboard, making notes on how I’d spread my time over the one-day training camp.
It was important to me to meet each player.
Hear a bit about his story. The way he spoke about his high school career, future goals, and even his family told me a lot about a player.
The university had struggled in the past with players getting too big for their britches—kids thinking they were hot shit on campus and ruining any chance at the pros over drugs, reckless nights, or injuries.
Things like broken pinkies.
I shook my head at the sheer ridiculousness of Joey’s injured hand. So far the best thing for him had been to hang low in Outtatowner and stay out of trouble, but his cocky smile and carefree attitude still made him very popular with the girls.
I also need to talk with him about that.
My eyes scanned the nearly empty stadium. It was only a few minutes past noon, and even though I’d told Lark to show up around three, I looked for her.
For hours, I looked for her.
We ran the kids hard. They needed to know that university ball was a step up from their small towns and high school glory days. At Midwest Michigan University, you didn’t fuck around—not while I was coach.
After a grueling afternoon, I was ready to give them a break.
The coaches gathered the players in a semicircle, and I stepped onto a small platform so I could look out onto the field.
Several of them had a lot of potential, and a few even caught my eye.
I’d be having some serious conversations with the other coaches, comparing notes and deciding whether we’d be making any offers for the open positions.
As I began my speech, my eyes snagged on Pickle, grinning and waving wildly from the first row of stands. She was across the field, but her little arms were flying above her head. My heart pitched and I smiled, but I continued to speak with the players and field questions.
One kid, a quarterback from Iowa with serious potential for greatness, raised his hand. I pointed at him and nodded for him to speak up.
“So what’s the secret, Coach? How do we make it onto the team?”
The players around him laughed. That was what everyone wanted to know—how to make the team and make it big.
I watched Lark walk up behind the players, Pickle bouncing in front of her and my father at her side. My stomach tightened as I watched them and considered the quarterback’s question.
“Always work hard. Never give up. It’s a game, have fun.” Those were words my dad always said to me before a big game or a big decision. I gestured toward Dad and the players’ heads turned in his direction. “That’s what he’d always tell me before every single game.”
Dad looked at me with clear eyes and a smile, and the roiling in my stomach settled for the briefest moment. “If you can figure that out, you’ll be successful on my team.”
As I stepped down, Ricky took over, instructing the players how to sign out and where to go for the tour of campus. I jogged toward my family.
My family .
The errant thought hit me like a ton of bricks, and my steps faltered on the turf. Thankfully, I scooped Penny into a hug to hide my nerves.
“This is a surprise.” I smacked a kiss on Penny’s cheek and smiled at Lark. She looked nervous, so I shot her a wink.
“Penny and I went to see Red this morning, and he wanted to tag along. I hope that’s okay. I read somewhere that exercise is good for... you know. A walk around campus is just what we need, right, Red?”
Dad stepped up to shake my hand. “Fine speech you gave, Son. Nice to know my talks didn’t always land on deaf ears.”
My throat tightened, and I couldn’t find the words to respond.
Dad was here, in my element, without that confused, dazed look in his eyes.
It was clear Lark had also looked up or talked with his nurses about his condition, and that left my chest feeling tender and strange.
Lark was shifting things, and I wasn’t altogether sure how I felt about that, but deep down I knew it wasn’t all bad.
“Papa Red, they have snacks !” Penny pulled my dad’s hand and led him to the table stacked with Gatorade, water, chews, and energy bars to keep the players hydrated and energized during the grueling day.
“Just one, Pickle. Those are, like, ninety-nine percent sugar and caffeine.”
Her eyes bugged with forbidden delight. Wrong thing to say .
I turned to Lark. “She’ll be bouncing off the walls.”
Lark swatted the air in playful dismissal. “Ah, it’ll be fine. We can always make her run laps.”
I’d grown to love playful banter with Lark, and she could always find the silver lining in situations that would normally piss me off. Penny was stuffing energy bars into my dad’s pocket when I gestured toward them.
Lark chewed her lip. “I hope it’s okay. The nurse said he was having a great day.”
I leaned in to bump my shoulder against hers. “More than okay. Thanks for showing up.”
“I like seeing you in your element. All your brooding charm is starting to make sense.”
“Brooding charm?”
She laughed. “Yeah. Always in charge. Always in control. It makes the times I see a crack in your grumpy facade that much more fun.”
I crossed my arms. “I’m not grumpy.”
“You kind of are, Daddy.” Penny looked up at me with serious eyes.
I deepened the furrow in my brow and growled at her. Pickle screamed a peal of laughter and took off running before I chased after her and scooped her up in my arms. I bounced her high in the air and didn’t give a single fuck who was watching or that I was supposed to be the man in charge.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that I had had a great day with the players, my kid was happy, and Lark and my dad were around to share it with me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, everything seemed to be clicking into place.