Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
FAITH
Isat on the basketball bleachers, sandwiched between Dotty and Rose on one side and Marissa and Scott and James on the other.
Scott leaned forward, his hand in Marissa’s. “So how long have you liked basketball, Faith?” His eyebrows were raised and he had a mischievous smile on his face.
Marissa elbowed him in the side. “Scott!” She tried to scold him, but she couldn’t stay mad at him, so she rolled her eyes.
He laughed.
I still didn’t know more than the basics of the sport, but I knew how important this game was to Adam.
He had been distracted for the last several days as he went over game videos, and I could tell his mind was preoccupied.
Not too preoccupied for our lunch kisses and stolen conversations though.
He promised he would never be too busy for those.
“What happens if they lose?” I refocused on the group of boys running back and forth on the court and forced myself to pry my gaze away from the coach’s backside.
Rose raised an eyebrow at me, and I blushed and shrugged.
Scott looked at the court. “If they lose, I think they might be out. This one is for the district championships.”
We were eight behind. The buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter. Danny flinched at the sound of the buzzer.
He stood and grabbed the water bottles and rushed toward the players.
The team circled around him, half on the bench and half standing.
Adam squatted in the middle, holding a little whiteboard and marker.
He made different marks on the board and nodded to different boys.
The boys gave him all their attention. He smiled and pointed his head toward number 44, and the group laughed.
“The coach is such a frickin’ joke.” A male voice hollered behind me.
My back stiffened. And I kept my eyes focused on Danny as one boy helped him put the water bottles away.
My heart was so full watching this group of young men.
I was in awe of them. The team that Adam had created and the way they all respected one another.
My phone beeped an alarm, along with several people’s phones around me. I grabbed my phone. It held a yellow warning symbol. There was a severe winter weather warning for our area for the next three days.
I cleared the message and refocused on the game. We’d had the warnings before this winter, but usually the storm would blow over pretty quickly.
The team put their hands in the middle and cheered, “Eagles!” A group of boys headed out onto the court, and I caught Adam searching the crowd. As his eyes found mine, he winked at me as I gave him a little wave.
Seven tapped his shoulder, bringing his attention back to the court. Danny had spilled a water bottle, so Adam nodded and handed a towel to him. The boys cleaned up the water.
“That kid spills water every game. I don’t know why they let him even help.” The same grumpy voice from before sounded behind me.
Heat flooded my veins. I was going to rip that man a new one! I turned and made eye contact with a man with gross, stringy hair and unfocused eyes.
“Excuse me?” My hands shook. I usually shrank away from confrontation, but I didn’t feel fear. At least if I did, it was drowned by my need to protect Adam and Danny.
“What’s the matter? Don’t like me bad-mouthing your lover boy?” The man smirked, showing missing teeth and cold eyes.
I glared at him and wanted to come to Adam’s defense. I cleared my throat and stiffened my spine.
Marissa grabbed my hand, and she leaned toward me.
“He’s not worth it,” she whispered. “Tony has filed more complaints at the law office than the whole town put together.” She scoffed.
“The man is a terrible excuse for a human and father, and the whole town knows it.” She leaned near me.
“Don’t waste your time or energy on him. ”
I huffed and tried to calm the fire in my stomach. I faced the game again and took a deep breath and spun my ring.
Danny waved up at me. “Hey, Ms. Faith, did you see me?” He started up the bleachers in my direction.
I nodded. “I did. You did a great job.”
The man behind me scoffed, and it took all my willpower to focus on Danny.
“Thanks.” He stopped in front of me. “Can I sit with you?”
Marissa and Scott scooted farther down the bench and patted a spot for Danny, and he plopped himself down next to me.
“Did you hear we are getting snow tonight?” Danny’s legs swung back and forth as he smiled.
I shook my head. How was he still excited about the snow? It was February, and I was ready to see spring colors and the sun. “Yep. My phone gave an alert. Sounds like it might be a big storm.”
Danny nodded. “We already went to Grandma’s and put extra salt on her driveway. Dad let me help.”
I saw Adam’s spine go rigid as he looked at the end of the bench. He turned around in a panic and began searching the bleachers. I assumed it was for Danny.
I whistled.
It instantly caught his attention, and his eyes shot to mine and then to Danny at my side, and his shoulders relaxed.
He smiled at us and then turned around to refocus on the game.
There were three minutes left, and we were still down by four.
Our team had the ball, and my breath got stuck in my throat.
“Come on,” I whispered.
Danny started spouting off some space facts that I couldn’t focus on.
“Right, Ms. Faith?”
I shook my head and looked at Danny. “Um, sorry, what?”
We scored, and now were down by two, but the other team had the ball.
Scott leaned forward. “Hey, I heard the moon is actually made of cheese?”
Danny giggled. “No way!” He turned his energy and space facts toward Scott.
I made quick eye contact and mouthed Thank you.
He nodded.
We had the ball, and Adam seemed unaffected under all this stress. It had to be crushing. He chatted with the same energy as before. I blinked rapidly.
We were still down by two. Twelve had the ball and passed to seven. They passed it around looking for a shot, but there was under a minute now. I blew out a tight breath.
They passed under the basket to forty-four, and he went up for the shot as the buzzer rang. The person in front of him shoved him hard to the ground, but the ball still went in. Tie game.
“Come on!” I waved my hand in the air. “Surely they can’t just push like that, right?” I looked at Scott because I didn’t actually know.
“Sorry, I wasn’t watching.” Scott looked up to the game.
The referee blew the whistle and made hand gestures I didn’t understand.
“Wait, what does that mean? Are we not still tied?”
Dotty leaned forward so she could see me better. “No, they still counted the points. He gets an extra shot because of the foul.”
I nodded as if I understood, even though I had no idea.
Adam stood, his shoulders relaxed, hands on his hips. The energy coursed through me, and I needed to fidget.
Forty-four bounced the ball a few times and lined up for the shot. I spun my ring and tried to take a normal breath.
He shot; the ball hit the backboard, traced around the rim, and then fell in.
Without realizing it, I was on my feet, jumping, clapping, and cheering.
Adam smiled and clapped. He patted the boys on the back as they came over to him from off the court. They had won the game.
I honestly believed that if they had lost he wouldn’t have treated them any differently. I shook my head. This man was amazing. How was that much amazing even possible?
He went down the line to each one and said something to them and patted them on the shoulder.
I put my hand on my chest, trying to settle my heart. “We won! I can’t believe people do this sports stuff all the time. I think I aged five years.” I chuckled.
The team circled and cheered and went to shake hands with the other team.
Rose leaned toward me. “See you at home.” She winked.
“Have fun.” Dotty grinned and raised her brows as she passed with Rose. James stood and joined them as they walked down the bleacher steps.
Danny stood abruptly. “The water bottles!” He rushed toward the stairs but caught on Scott’s foot.
“Careful.” Scott’s hands reached out and steadied him.
“Thanks.” He nodded but didn’t slow.
Scott chuckled. “That boy is focused.” I walked with Scott and Marissa down the steps.
“Yeah, he is.” I smiled as he scooped up the water bottles. When we got down to the court, Adam was kneeling near Danny, helping him finish up with the water bottles.
“Thanks for coming with me,” I whispered to Marissa.
“Anytime.” She bumped my shoulder. “All right, we better go make sure the B&B’s roof is cleared before the storm hits. Besides, I think you need to tell someone good game.”
My eyes and heart sought Adam.
“I think it’s customary to slap their backside when you say it,” she whispered and raised her eyebrows.
I chuckled and said goodbye and then went to Adam and Danny. I warred with myself, and I wasn’t sure how to act. All I wanted to do was run and jump into Adam’s arms and tell him I was so proud of him. But I also didn’t want to make things hard for Danny.
“Good game, Coach.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. Adam’s eyes shot up to me, and he winked. Heat spread through my chest.
“I was hoping we’d get to”—he looked at Danny—“talk, before you left.” He stared at me.
I bit my bottom lip as I imagined kissing him.
An older woman with a floral button-up and kindness radiating off her stepped behind Adam and Danny. She stared at me, but patted Adam on the back.
“Great game, son.” She smiled.
Right, that’s where I had seen her. She was Adam’s mom and had been the one to get Danny at pickup sometimes. I thought about the polarizing differences in the vibes our mothers gave off.
Adam turned to give his mother a half hug. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure we were gonna be able to catch up after that first half.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe we got down by twelve and still pulled it off.” He looked toward the locker room. “They’re good kids.”