Chapter 1
Chapter One
DRIFTWOOD BAY, TEXAS—TWO YEARS LATER…
Mila Perry was done with dating.
Especially when it came to coaches.
“Thanks anyway,” she told her sister-in-law. “I’m just not going to date for a while.” She grinned. “Maybe forever.”
Cecily shook her head. “You don’t mean that, Mila. And I know you want kids. You’re so good with Bobby and Gina.”
Cecily referred to her two children with Michael. Cecily was more sister than sister-in-law to Mila, especially since she and Mila’s brother had been dating since sophomore year of high school.
“I have plenty of kids at school. Being around hormonal teenagers makes me question if I ever really do want to have kids of my own.”
Both women laughed, and Mila added, “Seriously, Cecily. I haven’t had great luck in the dating department.
You and Michael are lucky to be high school sweethearts.
You married and have two gorgeous kids. You’re so happy that if I didn’t love you as much as I did, I would be insanely jealous of you. ”
She had dated a guy seriously for two years when she first got out of college and landed a volleyball coaching job in San Antonio.
Mark had been the whole package. Smart. Funny.
Handsome. But just as every other coach, he wanted to move up in the ranks.
Middle school coaches maneuvered to land a job in high school.
Assistant coaches dreamed of becoming head coaches and running their own programs. Mark had been an assistant football coach at a San Antonio high school which had a terrific football program, winning district championships and regularly making it deep into the playoffs.
The head coach was constantly having to replace members of his staff because other districts throughout Texas plucked from his staff on a regular basis, offering them positions as offensive or defensive coordinators or even head coaching slots.
That’s where Mark was now, in a small town about thirty miles north of Dallas, in charge of his own program.
It had broken Mila’s heart when they parted, but Mark wasn’t ready to put a ring on her finger.
Even she knew it would be foolish to try and follow him to a new district, especially since the district which had hired him already had a volleyball coach.
She wasn’t willing to give up coaching the sport she loved to coach something different, much less be stuck in a school district she didn’t want to be in if she and Mark didn’t move forward in their relationship.
When the opportunity came, she left her assistant coaching position for a head job here in Driftwood Bay.
Of course, she had thought she would never return to her small hometown on the Texas coast, especially because her dad was now the superintendent of the school district.
Still, when the chance presented itself, with her former volleyball coach asking Mila to interview for the position she was retiring from, Coach had said Mila’s four years of seasoning at a large San Antonio high school, along with her years of playing volleyball through the college level at Texas State in San Marcos, made Mila more than qualified.
She had interviewed with Jon Earl Horton, the district’s head football coach and athletic director, and was offered the job on the spot.
True, there was likely talk somewhere in town of nepotism and her not earning the job but being given the vacant position because of who her dad was, but Mila hoped she had squelched that with three winning seasons under her belt, the most recent one culminating in a district championship.
This past school year, she had dipped her toe into the dating pool again, the first time she had gone out with anyone since she’d returned to Driftwood Bay, accepting a date with the Pirates’ head basketball coach.
Sam was a true competitor who hated losing and also fun to be around.
She enjoyed going to his games and watching him coach from the stands.
They had dated for six months—and then Sam got the call to interview for a new position in a district two division levels larger than Driftwood Bay.
He was out the door so fast that he barely had time to say goodbye to Mila.
That had been a month ago, causing her to swear off men.
“I know you were upset when Sam took the new job,” Cecily began. “It doesn’t mean you have to give up on dating, though. And Chris is a really great guy. Plus, he’s not going anywhere. He’s happy at the hospital.”
Chris was the nurse Cecily was trying to convince Mila to go out with.
Her sister-in-law drove twenty miles each way to work at a hospital in Corpus Christi.
While twenty miles didn’t seem all that far, it was enough of a distance to give Mila second—and third—thoughts about going out with Chris, much less beginning a relationship with him.
“I think you have a lot in common. He’s athletic. Plays on the hospital’s coed softball team. He likes all kinds of sports. Is big into music. One very early marriage behind him which didn’t last but a year. No kids.” Cecily paused. “Plus, he’s really cute. But don’t tell Michael I said that.”
Mila shook her head. “Despite your glowing review of Chris, I’m going to pass. Nurse my heart and try to put the pieces back together again. That means no dating for a while. Give me until November, after volleyball season ends, then I’ll think about it.”
Cecily sighed. “I get where you’re coming from, Mila.
It was rough when Michael and I broke up for that six months when I was in nursing school.
The long distance relationship was hard to manage, especially with as much as I needed to study, coupled with his firefighter’s schedule.
We got through it, though. You shouldn’t let being burned twice keep you from going out. ”
“I appreciate your support, Cec. You know that. Maybe I’ll feel differently in six months, and you and Michael can double date with Chris and me.
For now, though? I’m going to revel in being single again.
It’s summer. I have a couple of weeks off before I need to run my camp and think about lesson plans and volleyball again.
I plan to enjoy having some time to myself, and I don’t mind taking Bobby and Gina off your hands some.
I can come and stay here for a weekend. They’ll be near all their toys, and you and Michael could do a little getaway. ”
“We just may take you up on that,” her sister-in-law said eagerly. “Let me see what Michael’s shifts look like for the month of June. I can always have someone cover one of mine.”
She finished her coffee and set down the mug. “It was good visiting. I’ve got to swing by the ad building and school now. Text me if you can work out a getaway.”
“Will do.”
Mila went to her Jeep and drove the short distance to the school administration building, which conveniently sat directly across from the high school.
She was looking for a new volleyball and track coach for the middle school program and hoped she would be able to find one quickly so she could enjoy the next couple of weeks.
When she left admin, she would go across the street and speak with Jon Earl about interviewing three candidates she liked.
She dropped off a flash drive of curriculum she had been working on the past few days for US History, updating it to match some changes the state had recently made.
The secretary thanked her and said she would print out copies for Pamela, the director of Social Studies and ELA, to review.
Then Pamela walked by, a stack of folders in her hands.
“Have a few minutes to talk?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Mila followed Pamela into her office. They talked for half an hour about those changes, as well as debriefing about the past school year.
Mila had always received excellent feedback from both her evaluator at the high school, as well as Pamela, and the older woman liked to bounce ideas off Mila, especially where change was concerned.
“I’ll look over your updates and see if anything needs to be tweaked,” the director said. “I doubt it because you’re so efficient in everything you do, Mila. If you ever want to get out of coaching, I think you’d make a fine administrator.”
“Actually, I’ve been giving that some thought, Pamela,” she admitted.
“You’re the first person I’m sharing this with.
While coaching is in my blood, the hours can be insane.
I’m thinking about applying to Texas A&M in Corpus and starting on my masters in educational administration.
I can do the entire coursework online, which really appeals to me because of my hectic schedule.
It would certainly give me options regarding my career. ”
She hesitated. “Please keep this between us. If Dad got wind of this, he’d be all over it, pushing me to go into admin.”
Pamela smiled. “Bill Perry would love to have you in the district as an administrator, but I’ll definitely keep quiet about it. Let me know if you need a rec for the program. You know I’m happy to write a glowing letter for you.”
“I appreciate you saying that. I’ll be looking at everything in-depth, now that school is out. I’ll get back to you if I need a rec letter. Thanks.”
Mila told Pamela goodbye and glanced at her watch. Jon Earl would have left school by now for lunch, so she thought she might stop by her dad’s office and see if he wanted to grab lunch on the square with her. Then she could talk to Jon Earl about the open position.