Chapter One #3
That day, Oscar was every bit as conscientious about keeping the team hydrated as he’d been the week before. Finn created a couple of chances to chat with him briefly—or maybe chat was the wrong word. Oscar was not the least bit chatty. He said what he meant and he moved on.
“Coach, I’m working on my own app to organize the team’s stats,” Oscar announced when Finn asked him how he was doing. “There are some good basic apps out there for high-school teams, yeah. But they’re by subscription and the free ones are always getting shut down.”
Finn waited a beat to be certain Oscar had stopped talking, because it seemed to him that the boy tensed up a bit when interrupted.
“Everybody on staff will get the GameChanger app for free this year,” Finn said.
GameChanger was currently the most popular recording, scheduling and communication app for high-school football teams. “And you are officially on staff.”
Oscar frowned. And then, he nodded. “That’s great, Coach. But I want to design my own app, too.”
“Alrighty, then. Go for it.”
Oscar regarded him solemnly. “Thanks, Coach. I will.” And off he went to fill bottles.
Finn didn’t get a chance that day to check in with Kenzie.
She was right there, though, on the sidelines, ready to wrap a minor sprain and bandage a cut when needed.
Twice, he managed to catch her eye. Both times, he grinned at her.
She stared back at him with a straight face.
That only made him grin wider. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow night and their friends-only dinner out.
After practice, he and Barrett met briefly to discuss training strategies. Then Finn had some things to take care of at Big Sky Properties. He spent a few hours there.
He got back to his place around five. One of these days, he thought as he walked in and stared at the mostly empty living area, he needed to buy a new sofa and some good leather chairs. What furniture he had now consisted mostly of things the former owners had left behind.
The only room he’d put any effort into was the primary bedroom. It looked pretty good, he thought. But he couldn’t hang out in there all the time.
His phone rang as he was sticking leftover takeout in the microwave. He shut the microwave door and took the phone from his pocket.
Great. Just what he needed on a solitary Monday evening in his empty house. A rare, completely unexpected and most likely unpleasant call from his dad.
“Hi, Dad. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing well, son. Always.” His dad was a banker.
Years before, Finn Monahan Sr. had run the Tenacity branch of Big Western Bank.
Then, not long after Finn headed off to the University of Michigan, his dad had moved the rest of the family to Florida, where he’d taken the reins of a bigger bank.
Finn Sr. had been moving up the banking food chain ever since.
Now, he was president of the largest bank and trust in Tampa.
“Tell me, son. How’s the real-estate business going? ”
Finn suppressed a weary sigh. He knew the question was a setup. Still, why be negative? He answered as though his father really cared. “Thanks, I’m doing well. Things are really picking up around here.”
“I’m sure.” His dad sounded bored to death.
Finn bragged on his town anyway. “There’s the new Dinosaur Center and there’s also been a discovery of kimberlite, a source of unmined diamonds. Tenacity is coming back from hard times. And my business is booming.”
“Booming is a relative term, wouldn’t you say?” his dad asked.
“Depends on how you look at it,” Finn answered pleasantly. “What can I do for you, Dad?”
“Just be honest with me, son.”
“Of course.”
“Are you staging a comeback?” All of a sudden, Finn Sr. actually sounded eager.
The question was so unexpected, Finn scoffed. “A comeback from what?”
“Tell the truth, now. I saw your interview in The Lewistown News-Argus.”
Finn remembered then. A reporter from the Lewistown paper had interviewed him a couple of weeks ago for a short piece about his decision to coach the Titans this season. “Back up a minute. Are you telling me that you subscribe to the Lewistown paper?”
“Of course not,” his dad replied dismissively. “But I do occasionally surf the internet. I like to know what my boys are up to.”
“You know, you could just call me and ask me what I’m up to, Dad. I would be happy to answer any and all questions you might have about my life.”
Finn Sr. ignored that suggestion and muttered, “You were the best. You should have been a legend. Time magazine called you a phenom. Until your injury, you could do no wrong. But you gave up and now, you’re selling houses.”
“And you’re a banker, Dad. It’s called making a living. We all have to pay the rent somehow.”
“Don’t take that attitude with me.”
Finn drew a slow, careful breath. “How about this, Dad? Tell me how you’ve been.”
A long silence, then he replied, “Your mother and I are fine.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. Give her my love.”
“I will…and the other line is ringing. I need to get that.”
“Okay, Dad.” He should say “good talking to you.” But he couldn’t quite bring himself to tell that lie. “Take care.”
“Right.” And that was it. His father ended the call.
As for Finn, he poured himself two fingers of very good Scotch and sat in one of his left-behind living-room chairs.
As he stared out the big picture window at the rustic rail fence that surrounded the house and the rolling pastureland beyond it, he sipped his drink slowly and thought that he really did like being back home in Tenacity.
He enjoyed helping people and he liked selling real estate. And football season hadn’t even begun yet, but he was already having a ball coaching the home team.
Plus, tomorrow night, he was going out to dinner with Kenzie—no, it wasn’t a date. And that was okay. They might actually become good friends.
Hey. Stranger things had happened.
As for his father, never again would Finn let himself feel hurt that his dad rarely called anymore. In fact, it would be alright with Finn if his father never called again.