Читать книгу There Comes A Season - Carol Steward - Страница 13

Two weeks later, Laura, Chad, Jacob and Carrie sat on the portable bleachers cheering for T.J.’s team. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of Todd missing his son’s first football game. Oh, Todd. You were supposed to be here. Watching him, coaching him. Who’s going to…?

Laura’s thoughts were interrupted when T.J. recovered a fumble and took off down the field. Laura jumped off the bleachers. “Go T.J.! Cut right!” She stopped yelling, suddenly remembering the baby beside her. She prepared to soothe him, but he slept through all the noise from the game.

The Mustangs had a strong offense, but their defense lacked the size to stop the opposition from scoring more touchdowns. They played hard, and Laura was proud of them.

Bryan walked across the field with his hand on T.J.’s slumped shoulder. “I promised T.J. I’d take you all for an ice-cream cone after the game.”

Laura croaked, “Thanks, but I need to get home. Why don’t we take a rain check? You did a great job, T.J.”

“We didn’t even win, Mom,” T.J. answered, clearly disappointed.

“Can I go with Bryan, Mom?” Chad interrupted.

Bryan motioned Laura aside and pushed his son’s stroller, smiling lazily. Laura tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach. She cleared her throat before trying to talk again. Again, a raspy reply was all she could manage. “Not today, Chad.”

“Sounds like you need a double-decker ice-cream cone. What’s so important at home?”

Laura’s voice was barely a whisper. She motioned to Carrie to tell him, but Carrie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know why we can’t go! You never let us have any fun since Daddy died.” Laura watched as Carrie stomped away, a sudden stream of tears flowing. “All we ever do is work!”

T.J. and Chad looked at Laura, then chased after their sister. Laura turned to Bryan, guilt laying its burden on her again.

“Yours must have been the voice I heard encouraging the boys. I appreciate it.”

Laura nodded, thankful that he didn’t mention Carrie’s tantrum. “Thanks for the offer, but I have cakes to decorate for a wedding shower. They’ll be picked up in a few hours.”

“A talented woman. Well, since you’ll be busy for a while, why don’t I take the kids for lunch and bring them home later? I’m sure you could use a little peace and quiet.”

Laura shrugged. “I can’t give in to her tantrum.”

“Everyone’s entitled to change their mind once in a while, even mothers. Take a few hours off.”

Laura was puzzled by this side of Bryan. The careerminded executive was offering to take her children to lunch.

“Thank you anyway Bryan…”

“I believe it was you who said that this child care contract was like a partnership in parenting. That should work both ways. I may not be Superdad, but I can handle burgers in the park.”

She wanted to argue, but recently coping with the effects of her husband’s death kept her in a constant state of turmoil, and right now, her emotions were quickly gaining control. She met the kids at her van and sent them to meet Bryan.

When they arrived at the house an hour later, Laura was finishing the cakes. Without prompting, the kids thanked Bryan and got their mother’s permission to go to the park.

“Be back in an hour. And be careful.”

Bryan held Jacob, and sat across from her at the table. “The kids said your favorite is an old-fashioned chocolate soda. I hope they were right. I also brought you a burger and fries, in case you didn’t take time to fix lunch.” He looked at the cake and back to Laura. “Mind if I watch?”

“That’s fine.” Laura drank the soda, letting the ice cream slide slowly down her sore throat. “This tastes wonderful. Thank you.”

He watched as she added borders to the cakes and put them into boxes. “You seemed to enjoy the game.”

“I wanted to strangle a coach or two, to be honest.”

“Present company excluded, I hope.”

She smiled apologetically, “You did a great job with the boys, Bryan. Not all coaches share your philosophy, though.”

“Warning taken. I’ve already talked to Kevin, but I’ll mention it again. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about doing me a favor. The company has offered their block of seats for me to take the boys to a Bronco game. What do you think about helping?”

“Weekends are pretty busy at our house.”

“I bet they are. I need one more chaperon, and I’m sure having an experienced mother along would comfort the other parents. Carrie and Chad would probably enjoy it, too.”

She stole a glance at him. “I appreciate the invitation. It’s been hard for the kids to understand some of the changes we have to make without Todd, but they’ll get used to it. I’m sorry about Carrie’s outburst.”

Bryan set Jacob on the floor and set a brightly colored toy in his view. “A daddy’s girl?”

Laura nodded. “I just begin to think we’re making progress, when something else happens. I can’t figure out what makes her act like that.”

“Try not to let her get you down.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Jacob rolled into the next room. Bryan caught him and brought him back. “I think she’s acting pretty normal for a pre-adolescent girl who’s just lost her father.”

“It just seems I can’t do anything right anymore. She argues with everything I say.”

“Maybe she’s ready to make a few decisions on her own.”

“She’s ten years old!”

“Ten going on twenty, right? I’m suggesting you start with small decisions, nothing monumental. Let the responsibility grow with her.”

“And what makes you an expert on raising kids suddenly?” Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms defiantly.

He stood up, smiling with satisfaction. “I guess not as much as I thought. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. See you Monday.”

As he walked out the door, Bryan overheard her muttering. “Uncomplicated, Bryan. Let’s keep it that way!”

The next Monday Bryan watched in fury as Kevin pushed the boys, stressing the importance of winning even more than before. After the practice ended and the kids were gone, Bryan pointed out that they should be teaching good sportsmanship, teamwork and skills, not just winning.

“It’s the reason we play.” Kevin turned and walked off.

“Where’d you come up with that?” Bryan flung the ball into a duffel bag and zipped it closed.

Kevin’s eyebrows lifted, and he pointed at Bryan. “You’re not going to tell me winning, at anything, isn’t just as important to you. Are you?”

Bryan faltered, unable to deny the accusation. “Who are we here for, them, or us? Half of these boys haven’t ever touched a football.”

“And what about the few, like T.J. Bates, who have the raw talent to go all the way with this? Don’t they deserve more than what this team has to offer?”

“They all need the basics. Not one of them, including T.J., are so good they can’t strengthen their form.”

“Winning is the goal, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“One goal, but not the priority at this level. Didn’t you look at their faces during the game? They were having fun out there whether we were winning or not. Let’s not put that fire out.” Bryan couldn’t believe they were having this argument. For months they’d planned and anticipated the fun of coaching these boys.

“If you think you can do a better job of it, the position’s yours. No problem.”

“Oh, no, you don’t! You’re the head coach, I’m just helping.”

“Not any more. You don’t like the way I’m coaching, you do it. I’ll just sit back and take a few lessons from the pro.”

Bryan opened the trunk and dropped the bag inside. He slammed the lid, venting his anger on it instead of his friend, who seemed to have changed his coaching philosophy overnight. Sure, they’d both been aggressive players, but Kevin had never talked or reacted like this before. “If you won’t do it right, then I guess I’d better. Another week of your attitude, and we won’t have a team left!”

“Then maybe they don’t belong here in the first place,” Kevin muttered, as he climbed into his truck and drove away.

Bryan discovered he’d fallen into another one of Kevin’s schemes. This one was geared to show Bryan that kids were a lot more fun than hassle. It was as if his friend knew exactly what Bryan was thinking.

He also realized something Kevin didn’t. Being a coach, and being a dad, were not synonymous. Just because he knew how to teach beginners football, didn’t mean he would be able to transfer that talent into teaching his son about life.