Afterward, he and Archie had walked her home. They’d parted on the front walk. She hadn’t invited him in. He hadn’t taken advantage of the moment to kiss her senseless the way he’d desperately wanted to. He had a feeling it had required amazing restraint on both of their parts. He’d noticed that she’d stood staring after him for a long time before finally closing her front door.
That, he concluded, was another positive turn of events. She’d looked as disappointed and disconcerted as he had been by the abrupt end to an otherwise perfect evening.
This morning, though, he was restless and edgy and glad that he’d sent out a text to his team members to meet him on the green at nine o’clock.
He stood on his balcony and watched them assembling, giving each other boisterous high fives as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks, rather than days. He smiled, then set his empty coffee cup in the kitchen sink and went down to join them.
“How come we’re here, Coach?” Henry asked. “And why’d you tell us not to bring pads or helmets?”
Aidan called the boys together before answering.
“Okay, guys, here’s the scoop. We’re going to be doing some unofficial drills and there are some pretty strict regulations on what we’re permitted to do. We can focus on training and getting in shape, but we can’t be doing full-contact tackling. We can use the field when it’s available, but it’s in use by a summer camp right now and for the next few weeks. I know you all are anxious to get started, so we’ll work out here for a couple of days a week.” He gave them each a hard look. “Try not to mow down any little kids who might be around, okay?”
“Got it,” Taylor said. “The green is plenty big enough for me and Hector to practice passing.”
Henry’s eyes lit up. “Actually it’ll be kind of cool to be right here in the middle of town. People can see for themselves how good we’re getting.”
“They’ll see us make fools of ourselves from time to time, too,” Taylor said. “I’m probably still dropping more passes than I’m catching.”
“That’s about timing,” Aidan told him. “You and Hector will work out a rhythm.” He glanced around. “Now, I have some permission slips you’ll need your folks to sign saying the school’s not liable for any injuries and I’m going to do my best to make sure we don’t have any injuries to worry about.” He looked from one boy to the next. “Understood? The first one of you who tackles another player is heading home. Is that also understood?”
“Yes, Coach!”
The loud chorus was led by Henry. Aidan smiled, once again impressed by his impulsive choice of what had turned out to be exactly the right kid to be team captain.
He divided the team into groups and assigned them various running and passing drills, then stood back and watched them approach their assignments with enthusiasm and real determination. When he timed a few of the drills, he noted that they were running faster than they had when he’d first done the same drills before the end of the school year. Pleased, he called them back over.
“You guys have been practicing without me, haven’t you?” he said. He tapped the stopwatch. “Excellent times today. I’m proud of you. On Thursday I expect you to do even better.”
“Not till Thursday?” Henry asked, clearly disappointed.
Aidan noted the same reaction on all of their faces. “I truly appreciate the enthusiasm, but this is summer vacation. You need to have some fun. I know some of you might even have part-time jobs. Two practices a week are two more than we were originally going to have. Do some running and weights on your own in between. Once August rolls around, we’ll kick it up a notch and we’ll be back on the field in full gear. By then you’ll be begging me to let up on you. Enjoy this pace for now.”
Once more it was Henry who stepped in. “What did we say we were going to do this year?”
“Whatever it takes!” the team members shouted.
“And who’s going to lead us to the state championship?”
“Coach Mitchell!”
“And what are we going to do when we get there?” Henry demanded.
“We’re going to win!”
A shout went up that could probably be heard all the way around on Shore Road. Aidan smiled and gave Henry a well-deserved pat on the back.
“How’d I wind up with a team captain, a head cheerleader and an assistant coach all wrapped up in one?” he asked the boy, whose cheeks immediately flushed.
Henry had replaced the contacts he’d been wearing for practice with the glasses he preferred. He shoved them up the bridge of his nose and grinned back at Aidan. “Just lucky, I guess.”
Definitely lucky, Aidan thought as he dismissed the team and watched them head straight to Sally’s. Anticipating that, he’d told Sally to put whatever they ordered on his tab and he’d be by to pay her later. It wasn’t something he intended to do all the time, but he wanted them to know just how much he appreciated their commitment.
As he headed back to his apartment, Shanna stepped out of the bookstore.
“That boy of yours is remarkable,” Aidan told her.
“I’ve always believed that,” she said, then held his gaze. “But you’ve brought out something new in him.”
“What’s that?”
“Honest-to-goodness self-confidence.” She blinked back tears. “Thanks for that.”
Aidan felt his own eyes sting at her comment. This, he decided, was what coaching was all about, turning boys into confident young men. When he’d walked off a professional football field for the last time, he’d chosen his next career really wisely. And, he was increasingly convinced that, despite all of the upheaval that might come when the truth about his relationship to Thomas came out, he’d found the best possible place to practice it.
