Page 10 of Balancing Act
Jamie felt like she was going to vomit.
“Clearly, we didn’t make the connection as to who the other person was. Isn’t life funny like that?”
How was she so breezy and calm about this? But then Jamie had the awful realization that of course she would be. Beth needed to save her own neck. She was the one who was married and had way more to lose here. Her heart raced even faster.
“You must be Amanda,” she said, extending a hand to her. “I’m Beth, Lily’s other mother.” Beth turned those azure eyes on her. “Jamie, good to see you again.” She flashed that same brilliant smile. “Nice to meet both of you officially.”
Jamie reached her hand out to shake Beth’s and jumped slightly at her touch. That same electric spark surged betweenthem like it had the previous night, and it took all her self-control not to lean into it. She willed her brain to push the flashes of memories of their bodies pressed against each other down and out of the forefront of her mind. A familiar feeling of wanting to crawl out of her skin and run started to set in.
Jamie’s stomach plummeted as the pieces clicked into place. Beth wasn’t a thrilling possibility anymore—she was Lily’s mom. Her athlete’s mom. Off-limits didn’t even begin to cover it.
Worse, Jamie could still feel the ghost of Beth’s touch on her skin, the spark that had flared so quickly between them. Last night, Beth had been just Beth: radiant, magnetic, untouchable in a way that made Jamie want to try anyway. But now?
Now, she was Beth Walsh, Lily’s mother, and the line Jamie couldn’t cross had been drawn for her in bright, unforgiving red.
“You’re late.” Lily glared at Beth, which Jamie noticed. Did Lily suspect anything? No, how could she?
“I’m sorry, Lils,” Beth said, ignoring her daughter’s less-than-friendly tone. She looked around at the adults. “Apologies if I held anything up. The ferry was running a little behind this morning.”
“We were about to get started,” Amanda chirped, with a wave, “so you’re perfectly on time. We have some paperwork to go over with you and your wife?—”
“Ex-wife,” three voices said in unison as Beth, Sarah, and Lily spoke at the same time.
A wave of relief crash over Jamie.
They’d all said ex-wife.
Jamie wasn’t a homewrecker, and Beth wasn’t a cheater.
A small sigh of relief escaped her, and the knot in her stomach began to loosen.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I just assumed. Since everyone’s here, we can start with the official welcome. We’ll take you around the facility, show you where everything is, and then head briefly intothe gym. Today is about everyone getting to know each other. Transitioning coaches is a process, and we want to make that as smooth as possible for everyone involved.”
Amanda guided the group through the gym, pointing out different things here and there. Jamie lingered behind the group, observing the family. She had learned early on that she could learn a lot about people by watching them, and what she had observed so far painted an interesting picture. On multiple occasions, Jamie had watched Lily shrug out of Beth’s touch or brush her off completely—not in obvious ways, but subtly. However, Lily actively leaned in with Sarah and wanted to be close to her. She watched as Beth resolved to trailing slightly behind Lily and Sarah.Interesting.She filed that away for later.
Amanda had begun talking about their holistic approach to coaching when Jamie’s attention was pulled by a voice in her ear.
“This is quite the surprise,” Beth said softly, making her jump. Which, again, caught her off guard. She was Jamie-fucking-Lyons, and Jamie Lyons didn’t jump. But after the emotional rollercoaster that had been this day, anything was possible.
“Shouldn’t you be paying attention to the tour?” She wouldn’t let herself look at Beth. Instead, she glanced at the other group members standing a few feet away, where Amanda answered questions from Lily and Sarah. Once she was sure they were otherwise engaged, she responded, “Yeah, you can say it was surprising.”
The others started to move forward, but Beth hovered like she wanted to say more. But before she could, Jamie stepped away, back toward the group’s safety.
They pushed through the final set of double doors and entered the gym. High ceilings and clean white and gray mats dotted with pops of purple created a spacious environment forgymnasts to train. On one side of the gym, a wall was lined with mirrors. On the opposite wall hung an assortment of flags: the Olympic flag with its five interlocked rings, an American flag, the University of Washington flag, a Black Lives Matter flag, and a Progress Pride flag.
“Look, Mom!” Lily said excitedly, looping her arm through Sarah’s. “They have the Pride flag up.”
“I can see, sweetie,” Sarah said, squeezing her daughter’s hand.
Jamie appreciated Lily’s excitement at seeing the flag. When they opened, Jamie insisted that the Pride flag be always hung in the gym. That’s exactly the effect she wanted it to have: a visual symbol to all that this gym was a place where everyone was welcome.
“We pride ourselves—uh...” Amanda winced at the unintended pun. Jamie tried to hide her laugh, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught the smile that flashed across Beth’s lips. “We know that gymnastics can have a reputation for being a pretty buttoned-up sport with little room for any type of expression outside the rules. We encourage our gymnasts to be completely who they are when they train with us,” she said. “We want everyone who walks into our gym to know that this is a place where everyone is welcome and respected.”
“That’s refreshing to hear,” Beth said, with sincerity.
Jamie’s ears perked up as the wordrefreshingrolled off Beth’s tongue.Not now, Jamie thought, pushing memories of last night deep, deep down.
“Definitelynotsomething we’ve heard from other gyms before,” Sarah added.