Page 134 of Balancing Act

Jamie pressed her lips together to keep from laughing as Shannon snorted beside her.

On the other hand, Wren was horrified for half a second. “Oh—oh my God, no, I wasn’t saying—I just meant—” She made a panicked gesture, flustered. “I-I’m really tall, you know? And gymnasts are short, typically.”

Lily tilted her head. “Yeah,” she said, unimpressed. “I noticed.”

For a moment, Wren stood there, looking like she was mentally cataloging every possible way to escape this conversation. Then, to Jamie’s surprise, Lily smirked.

“Come on,” she said, jerking her chin toward the field. “Show me what you got.”

Wren blinked, processing, her body deflating with relief. “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Cool. I mean—yeah, let’s do it.” She started to follow Lily, then abruptly turned back to Shannon and Jamie, giving them two awkward thumbs up, then pivoted so quickly to jog after Lily that she nearly tripped over her own feet.

“Jesus,” Shannon let out in a low snicker.

Jamie smirked. “I like her.”

They watched as Lily nudged the soccer ball toward Wren, who nearly tripped over it before regaining control. She must have said something funning because Lily was doubled over with laughter. Wren visibly relaxed at that, like she’d just passed some kind of test.

“Lily’s gonna be good for her,” Shannon murmured, crossing her arms.

Jamie hummed. “Yeah. I think so.”

“I get the sense Wren’s home life isn’t the best. Her family lives in Spokane, and she lives with an aunt here, but I don’t think they’re close. She’s a quiet kid, but man, is she talented.”

They quietly watched the two girls kick the ball around on the field before Shannon spoke again.

“Lily seems great. Mature for her age.”

“Yeah,” Jamie agreed. “Sometimes a little too mature. I want her to remember that she gets to be a kid, too, sometimes. One of the downsides of being an athlete in a sport where you’re lucky if your career extends past twenty-two.” Jamie exhaled, rolling her shoulders back. They were each dancing around the purpose of this meeting—waiting for her to take accountability for disappearing on Shannon the other day. She could do this.

“So, do you want to explain to me what happened?” Shannon tilted her head. “You disappeared. No texts. No call. Just gone.”

Jamie nodded, guilt twisting in her gut. “I know.”

She could keep it vague. Say she’d had some personal stuff come up. She could avoid this conversation altogether, push it back like she had so many times before.

But she was tired of that. Doing that never led to the changes she wanted in her life. If she was serious about moving forward and letting people in, she had to start following through with her actions.

Shannon had earned the truth.

Jamie rubbed the back of her neck. “I got a call from my doctor last week.” Her voice was steadier than she expected. “They found some abnormalities in my most recent scans, wanted me to come in for more tests.”

Shannon’s brows knitted together, her posture shifting from guarded to concern. “Scans?” she echoed.

Jamie nodded slowly. “I had cancer.” The words came easier than she thought they would. “When I was twenty-four. Stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer.” She swallowed.

Shannon’s face fell. “So that’s why you retired, we all had wondered,” she said quietly, before Jamie continued. She had to keep going. To get it all out and off her chest.

“I got lucky. Chemo worked, and I’ve been in remission for years, but, you know—once you’ve had it, it’s always in the back of your mind. So, when I got that call on Friday...”

She trailed off, shaking her head.

Shannon didn’t rush her. She stood there, watching, listening, waiting.

Jamie cleared her throat, forcing herself to meet Shannon’s eyes. “I freaked out,” she admitted. “And I needed to leave. It wasn’t fair to you or professional, and I’m sorry for ghosting. Ishould’ve told you what was happening instead of disappearing like I did and leaving you hanging like that.”

For a long moment, Shannon didn’t say anything.

Then, she let out a sigh. “Jesus, Jamie.”