Page 19
If he didn’t measure up to the coach’s expectations, if a trade would grant the team a concession better than his ball skills, if the back-up suddenly exploded with new skills he’d never had before.
.. his stint in Charleston would be over, contract or not.
Then he’d have to leave his home, the place he loved, uprooting Dylan and their whole lives, leaving Abby.
He frowned. He wouldn’t allow it to happen.
Stay focused.
“Six weeks. That’s...a long time. I mean, I understood, in a theoretical sense, but I’d never thought about it.” Abby chewed her lip.
“Well, I mean, training camp is only the first few weeks, but pre-season runs through the end of August, so...”
No matter which way you cut it, the chaos of mid-July until the start of the regular season couldn’t be matched by any other time of year.
It wasn’t the most exhausting; that would come around Thanksgiving as injuries stacked up, bye weeks were long past, and the interminable stretch to post-season loomed over teams in contention.
Still, twelve to fourteen-hour days, two-a-day practices, scrimmages.
.. He barely had time to eat and sleep during those first, all-important weeks.
“Lauren moves in when I leave for Springfield, then stays until the season starts. I try to get home most days, but, honestly, it’s a lot of late nights and early mornings. Even on my days off, I end up sleeping most of the day...”
“No, it’s fine. I get it. This is your job, and you love it. You have to do what you have to do.” Though she didn’t meet his gaze, the resolute tone in her voice reassured him. “You wouldn’t expect me to skip Gen’s training for you.”
“Gen’s training isn’t six weeks of hell.”
She shrugged. “No, but the point remains.”
“Dylan will go to his mom’s for a week or so early in August. It’s always worked out well that way.”
Another topic they hadn’t discussed, and one he needed to bring up sooner rather than later, but he didn’t think he’d have time before reporting to Springfield.
Scott sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t help wishing the honeymoon period had lasted longer, cementing this thing growing between them. Would Abby even want to stick around after she got a first-hand view of the life of an NFL WAG?
God, he hated that term— wives and girlfriends —hated to think about how many of his friends had lost the people they loved to the game. The cost to play was high.
As if she could hear his thoughts, Abby sighed and cocked her head, considering.
“Well, Gen and I are pretty self-sufficient. We’ve learned to be.
I’ll miss you, but we can text, right?” He nodded.
“And maybe call sometimes?” He nodded again.
“There we go, then. It’ll be like a long-distance relationship.
And if you have time and want me to come by, then we’ll come over, and if not, that’s okay, too. Dylan needs you more than I do.”
“Are you sure? It’s brutal, this process. A lot of girls—women—they can’t handle it. I wouldn’t blame you if...” He trailed off. Why was he convincing her to bail?
Abby gazed at Dylan and Gen, a slight smile playing over her features. “Well, I can’t promise I won’t feel differently on the other side, but six weeks isn’t too long, all things considered. Not as long as med school and residency, anyway. And we have plenty to keep us busy. Unless you...?”
“No, I want this. I want us. But I know how hard it is, and I don’t want to drag you through it if...”
“If I’m not ready. If I’m not all in. And if I’m going to bail later, anyway, it’d be easier if I did it, now.”
His throat went dry, his thoughts echoed in her words, anxious that, in spite of all she’d said, she would change her mind. Her veiled reference to the sacrifices she’d made for her late husband’s career hadn’t escaped his notice, either.
Will’s presence remained a ghost between them.
How do you exorcise an ex-husband? Scott winced. Probably the same way you did an ex-wife, and if Will remained a barrier between them, at least his name was out in the open. Lindsay...
Scott shook his head. He wouldn’t let her mar this moment with Abby. They’d have time to discuss his ex-wife. He’d make time.
Abby chewed her lip. “Well, like I said, I can’t make any promises, but then again, neither can you, right?
I mean, you might go six weeks and figure out you don’t want to be with me anymore.
I guess that’s the nature of relationships.
No one can ever make any promises because.
.. because you never know what’s going to happen. ”
She wasn’t only talking about the two of them, and he thought back to his own, failed marriage, the promises he’d made and broken. “Yeah.”
The word stuck in his throat like a burr. He wanted more this time around, wanted to let the promises pour past his lips in a reassuring litany, but he couldn’t ignore the truth of Abby’s words; they had a long way still to go before she could trust him with her whole heart.
Could he trust her with his, too?
“Hey, Dad, watch this.” Dylan had convinced Gen to get onto the diving board and now wound up his arm and launched the ball to the far end of the pool.
Gen, claws scrabbling on the textured surface, launched herself into the air, then splashed down, sending a huge wave spraying up to either side.
High enough to flood the deck and spatter Scott and Abby where they sat.
They tucked their feet up and Abby flung a towel over her book to protect it.
Gen chased the ball, heaved herself onto the deck, then flopped down, tongue hanging out and panting.
Dylan, racing around the edge of the pool, about fell over her as he slid to a stop beside her.
“Good girl.” He rubbed her ruff, ruffled her ears, then laughed as she proceeded to lick his face clean of the last beads of sweat and water still clinging to his skin.
He glanced up at them with a radiant smile.
Abby returned it, then snorted with laughter. “Maybe we’ll try dock-diving classes while you’re away.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19 (Reading here)
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46