Page 11

“He was alert and talking, they just took him back for some scans,” I reply, telling him everything I know, keeping my concerns muzzled.

Clara June doesn’t need to hear them, because whatever I know could be possible, she knows it too, and she’s thought of the worst and then some.

Right now, she needs to know that whatever does happen, it will be okay, even if it’s not the best case scenario that unfolds.

“When I know something, I’ll call ya, alright? ”

Jake grunts. “Alright then. Just… give us a call over here.”

“Will do.” I end my call just as she slips her phone back into her bag, and looks up at me. Her blue eyes are crisp and vibrant despite the fog of tears and red veins.

“How about we get a cup of coffee in the cafeteria?” I offer, nodding toward the bottom of the sign hanging from the ceiling. ER ROOMS 1A-19A, JANITORIAL, CAFETERIA. She glances back up at me and nods, eyes still wet.

My first inclination is to wrap my arm around her shoulders, to pull her into me and hold her close as I guide her to the cafeteria and find her a place to sit.

I only just met her a few weeks ago, and she’s Tanner’s mom.

I don’t know why holding her right now, bringing her coffee, holding her hand and making sure she feels safe feels so imperative.

It’s cruel, in a way, because I know that’s not my role.

Still. I watch her walk next to me as we make our way into the cafeteria, stopping at the automatic coffee machines in silence until our large cups fill.

I hand the sleepy woman at the register a few bills, and guide Clara June to a small table in the back.

The space is almost empty, save for two OR nurses sitting at a table eating chicken tenders out of a styrofoam clamshell, both of them watching something on a shared iPhone screen .

Clara June sits and rubs her forehead with the tips of her fingers, letting out a heavy, low sigh.

I take a seat and take my hat off my head, placing it in the empty chair next to me.

I run a hand through my sweaty, chaotic hair, wishing the first time that Clara June and I were alone together were under any other circumstances than these.

“That was Jake Turner on the phone, and I don’t know if in the commotion of it all you spoke with your older son but he’s at the Turner’s,” I tell her softly, our untouched cups of steaming coffee sitting between us.

“Yeah, um, he texted me.” She takes her coffee, so I take mine too, and when she takes a drink, so do I. “Thank goodness for friends,” she says, trying to put on a smile, one she can’t manage. “Dolly took Archie for me, too.”

“Good,” I say, “that’s good.”

Her eyes hold mine, the contact anchoring and steadying. Finally, she takes another drink of coffee. “Thank you for being so calm throughout all this. For saying what you did in the ambulance, you know, for calming Tanner down.”

I lift a shoulder and drop it. “I meant it. I think he’s gonna be just fine.”

She nods her head. “Yeah?” Her eyes sweep mine, searching hungrily for reassurance. And the urge to drop my arm over her shoulders hits again, so I sip my coffee and take in her shining eyes.

“Yeah, I do.” I mean that, because I wouldn’t lie.

She nods some more, then leans back, reaching for the mess of long dark hair from behind her back.

She gathers most of it, leaving a few strands out here and there as she drags it over her shoulder and quickly braids it, wrapping the end with a small pink hair tie.

She gently slaps her cheeks and takes a deep breath, then has another long drink of her coffee .

I just sit there and watch her. Transfixed by her calm turmoil, mesmerized by strength and beauty. My chest gets tight just looking at Clara June, and it’s a feeling I can’t explain, nor one I’ve ever felt.

I clear my throat and search for words so I’m not caught staring at this woman in a way I got no business doing. “You know...” I start, but she cuts me off, her mouth catching up to her mind.

“Will… the scouts won’t lose interest? I mean, I don’t know how this stuff works,” she says, stroking her finger down the side of the coffee cup along the seam. “But they won’t, you know, withdraw their interest because of an injury this season, will they?”

I shake my head and take a deep-rooted peace in knowing that what I’m about to tell her is absolutely true.

“They will not lose a lick of interest in that boy, trust me. They came into this season not knowing if he was even gonna start, but willing to wait and see.” I take another drink of my coffee, burning my tongue.

“They will be interested. That won’t change.

I’ve had scouts take interest in players injured their senior year.

Don’t worry. We got time to nurse him to health should he need it, and the scouts aren’t going anywhere. ”

She nods her head, relief evident in the way she relaxes into her chair some.

She looks around the relatively empty space, as if just seeing it now for the first time, before her focus comes back to me.

“He’s smart, you know? But academic scholarships are different.

You have to be the top of your class, and not that Tanner couldn’t be but–”

I smile and she finds pause, smiling back. “I know what you mean. And I wouldn’t worry about anything just yet, okay? I think he’ll be just fine,” I tell her.

Clara June nods again, then we sip our coffees once more.

This time, she lowers hers to the table and meets my eyes with less intensity as she exhales.

“How was the game, you know, leading up to half-time?” She looks down at her uniform, the little faded white dress with buttons running down the middle, her nametag still very much pinned to her chest. “I was supposed to be off in time but… I had car trouble and had to get my car towed to Oakcreek and—” she shakes her head, running her fingers over her braid, something that must soothe her. “Anyway, how was it?”

I nod my head, trying to put together the pieces from before all of this.

“Game was good. Tough opponents—tougher than we expected given their first two games were losses to teams we destroyed last year but… otherwise, a good game. Tanner was playing great. His arm wasn’t bothering him and he was doing good.

He’d scored half the points on that board alone. ”

My phone rings again, but when I see it’s the JV coach Steven, I send it to voicemail.

I’ll call him later. And it looks as though I’ve already missed a call and received a voicemail, all from an unknown number.

I’ll check it later. “Is there anyone you need to call?” I ask, scratching the back of my head where my hat band has pinched all day.

“I mean I know you have a phone but I also know these moments are great for scattering thoughts.”

She shakes her head, finally tugging her purse strap down from her shoulder, as if only then realizing she was still wearing her bag.

She sets in on the table, and says, “No. I mean, Dolly took Archie just as I was getting to the bottom of the bleachers, and since I don’t have any updates, I don’t wanna call and get everyone over there worked up.

And as you know, Rawley’s in good hands with the Turners. ”

I wonder about Tanner’s dad, and if he’d wanna know that his boy is currently banged up at the hospital.

My eyes fall onto her bare ring finger, and she catches me, wiggling it. “Oh, I’m… Tanner’s dad isn’t in the picture. I couldn’t call him and tell him what happened even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”

Immediately I think of a man my age, maybe a bit older, with chestnut hair, and the same strong shoulders as Rawley and Tanner.

I envision him laid out on a road, blood marking his shirt, a phone in his hand, his gold wedding band shining beneath the moonlight as he calls his gorgeous wife to tell her that he’s been hit and he loves her.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I tell her awkwardly, not quite sure what to say.

She wrinkles her nose in confusion for a moment before a singular laugh erupts from her. “Ah, no, no, he left us. When I said he’s not around, I didn’t mean dead. I meant that he took off the day Archie was born.”

I cannot help my own incredulous laugh that bubbles up inside me. Her eyes clash with mine. “Why are you laughing?” she asks, confusion knitting her brows.

“I’m sorry,” I say, straightening against the chair. “I just… leaving you ?” I shake my head in disbelief, heat rising under my collar.

Her eyes hold mine, searching them, because I’ve clearly surprised her with my visceral response.

“It’s just… I don’t know what self respecting man walks away from his boys, much less his wife.”

Color rises up her neck, and throttles in her cheeks. “You know,” she starts, finally breaking eye contact to grab her bag from the tabletop. She grabs her phone. “On second thought, maybe I’ll give Dolly a call.”

She smiles, then focuses on her phone as she dials.

I listen to the voices through the receiver, muffled and soft, and try my best to mind my business.

After Dolly tells Clara June what the boys did the last two hours, and reassures her that they’re having a good time, she passes the phone to Archie.

Clara June tells him that Tanner will be okay, that we’re waiting for the doctors but that he was awake and talking like normal.

After that, she calls Riley, Jake’s wife, and talks to her for a few minutes.

She has a conversation with Rawley, and when she’s done, slips her old phone back into her bag.

“We’re friends with all the same people,” I say as she zips the top of her purse. She rubs her palms up her arms, holding herself like she’s chilly. Immediately I slip off the Bluebell Bruisers fleece zip up and pass it to her.

“Here, take this, please. I forced you into this cold cafeteria, it’s the least I can do.”

She’s hesitant as I hold the balled up navy blue sweater out.

“Another cup of coffee’d probably have you up too late.

Plus you’re probably jacked up on adrenaline, and there’s no sleep better than the post-adrenaline sleep.

So my jacket is the only way to ensure you get that solid, post-adrenaline crash snooze later.

” I smile, feeling like a salesman of sorts and I don’t know why I’m all of the sudden hooked on the idea of seeing Clara June in my sweater, or being the one to take away her discomfort, but here I am.

She slips into it, and it’s so big on her, she holds the ends of the sleeves against her palms with her fingers. Still, she wraps it around herself like a robe, adding a little moan of delight. “Thank you, Coach,” she says, “I didn’t realize I was cold until just now.”

“So, have Archie and Bear been friends for long?” I ask, and when her lips part and details about her life are about to come my way, a nurse appears in the doorway.

The two other nurses, sharing an episode of The Office on an iPhone, glance her way but she waves them off, and they immediately go back to their tiny screen.

She glances our way next and asks, “Ms. Colt?”

Clara June scrambles to her feet, snatching up her purse and both of our empty cups. I take them from her hand, causing her to glance up at me.

“Let me,” I say.

“Thanks,” she says, her eyes lingering on mine before she faces the nurse, now standing right in front of us.

“The doctor has updates on Tanner.” She looks my way. “Ready?”

I pick my hat up off the seat and place it on my head. “Yes, ma’am, we are. More than.” Clara June shoots me a grateful smile, and I find my hand on the small of her back as the nurse guides us down the hall, toward answers.