Levi stilled, his face a mask of disbelief when Andrew peered down at his dark brown eyes. “You’re coaching? How did you get reeled into that when you don't even have a child?”
Andrew resumed walking as he told Levi about filling in for Ezra. “Plus, it's a great way to get to know people in the community.”
“Interesting, Cap.” Levi’s keys beeped when he pressed his key fob. “That’s a great cause!”
Andrew retrieved his own keys from his bag as he approached his truck.
Preston came to mind, then Daisy.
How many kids on the soccer team were in Preston’s situation? Kids who needed someone to step in and coach their team?
Then kids like Daisy, who had a single parent who wanted to be there for their child, but had no time because they had to work hard to provide for their family financially.
For the first time, he gave thought to his new role as coach, and he felt good about accepting the responsibility, hoping he would be making a difference to these kids.
CHAPTER 6
Several cars were scattered throughout the medium sized parking lot when Bianca pulled up to park between an Escape and a Highlander.
She pressed the button to open the back passenger door, and Daisy hopped out of the mini-van.
No doubt she’d unbuckled herself way before they’d made the turn onto the lot.
“I’ll see you at the field,” Daisy said and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Bianca jumped out and ran around the front of the car. She reached for Daisy’s arm and pulled her back just as the Honda Pilot honked to cross in front of them.
Bianca would normally be running late because she would forget one thing after another, but thanks to Daisy’s enthusiasm for the game, they’d made good time.
Soccer practice and games were held at Fort Rock park, right next to the middle school. Adults and kids of various ages crossed through the parking lot and onto the green field.
The mid-March showers brightened the grass to a lush green, and Bianca breathed in the smell of rain mingled with freshly cut lawn. Spring sports were still hit and miss, since there were no guarantees about when snow and rain could cause a game to be called off.
Daisy squirmed out of Bianca’s hold and skidded ahead through the open field.
The evening sun was now low over the horizon and Bianca zipped her light jacket all the way up against the mild breeze. She squinted and peered in search of Field Five, where Daisy’s team was supposed to meet.
It hadn’t occurred to her that there would be several teams practicing on the same day, but the field was sectioned off with black lines according to different teams.
Bianca passed the playground, which echoed with kids’ happy squeals, and walked further down toward the soccer nets scattered throughout the field.
“Where in the world is Field Five?” she mumbled to herself after passing two different adults who were setting up orange plastic cones in fields with no numbers written on them, whistles dangling on cords around their necks.
Just as she was about to ask the feisty looking woman placing the cones, Daisy’s voice reeled her back.
“Mom!” Daisy called again as she ran back toward Bianca. “I found our field, and Mr. Drew said I can help him set up the cones.” Her voice was cheerful.
Bianca’s steps faltered and she blinked, her eyes peering over the several heads of people to make sure that she’d heard Daisy’s words right.
Drew was Andrew, as far as she knew, But she couldn't see Andrew yet. Maybe she’d heard Daisy wrong.
“Did you just say Andrew? He and your uncle look alike...” Not exactly, but she was just clinging to any hope that she wouldn’t run into Andrew today.
“Uncle Ez said he and Mr. Drew were going to take turns coaching me.” Daisy skipped as she spoke, her words bouncing off her tongue. “Uncle Ez told me to let you know.”
Bianca’s heart began thumping wildly. Good thing Daisy was too excited to notice the panic on Bianca’s face.
“Isn’t that great, Mom?” Daisy tugged Bianca’s hand.
“Yes.” Bianca’s voice wavered, excitement and uncertainty all mingled up. “It’s...great!” Her words came out in barely a whisper.
Daisy left Bianca and darted back to the field ahead.
Slowing her steps, Bianca stopped one field short when Andrew’s muscular frame came into view. Her mouth went dry while she watched the strong muscles that rippled through the navy t-shirt as he tossed out the balls from a mesh bag.
Even though she couldn’t hear Daisy’s voice, Bianca could tell she was chattering away as she followed in step with Andrew. When he handed her the ball, Daisy kicked it toward the net.
As if sensing her eyes on him, Andrew turned and met her gaze.
Ouch! She got caught ogling. She bit her lower lip furiously before she lifted a shaky hand to wave at him.
He waved back and resumed whatever he was doing. Daisy waved her over, then cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, “Mom, our field is over here.”
I know.
It was silly to be standing one field over. Unless she wanted Daisy to attract an audience by calling her again, Bianca had better walk closer to their field to join the row of parents who were setting up blankets and folding chairs.
This being her first sporting event, Bianca made a mental note to be prepared next time.
As more parents and kids arrived, the field filled with six and seven year old boys and girls, most of them beaming with toothless grins as Andrew high-fived them. Several kids were aimlessly kicking the ball, and Andrew clapped his hands to catch their attention.
Bianca turned to the field next to theirs when the whistle blew. Andrew would probably need a whistle, too, at some point during the season. While most of the kids stood in a circle where he wanted them, a few others kept kicking balls.
“Okay, kids,” Andrew said. “My name is Andrew, but you can call me Drew, if that’s easier. I’m going to be your coach.”
He spent several minutes chatting with the kids, asking their names and getting to know them, but they kept interrupting each other in their eagerness to respond. Andrew reminded them to raise their hands and take turns talking.
Standing a few yards away, Bianca tried to listen to their responses, but she was too far away to hear the children’s voices.
“Soccer is supposed to be fun,” Andrew said. “Today we will break into teams. In other words, we are going to play positions. Come game day, we will be competing against other teams.”
Bianca stared at a boy with shaggy blonde curls, who plopped on the ground and started yanking at the grass. Two little girls whispered to each other, then giggled. Daisy, on the other hand, was wide eyed, taking in all of Andrew’s information about mid-fielders and defenders.
Bianca had no idea what coaching soccer entailed, but she doubted the kids would remember all the information their coach was drilling into them.
“All right, let’s do this.” Andrew clapped his hands and split the kids into two groups. He then reached for a mesh bag and plucked out netted yellow vests, which he handed to one group of kids.
“Dexter, right?” he called the boy who’d been yanking grass earlier and handed him a vest.
“My name’s Colt.” the kid corrected as he wiped his hands on his shirt and took the vest from Andrew.
“You’re going to be the goalie on team A.”
“What's a goalie?” Colt frowned.
If he’d been paying attention instead of eating grass, he would know exactly what goalie meant. “I just explained a few minutes ago,” Andrew said, then repeated his explanation to the boy, who immediately got sidetracked when a soccer ball rolled toward him. He kicked it back toward the boy who’d accidentally sent it his way, and the two began kicking it back and forth to a chorus of whining from the other kids who wanted a turn.
Andrew reminded them to pass to their teammates, which resulted in a chaotic stampede for the ball. He yelled for
them to play their positions, but the kids didn’t seem to hear as they all barreled in the same direction, aiming for one net.
That continued until one boy snatched the ball and refused to pass it.
“It’s mine!” he pouted, squeezing the ball tight to his chest.
Andrew lowered himself to the boy’s level, speaking to him in the same gentle way Bianca had seen him speak to his dog.
His gentleness didn't seem to work with the boy, Bianca realized, when Andrew pulled up and walked to the side, retrieving another ball that he tossed to the group of kids to use, instead. Andrew wiped his glistening face with his arm—no doubt he was exhausted.
“Can we drink some water?” Colt’s shoulders sagged. “I’m thirsty.”
“I could use a water break myself.” Andrew clapped his hands and called for a water break. Daisy ran toward Bianca, a wide smile on her face.
Bianca retrieved a King Soopers water bottle from her black purse and twisted off the cap before handing it to Daisy
“Mom,” Daisy panted, her face glistening with drops of sweat as she leaned her head back to sip the water. “This is fun! Did you see me?” she asked, handing the bottle back to Bianca.
Half the time she’d been ogling the coach. “You’re doing a great job, sweetie.” She ruffled her daughter’s damp hair, and Daisy ran back to join the other kids for the second ‘half,’ which Bianca assumed would only last ten minutes, given the fact that it was a forty five minute practice.
Andrew ran back and forth with the kids for several minutes, scurrying from one goal to the other.
The girl with blue dye in her hair trudged back to her mom and whined about not wanting to run. Other kids wandered off to kick the ball at the side of the field, but Andrew paid no attention to them.
If Daisy had any problem with running, her face didn't show it. Her smile was wide as could be, and she did everything the coach instructed.
By the time practice was over, the team had surely done a lot of running, and even practiced some maneuvers.
Daisy dashed to Bianca’s side. “Mom!” she said. “Did you see how fast I ran? I almost ran as fast as Mr. Drew.”
Bianca handed her the water bottle. “I can tell you’re having fun.”
“I like my coach.” Daisy said. “I’ll tell Uncle Ez that Mr. Drew did a good job.” She tilted the bottle to her lips, trickling some on her blue shirt. She handed the bottle back to Bianca, just as Andrew called for the kids and parents to gather around for a briefing.
A perky redhead was talking to Andrew loud enough for Bianca to hear that she was a soccer mom. Bianca didn't miss the flirtatiousness in the woman’s facial expressions.
Maybe Andrew had a thing for redheads, since his ex was one. From what Leila and Renee said, they’d broken up by mutual agreement when she moved out of state.
The current redhead pursed her full blown red lips and dramatically set her long, painted nails on her chest as she spoke. This time, whatever the woman was saying was drowned out by the noise of kids shoving each other aside to get to the front.
It was no surprise to Bianca that Andrew was used to being flirted with. He was the kind of man who would never be single, because it was obvious that all the women considered him handsome. His jaw had several day’s worth of growth, giving him a rugged look.
Distracted by the kids’ noise , Andrew abruptly turned away from the redhead and introduced himself again to the parents.
“We have one more practice next week, before our first game,” he said. “I will be sending you an email with the game schedule.”
RedHead raised her hand and Andrew pointed at her. “Yes?”
“I’m Sarah, by the way, “ she addressed the rest of the parents. Bianca assumed it was her indirect way to tell Andrew her name. “I will be in charge of snacks.” She turned back to Andrew. “Maybe the coach can give me your email addresses and I will send out a sign-up sheet so everyone can bring snacks to the game.”
Andrew kept his eyes on the group of parents in front of him. “It's up to the parents whether they're okay with me passing along the email list.”
He then reminded, “Practice is next Wednesday. We're going to kick it up a bit.”
Bianca couldn't believe it. Kick it up after all that work out today? Did he think he was training a military camp?
As if he suspected an inner battle of her thoughts, his eyes found hers at the back where she stood, sweeping over and holding steady as she glanced down.
He then cleared his throat. “Okay, then, we have shirts here.” He gestured to a mound of blue t-shirts piled on the bleachers. “Each parent can come pick out a shirt for their kids. I don’t have the list of who ordered what size, but they are all stacked up according to size.”
“Do I have any volunteers to assist me on the field?” he asked. “My schedule varies and my brother might help me coach from time to time.”
Two dads offered to help.
When the parents started digging for shirts, Bianca sped to the pile of t-shirts, and picked a small size for Daisy.
Even though it would be courteous to stay and thank Andrew for sacrificing his evening to coach Daisy, she had no idea if she was capable of interacting with him, and she intended to escape as soon as possible.
Thankfully, he was busy chatting with Sarah.
Bianca felt like puking when Sarah laughed at what seemed like her own joke. She rolled her eyes and took Daisy’s wrist. “We have to go,” she said, and all but dragged her away from the circle.
“But, mom, I want to stay and help Mr. Drew clean up the field.”
“He has plenty of parents who are desperate to help.” She didn't miss her emphasis on desperate.
“Why are you not desperate to help?”
Bianca blew out an exasperated breath. She should be desperate, for more reasons than just wanting to be near Andrew, but she could barely hold his gaze. How was she supposed to work beside him? “We have to get home and eat dinner.”
“We already ate dinner.”
Oh. She’d forgotten. “It’s a school night.”
Daisy yanked her hand out of Bianca's and turned as if walking back.
“You won’t be at practice at all next week if you don’t start walking toward the car right now,” Bianca threatened.
She wasn't serious about her missing practice, but it worked—Daisy let out a frustrated sigh and folded her arms across her chest, following at a snail’s pace which caused Bianca to keep turning her head to make sure she was following.
Even though she’d managed to avoid talking to Andrew at the practice, she still had a thing for him brewing inside, and making an escape today was not going to stop her from fantasizing. What was she going to do about that?
CHAPTER 7
The field buzzed with excitement. Kids dressed in neon colored shirts darted around, and cheers accompanied by hand-clapping reverberated from the teams surrounding them.
Andrew’s shoes scrunched on the damp grass as he walked from one end of the field to the other. He needed to remind his players to maintain their position as they kicked the ball. He curled his hand into a fist to keep his frustration at bay. It was not even halftime and their team was already losing by six points. They had yet to score a single goal.
With last night’s downpour, he’d expected the game to be cancelled, giving him a chance to squeeze in one more practice before their first game, but that hadn’t happened.
The man in a black and yellow striped jersey blew the whistle for a half time break and Andrew gathered his team into a huddle for a briefing.
Andrew had been joking when he told the kids to play positions, he hadn't actually expected a referee.
Why his nerves were trembling already was beyond him. Two weeks of practice should get them a win, shouldn’t it? “Okay, Blue Dolphins, who wants to win?”
A chorus of “Me!” arose from the kids as most of their hands shot up. A couple of girls decided it was a good time to braid eac
h other’s hair while he addressed the group.
“You’re all doing a great job out there!” he encouraged, needing to boost them up with a pep talk. “But if we play a little harder, we can win this.” It would be a miracle if they scored anything today, but he had to make them believe they could win.
“What if I can't block the ball from getting into the net?” Dex, the designated goalie, asked.
“You can do this,” Daisy encouraged the freckled boy. “Mr. Drew told us last time that it's not about playing hard, but it’s about being smart. Goal keeping is all about strategy.”
Andrew grinned at Daisy, proud that she remembered what he’d told them during last week’s practice. He lowered himself and raised his hand to give Daisy a high five. “Great team spirit, Daisy.” Smart kid.
He turned to address the rest of the kids. “Daisy’s right.” He emphasized Daisy’s point with hand movements. “Soccer is all about physics, applying the necessary amount of force at the correct angle. Anybody have any questions?”
A skinny girl raised her hand and asked, “Did you see that dog at the sand pit?” She pointed at the chihuahua digging up sand in the pit a few yards away from their field. “It’s been eating sand the entire time.”
All the kids spun their heads in the direction of the sand box.
“It’s so cute.” A dark skinned girl turned to leave. “I’m gonna go play with him.”
“Me, too,” said another.
“Hey, come back!” Andrew hollered. Last thing his team needed was a distraction.
The whistle for them to return to the field blew. Thankfully, the parents intervened and herded their kids back to the field.
Andrew gritted his teeth when one of the boys on his team recklessly kicked another ball throughout the field. As if that wasn’t enough, he grabbed the main ball and clung to it while sitting on the other ball in the center of the field.
Not sure if the boy would listen to him or not, Andrew clenched and unclenched his hands.
“Hey, you can't touch the ball!” The referee pointed to the kid.
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