“Not true. And I have never— I don’t— This is serious, Katie, you’ve got to know, he’s got a bad record with nice, innocent girls.”
“Brad. For heaven’s sake.” Her half chuckle didn’t mask her annoyance. “I’m a grown-up. I hope I’m nice, but innocent girl?”
“You might think you—”
The crowd roared around them, coming to their feet.
Brad cursed under his breath. “Totally missed it.”
“You’ll see on the film that Eric Bridge drove the lane, looked like he was going for the shot, no-look passed to the center, who put it in easy.”
He kept his eyes on her for several breaths. “Thanks.” Then turned his attention to the court.
CHAPTER SEVEN
At the end of the game, Brad went to talk to the home team’s coach.
Katie stood by the bleachers, watching the warmth of the men’s exchange.
“Excuse me, you’re with Coach Spencer from Ashton, aren’t you?”
She turned to see a dark-skinned woman dressed in the home team’s colors of green and white. “Yes, I work in the basketball office with Coach Spencer. I’m Katie Davis.” She extended her hand.
The other woman met it. “I’m Gwen Stasek, Coach Stasek’s wife.”
“Oh.” Katie released her hand. “I don’t know if we can talk—”
“It’s fine,” Heath Taub said, sliding in with a broad smile. “Even if she were Eric Bridge’s mother, you could exchange a civil greeting.”
The woman nodded in reassuring confirmation. “You’re fine with coaches, it’s the prospective recruits and their parents you have to be careful about.”
“I’m mostly in the office, so I’m not as familiar with off-site rules. I don’t want to make any mistakes.”
“That does you credit for–”
“Speaking of Eric Bridge’s parents,” Heath interrupted, “they got a chance to see their son have quite a game tonight. Love to see parents’ proud faces after a game like that. They were here, right, Gwen?”
“I’m not pointing them out to you, Heath.”
Katie chuckled at the woman’s bluntness and Heath’s deflation. She assumed her most innocent voice, “I’d point them out to you, Heath, but I don’t want you to be tempted to arrange a way to introduce yourself and get in trouble.”
“You know the fam— You mean you’ve met—.” His mouth was having trouble completing sentences while his brain processed the implications. High schoolers were allowed to visit college campuses at their own expense, and could have contact with the coaching staff and other personnel then. So Katie could have met the Bridges that way – which would mean Eric Bridge was very interested in Ashton. Heath’s face fell.
Katie patted his arm, “We’ll talk about something else, since this seems to be upsetting you.”
“No, no, not at all.” His smile was broad, and fooled no one. “But I better go say hello to Coach S now.”
Brad had left Coach Stasek only to be stopped by a coach from the opposing team. Katie saw Brad give Heath an assessing look as he passed, then his gaze came to her.
She turned back to the coach’s wife, chatting about the team’s season and prospects.
When Brad arrived, he gave the other woman a quick hug. “Gwen.” Then he frowned at her. “Was Taub bothering you?”
“Bothering me? Not at all.”
If he took that to mean she didn’t find the man’s attentions bothersome, it served him right. He was treating her like a naïve nitwit.
“If anyone was bothered it was Heath.” Gwen chuckled. “Katie led him around by the nose. Especially since I happen to know Eric Bridge and his parents haven’t visited Ashton – yet. So, tell me, would you recognize Eric’s parents, Katie?”
“Oh, yes. I do pre-scouting background for C.J. That was Eric’s maternal grandfather sitting on the aisle, the man we climbed over.”
Gwen laughed. “Surprised, aren’t you, Brad? She was way ahead of you there.”
“She often is. We better get going. See you later, Gwen.”
Brad guided Katie through the thinning crowd with a hand at her back.
A polite gesture. That’s all.
****
“Your conversation must have gone well,” Katie said when they reached the parking lot. She expanded the distance between them. Not drastically. Just enough that his hand dropped from her back.
“Why?”
“You’re in a better mood.”
He cut her a look, but no, even in the raw outdoor lighting it was clear she really thought that was why his mood had improved since halftime. “It went well. Good to see Brent – the forward—”
“I know.”
“—and always like to catch up with Coach Stasek. But not all the game-playing’s on the court. From what Gwen said, you did well with Taub.”
She made a dismissive sound – saying the other coach wasn’t much to handle, so little credit came with handling him. He felt a little tick at the back of his head, as if someone had flicked their fingers there the way an early teacher had when he wasn’t paying attention.
But then Katie started talking, and he shifted focus.
“Sometimes I forget how good you are until I see other coaches in action.” She quickly added, “I mean all of you, all of C.J.’s assistants.”
“On behalf of all of us, I say thank you.” He let her precede him between two parked cars, heading for his in the next aisle.
“Of course, you’re a natural at this. Probably planned to coach from the time you could walk.”
“Me? No way. I planned to be a rock star. Can’t sing. Can’t play an instrument. Think drugs are stupid. But other than that it was the perfect job for me. Did you know there’s no major in being a rock star at Ashton? So I needed a fall-back career. But I was a real dark horse for becoming a coach. C.J. always thought Ellis should be the coach,” he said of one of his teammates. “Not me.”
“No.” For a second he thought she’d stopped short with shock. Nope. They’d reached the car, but she was surprised. “Well, he has to know better now.”
He beeped the car door open then held it. “Does he? Ellis Manfred would have been an amazing coach. He’d be an amazing whatever he wanted to be. Me? I had only one thing. Only one thing I could do.”
“Only one thing you wanted to do.”
“Maybe…. Probably.”
“And that’s why it’s the one thing you should do.”
“Now you sound like Andy.” He tried to make it sound irked, but she clearly heard the solid base of amusement.
Yet she frowned. “Your grandmother didn’t object to your coaching?”
“Object? She was all for it.”
“But…”
“But what?”
“Nothing.”
He closed her door and went to the driver’s side. “Going to tell me about that but?”
“Does your grandmother get confused sometimes?”
“Confused?” He laughed. “No way. Devious, yes. Why? Did she say something—”
She interrupted. “Your grandmother is sweet. How can you call her devious?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You didn’t catch it?”
“Catch what?”
“All of it. Starting from when we walked in.” He joined the stream of departing vehicles.
“When we walked in? She welcomed me and told you to take my coat.”
“And blocked us so we were jammed into the corner.”
She chuckled, then glanced at him and stopped. “Why would she?”
“To see how we reacted. Like two bugs pinned under her microscope,” he said. “Doesn’t stop me from loving her. But loving her doesn’t stop me from seeing it, either. She definitely wanted to see how we reacted.”
“To what?”
“To each other.” He had to look her direction as they turned into the busy street. That was convenient.
“Oh. But…” She swallowed, then resumed, “Of course
she’s curious how you get along with coworkers.”
“Yeah, right. Like Heath and Walt were interested in coworking with you.”
“Not Walt. He’s married.”
He snapped his head around. “Aha! So you did know Heath was coming on to you.”
“No.”
“No you didn’t know? Or no he wasn’t coming on to you?”
“Both?” Although she clearly tried to suppress it, a small smile tugged at her mouth.
He looked over at her. Longer than he probably should have in this traffic.
He turned back to the road. “I’ve got somewhere to stop right after the game Sunday if you don’t mind. Could delay us getting back to Ashton. Hope you don’t mind.”
He’d told C.J. and Carolyn he wouldn’t commit to the idea until Sunday. But now he had.”No, I don’t mind. Getting back later’s not a problem.” She said it lightly, trusting.
This might be the last time she trusted him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Saturday was basketball from waking to sleeping.
She and Brad left the hotel early to catch the first game in a high school tournament north of the city then drove back to connect with the team. They reached the hotel as the team was finishing the late lunch/early dinner that served as their pre-game meal.
C.J. gestured for them to sit next to him, but Brad immediately got called over by three players.
“Did you see the salad servers in the gift shop, Katie? They’re the right color, but I don’t know if Carolyn would like them.” C.J. frequently bought his wife odd items, all in the same color brown.
“Haven’t been in the gift shop. Did you get my email this morning about the Europe trip?” Katie asked her boss as she sat.
“Yeah. Didn’t you get my answer?”
“An answer of ‘okay’ doesn’t tell me if you caught all the nuances.”
He grinned. “Is that why you CC’d Maura? So she’d ask me about it while the team was loading up?”
“Precisely.”
“And she emailed you before the bus left the parking lot in Ashton, so you already know everything you need to know, which is why I emailed ‘okay.’ “
“Sometimes I think we’re enabling your bad habits.”
“That’s what staff is for,” he said triumphantly. “Which reminds me, the travel department sent me something about not having a passport.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Is this something I need to worry about?”
“No.”
“Okay. So, how’s the trip been so far?”
“Very interesting.”
“Details.”
“This from the man who doesn’t have time for anything but basketball, especially on game day?”
“It’s you and Brad. You telling me it’s not about basketball?”
After that, it seemed smarter to give him the requested rundown, though she skimmed over certain elements and emphasized basketball.
And what was the first thing he said after she finished? “So Brad took you to meet Andy.”
She’d said absolutely nothing about that side trip. If C.J. Draper weren’t such a good boss, he’d be downright annoying. “He stopped to see his grandmother on the way and I happened to be in the car with him.”
“You know she and her husband took him in when he was in middle school?”
“I, uh, gathered there was something. But since it’s none of my business—”
“You’ve seen how he gets along with his mom and step-dad, so it’s okay now. But it was pretty rocky when he was younger. He was pretty rocky. His dad was out of the scene early. Then his mom remarried when Brad was a kid. And they started having babies.
“His step-dad’s a nice guy, but kids don’t always appreciate nice. Especially not at that age. When Brad hit the age to rebel, there was his stepfather, along with half-siblings ready-made as a magnet for his discontent. He was heading down a bad road. His grandparents agreed to take him on. That was the first step.”
“Andy credits you for the rest.”
“Me? No way. That was Coach Brezyinski. His high school coach. Tough old Marine who took Brad by the scruff of the neck after his grandfather died, shook him good, then set him back down on his feet.” He shook his head. “Coach B scared the bejeebers out of me. He told me I was going to offer Brad a scholarship, and that was that.”“That’s not what Andy said.”
“She’s got her story and I’ve got mine. Besides, Carolyn was the force to be reckoned with for Brad when he got to Ashton. She always said he could do whatever he wanted when he set his mind to it, and she decided he was going to set his mind to a lot.”
“Even if he had to be suspended a few games.”
He grinned lopsidedly. “Yep. And wasn’t that some kind of fun? Wouldn’t want to go through those weeks again. But it did him a world of good.”
They sat in silence a moment – as silent as a room could get with the team no longer occupied with eating. She was too absorbed in considering what he’d told her to wonder what he was thinking … until he turned to face her.
“So, with all this talk of Brad’s history I forgot what I started out wanting to know. How’re you doing, Katie? What with getting out of the office, out of your comfort zone. You tend to resist that.”
Why did she have the uneasy feeling he was shifting the context from this trip to something broader. “I’m capable of expanding my comfort zone. For something I want to pursue.”
“As long as nobody sees you doing it,” Brad murmured from behind her.
She jumped, shot C.J. a look, wondering if he knew how long Brad had been there.
“It’s like you’re allergic to being noticed,” Brad added as he took his chair.
Her mother’s hand tugging her back, keeping to shadows. No notice. Draw no notice.
“I don’t want to be noticed.” She regretted the words immediately.
“Why?” C.J. demanded.
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be,” Brad said before she could answer C.J. without truly answering.
“Not everyone’s like—” She stopped, waving her hand, wiping away the words.
Instead of accepting her implicit request that her words be ignored, Brad said, “Not everyone’s like me?”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Sure you did. But that’s okay. Sometimes not being noticed backfires.”
“Because I won’t get promotions?” she said dryly. “I’ve had offers. I’m happy with things the way they are.”
“Are you?” His voice sounded peculiar.
Before she could examine that, C.J. muttered, “You’re a fine one to talk, Spencer.”
“Not the same thing at all. I’m talking about someone who hides out as Cinderella, then suddenly shows up in all her glory for the ball and doesn’t realize it can give the wrong kind of guys the wrong kind of ideas.”
“Now, that sounds interesting,” C.J. said.
“There was nothing—”“I’ll tell you about it later, Coach, when she can’t claim she was blind to a bunch of hounds drooling over her.”
“It wasn’t a bunch—”
“Hah! So you admit there was drooling going on.”
“I don’t admit anything. You’re being— Where are you going, C.J.?”
“Gotta call Carolyn. Got a question to ask her.”
****
He asked about the kids first, as always. They were fine.
“How’d you like a set of wooden salad servers from the gift shop, Carolyn?”
“You didn’t call to ask about wooden salad servers. Why are you distracted, C.J.?”
“I’m not distracted.”
“You’re calling me before a game.”
He conceded the point by dropping it. “I, uh, I had the strangest notion today.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Sitting with Katie talking. And Brad came up.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what? Yes, as in yes you heard me a
nd want to know what comes next? Or yes as in confirming what I was thinking but hadn’t said yet so you had to be reading my mind again?”
“The latter.” Only then did she chuckle a little.
“That’s a hell of a complication, isn’t it? I mean if she is, you know, what Hunter Pierce thinks she is, what the hell happens then?”
“I suppose that’s up to them.”
****
They ate Sunday breakfast with the team – happy after last night’s last-second victory in a game they hadn’t been expected to win. The team boarded the bus for the return to Ashton, while Katie and Brad headed to the early matinee game of a junior college tournament.
She read stats to Brad as he drove.
“That’s the last one,” she concluded.
“There’s no reason you shouldn’t want to be noticed more, Katie.”
She should have made up players to keep him from switching to this topic. “Not again—”
But she was too late. He was already going on. “Want to know the first time I noticed you?”
“No.”
“I mean really noticed you. Of course I’d noticed you the way any man notices the new girl in his environment the day you started, but—”
“I was not a girl. I was—”
“Girl.” His firmness overrode any argument. “With that sweater you always wore.”
“It gets cold in the office.”
“The gray shroud. You might as well add some fruit or birds and it’d be what a grandmother—”
“Grandmother?” Though to tell the truth, she’d heard that before.
“—would wear. Not my grandmother. But some grandmothers. Though Andy might be hurt to hear your tone of outrage at being likened to her.”
She glared. He returned it with an expression of blue-eyed, guileless innocence. Lying with a look. The man was a bald-faced look-liar.
“Anyway,” he said evenly, “what we were discussing before you derailed my train of thought was when I first noticed you.”
Dignified silence might be her best option.
“It was a couple months after you started in the basketball office. You’d smoothed out that mess with the travel office, and we already knew we couldn’t function without you. And—”
The Surprise Princess Page 6