I eyed Chelsea in the distance, with a black tutu over her clothes, furiously pirouetting while María clapped. That kid had no intention of dropping ballet.
“Diane. Gabriel.” Josie’s smile turned wider, tenser. “I understand everything you’re saying, I do. But can we please make the effort to put ourselves in Adalyn’s shoes? I think she’s been chastened enough for today. Don’t you think?”
I looked in the direction of the woman in question. The bags under her eyes seemed more noticeable than earlier today. My eyes flickered down her body, noticing how she was tapping her fingers around the cup. I didn’t think she’d touched her Josephino.
“Give me a chance,” Adalyn appealed to the group. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I promise you, I will be fully dedicated to the girls.” She hesitated. “I will take the team to new heights—”
“With Cam,” Josephine added.
Adalyn’s cheeks flushed. “With Cam,” she agreed quietly. Too quietly. “There’s also an MLS team backing me up. That means new kits, training supplies, sponsored gear… Anything you can think of. There is a budget allocated to spend—”
“Do you think you can buy us?” Diane sputtered. My eyes flashed to the woman, zooming in on her face.
Adalyn’s voice didn’t waver. “No. Of course not.”
Diane bristled anyway. “I know your kind. You saunter into small places like ours, in your fancy clothes and cars, wanting to make big changes.” She took a step in Adalyn’s direction. “This has happened before. To the Vasquezes’ farm. So, no. I don’t trust you and your money, missy!”
“Diane!” Josephine exclaimed. She set a hand on Adalyn’s arm. “Diane doesn’t mean that. I promise you she’s just passionate about the kids and the community. She unfortunately gets a little heated sometimes.”
Gabriel murmured something that sounded a lot like, “Here we go again.”
And as if on cue, the woman waved a hand in the air. “I am not heated.” She walked around Josephine and pointed a finger at Adalyn. “And if anyone knows about getting heated it is this woman right here. Next thing we know, someone’s hurt or… decapitated.”
A strange sound left Adalyn in response.
Before the woman could say another word, I found myself between her and Adalyn, holding a crumpled empty coffee container in my fist. I willed my fingers to relax, then pushed it inside a pocket on my pants.
“I’m about done listening to this,” I announced to the group. Diane’s head tilted back, lips bobbing wordlessly at me. I sent a quick sideways glance at Josephine. “So, if we’re finally through with this nonsense, I’d like to wrap things up and go home.”
Josephine’s eyes were slightly wide, but her lips were parted with a big grin that made her look deranged. She looked straight at me as I remained in the exact same spot.
“Christ. What now?” I asked.
She shrugged, that smile frozen in place. “Nothing. And yes, we’re done here.” She made a little pause I didn’t miss before adding, “Coach Cam.” Then, she was on the move, grabbing both Diane’s and Gabriel’s arms. “Okay, you two. How about I treat you to a delicious slice of raspberry tart? On the house, of course.”
And before I could blink, I was watching them walk along the sidelines in the direction of the other parents that had gathered to pick up their kids and were all looking this way.
I sighed, forcing my shoulders to relax and bracing myself for whatever show of hostility was waiting for me.
But when I faced Adalyn, her gaze was cast down again. As if the toes that I’d already noticed peeking out the hem of her pants held all the answers in the universe.
“You didn’t like the Josephino?” I heard myself ask.
Her fingers tapped on the container. “I don’t drink coffee after noon.”
“Well,” I breathed out. “I thought it tasted like shite, if it makes you feel any better. You’re not missing anything.”
She huffed out a sound that I would have interpreted as a laugh if it hadn’t been so bitter.
Oddly enough, Adalyn remained quiet. Inexplicably, I felt the need to test her, so I took the drink from her and had a sip despite my last words.
No smart remark came. Instead, she tugged at one of the sleeves of her blouse, lost in thought. I’d expected her to call me on my bullshit. There was something off with her. There had been since Diane and Gabriel had showed up.
“Have you googled me?” she blurted out. “You have my full name from the confirmation email I showed you, so you could have.” A pause. “Have you, then?”
My brows knotted. “Why would I google you?”
“Right.” Something wavered on her face but she soldiered on. “You didn’t need to intervene back there, by the way. I could handle Diane on my own.”
I bet she could. Any other day, maybe. Right now, Adalyn was a shadow of the woman who had been busting my balls since her arrival in town. “Odd way to say thanks,” I told her, earning a slightly harsher look from her. “Not that I should explain myself, but it wasn’t about you.”
I had a low tolerance for bullies, which had gotten me in more than a few scuffles that had made the press rounds throughout my career, and that mother had been a step away from turning into one. I didn’t care that she was just a concerned parent and not some cocky winger or forward running in my direction and spitting ugly words about my nonna.
Adalyn gave me a curt nod, leaving it at that. “I guess we should address the elephant in the room then.”
“Those impractical shoes you’re wearing?”
“I can pay you,” she said, ignoring my jab and looking at her feet again. “For your time. The budget is smaller than what I’d like and I’m not exactly on good terms with the… CEO of my club back home, but I have resources. I could—”
I watched my hand land on her forearm. The warmth of the skin beneath the fabric of the blouse seeped into my palm. Her head snapped up. “What in the world are you talking about now, Adalyn? You don’t even want me here.”
“What I want doesn’t matter,” she countered, and I retrieved my hand with a huff. “Apparently, there’s no me without you. The parents won’t trust me without you here to interact with the girls. That is, if Josie convinces Diane not to start a crusade against me or something.”
My jaw clenched.
She continued, a new emotion fleeing in and out in record time, “The girls are terrified of me, Cameron. But they like you. They listen to you. Can you please forget I said that thing about firing you?” Her voice did an off thing. “You’ll be doing them a favor, not me.”
My teeth were pressed so tight, I could feel them gritting against each other. I let my gaze roam all over her, trying to get a goddamn read on this woman.
“This whole thing the parents were so worked up about,” I finally said, piecing some of what I’d heard together. “Does it have anything to do with your banishment?”
She gave me a nod. And I was surprised, almost impressed by the fact it wasn’t a shy one. There was nothing but determination in that nod.
What the fuck had she done to land herself here?
“I breached the conduct clause of my contract,” Adalyn said, providing me with the answer. “I… got physical. With someone. I messed up.”
I considered her words for an instant. “Were you provoked?”
Her brows knotted.
“Was there a good reason for you to do it?”
That determination wavered, but when she said yes, it was a firm, curt word. “There was.”
“All right.” I turned around, spotting a mostly empty field, and the few girls behind already with an adult. “Let’s go, I have something in the boot of my car for you.”
We started toward my parking spot.
“So does that mean you’re in?” Adalyn pressed, catching up with my pace. “Also, you really need to work on your social skills, the line about the boot of your car was a little creepy.”
I ignored the pang of relief I felt at seeing her snark was back. “Sure thing, darling.”
“Still not your darling,” she quipped.
“Still don’t care.”