Counting on Starlight (6 page)

“Liann. Hi. You’re finally answering the phone.”

“I’ve been busy with my new job.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m doing great.”
Lord, I hope that doesn’t count as a lie.
She had a roof over her head, family who loved her. A career that had hit a bump in the road, but she was making the best of it. A lot of people had it worse. Yes, she was doing great when she stopped to count her blessings.

“Good. I’m glad. It’s good to hear your voice....”

Matt didn’t do small talk, so Liann braced herself for whatever came next. “Thanks.”

“I’ve been praying, Liann, and I really believe that God wants us back together. I know every couple has doubts sometimes. They work through them. I know I have no doubt in my mind that I want to work through things with you, to have you by my side in whatever the Lord has for us.” He fell silent, and for a few seconds Liann wondered if they’d lost their connection.

She looked at her phone. Nope, the call timer still ticked along. How long had he practiced those words? He definitely sounded genuine. Not that she doubted his love for her at all.

“I’m sure you have prayed about it, and I believe that you’re sincere.” Liann swallowed her sigh. “What’s my favorite food, Matt?”

“What does that have to do with anything? We’re so good together. With your determination and energy, you’ll make an ideal youth pastor’s wife. You’re great with young people and will be an ideal mentor to them. Don’t let fear keep you from responding to your calling.”

“How do I like my eggs cooked, Matt?” She snatched a line from the movie
Runaway Bride
. “Scrambled, sunny-side up, over easy...or do I hate eggs?”

“Me knowing how you like your eggs cooked has nothing to do with having a good marriage.” She didn’t miss the sharpness that crept into his voice.

“Yes, it does.” She’d never had a conversation like this with him before.

“Liann, I love you. So much. I don’t know or understand what you’re going through. But I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you.”

“You don’t have to wait. I do care for you, but I don’t love you enough to marry you.”

“Give it time. I pray that God will show you the way.” With that, he hung up. He’d had the last word, of course.

Matt—dynamic, charismatic, with eyes for her alone. She should have guessed that he didn’t want her opinion. He assumed he knew what she wanted. And she? Well, she’d gone along with the romance of it all. Cheerleading coach falls in love with up-and-coming youth pastor, and they transform the next generation with their mentoring and discipleship, and go on to raise two-point-five children. And a dog. She wanted a dog, but Matt didn’t want pets. That should have been a clue. It was always what Matt wanted, never what she preferred.

Nope, she wouldn’t let a man do her thinking for her or let him skew her thinking again. With Jake, she had to admit it was a little different. Right from the “git-go,” as Uncle Bert would say, she’d been forthright with her opinions about Maddie and color guard, just as he’d been very clear about his. He didn’t seem like a malicious man who was adept at flinging veiled barbs that carried his real feelings.

Not that anything was brewing with Jake Tucker, of course, not matter what her aunt believed.

#             

“So I told Liann I didn’t want Maddie to waste her potential,” Jake told his brother, Billy.

“Bro, you sure stuck your foot in it this time.” Billy glanced at his wife, Justine, as they stood just inside his office doorway. Funny, they never came by the athletic office.

“Jake, did you realize how that might have sounded to Liann?” Justine shook her head, her blonde waves cascading over her shoulders. She leaned on Billy then looked up at him. “I would have called Billy out if he’d said something like that.”

“Well, I figured out, as soon as I said it.” He still felt the heat from Liann’s crackling gaze, followed by a glimpse of hurt just as she turned away. “I tried to say something, but... Well, she walked off.”

Really, everyone was making it sound like they’d had some type of couple’s spat. Which it wasn’t. He glared at the playbook on his desk.

Lunch break was short. They waited until 1 p.m. to take a break, when the heat of the day was approaching its worst. This afternoon after lunch, they’d review video of old plays and maybe watch some playoff games to motivate the kids. Then came weight lifting in the gym and a few drills at twilight.

“Have you called her to apologize, or at least explain?” Justine stood up straight, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I tried. Once. She didn’t answer.” Jake glanced at the large digital clock on the wall, ticking away the minutes of the lunch break. “And I’ve been busy lately. So has she.”

“That parking lot’s not so big that you can’t walk across it,” said Billy.

“Like I said, I’ve been busy.” Ten minutes, and he’d round up the guys with the rest of the coaching staff. “So, why else are you here today? I don’t think you came to inhale the aroma of sweaty athletes.”

“No, are you kidding? The hallway smells like Fritos, but I wasn’t going to say anything. Except maybe leave a container of Febreeze on your desk.” Justine grinned at him then turned to Billy.

“Well, uh,” Billy said, rubbing his hand on his unruly hair. His little brother wore the same look, the year that he’d unwrapped all the Christmas presents then hid them again. Jake could’ve throttled him then. Now, though...

“Is everything okay? Y’all aren’t moving away, are you? I mean, couldn’t blame you. LA seems a lot more exciting than Starlight.”

“We’re pregnant!” Justine squealed, then clamped her hands over her mouth. “I just found out. Little Peanut is super-young—six weeks, if that.”

Jake pushed back from his desk and met Billy and Justine on the other side. He grabbed Billy and wrapped him in a hug. “Bubbas... Wow, my Bubbas is going to be a daddy. Wow.” His eyes burned, and he blinked. “C’mere you,” he said as he reached for Justine, giving her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. “Congratulations, y’all. Wow. I’m gonna be an uncle.” He paced in front of his desk.

“We’re going to tell Mom and Dad tonight, on Skype.” Billy tugged Justine close to his side. “We weren’t planning on starting a family so soon, with Justine’s shooting schedule for the show this fall.”

“The producer will work around it.” Justine shrugged, her grin widening. “I was shocked, too. But I can’t wait.” She placed her hand on her stomach.

“When are you telling Maddie?” Jake knew Maddie would hate to be out of the loop.

“We were going to tell her before we tell Mom and Dad, but I think we’ll tell her now, too. Is she over at the gymnasium?” asked Billy.

“She should be. They’re practicing until late tonight.”

“Good. We’ll head there right now.” Billy gave Justine an adoring look, and she popped up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

“See y’all later.” Jake watched them leave the office.

He didn’t fully understand how the one-time megastar Justine Campbell had adapted to life in Texas for over a year now, but her marriage to his brother had a lot to do with it. She would jet off sometimes to film her reality-based human interest show,
Second Chances
. After the first season, the going buzz was an Emmy nomination waited in her future.

Billy couldn’t have done better for himself, and Justine adored the what-you-see-is-what-you-get with Billy. His brother had been through a lot, laying his life on the line for his country during three tours in Iraq. He earned a Purple Heart that he never talked about but kept tucked in a drawer somewhere. Jake glanced up at the shelf of coaching awards and plaques. How did awards that would tarnish compare to finding true love? Maybe Billy did right, keeping his medals in a drawer.

Billy was right, too, that Jake had misstepped with Liann. One thing for sure, he’d apologize.,  Not to get everyone off his back, but because he hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. Sometimes, things just came out wrong. He could bark out football plays and give motivational spiels to the team, but in other matters he was just as prone to foot-in-mouth syndrome as other men.

At twilight, while the guys were running the field, Jake excused himself and left them under the watchful eye of another assistant coach. He crossed the steaming parking lot. If someone felt like fried eggs for supper, all they needed was the eggs, a frying pan, and a patch of asphalt.

Jake entered the gymnasium and immediately heard the strains of “Beauty and the Beast.”  He pictured the hairy beast in a fancy outfit, whirling around the ballroom with Belle. Maddie had watched the DVD thousands of times and sang the songs around the house when she was little. He'd had his fill of it one summer break during college. Now that the band was playing the music, she’d started listening all over again.

Liann had her back to him, her hands on her hips, a flag on the floor by her feet. “That’s it.... Line up even.... Spin, spin, spin…. Wait for the crescendo, and you’ll hear the trumpets...and throw—
yes!
” The girls, in unison, tossed their flags, which spiraled above their heads, then dropped into their waiting hands. “Beautiful!”

One flag crashed on the floor. Maddie’s. She glared at the flag, then glanced in his direction, and she froze like a mama deer in the field.

Liann looked over her shoulder, her own eyes widening. She reached for a CD player on a wheeled cart and pushed a button. The music stopped. “Ladies, take a quick break. Five minutes.”

Maddie glared at her flag before she walked off with a tall brunette. A stream of giggles followed the girls to the water fountain in the hallways.

“Hi, Jake.” Liann wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Everything okay?”

“Yes. No.” He glanced toward the hallway. A pair of heads peeked around the corner then darted away. “Listen. I’m sorry about what I said the other day. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Apology accepted. I, um, probably overreacted a little bit myself.” She placed a hand on the CD player. “You
did
call. Then I got busy, and, well...you know.”

“I do know.” He took a step closer. “Y’all were doing a good job. It’s amazing what you’ve been able to do with them in such a short time. I didn't realize how much work it takes to do what you do.”

She smiled at him, and her expression reminded him of Justine’s when she looked at Billy. Uh-oh. His heart skipped a beat.

“It’s a work in progress. I started with the middle part...the love song. We’re going to backtrack with the opening section—‘Belle.’ It’s peppier, and there’s more complicated runs. A couple of the juniors are spinning rifles on that one, which is a review for me too.”

“Uh, about Maddie. Looks like she’s still having a hard time.”

“I’m not cutting her.” Liann’s response peppered the air.

“No, I’m not asking you to.” Jake cleared his throat. “But I’d like you to come to our house this weekend, if you want to. Maybe if you and Maddie work together, it’ll help her.”

Liann blinked at him. “Are you sure your name is Jake Tucker? Because not five days ago, you were trying to talk me into getting her off the team.”

“I’m going to give her a chance. Maddie's a perfectionist and doesn’t have a high tolerance for frustration. If she thinks she’s not going to succeed, she’ll back down. And I won’t have to talk anyone out of anything.” He couldn’t believe he’d just invited Liann to the house. Maybe Billy and Justine could come—run interference or something. Then someone would have to clean. With his and Maddie’s schedules lately, no one had vacuumed or loaded the dishwasher. The trashcan brimmed with takeout boxes. Mom would, as Maddie put it, “have a cow” at the state of her once-beloved home.

“You sly dog.” Liann shook her head. “You tell me what date and time, and I’ll be there. Maddie’s going to make a breakthrough. You'll see. I just know it.”

She reached out and gave him a playful shove. Before Jake could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed her hand. He squeezed it. A few giggles echoed through the gym.

Glen, one of his assistants, stuck his head into the gym. “Tucker, we’ve got Kansas Tech Athletics on the line for you.”

“Guess you’d better take that call.” Liann pulled her hand back. But she smiled at him. “It sounds important, if Kansas is calling.”

“I hope so.” He felt himself grinning like a boy on the first day of summer vacation. “I’ll call and let you know.”

Chapter 6

Trixie refused to start on Saturday afternoon. That figured, with Biff’s Auto Shop closed for the weekend. Which meant unless Liann called Jake for a ride, she’d either hoof it, which didn’t appeal to her at all, or take Aunt Chin Mae’s Smart Car. Uncle Bert was playing dominoes at the Bushes’ place.

“You use my car anytime you need, Liann,” her aunt had said.

She never imagined anytime to be now, with the mercury still hovering around one hundred degrees.  Did this place
ever
cool off? She never remembered Texas being quite this hot when visiting as a kid. Liann picked up a practice flag then glanced at the wooden rifle in the corner. Maybe she’d bring it, and the saber too. Just in case.