The Bridge to a Better Life (10 page)

“It’s funny how different things are out here,” she said “I don’t know if I’d like the quiet. Or not being able to see another house. I’m a fraidy cat about remote places.”

“But you grew up in Dare Valley.”

“In town. Big difference.” She took a half sip of her water, bobbled the glass, and rose out of her chair as it splattered on her cream capri pants. “Oh, I’m so clumsy.”

She wasn’t usually. Which meant she was nervous. “Let me grab a towel.”

When he returned, she dabbed at the spot as best she could and finally laid the towel aside. “Well, you’re here.”

Only three little words, but they summed up his whole life right now. “Yes.”

“I’m glad actually. I’ve been worried about Natalie for some time…ever since Kim was first diagnosed. She hasn’t dealt with that—or leaving you. I can’t say I’m not worried about how she’s going to react to having you around, but I don’t think the status quo is good enough for her.”

No, it hadn’t been for him either. Even football couldn’t put a dent in the subterranean loss he’d felt when Natalie walked out of his life. The failure of Adam’s health, and his eventual death, had only made it worse.

“There’s already been some conflict in the family over your return. She fought with Moira and Caroline about you.”

He held his tongue, not wanting to get into the internal Hale family dynamics. He’d known his return would put pressure on her relationships, but he hadn’t seen another way.

“I talked to Andy and Matt.”

“Yes, they told me.” She reached for his hand. “I’m really happy to hear about your plans for this camp. Adam would be so proud. I bet your parents are too. It’s already the talk of the town.”

It surprised him more than it should have. The statement they’d released to the press had been picked up by national outlets. He’d wondered how the locals might react.

“I don’t know if I can help in any way, but I’d like to do something,” she told him, letting go of his hand with a gentle pat. “Maybe I can be a water girl.”

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, though it felt good to find humor in something. April Hale, a water girl? Now, that would be the day. But then he stopped to consider how his players would respond to a sweet, older lady. They might like it. “We’re still outlining our needs, but I’ll let you know.”

“Good. I’m here on another errand as well. I was a bit surprised to be called, but since you were my son-in-law once...”

Now, she’d piqued his curiosity. God, he hoped it wasn’t some fundraiser. He loved to support good causes, but he wanted to stay out of the public eye as much as possible at the moment, especially given how much Natalie seemed to dread gossip about their relationship.

“The head of the local school board called me to ask about your plans. I went to school with Cormack Daly way back, and he was always a big thinker, if you know what I mean.”

He didn’t, so he took a drink of his water and waited for her to continue.

“Cormack reminded me that the high school was looking for a new coach; he’s head of the selection committee. They let the last guy go because the administration wasn’t happy with the past couple of football seasons.” She shook her head. “This is so silly. I can’t even believe I’m asking you this.”

Now he saw where this was going, and his heart started to race.

“He wanted to know if you might consider coaching the high school team. They were about to make an offer to someone else, but then you showed up, and they decided to hold off. I told him I didn’t know your plans, but Cormack can be very bull-headed, and he insisted I ask you. If it’s crazy, I can tell him that without blinking an eye.”

A high school football coach
in Dare Valley?
He could stay close to Natalie. Then his belly knotted. “I don’t have any coaching experience.”

“Cormack didn’t care about that. He said, and I quote, ‘Quarterbacks lead men into battle, and if Blake Cunningham can lead the Raiders to the Super Bowl, he can lead a bunch of snot-nosed kids to the state championship.’”

“That was a pretty good imitation,” he said even though he had no idea if Cormack sounded like he had a deviated septum.

“So what do you think?” she asked.

“Did he mention when they’d want the new coach to start?”

She shook her head. “No, but if they were already that far along in the hiring process, they probably want someone soon.”

He frowned. His upcoming camp and Natalie were his two biggest priorities. And then there was the big question: did he want to coach? Could he be good enough at it to win? “Let me mull it over. My life…is still shaping up. I’m open to new possibilities.”

“And Natalie will be here for the foreseeable future,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

“Yes, I know.”

“So you’re planning to stay?”

It was a question that kept him awake at night. How long
was
he willing to stay in Dare Valley if Natalie and he weren’t together? Would there come a day when he was forced to accept there was no hope? He stopped those negative thoughts right in their tracks. He needed to stay positive. Like he had always been about his career, about a game, about…winning Natalie after that first night he met her.

“I plan on staying as long as it takes and giving it my all,” he replied, his heart hammering in his chest.

She patted his leg and stood. “I figured as much.”

He rose as well.

“You always did cast a long shadow, Blake,” she commented, pointing to the Herculean one filling up most of the patio, beside which her own shadow seemed diminutive.

“Shadows are only illusions, April. It’s a person’s actual presence that counts.”

“Hmm. You always were a wise boy.”

Boy? He hadn’t been called that in a while, but to her, he supposed it was true.

“April, do you have any advice for me? About Natalie?” He wasn’t above asking for help, and her mother knew her in a way even he didn’t.

“Don’t back down. Natalie is so much like her father sometimes. I told her so the other day when we fought about you.”

She’d fought with her mom too? She never fought with her mom—or her sisters. Poor babe had to be shaking like a leaf inside for this to happen.

“I don’t envy you, Blake. She’s a tough nut to crack. Out of all my children, she’s the toughest, the most self-contained. You’re going to have to get her to crack about Kim’s death and her feelings for you if you want to give things another go. Neither will be easy.”

Tension coiled in his chest like a snake waiting to strike. “I know. That’s why I’m afraid I might fail.” Okay, he could confess that to her even if he didn’t like to admit it to himself.

“Fail? I’ve never once heard you talk like that, even when you were playing ball. If you lost a game, you always chose your words so carefully. You would say the other team played better, but you never referred to yourself or the team as losers or failures.” She kissed his cheek. “Remember that. I need to get back. I’m meeting some friends for a tennis game. Come by anytime you’re in town. I live at 22 Aspen Street near the Community Center right off Main Street.”

“I’m glad you came for a visit, April.” He walked out with her. “I missed you. All of you.”

As she opened her car door, she gave him a playful wink. “We missed you too, Mr. Fancy Pants.”

He laughed as she closed the door and drove off. Natalie had started calling him Mr. Fancy Pants years ago. She’d made sure he knew how unimpressed she was with his status as an NFL quarterback, and to prove it, she’d boldly dubbed him Mr. Fancy Pants. The first time she’d brought him home to meet her Raiders-loving family, she’d broken the tension by using that nickname in her introductions to everyone. From that point on, he’d felt like an adopted Hale and not some star quarterback they cheered for every Sunday.

As he went inside, he found himself whistling. Mr. Fancy Pants needed to come up with some meal suggestions for his party this weekend so he could share the list with his sexy caterer.

Could he entice Natalie to do something friend-like when he swung by to drop off the list and pick up Touchdown? As he entered the den, he caught sight of the red plaid throw on the Italian leather couch, one of the few things he’d brought from Denver as a reminder of better times. An idea formed.

She couldn’t refuse a trip down memory lane with her favorite book characters, and if it happened to remind her of the passionate sex life they used to have, what could it hurt?

Mr. Fancy Pants was on the case.

One of the new nurses, fresh out of school, gave Andy a smile as he scrawled his name on the last chart on his rotation. She was interested in him and had made no bones about it. And she wasn’t alone. Being a widower and single dad apparently only made him dreamier to his female co-workers at Dare Valley General Hospital. He’d overhead a few nurses say as much in the break room. Some people had watched too many episodes of
Grey’s Anatomy
, if you asked him.

He’d never thought it was a good idea for doctors to date staff. When things went south, and often they did, simple interactions with patients could turn awkward, not to mention that a simple request for a scalpel during a surgery might be met with a frozen silence. None of that was fair to the patients who’d placed themselves in their hands.

Now that he was single—something of which he still needed to remind himself—he still didn’t think it was smart to date anyone at the hospital. Not that he’d found anyone who tempted him. Sure, some of the female staff were funny and beautiful—or as beautiful as anyone could look in scrubs—but so far he hadn’t felt any attraction.

He changed out of his scrubs into tan shorts, a green T-shirt, and an old pair of Birkenstocks. As he walked out of the hospital into the warm afternoon sunshine, he took a moment to breathe in the air and scan the mountains still dotted with patches of snow at the peaks. Summer hadn’t completely melted away the cold vestiges of winter, but he understood that. Appreciated it. Time hadn’t fully eased the pain of Kim’s passing, and he expected it never would.

Some things weren’t meant to fade. Certainly not the love of a lifetime.

But he knew that was his excuse for not trying to “get out there.” He didn’t expect to find someone he loved or was as attracted to as Kim. But recently, he’d been feeling the internal pressure to try a little harder to move on, to engage with life. He’d been doing his best to ignore it, but today, he was about ready to blast those doors open to help Natalie, and in doing so, himself.

His regular babysitter had agreed to stay a little longer with Danny so he could talk to his sister. His Lexus SUV climbed the road to the foothills where she lived with a purr. When he knocked on her door, he rubbed his stomach, hoping to ease the unsettled feeling in his gut.

Her normal smile of greeting didn’t flash across her face when she opened the door. No, she had a guarded expression he understood all too well.

“I thought I’d give you a few days to settle,” he said, not beating around the bush as Touchdown launched himself at him with a volley of wild barks. “Will you take a drive with me?”

He leaned down to give the Beagle a rubdown, wondering again if he should get Danny a dog. He’d been begging for one since Matt had gotten Henry. Keeping up with his son was a full-time job already.

A frown crested across her mouth. “Are we talking about Blake?” She’d already changed out of her work clothes, into cutoff jeans and a white T-shirt, but she didn’t look relaxed. No, not one bit.

“Yeah. And Kim.”

Something flashed in her eyes. For a moment, he thought she’d refuse.

“Then I’ll take my car.”

Right. This way she could leave if she didn’t like what he had to say. But at least she was coming. She gave Touchdown a pat and closed the door on him. He barked for a moment, but he quieted down quickly. When she didn’t lock her house, he smiled. He’d stopped locking his doors too. Danny thought it was cool.

“I’ll follow you,” she said and headed to her car.

He’d chosen one of Kim’s favorite places in the area for good luck: Black Lake. It was easily accessible by car, so they wouldn’t have to hike a ways to it. Few people if any would be there since it wasn’t accessible by one of the main trails. Kim hadn’t been a hiker so much as a rabid picnicker. Sure, she’d hike, but she enjoyed being in nature too much to pass it all doing a power walk.

When they arrived at Black Lake, he took a waterproof blanket out of his rig and spread it out by the water’s edge.

“I haven’t been here in a while,” she murmured, kicking off her shoes and sitting on the blanket.

He carefully retrieved the letter from his pocket and sat down beside her. Handing it to her was tough, so tough the sudden pressure in his chest made him feel like he was about to explode. She eyed it with curiosity, but when she opened it, her whole face fell.

“I want you to read it,” he said in a hoarse voice and made himself lean back on his elbows in a pose of relaxation, something he definitely wasn’t feeling right now.

He closed his eyes and recited the words to himself. He’d read it so many times, he knew it by heart. Kim had asked him to open the letter on the first-year anniversary of her death, and it had broken him then. A year later, its effect hadn’t lessened.