Chapter 5
I’ll find you
“Mom!” Rachel shouts from her room at the top of the stairs. “Where is my uniform?”
“It’s on top of your dresser!” I call back, knowing it’s exactly where I laid it out for her last night when Becky’s mom called to ask if Rachel could stay the night and then ride to the game with them Saturday morning.
“Thanks, Mom!” I can hear the excitement ringing in my girl’s voice. I know it’s been hard for her being the new girl in town. But in true Rachel form, she dove headfirst into our new life in D.C., where she would finally get to know her dad.
“Don’t forget your cleats!” I call.
“Oh right!” she shouts, making me laugh. While my girl might dive headfirst into life, she forgets half of what she needs to remember along the way. I pick up her backpack and jacket and hang them in the hall closet before continuing through the house, picking up after my beautiful little tornado.
“Becky and her mom are here,” I shout after the doorbell rings.
“Be right there, Mom!”
“Don’t forget your toothbrush. No one wants to be the stinky kid!”
“Mooom!”
“Hey, Amber.” I smile as I pull open the door, but it isn’t Amber and Becky on the front porch; it’s Rick.
“Dad!” Rachel screeches like excited little girls do. She’s obviously happy to see him like always. And as always, she has no idea what tension lies between her dad and me.
“Hey, wild child.” He smiles, coming in and closing the door. “Going somewhere?”
“Sleepover!” she shouts again.
“Ooh, that reminds me,” I say, snapping my fingers. “Let me see your bag before Amber and Becky get here. Did you remember your toothbrush?”
“Yes, Mooom,” she drawls, handing me her bag just as a car double backfires outside, making her jump. My kid has been raised in cities her whole life, and somehow she’s never heard the glorious sound of a car that is about to die.
By some miracle, she has everything she needs right as the doorbell sounds again. Rick beats me to the door, opening it for Becky and her obviously flustered mom, Amber. He smiles his perfect smile at her, and if she weren’t happily married, I would want to throw up. But it’s the reminder I need. One day, Rick will find someone for real and move on, leaving me behind, just like our story was always meant to play out.
“Hey, Coach Rick!” Becky says as her mom shoots me a knowing look.
“Hey, Amber.” I wave.
“Hey, girl, sorry we’re late,” she says, shoving hair out of her face. “I’m having car trouble again.”
“Was that your car sounding like rifle fire?” Rick asks.
“Oh yeah, it does that every time I put the old girl in Park now,” she says. “It keeps life exciting.”
“How about the new neighbors?” I ask. “Are they interesting? Any cute single men?”
“Oh no,” she laughs and Rick growls. “Nothing interesting there.At all.”
“That’s disappointing.”
Amber has become a good mom friend to me as well. We “Wine Wednesday” and gossip about the PTA moms while the girls kick a ball around the backyard. She’s asked about Rick a couple times, and I always tell her there’s nothing to tell. We’re in the past. And we both know I’m full of shit, but she’s a good enough friend not to push. Grace, on the other hand, has been giving me crap for months.
“Hey, Becky,” he says. “You ready for the game tomorrow?”
“Yes!” she shouts.
“I hear you girls have big plans.”
