Page 13 of The Session

“For a nonprofit?”

“Well, it’s not that, exactly. It’s an endowment or something that Summit Strategies controls. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but the building belongs to Summit Strategies. We met in a conference room. It had an amazing view. You could see the ocean.”

“Summit Strategies sounds familiar,” Holly mused. “What do they do?”

“I’m not really sure. Consulting? But that’s so vague. I don’t know what kind. I looked it up online after and it seems like one of those megacorporations that’s into everything.”

“I can ask my uncle Will,” Holly offered. “He’s more plugged into the corporate world.”

Mark had met her uncle once on a business trip. He was a corporate attorney who worked out of New York and was very connected politically. While Holly’s parents were polite to Mark, William Vender actually seemed like he meant it. Mark felt almost an equal when he talked to him.

“What about the other meeting?” Holly asked.

“It could have gone better,” Mark admitted, fiddling with the climate controls.

“Oh, baby, tell me what happened.”

They had been dating for fourteen months, and by now she had a pretty good idea of Mark’s moods. There weren’t many of them, but she could spot them.

“I wouldn’t use the words ‘complete fiasco,’ but ‘fiasco’ is certainly appropriate. Apparently they never got Coach’s email.”

“Like . . . he never wrote one?”

“I don’t know. He’s not really been himself. And I’m sure he intended to, but apparently they never got it.”

“Then why did they give you the meeting to begin with?”

“That’s what I asked. Turns out they met with me out of courtesy because I mentioned Coach, not because he told them I was coming.”

“But that was the whole purpose . . .”

“I know. Instead it was an awkward meeting that became even more awkward when I brought up some of the stuff we’ve been working on with sports nutrition and how that’s been improving our player outcomes.” He shook his head.

She stared at him. “Did you mention the paper?”

“I did. You were right—these weren’t sports-medicine-journal-reading dudes. In fact, they seemed rather indifferent.”

“It’s a rough first impression, but I’m sure it can be fixed. We just have to ask Coach to send that email.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But . . .” His voice trailed off.

“But what?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said. “I’m just probably being paranoid. What if he never intended to send it?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Holly said. “Coach Stevenson adores you. You visit him more than his own children. I’m sure if he meant to write the email, he was going to write the email. But as you said, he’s older and forgetful.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mark murmured.

“Anyway, I know that was important to you, but in the scheme of things, maybe you should think about other options.”

“Like take a job as a PE teacher,” Mark said, his jaw clenched. This was a conversation they’d had many times, and it never ended well.

“Maybe there’s a step before the step,” Holly said delicately. “I know it’s not coaching for college or pro like you’ve always wanted to do, but there are plenty of high schools with great programs, and you can still work with kids and run your foundation.”

“It’s not the same,” Mark replied. “At the college level, there are alumni, and they have bigger facilities and tons of resources. We can’t do our magic at the high school level, period. But I’m not restricting myself to coaching jobs. I’ll do anything. Hell, I’ll wear the mascot outfit and march onto the field as a chicken if it gets me into the program, because once I’m there, I’ll show what I can do. Being a PE teacher is fine. I’ve got no problem with that. But it’s like why you decided not to become a nurse practitioner or whatever. It’s not for you.”

Holly stared straight ahead and muttered, “Sometimes the world just gives us signs.”