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‘Hard work?’
‘It’s exhausting,’ she said, sitting heavily on the tray. ‘And my bum hurts.’ She pushed away and immediately fell off, landing face down in the snow. Laughing, she rolled onto her back. ‘Something tells me I might’ve run out of steam.’
He went over and sat down next to her. ‘Sorry you weren’t able to escape this morning.’
‘I did try.’
‘So I heard.’ He gave her a nudge. ‘You promised me you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.’
She turned to look at him. ‘Rumour has it you got legless last night. I didn’t think you’d appreciate an early wake-up call this morning.’
‘I wasn’t legless… but you’re right, I did have a few beers.’
She propped herself onto her elbows. ‘Good night?’
He nodded. ‘Surprisingly so. They’re a nice bunch of lads, and I had fun.’ The wet was starting to creep through his jeans. ‘Can I have a go?’ he said, pointing at the metal tray.
‘Go for it.’ She manoeuvred herself into a sitting position. ‘What was the club like?’
‘Big,’ he said, dragging himself to his feet. ‘As well as the men’s teams, they have several kids’ teams, two women’s teams and a walking football team for the seniors. There was a lot of football going on.’ He straddled the tray and sat down.
‘Is Nelson any good?’
Calvin recalled the sight of Nelson’s exuberant goal celebration after scoring a penalty. ‘Better than some of the players on his team.’ He pushed away and skidded a few feet, before falling off. ‘Well, that was unsatisfactory.’
‘Tell me about it.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Although I do appreciate you failing at it, too, so I feel less inadequate.’
He grinned. ‘I’m kind like that.’
‘The ultimate gentleman.’ She grinned back. ‘Did anyone recognise you at the club?’
He carried the tray up the incline. ‘Yeah, despite me trying to keep a low profile. They were mostly cool about it. By the time we’d gone for a beer and a curry, the novelty had worn off and I was just one of the lads.’
‘Did you offer them any coaching tips?’
He shook his head. ‘Although I did have to stop myself shouting instructions at the kids with disabilities training.’ Hesat on the tray, determined to make a better go of his second run. ‘They don’t have a coach and at the moment they’re left to run about like headless chickens.’
‘I’m sure they’d have appreciated the tips.’
‘Maybe.’ He pushed away and managed to travel a bit further, before falling off. ‘This is harder than it looks.’
‘I blame the equipment.’ Kate moved her arms and legs about, creating a snow angel. ‘A kitchen lap-tray isn’t up to the task.’
‘I think you might be right. One more attempt and I’m conceding defeat.’
Kate rolled onto her side. ‘Has it made you think more about coaching as a career?’
‘There’s no money to be made from coaching, unless you do it at the highest level,’ he said, dragging himself to his feet. ‘It would take years to reach the top. But I might consider it as a hobby. Didn’t you say I needed to find an interest away from playing?’
She rested her head on her hand. ‘Nice to know you listen to me sometimes.’
‘I listen to you all the time,’ he said, striding up the incline. ‘But if I was serious about it, then I’d want to know more about how to coach those kids. I don’t know enough about adapting the training to fit different physical abilities.’
Her gaze turned inquisitive. ‘Is that something you might be interested in doing?’
‘I don’t know for certain, but it’s the first thing I’ve felt mildly excited about since I stopped playing.’
‘Well, that’s got to count for something. And I’m sure you’ll find plenty of stuff online about coaching courses.’
