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“Wrong!” He points to a different place on the field. “Hustle over there.”
There’s a pause as the kid gets into position.
“Better.”
Silence descends as we watch the play unfold.
Just when I think he’s dropped the previous conversation, he says, “The reason I ask is because you’ve seemed a little off lately.” He squints against the sun. “I was worried you might be having second thoughts about coming on board.”
Instead of admitting the truth, I say, “No second thoughts. I’m good.”
As good as I can be, considering that the girl I was falling for just smashed my heart to smithereens.
“Guess there must be something in the air, because Poppy doesn’t seem much like herself these days either.”
My gaze slices to him. “Oh?” The last thing I want to do is appear overeager to hear about his daughter, even though that’s exactly what I am. “Is something going on?”
He shrugs as his gaze stays focused on the field. “Not really sure. She was over for dinner last week and just didn’t seem like her normal bubbly self.” He flicks a glance in my direction. “For the most part, she’s always been a happy kid.”
It takes everything I have inside not to wince.
Kid.
Because that’s exactly what she is.
“Her mother’s death was a difficult time for her.” His expression softens. “You’d understand that better than anyone.”
“Yeah.” It’s just one of the things we have in common.
“She and Anne grabbed lunch and did a little shopping the other day. My wife was hoping Poppy would open up and tell her what’s going on.”
My chest constricts as every muscle becomes whipcord tight. “And did she?”
“A little.” Coach frowns. “Guess she just went through a breakup.”
“Oh.” Everything inside me plummets.
“No father wants to see his little girl get her heart broken.”
I smash my lips together to stop myself from blurting out the truth. “Why do you think it was her heart that got broken?”
“From everything she told Anne, she cared a lot for this guy.”
“She still could have been the one who pulled the plug and walked away.” If I’m smart, I’ll shut down this conversation before it can spiral any further out of control.
His expression turns thoughtful. “Whatever happened, I think there were a lot of feelings involved.” His gaze slices to mine before searching it. “You know what I mean?”
I’m not sure.
Maybe?
If I’d thought moving on from Poppy would be easy, I was wrong. She’s always there in the back of my head.
I’ve spent more time than I’m comfortable admitting with my phone in hand, trying to screw up the courage to reach out.
But how can I do that when she’s the one who called it quits?
Plus, all the obstacles that were standing in our way are still there. They haven’t magically disappeared.
