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“Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mommy,” both girls said together.
A smile hung on Hailey’s lips as she made her way back to the living room. She sat down on the couch just in time to hear the door open and Carter yelling excitedly.
She stood up and made her way to the door, with her finger to her lips. “Shh, the girls are already in bed.”
“Oh, sorry, Mom,” Carter whispered loudly.
“How was practice?”
“It was great!”
Hailey lifted her eyes to Landon who was shutting the door. He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Landon coached us!”
Hailey’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”
Landon shrugged. “The head coach wasn’t there. I guess he was sick or something. Apparently the other volunteer dad had to be in charge, but he said he doesn’t know much about soccer. He’s usually there to wrangle the kids and tie shoes.” He laughed. “I asked if I could help, and he said, ‘Do you know anything about soccer?’”
Hailey laughed then too. “Did you tell him you made it to the state championships in high school all four years?”
Landon grinned and shook his head. “No, I just told him I played before, and he handed it off to me.”
“Landon should coach all of our practices!” Carter said. “It was awesome. We did drills and ran and played a slimmage game.”
Landon patted him on the shoulder. “Scrimmage, buddy.”
“Oh, right. Whatever. Anyway, my team won by two points, and I scored a goal.”
“That’s great, buddy, I’m proud of you. Now it’s time to run get a shower, so you can get to bed,” Hailey said.
“Aww, man, do I have to?”
“Carter,” Hailey’s voice was firm. “I gave you an instruction.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned to go.
“Bye, little dude. I’ll see you later,” Landon said.
Carter ran back for a fist bump. “Bye. Will you take me to practice next week?”
“Absolutely.”
“Awesome,” Carter said before running down the hallway.
Hailey turned and took a seat on the couch, motioning for Landon to sit. “Well, it sounds like you were a hit.”
Landon looked around before taking a seat in the arm chair, the farthest seat away from her. “I’m just glad I could help. It was fun. And it’s time I put my soccer skills to some good use.”
“Do you still play in the adult league?” Hailey asked.
He nodded. “Yep. We haven’t started back yet, something about a scheduling conflict with the fields. But we’ll be back at it soon.”
“That’s nice,” Hailey said, tucking her feet under her. She racked her brain for something else to say. It had been too long since she’d talked with him by herself, and besides, he and Kyle usually went back and forth so fast, there wasn’t room for her to get a word in.
Landon tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair as if he sensed the awkward silence too. “I guess I should let you get back to your evening.” He stood.
