man but Ben, Kitty would have confided in Carol, poured out her feelings and her confusion and her fears. But Carol’s past barbs, coupled with her current marital problems, prevented any personal discussions.
Besides, Kitty thought dismally, there would be nothing
to
read—only a blank page in the memory book of her heart—when the bargaining talks resumed and the pay cut issue reared its divisive head.
Tennis shoes squeaking determinedly, the Cougars streamed out of their dressing room at one end of the court and their opponents from the opposite end. Carol’s boys clambered up the bleachers, arguing all the way about who’d spilled the soda they’d shared.
“You call me if you need anything, you hear?” Kitty admonished her friend as she stood.
Carol nodded her assurance and set one squabbling son down on each side of her.
“How was the popcorn?” Kitty asked when she got back.
“It was good,” Ben admitted, “but I’m still hungry.”
“Men,” she muttered with an entirely new meaningas she clapped along with the pep band. “They’re never satisfied.”
“I can think of something that would satisfy me completely,” he said with a sidelong glance that made her knees go wobbly.
Saved by the buzzer, she thought gratefully as the teams took the court for the second half.
The excitement built to a frenzy as the game went down to the wire when the minutes dwindled to seconds and the Cougars remained a point behind.
Kitty grew hoarse from yelling, Ben from cursing the refs.
They had been jumping up and down as the occasion warranted, but they rose to their feet to stay—as did everyone else in the gym—when the time clock showed this might well be the final play of the game.
“Steal it, steal it!” everyone screamed as a girl on the opposing team dribbled the ball toward her own basket.
Jamie reached to take it away, but the ref blew his whistle and called a foul on her. The fans groaned in unison and her young face crumpled.
“She never touched her!” Ben hollered in Jamie’s defense.
“She looks like she’s going to cry,” Kitty noted compassionately.
Jessie gave Jamie a sportsmanlike pat on the back to perk up her spirits and whispered something in her ear before pointing to a spot directlyunder the basket and then dropping back from the lineup herself.
It was a one-and-one, meaning the girl who’d been fouled had to make the first free throw in order to get a second. Standing at the line, she bounced the ball. Once, twice …
The gym fell as silent as a tomb and the tension mounted unbearably when the ball arced toward the basket.
“I can’t watch.” Kitty closed her eyes and buried her face against the sleeve of Ben’s navy suit jacket. “You’ll have to tell me what happens.”
“She
missed
!” he shouted as the ball hit the rim and then ricocheted off into Jamie’s outstretched hands.
Kitty looked up just in time to see Jamie spin and throw the ball downcourt to Jessie, who was wide open. She glanced at the clock—eight seconds left!—then back at her daughter and screamed, “Go, Jessie, go!”
“She
made it
,” Ben bellowed when Jessie executed a textbook jump shot that put the Cougars one point ahead just as the buzzer sounded.
Pure pandemonium broke out on the basketball court as the fans swarmed down from the bleachers and surrounded the players.
“We won!” Laughing and crying at the same time, Kitty turned and threw her arms around Ben.
“Way to go!” He lifted her off her feet and whirled her till her head spun.
She looked down at him, dizzy with exhilaration, and he looked up at her, dazzled by the sheer beauty of her smile.
The crowd, the noise, the lack of privacy … none of it mattered when their eyes connected.
Like the changing patterns of a kaleidoscope, their emotions shifted and reformed into a vivid rainbow as they each realized that she’d reached out to him. In sharing the thrill of one victory, they’d found another to
Besides, Kitty thought dismally, there would be nothing
to
read—only a blank page in the memory book of her heart—when the bargaining talks resumed and the pay cut issue reared its divisive head.
Tennis shoes squeaking determinedly, the Cougars streamed out of their dressing room at one end of the court and their opponents from the opposite end. Carol’s boys clambered up the bleachers, arguing all the way about who’d spilled the soda they’d shared.
“You call me if you need anything, you hear?” Kitty admonished her friend as she stood.
Carol nodded her assurance and set one squabbling son down on each side of her.
“How was the popcorn?” Kitty asked when she got back.
“It was good,” Ben admitted, “but I’m still hungry.”
“Men,” she muttered with an entirely new meaningas she clapped along with the pep band. “They’re never satisfied.”
“I can think of something that would satisfy me completely,” he said with a sidelong glance that made her knees go wobbly.
Saved by the buzzer, she thought gratefully as the teams took the court for the second half.
The excitement built to a frenzy as the game went down to the wire when the minutes dwindled to seconds and the Cougars remained a point behind.
Kitty grew hoarse from yelling, Ben from cursing the refs.
They had been jumping up and down as the occasion warranted, but they rose to their feet to stay—as did everyone else in the gym—when the time clock showed this might well be the final play of the game.
“Steal it, steal it!” everyone screamed as a girl on the opposing team dribbled the ball toward her own basket.
Jamie reached to take it away, but the ref blew his whistle and called a foul on her. The fans groaned in unison and her young face crumpled.
“She never touched her!” Ben hollered in Jamie’s defense.
“She looks like she’s going to cry,” Kitty noted compassionately.
Jessie gave Jamie a sportsmanlike pat on the back to perk up her spirits and whispered something in her ear before pointing to a spot directlyunder the basket and then dropping back from the lineup herself.
It was a one-and-one, meaning the girl who’d been fouled had to make the first free throw in order to get a second. Standing at the line, she bounced the ball. Once, twice …
The gym fell as silent as a tomb and the tension mounted unbearably when the ball arced toward the basket.
“I can’t watch.” Kitty closed her eyes and buried her face against the sleeve of Ben’s navy suit jacket. “You’ll have to tell me what happens.”
“She
missed
!” he shouted as the ball hit the rim and then ricocheted off into Jamie’s outstretched hands.
Kitty looked up just in time to see Jamie spin and throw the ball downcourt to Jessie, who was wide open. She glanced at the clock—eight seconds left!—then back at her daughter and screamed, “Go, Jessie, go!”
“She
made it
,” Ben bellowed when Jessie executed a textbook jump shot that put the Cougars one point ahead just as the buzzer sounded.
Pure pandemonium broke out on the basketball court as the fans swarmed down from the bleachers and surrounded the players.
“We won!” Laughing and crying at the same time, Kitty turned and threw her arms around Ben.
“Way to go!” He lifted her off her feet and whirled her till her head spun.
She looked down at him, dizzy with exhilaration, and he looked up at her, dazzled by the sheer beauty of her smile.
The crowd, the noise, the lack of privacy … none of it mattered when their eyes connected.
Like the changing patterns of a kaleidoscope, their emotions shifted and reformed into a vivid rainbow as they each realized that she’d reached out to him. In sharing the thrill of one victory, they’d found another to
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