would see him. Something he’d been doing a lot of since the horrible end to his date with Beth and her kids.
He’d told people he was unpacking and putting his office together. More like hiding and trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong yesterday. Why she’d suddenly pulled away and why she’d practically leaped into her car to get away from him. He turned to look at the clock sitting on the empty shelves. He supposed he’d find out in an hour when she came for today’s swim lesson. If she came. Surely she would. The whole point to yesterday had been for these swim lessons.
He pushed off the front of his desk and walked behind it, stepping around boxes he hadn’t unpacked yet. Trophies, medals, certificates, graduation plaques. Boxes full of items he was supposed to fill this room with. Doing so would put him another step closer to staying here, settling down in TPC. To giving up the dream of training future swimming Olympians. Forget thoughts that had kept him awake at night where he was on the sidelines in a USA jacket cheering on kids he’d spent years training for their glory moment. That had been his plan until he was too old to squat by a pool. After that, a life of luxury spent on a beach chair under a tropical sun.
But now here he was in a tiny community in his prime, where the odds of finding that kind of natural talent with the needed drive would be slim to none. Sure, he’d come out of a small community, but he hadn’t gone unnoticed and had been picked up for the chance of a lifetime at a swim meet.
Setting his trophies on that counter would mean he was giving up on that dream and settling for teaching the doggie paddle on the sidelines, with most of his time spent testing chemicals, poring over regulations and locking and unlocking the front door. Turtle Pine School didn’t even have a swim team, best he could tell. Every now and then, a few kids would ask TPC to sponsor them if they wanted to compete.
He’d had the coaching dream of a lifetime and it had been wrecked by a stupid, spoiled teenager. That just made this whole situation even more of a bitter pill to swallow. He didn’t want to be here. And the one woman in town who made the place a hundred times more livable was playing the avoidance game.
With his mood even sourer than yesterday, when Beth had walked away from him, he went to the pool for that evening’s lesson. On the upside, there were going to be ten giggling little kids thrilled to see him, and they would no doubt improve his mood.
It took less than an instant for him to look across the sparkling water and to the stands, where he found Beth. She sat in her usual spot, feet propped up on the empty place in front of her and arms rested on her knees. He turned away. Dealing with her and her unexplained running wasn’t in the cards for today. Instead, he skipped his usual how-do-you-do with the parents and settled for a wave and then turned his back on them.
His charges floated in the pool, and as heavy as his mind weighed today, seeing them splash and laugh lightened him. He blew his whistle and they turned for instructions. He rubbed his hands together and changed up the plans for today. Instead of letting them have two more lessons before tossing their jackets, he was moving that up. He was in the mood for a solid distraction, and having a couple kids in the water like that would do just fine.
“Who’s ready to take off their life jacket?” Every arm shot up and waved, and squeals went with it. He chuckled. “All right. We’re going to take turns. Everyone else get a kickboard, except Katie and Tim. You two want to go first?”
Eager smiles met him, even from Katie. The nasty storm that had been brewing in his mind lifted. The others were already back with their boards and stepping in the water. “While I work with Katie and Tim, I want the rest of you to practice on your boards like you know. You all should be able to get on them by yourself now.” He
He’d told people he was unpacking and putting his office together. More like hiding and trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong yesterday. Why she’d suddenly pulled away and why she’d practically leaped into her car to get away from him. He turned to look at the clock sitting on the empty shelves. He supposed he’d find out in an hour when she came for today’s swim lesson. If she came. Surely she would. The whole point to yesterday had been for these swim lessons.
He pushed off the front of his desk and walked behind it, stepping around boxes he hadn’t unpacked yet. Trophies, medals, certificates, graduation plaques. Boxes full of items he was supposed to fill this room with. Doing so would put him another step closer to staying here, settling down in TPC. To giving up the dream of training future swimming Olympians. Forget thoughts that had kept him awake at night where he was on the sidelines in a USA jacket cheering on kids he’d spent years training for their glory moment. That had been his plan until he was too old to squat by a pool. After that, a life of luxury spent on a beach chair under a tropical sun.
But now here he was in a tiny community in his prime, where the odds of finding that kind of natural talent with the needed drive would be slim to none. Sure, he’d come out of a small community, but he hadn’t gone unnoticed and had been picked up for the chance of a lifetime at a swim meet.
Setting his trophies on that counter would mean he was giving up on that dream and settling for teaching the doggie paddle on the sidelines, with most of his time spent testing chemicals, poring over regulations and locking and unlocking the front door. Turtle Pine School didn’t even have a swim team, best he could tell. Every now and then, a few kids would ask TPC to sponsor them if they wanted to compete.
He’d had the coaching dream of a lifetime and it had been wrecked by a stupid, spoiled teenager. That just made this whole situation even more of a bitter pill to swallow. He didn’t want to be here. And the one woman in town who made the place a hundred times more livable was playing the avoidance game.
With his mood even sourer than yesterday, when Beth had walked away from him, he went to the pool for that evening’s lesson. On the upside, there were going to be ten giggling little kids thrilled to see him, and they would no doubt improve his mood.
It took less than an instant for him to look across the sparkling water and to the stands, where he found Beth. She sat in her usual spot, feet propped up on the empty place in front of her and arms rested on her knees. He turned away. Dealing with her and her unexplained running wasn’t in the cards for today. Instead, he skipped his usual how-do-you-do with the parents and settled for a wave and then turned his back on them.
His charges floated in the pool, and as heavy as his mind weighed today, seeing them splash and laugh lightened him. He blew his whistle and they turned for instructions. He rubbed his hands together and changed up the plans for today. Instead of letting them have two more lessons before tossing their jackets, he was moving that up. He was in the mood for a solid distraction, and having a couple kids in the water like that would do just fine.
“Who’s ready to take off their life jacket?” Every arm shot up and waved, and squeals went with it. He chuckled. “All right. We’re going to take turns. Everyone else get a kickboard, except Katie and Tim. You two want to go first?”
Eager smiles met him, even from Katie. The nasty storm that had been brewing in his mind lifted. The others were already back with their boards and stepping in the water. “While I work with Katie and Tim, I want the rest of you to practice on your boards like you know. You all should be able to get on them by yourself now.” He
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