Page 50 of Waiting for Friday Night

“I understand but you know it was hard for people to believe. You are a Pro Bowl player. You could coach anywhere. Without the hassle of lesson plans and setting up classrooms.” Jeremiah indicated the organized classroom.

“I could, but doing that isn’t what I want. I enjoy teaching. It’s just another form of coaching.”

Jeremiah nodded and gave Quinton an appreciative look. “That’s admirable. You know, a lot of people thought you had an ulterior motive to come here. When you had the choice of so many other places.”

“I have no other motive. Football and helping kids. That’s it.” He crossed his arms and waited. He liked Jeremiah. They got along well and rarely bumped heads, but Jeremiah didn’t ever come and hang out in Quinton’s office. They’d gotten the reasons why Quinton was here out of the way in his first year and he’d proven that he meant what he said. This conversation was about something else.

Jeremiah shifted his stance. He glanced around the room before focusing on Quinton with a concerned gaze. “I know you said that. I even believed you.”

Quinton’s chin lifted and he crossed his arms. “What changed?”

“I wanted to believe you were just here to give back and teach.” A hint of disappointment drifted into Jeremiah’s voice.

Quinton scowled. “That is the only reasons I’m here.”

Jeremiah pursed his lips before asking. “Is it?”

“You’ve beat around the bush long enough. Say what you need to say.” Though Quinton was starting to get an idea of what Jeremiah was getting at. Though he hoped this was not about Shania.

“Your daughter playing on your team. You came to Peachtree Cove because of her.”

Quinton took a long, steadying breath. He waited three seconds to let the initial frustration that jumped on his back from taking control of this conversation. Getting frustrated and defensive wasn’t going to help him with this situation.

“That’s not the reason I came to Peachtree Cove. I told you that I wanted to start over. To get away from professional football and the expectations of my hometown. That’s why I came here.”

Jeremiah’s brows lifted and his expression turned doubtful. “But you have to admit that your daughter also being one of your players is quite a coincidence.”

“It is a coincidence.”

“You know I don’t try to get into the personal lives of my teachers.”

Quinton uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “Then don’t start getting into mine.”

Jeremiah lifted a hand but he didn’t back down. “But I do step in if I think that a teacher’s...personal issues may affect the way they do their work.”

“How is this going to affect my work? This is between me, Shania and her mom.”

Jeremiah waved a finger. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. You’re our football coach and your success at this school is important. We were okay with letting Shania continue to play football, but—”

“But what?”

“But if your relationship is going to make it harder for you to focus on what you need to do to help the team win, then that’s a problem.”

“This isn’t going to change the way I coach the team.” Quinton heard the defensiveness in his voice and didn’t care.

“Don’t get upset with me. Some of the other coaches have expressed concern about your favoritism with Shania.”

Quinton scowled. “Favoritism? What favoritism?”

“I understand that there would need to be some changes to accommodate a female on the team.”

Quinton snapped his finger. “It was Clyde Tucker, wasn’t it?”

Jeremiah paused long enough to confirm Quinton’s suspicions. “Despite the accommodations we still want to win. I hope that you don’t force Shania into a starting position just because you want to make up for the years you lost.”

Quinton shook his head and scoffed. He should have known Clyde would be the first one to run to the administration and complain once he found out about Shania and his relationship. The guy hadn’t wanted her on the team in the first place. He’d deal with him later today at practice; right now he had to get Jeremiah straight.

Quinton didn’t stand. He didn’t like to use his height to try and tower over and intimidate his principal. But he did stare Jeremiah straight in the eye and kept his voice firm. “First of all, never once have I given you a reason to question my integrity, so you and anyone else who thinks I’m showing favoritism instead of just asking everyone on the team to treat a player like the rest of the players on the team can kiss my—”

---