Page 40 of Out of Bounds

“Well, in that case, you’re hired. Monday through Friday, from two to six p.m. You can help shelve books, work the desk with Meg. And you’ll be in charge of the Children’s Department—including the summer reading program.”

Ms. Mabel reaches into the desk, pulling out a single sheet of paper. “Fill this out and you can start as soon as the county scoots you through Human Resources.”

“Wonderful.” I beam at both ladies, genuine excitement bubbling inside me.

Taking the paper, I complete the form before handing it back to Ms. Mabel along with my driver’s license. Shemakes a photocopy of both, then returns my license and the copy of the application.

“It’s great to see you back in town, Sloane. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything back from the county. Your cell number’s on here, right?” Ms. Mabel scans the form for my phone number.

“Yes, ma’am. And thank you, Ms. Mabel. I look forward to working here!”

“Anytime, dear. Tell your daddy hi from me.”

“Will do.”

I wave and skip out of the library, feeling lighter and more content than I have in a long while.

“How’d practice go, Dad?”

“It went fine. Team could be real good. They’re pretty green—we’re losing a bunch of our seniors—but there’s some talent there.”

“Nice.” I dry the last dinner dish, then stack the plate in the cabinet with its buddies. “Great news—I got a job today.”

“You did? That’s fantastic, baby. Where? With Gracelyn at the salon?”

“Nope. Better. At the library.”

“That’s perfect for you.”

“I know. It’s only part-time, but I get to run the summer reading program, which is cool. Ms. Mabel’s still working there, so I was a shoo-in for the job. Hey—I met one of your player’s mom’s too. Langley or something like that?” I frown, trying to remember.

“Yeah. Good kid. He’s one of the two up for the quarterback spot next year.”

“Well, apparently he adores you. Sounds like his mom’s a big fan too,” I tease, grinning as his cheeks turn bright pink beneath his tan.

My dad hates when I mention women around him. He’s practically taken a vow of chastity at this point, which I don’t get. I mean, yeah, when I was a kid, sure. It made sense then. He had me straight out of high school and I know he struggled during those early years, with my mom totally out of the picture. We lived with Mimi and Poppa the first few years of my life when money was tight, his plans for a professional football career shattered. The man didn’t exactly have a whole lot of time to date.

But now I’m almost thirty freaking years old. He doesn’t need to take care of me anymore—not much, anyway. I’m grown, I’d be fine with my dad dating. Honestly, maybe it would take some of the pressure off me if he got a life of his own outside of football and Thunder Creek High.

Plus, objectively, he’s the most eligible bachelor in town. Not that I love thinking about him like that or anything, but I get it. There aren’t that many single guys hanging around Thunder Creek, especially ones as good-looking and accomplished as my dad. I’ve seen more than one woman throw herself at him, hoping to catch his eye.

But the man has a one-track mind, I swear. And that track is football.

I can’t recall him going on even a single date. And believe you me, I would remember something that earth-shattering.

“Kid’s got real talent. I paired him up with Cam today. I’m interested to see what he thinks.”

My ears perk up at the mention of Cam. “Cam went topractice then?” I keep my eyes on the silverware, drying each individual tine of the fork I’m holding meticulously.

“Yeah. You didn’t see him before practice?”

“Nope. Haven’t seen him all day.”

“Huh.”

I hold my breath, waiting for more information, but nothing comes. My dad’s never been big on chitchat.

“How’d he look out there?” I ask, mining for any nugget I can get.

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