Page 31 of Playoff

He waves, and I hurry in the direction of the showers.

It was a shorter workout than anticipated, but I want to make sure I’m presentable for my meeting, which means blow drying my hair and stuff. Thank goodness I keep a duffel bag with clean clothes and toiletries in my office.

I getto Harper’s office at twenty-five after eight, and she’s just turning on the lights, a big bag in her hands.

“Oh, let me get that!” I take it from her and she laughs.

“I’m pregnant, not incapacitated.”

“Still, you should be careful. Carrying something that big blocks your vision and you could fall.”

“Good grief, you sound like Gabe!” She doesn’t seem mad, grinning as she sets her purse and laptop case down.

“This smells good,” I say. “What is it?”

“Pastries and scones from that new bakery that just opened around the corner. And there’s coffee too. Gabe is bringing it in.”

“Here you go.” He comes in and sets a large cardboard-looking box of coffee on the filing cabinet, along with a bag I assume contains cream and sugar. “I’ll see you later, babe.” He kisses his wife and then leans over and kisses her stomach. “See you later, Baby Phantom.”

A tiny wave of envy drifts through me.

I want kids.

Someday.

When I have the money to buy a house and take care of them.

And a guy I want to go on that journey with.

But that dream seems really far away sometimes.

I don’t even have time to date much less take care of a child.

“Okay, let’s have something to eat and chat.” She sinks down behind her desk, opening the box of pastries.

I get a cup of coffee and add a little cream. Then I peer into the box and pull out what looks like a berry scone.

“There’s butter and clotted cream in there,” she says, “but the clotted cream isn’t that good. I’d stick to butter.”

“I like them plain,” I say, sitting across from her.

“Okay, so let’s cut to the chase.” She cocks her head. “How are you doing? And tell me the truth. Taking over for Gene after the accident has to be a huge change.”

“It is,” I acknowledge. “And I’m definitely feeling it with Sunny out too. But the guys are great and it’s such an excitingtime for the team, I don’t really notice how tired I am until I get into bed at night.”

She nods. “Understandable. But I don’t want you in over your head or drowning because you’re not prepared to take on this much responsibility. We don’t have a timeline for Gene’s return, so we’re moving forward under the assumption that the job is yours.”

That’s pretty damn exciting.

And terrifying.

“Generally speaking, I’m good. I could use help with some of the menial tasks, like restocking supplies and prepping for games, but the job itself is no problem. I think I’m staying on top of the guys’ needs.”

“I think you are too, and frankly, I’m proud of you. Gene’s been doing this for thirty years. The plan was to have you train under him for five or six years and then potentially take over when he’s ready to retire. Getting thrown into the position without warning like this is a risk. For both of us.”

“If you think there’s someone more qualified,” I say carefully, “my feelings won’t be hurt.”

She laughs. “Of course, your feelings would be hurt. Mine would. Which is why I’m not going to do that. Not yet. But you have to promise me you’ll come to me if it gets to be too much, or if you don’t think you’re skilled enough to handle whatever may come up. That’s hard to quantify since we don’t know what’s going to happen until it does.”

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