Page 633 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

This brought a chuckle from his peers. “Dead grass,” one of them added, and then they all snickered.

Kendall’s face turned scarlet, and a marble appeared under his skin where his jaw came together. “This is hallowed ground—my world.” He eyed his players, whose faces had turned the color of chalk. “Do you think this is some big joke?”

“Uh, no sir.”

“What were y’all thinking? I’m trying to get this team in shape and y’all are out here goofing off. Do you think that’s fair when everyone else is busting their butts?”

“But coach,” Dave said, “I wasn’t goofing off.”

Kendall caught Dave by the shirt and pulled his face within an inch of his. “You’re telling me you can’t block any better than that? If that’s what you’re saying, then you’d better step down and let somebody else take your place because you ain’t man enough to be on my team.”

The boy’s chin quivered. “I’m sorry, coach. I’ll do better. I promise.”

Kendall let him go with a push. He turned his attention from Dave to the other two. “What about y’all? You were jumping off sides every play. You know that will cost us five yards every time we turn around. We can’t afford that!”

They spoke in unison. “We’ll do better, coach. We promise.”

“Yeah, and you’ll start right now. Give me twenty-five times up the bleachers. Now!”

Sydney pulledin front of the field house just in time to see a player exiting. She rolled down her window. “Excuse me, have you seen Coach Fletcher?”

"Yes ma’am, he went back to the practice field.”

This was getting ridiculous. For a split second, she thought about leaving. Then again, it wasn’t like she had any other plans. She was here and might as well go and find him.

She neared the field and heard a man yelling. It took her a minute to realize it was Kendall.

“Come on Josh, my mama can run faster than that. What’re you gonna do when you get out in the world? Do you think people are going to care if you’re tired? Now get back up there on those bleachers.”

She watched as one of the boys came off the bleachers. He doubled over and vomited on the grass. Kendall looked her direction, and their eyes met for a brief moment before she turned and began walking back to her jeep.

Kendall came running across the field after her. “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.” As if you care, she thought.

He caught up with her. “Why?”

“Because I’m tired of waiting!” She motioned to the field. “And look what you’re doing to your players!” She ran a hand through her hair.

Kendall took hold of her arm. “Look, it’s not as bad as it looked. You only saw the last part. Don’t go anywhere. I promise I’ll just be a few minutes. I’ve got to check on my boys at the field and then I’ll go to the field house and get changed.” He searched her face. “Wait for me?”

“Okay.”

Kendall came out wearing jeans and a button-up shirt. She rolled down the window. A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “You’re still here.”

“Yeah, but don’t think I didn’t consider leaving.”

This won her a full smile and he gave her a peck on the lips.

“Why were you making those players run bleachers after practicing in the heat? Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?”

“I had it under control.”

Her eyebrow arched. “Are you sure about that? You pushed that one player to the breaking point. He was over there puking his guts up.”

“Look, I know what I’m doing. Those boys are like my sons. They’ve got to learn to be tough. Do you think the other team is going to care if my guys are hot and tired?” He paused. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team if I let them get away with goofing off.”

She grinned. “Are you saying that I should mind my own business?”

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