Playing For Keeps Read Online Free PDF Page A

him about
the time constraints working for the Kingstons would impose. She
wasn’t sure that “Coach” would be a very good influence on her
son.
    Something really needed to be done about the
Outreach Center’s new office. The custodians had cleaned it up as
best they could, but the hardwood floors were scarred, the walls a
dingy gray and the windows filmy, making for poor lighting. Jacelyn
had gotten an order to replace the windows, and sand and refinish
the floor, but the rest was on hold.
    The office that had been taken away from them
was spacious and bright and pleasant. And it now housed the
athletes.
    “What’s the scowl for?” Must be her day for
frowns. Jacelyn turned to find her part-time secretary, Lucy Jones,
looking up from her computer toward Jacelyn’s desk, which was by
the window opposite Millie’s. “This space is pathetic.”
    “Not very inviting, I know. Though the
eucalyptus and potpourri you brought in make it smell great.” Lucy
looked around. “When are the windows and floor going to be
done?”
    “The end of this week.”
    “That’ll help.” She peered over thick
glasses. “It’s hard not to resent them, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” Jacelyn nodded to the numbers Lucy was
crunching on her own computer. “How’s next year’s budget
looking?”
    “About the same as this year’s if the alumni
come through again.”
    “They have for four years. They will
again.”
    “I hope so.”
    “Me, too.” She drew in a breath and glanced
around. “But I have a feeling we’re going to be on our own sprucing
the rest of this place up.”
    “I’ll volunteer to help.”
    “That would be great.”
    Lucy stood. “I have to go get my son from
Vacation Bible School. Anything else I can do before I leave?”
    Jacelyn checked her watch. “No, I’m meeting
Kyle in a few minutes, too. Thanks for coming in today.”
    “You’re welcome.” She studied Jacelyn. “You
okay?”
    “Yeah, why?”
    “You seem distracted.”
    She
was
distracted—thinking about
losing the office space, about the decline in numbers for her
courses, about Kyle wanting to babysit Mike Kingston’s son. “No,
I’m fine.” She looked out the window and stood, too. “It’s too nice
a day to be indoors. I’ll walk you out.”
    Chatting about their kids, the two women left
the office. Jacelyn wished Kyle was still young enough for Vacation
Bible School. She wished he was as amenable to her suggestions as
he used to be. At one time, she’d wished he was older, more
self-reliant, and then it wouldn’t be so hard being a single
mother.
    She reminded herself of the old adage,
Be
careful what you wish for.
For years you encouraged your kids’
sense of independence and ability to think for themselves. Then
they grew up, and ambushed you with their independence and ability
to think for themselves.
    o0o
    The ball flew through the air, spinning at
fifty miles an hour at least. Mike leaped off his feet and twisted;
it landed with a thunk in his hands. He had to remind himself this
was a jugs machine mechanically pitching the ball to him, not Ace
McCabe, the quarterback who had led the Bulls to three Super Bowls;
this was a sleepy college campus, not Bulls Stadium; and he was
thirty-six and a coach, not some hotshot young player up for MVP of
the game. Still, it felt mighty fine to catch the pigskin again. He
missed putting his body on the line. He glanced around the area.
The activity was picking up for the camp, as the players would be
arriving Friday. Some kids were tossing a ball up on the embankment
that surrounded the field; the ball had already come across his
playing area once and Mike had thrown it back. Couples strolled
along that grassy knoll, which sported a walking/biking path.
Beyond that, a group of coeds lazed under a tree. Mike could hear
the tinkle of feminine laughter, reminding him of his own college
days when he flirted with his girl in the warm summer air. The
outdoors in upstate New York had that