Page 10 of Catching the Coach
I go around to the back to join them. “Here, I can help,” I say, grabbing a bucket I assume is filled with balls. Lucy nods but doesn’t say anything. Hudson on the other hand is ecstatic.
“Mr. Davis, what are you doing here?” he asks, barely containing his excitement.
I chuckle at his enthusiasm. “Again, call me Kessler. And I’m here to help you guys out for practice. Coach Kara let me know you guys were having some issues with your catching and fielding. So I figured a good way to say thank you to your mom was to help you guys out. I happen to know a thing or two about catching.”
Hudson’s eyes widen, and he looks from his mom, back to me. “You're going to help us practice?”
“Yep, if that’s ok with you?” I ask him.
“Holy shi-”
“Hudson James,” Lucy interrupts
Hudson stops himself mid-sentence. “Sorry,” he mumbles to his mom. “The guys are going to freak out,” he says to me, grabbing gear and heading towards the field.
“At least someone is excited to see me here,” I comment, waiting for her to hand me something else.
Lucy lets out a heavy sigh, turning to me. “I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule for this. It absolutely was not necessary for you to do this, but I know the boys will love this. So thank you.”
“But you don’t love this idea,” I state
“It’s not personal Mr. Davis.”
“Kessler.”
She shakes her head and reaches up to press the button on the hatch. “Fine. It’s not personal,Kessler.” She doesn’t offer any further explanation of her displeasure.
I bend down and pick up the gear bag by her feet before she can grab it. She lets out another little huff but doesn’t say anything. She walks towards the field and I fall in step beside her.
I glance at her out of the side of my eye, taking her in. She has her dirty blonde hair pulled back and shoved into a baseball hat. She’s at least six inches shorter than me, so I can’t see her eyes from this angle, but I can take a guess that they would be shooting flames if they could.
The weird feeling in my chest is back. The same feeling I had when I saw her at the field the other day. Her back is ramrod straight and I actually have to walk at a good pace to keep up. We get to the field and she deposits the gear she was carrying onto the ground. I do the same. We both turn at the sound of cars approaching and I see that it’s Reese and Brent arriving. They park and get out of their cars. I lift my hand to them and they head in our direction.
“Oh wow, Reese Hayes and Brent Attwood are here too! Kade’s gonna freak,” Hudson says, seeing the guys.
“Speak of the Devil,” Lucy mutters as another car pulls up.
Kara and her son Kade get out and make their way over to us too.
When Reese and Brent get to us, Lucy shakes their hands and thanks them for taking the time out of their schedules for this. She sounds a lot more sincere to them than she did to me.
Kara and Kade get to the growing group next. Lucy cocks her eyebrow at Kara and gives her a pointed stare. Kara smirks at her and winks at her. A whole conversation is happening between them, with no words being said. I clear my throat and everyone looks at me.
“So I was thinking after the boys warm up, we would split off into three groups. Each of us will take four boys, we’ll rotate every 20 minutes, then for the last 30 minutes we’ll put our work into play and see what the boys retained.” I look at Lucy for confirmation of my plan. She nods but says nothing further, arms firmly crossed in front of her. Brent and Reese look at me with questioning looks but also don’t say anything.
Over the next 10 minutes, kids and parents start to show up, both parties riddled with excitement over me and the guys being here. Once everyone has arrived. Lucy tells everyone we’re here to work with them today. More excitement ensues. Lucy asks parents to proceed as normal, so as not to distract us and the kids. She splits the boys into three groups, then heads to the dugout throwing a “Let me know if you need help” over her shoulder. I give her a nod and we get to work.
CHAPTERFOUR
lucy
For the next hour,I watch the boys run drills with the guys. I make notes on what I can incorporate into future practices. I try to focus on all the groups, but I find my eyes constantly wandering to Kessler. He has his hat turned backwards on his head, and it's doing things to my lady bits that I’d rather not have happen. Especially at practice… in front of children.
Kara is over with Reese helping him with a drill, so I don’t have to worry about her commenting on where my eyes are. Plus I’m still a little salty about her sneakiness on this whole thing. I know she means well, but right now I’m choosing to be cranky about it. Plus, seeing Hudson practice with Kessler does something weird to my heart and stomach and I’m not sure how to deal with those feelings. So naturally, I shove them deep down to deal with later.
Kessler claps his hands together and gets everyone’s attention. I leave my safe space in the dugout and head over to the group.
“Everyone ready to apply what we’ve learned?” Kessler asks the boys.
