Page 36 of Catching the Coach
“Oh shit,” Kara whispers.
“Oh shit,” I agree. Everyone’s on their feet clapping and hooting and hollering. Hayden looks over at me and I lift my hands up as I take a deep breath in. I see his shoulders lift as he takes his own breath. I lower my hands, letting my breath out. Hayden releases his breath. I nod my head, and he nods back at me. He winds up and throws the ball. I see the batter follow the ball and take a swing.
The ball pings off the metal bat and sails straight to Hayden. He realizes what’s happening and catches the ball. Shock crosses his face.
“Second! Throw it to second!” I scream. The runner took off to third, not tagging up. Hayden realizes this and whips the ball to second. Kade catches the ball and tags the runner just as he’s coming back to tag.
“OUT!” yells the infield umpire.
Kara and I turn and grab each other and start jumping up and down as the remaining boys run out of the dugout and to their teammates on the field. They’ve all dog piled on Hayden.
“They did it!” Kara screams, still jumping up and down.
“They did it!” I yell back, jumping with her.
We stop jumping and give each other a hug. Parents are coming out onto the field to hug and congratulate their kids. We join the chaos and find our boys.
“We did it,” Hudson yells when he sees me. I wrap him in a hug, catcher gear and all.
“You guys did it!” I say back. I scrunch up my nose as the scent of a sweaty boy hits it. “Whew, you need a shower,” I joke. I untangle myself from him and look over at Kara, whose face looks similar to the one I just made a few seconds ago. I let out a laugh. I see the other team lining up, and get my team's attention.
“Hey! Let’s line up and tell them what a great job they did, then we need to get pictures with your trophy!”
The boys, Kara and I line up and give high-fives to the other team. We shake the other coaches’ hands and then set up for our pictures. The crowd has thinned out considerably and the only people who seem to be the only ones left are the parents of both teams. The photographer tells us he got what he needed. I’m about to release the boys when I start hearing gasps through the small crowd that’s left. I look over at the mob of parents and see a man with a plain black baseball hat coming through the crowd. It’s the same man I thought was staring at me earlier. He no longer has sunglasses on, and I recognize him now that he’s closer.
I let out a surprised gasp.
Kessler.
CHAPTERNINE
kessler
They did it.
They freaking won.
I make my way around the fence and into the field. I take my sunglasses off and make my way through the crowd. I know as soon as I start hearing gasps, people have recognized me, but I don’t care. All that matters is getting to Lucy and Hudson. I can see them getting their picture taken. I’m almost through the pile of people when I make eye contact with Lucy. I hear her let out a surprised gasp and give her a big smile. She puts her hand up to her mouth. Hudson looks up at his mom, then in the direction she’s staring.
“Kessler!” He bellows and runs over to me at full speed. I barely have time to brace myself as he collides with me, giving me a huge hug.
“Woah buddy!” I say, wrapping my arms around him and giving him a huge hug back. “You were great out there kid.”
He looks up at me with a smile so big, I’m afraid it’s going to get stuck. “You watched?” he asks, eyes wide.
“I was here for the whole thing. I’m so proud of you bud.” I clear my throat, trying to dislodge the small lump that has formed.
I look behind Hudson and see Lucy make her way over to us, not breaking eye contact with me. Hudson leans in and gives me another hug before stepping back. Lucy places her hands on his shoulders. “I thought you were out of town.”
It’s not a question, but a statement.
“I wanted to surprise you guys. I flew in last night so I wouldn’t miss it. I didn’t want the boys to see me before the game and have them distracted, so I waited.” I rub the back of my neck. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be to sit back and just watch.”
She laughs. “I know what you mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous for a game as I was for this one.”
“I wasn’t nervous,” Hudson chimes in. “We had this, Mom.”
We both laugh and I reach over and ruffle his hair. “That’s a great attitude to have going into every game.”
