They’d been going at it for at least twenty minutes and I still didn’t understand what they were really discussing. Something about Adalyn that I didn’t understand and didn’t concern me, clearly. That’s why I’d used the time to keep an eye on the girls while half of them played around and the other half… recorded shit on their phones. Dances. I didn’t even know what for. I hated smartphones, social media, and anything that was remotely related.
I looked down at my empty cup.
Bloody Josephino.
That’s what had started all of this. All I’d wanted was to pop into the café for a quick cup after my hike. I should have refused to deliver the extra beverage Josephine had prepared—without thinking of telling me, naturally—for Adalyn. But Josephine had a way of… sneaking up on people. She threw you a couple of questions and next thing you knew, you were coaching a kiddie team or delivering drinks.
She would have made a great sports agent.
“… And that is why my good friend Cam”—the mayor of the town patted my arm—“is right here.”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered. I’d tuned out a while ago but being stuck here was definitely unfortunate.
Josie cackled, startling me and making me notice that every eye in the small group was on me. The two parents—a woman with quite the bright hair and a tall man in red rimmed glasses—were giving me a once-over. Adalyn was, too, and not for the first time. I needed a shower. I was sweaty, my clothes and boots covered in dust, and I was done with whatever this was.
“Well,” the woman said, that head covered in a blinding shade of yellow still moving up and down my body. “He is tall.” I blinked at the observation. “And athletic. Also European.”
“He’s the whole package, really!” Josephine clapped. Clapped. Christ. “And he was—and is—doing such a great job with the girls. You know that.”
“Were you training the team dressed like that today?” Diane asked. “I can’t recall seeing you in anything like this when I’ve dropped off Chelsea in the past.”
I didn’t even look down at myself. “I—”
Josie cut me off with a pitchy laugh. “Oh no. He just got here! Cam had to take today off to take care of…”
“His chicken,” Adalyn offered quietly.
My what?
“Cam loves his animals,” Josephine agreed. “The animals love him in return. And you know who else adores Cam? The girls.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What in the world are you—”
Josephine cackled again, silencing me. “Ah! Kids. We love ’em. Anyway, you trust Cam, and that’s why he will be the perfect complement to Adalyn.” My brow climbed even higher. “He will take care of the technical side of things, like practice, games, all that stuff. While Adalyn focuses on the more practical things. Did I tell you Adalyn is a real-life boss-lady? She’s an exec for a team in in the big leagues!” She set one hand on my shoulder and one on Adalyn’s. “They already are the perfect team. Look at them!”
I wasn’t exactly comfortable with them studying me up close after that statement, but if no one had recognized me in weeks, I wanted to believe I was safe. So I shook my head and shot Josie a bland look, catching Adalyn’s face as she stood beside her. Her gaze was downcast. I frowned.
The woman in front of us huffed. “I don’t know. I trust him but I still have reservations about her. I’m very concerned for Chelsea, and the rest of the girls, for that matter. They are third and fourth graders, and very impressionable at this age. Trust me, I’m the president of the PTA for a reason. I would know these things.”
So she’d said. About a hundred times.
I didn’t even know what they were so worked up about. Something about not really knowing Adalyn, something they had seen online and not trusting someone like her with the kids, whatever that meant. They were constantly talking around whatever the real issue was. Not that I wanted to know. My only concern now was Josephine’s statement about Adalyn and I being a team. The woman had fired me. Several times in the span of a few minutes. Me, as if I wasn’t a pro footballer who was doing the team a favor. Which she apparently knew. She’d dismissed me as if she had a problem with exactly that.
I had no interest in finding out what the specifics of that problem were.
“And as the vice president of the PTA,” the man added, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “I share that concern. My husband and I had a long talk with our Juniper after we found out about the whole… ordeal and while we support the free expression of, you know, emotions, we still think it’s not setting a good example for the girls.”