In My Father's Shadow (23 page)

“Allyson, did my son do something to hurt you?” Nate
asked, gently grabbing her shoulders.

“Of course not, Nate,” Ally answered, looking him
straight in the eyes. “You know he never would.”

Nate released her and ran a hand through his hair. “I
know, but something’s off between you two. I had to ask.”

“Maybe things aren’t going so well right now,” she
admitted, tears burning her eyes again. She wanted to cry
desperately – wanted to fall into Nate’s arms and sob, allowing him
to comfort her – but she couldn’t. “But we’ll figure it out. Don’t
worry.”

He lifted her chin and kissed her forehead. “I know
you two will. I’ve always been very fond of you, Allyson Jane, and
it would be wonderful to have you for my daughter, legally,
someday,” he teased, a tiny grin on his lips. “But no
pressure.”

She laughed genuinely. “Gee, thanks for the
confidence.”

He grinned. “Seriously, whatever you two decide, I
hope neither of you gets hurt.”

She put her arms around his waist, letting her
crutches fall to the ground, and hugged him, loving him more than
ever at that moment. “It’ll work out,” she said, tears stinging her
eyes.

“Come on,” he said, scooping up her crutches before
leading her back to the dorm. “It’s cold out here.”

They walked quietly down the hall and found RJ and
Ren hovering around Stephanie’s doorway. Jamie and Cole’s voices
could be heard inside.

“You coming in?” Nate asked.

Ally shook her head. “I really do have reading to
finish.”

He kissed her forehead again and watched as she
hobbled into her room.

***

Cole kept an eye out for her all during dinner, but
the seat beside Jamie remained vacant throughout the entire meal.
Stephanie chattered away excitedly beside him while the other guys
introduced her to their friends that approached the table.

After dinner, they took her to the Student Center and
Cole scanned the crowded rooms looking for any sign of Ally but
again, she remained missing. Fed up, he pulled out his phone and
dialed her number. It rang a few times before going to voice mail
and he nearly heaved it across the room.

“Al,” he said, voice restrained. “Call me.”

But she never did that night.

***

The next weeks seemed to fly by in a whirr of
activity. Everyone was busy preparing for the holidays and doing
their last minute homework assignments. Football season had ended
but Jamie and Stephanie both had made the basketball teams and were
often away conditioning or practicing. Cole, RJ, Ren, and Parker
were rehearsing as many times a week as their schedules would
allow.

Ally showed up for meals again, sitting in her usual
seat, but she rarely offered anything to the conversation unless
she was asked. And the rift between her and Cole widened.

The week before Christmas break, Ally was overjoyed
when she left her doctor’s office minus that annoying cast. Her
doctor had outfitted her with a walking boot and instructed her to
take it easy for a while yet, but it didn’t damper her mood at
all.

She returned to school before dinner and rushed over
to the gym, only depending on her crutches slightly, and sought out
her basketball coach.

“Hey Coach Morgan,” Ally called out breathlessly,
entering the gym. The girls filed out of the locker room, greeting
Ally on their way to dinner as the coach collected loose
basketballs and tossed them into a deep basket.

“Hey, Ally,” the coach smiled. “No cast?
Wonderful!”

“Yeah, I have to keep this on for a week or two then
the doctor wants me to work on strengthening my ankle before he’ll
allow me to play.”

The coach hugged her. “Well, you should be ready to
go before the end of the season. And it’ll be good as new before
softball. Those scouts from the State Team will be here watching
you, you know.”

“I know.” Ally eyed the container full of
basketballs, her hands itching to feel one beneath her fingers. Her
legs ached to bend and shoot. “Do you mind if I work on free
throws? I can’t run or do lay-ups yet but I can shoot a few
hoops.”

Coach Morgan smiled and kicked the basket full of
balls closer to Ally. “Go ahead. Mr. Johansen doesn’t lock up the
gym until seven so take your time. And when you’re finished, just
leave the balls in the basket – Mr. Johansen will put them in my
office.” She started to walk away but paused to smile once more.
“But Ally, don’t overdo it!”

***

Cole sighed as he finished his dinner and pushed his
tray away. He scrubbed his cheeks as he gazed at the doors.

“What’s up, dude?” RJ asked.

“Where the hell is Ally now? She’s never around much
anymore,” he complained. “I know she’s still mad at me but that
never stopped her from hanging out with you two.”

“I know,” RJ mused. They both looked at Jamie.

“Don’t look at me,” he said. “She says ‘hi’ and ‘bye’
and that’s about it.”

“If you’re looking for Ally,” Stephanie said,
plopping down next to Cole with a tray brimming with chicken.
“She’s in the gym.”

“What the hell is she doing there?” RJ asked.

Stephanie shrugged. “I saw her as I was leaving. She
was talking to the coach.”

Cole sighed again and got up, Jamie and RJ behind
him. “Catch you later, Steph,” he called as they walked out of the
cafeteria.

They could hear the THUMP THUMP THUMP of a basketball
hitting the floor as they approached the gym. They opened the door
in time to see her limping after a ball that bounced off the wall
and skirted past her.

“No crutches, huh?” Cole asked as he grabbed a ball
and threw at the hoop. The ball bounced off the rim and Jamie got
the rebound.

“They’re over there on the floor,” she muttered,
pointing at the bleachers. She grabbed the ball she’d been chasing
and dribbled it as she limped back towards the free throw line. She
ignored them as she bent her knees and shot the ball, holding her
pose. It floated effortlessly through the hoop and bounced away.
Jamie caught up with it and threw it back to her. She bounced it
three times, bent her knees and shot it through the hoop once
more.

“Shouldn’t you guys be at dinner?” she asked,
catching Jamie’s pass.

“Shouldn’t you?” RJ asked.

“I ate after my doctor’s appointment,” she shrugged
shooting the ball once more. Jamie passed it back.

“You’re lying,” Cole smirked.

She held the ball still and glared at him. “How do
you know?”

He snatched the ball out her hands and loomed over
her. “Because I know you. You probably raced back here after your
appointment, found the coach and told her you’d be able to play
again in a few weeks. Then, because you can now stand without
crutches, you asked if you could shoot a few. In your excitement,
you forgot all about dinner time. How’d I do?”

Her mood was too good and her spirits too high.
“Right on the mark,” she muttered, smile playing around her
lips.

Cole threw the ball to Jamie who put it with the rest
in the basket. “I think we need to celebrate,” Cole said, taking
her hand.

“Absolutely,” RJ agreed, draping an arm around her
shoulders. “James?”

“Hell yeah, but you guys are buying.”

Her smile grew as she allowed her three best friends
to lead her out of the gym and not once did they mention calling
Stephanie to join them.

Chapter Nineteen

“Hey, Ally! Wait up!”

Ally glanced over her shoulder and stopped, stifling
a groan, and allowed the group of girls to catch up to her. She
recognized three of them as basketball team members and tried to
smile as she yanked her coat tighter around her body.

“What’s up?” Ally asked.

“Are you going to be able to play?” Robin Duncan
asked, glancing at the brace on Ally’s ankle.

“Hopefully,” Ally said. “We’ll see.”

“We heard this morning on the radio that your dad and
his band are retiring after this tour,” Amy Swetin declared, her
eyes wide.

Ally blew a breath at her hair and rolled her eyes.
“Rumors – that’s all it is.” She turned her back on the girls and
headed toward her dorm, eager to get out of the cold and away from
the questions. It’d been the exact same thing the week before for
Alec when a bunch of his classmates had hounded him between
classes.

“Are you sure, Ally?” Robin said, snagging Ally’s arm
before she could escape. “I mean, do you really think parents tell
their kids everything?”

“Look,” Ally said, stomping her feet to rid them of
cold. “I spoke to my dad and to Nate and to Richie and to my uncle
Mark and they all said that it was nothing but a bunch of rumors.
They have no plans to retire or split up or anything.”

Amy’s eyes grew even wider at the mention of each
band member’s name. She smiled at Ally in awe. “It is so cool that
you know them! That you’re related to them!”

“Yeah, it’s wonderful,” Ally said, irritated.

“Well,” Robin said with a sympathetic smile. “It’s
just that, people love them and all these rumors are going around -
not to mention the fact that a lot of people have tickets to see
them in Indianapolis and Louisville. They’re worried that the band
will break up before then.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “I assure you that my father’s
band will not break up before that,” she said, yanking her arm out
of Robin’s grasp. “I need to go.”

She stormed away to her dorm before they could pelt
her with more questions. She wondered if it would ever end.

***

Ally pondered her relationship with Cole as she drove
home. Winter break had arrived, along with a light dusting of snow,
and she carefully watched the road in front of her. Alec sat
silently in the seat next to her, occasionally playing with the
radio.

“Ally?” he asked.

“Hmm,” she answered, slowing down behind a lumbering
semi-truck.

“Are you and Cole dating or what?”

That’s the million dollar question
, she
thought. “I think so,” she said honestly. “But truthfully,
sometimes I just don’t know.”

“Well, you two don’t act like other couples at school
do, which, I’m thankful for,” he said with a smile. “I don’t think
I could stand to see my sister making out with one of my friends in
the middle of campus.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I understand. That’s not my style
anyway. Nor is it Cole’s.”

“I thought it was cool when you two hooked up but
now,” he paused and looked at her. “Now, I don’t know. Sometimes
you seem so sad and it makes me so angry with him.”

She patted his leg. “It’s not him,” she reassured her
brother, not wanting to cause bad feelings between Alec and Cole.
“Mostly, I’ve been a little down because of my ankle and those
rumors about Dad. Are people still bugging you about it?”

He nodded. “Yep but I just blow them off. Are Mom and
Dad home yet?”

She shook her head. “They won’t be home until
Wednesday.”

“Can you take me to Ray’s later tonight? I’m staying
there with Ray and Trevor.”

She agreed, wondering vaguely what she would do in
that big house by herself all weekend.

***

She stared out the window at the pole barn the next
afternoon and yearned to be in there, shooting hoops and doing
lay-ups. Her father had had it converted it into an impressive gym
years ago when he’d had a huge garage built. She used the gym year
round, honing her skills in whichever sport she was currently
participating. It had a half court inside and a batting cage added
to the back. It wasn’t much compared to the gym at Nate and Cole’s
house, but they’d all enjoyed it over the years. She smiled as she
recalled the times the four of them would play a pickup game;
although RJ and Cole would never let Jamie and Ally on the same
team.

She was surprised that RJ and Cole didn’t participate
in more organized sports. They both were pretty athletic, although,
Ally thought with a smile, she could kick both their butts in just
about any sport they challenged her. Still, they preferred
dedicating their spare time to music rather than sports.

The doctor had upgraded her to an ankle brace and
released her for light drills, but he had insisted she continue the
strengthening exercises and to not overdo. She grabbed her phone,
thinking she’d call Jamie and have him come over to work with her.
She didn’t want to be too horribly out of shape when the doctor
released her to practice and play.

She frowned as the phone rang and rang and nearly
resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to leave a voice mail
when he finally answered.

“Hey, Ally,” he said.

She raised a brow. “I’m not interrupting anything, am
I?”

He laughed. “Nah, taking a break. What’s up?”

“Come over! I’m so bored by myself and I want to work
on some basketball drills,” she pleaded. Falling onto her back on
the sofa, she blew a puff of air at her hair. “I’ll even make you
dinner!”

He snorted. “Pizza?”

“You’d rather me cook?” she asked.

“Good point.” He paused and her attention suddenly
focused on the raucous voices in the background.

“Where are you?” she asked, although the answer was
dangling in front of her face.

“At Cole’s,” he said slowly, almost reluctantly. “RJ
and I came over and we kind of just started goofing off in the gym
with Cole and Stephanie. Why don’t you come over here?”

“Nah,” she said, pushing the stinging feeling in her
heart away. She wouldn’t think about it. She was determined to stop
being so jealous and territorial over the boys. She needed to
accept Stephanie’s place in their lives now. “I’m just going to
hang out here. I’m not really in the mood to go anywhere.”

“How about if I come over later tonight?” he
suggested.

He was just trying to smooth things over and he was
probably feeling a bit guilty for not swinging by to pick her up or
something equally noble, but she didn’t fault him – sometimes they
just needed guy time.