The Bachelor's Sweetheart (9 page)

“Go ahead,” she said to Claire and Nick, shaking her head. “We'll meet you at the Three Penny. I'll review public behavior with Josh on the way over.”

Nick looked confused, and Claire laughed. “See you in a few minutes.”

The minute it took Josh to text Connor that he wasn't coming over to the parsonage was enough of a delay to put them more in the crush of the traffic leaving than Claire and Nick, which made the ten-minute drive closer to twenty minutes. The time passed in what Josh convinced himself was companionable silence.

“Two?” the hostess asked when they got inside the restaurant. “You'll have a short wait.”

“We're with friends who should have a table.”

“Do you see them?” Tessa asked, rising on her tiptoes.

“In the back,” he said.

The hostess waved them on and greeted the next group.

“Everyone at the concert must have had the same idea as us,” Tessa said as they walked to the booth where their friends sat.

“That and the usual Friday nighters.” He lifted his chin toward the people sitting at the bar.

Tessa's foot caught a chair leg and she tripped. He grabbed her elbow so she didn't fall. Her gasp of pain brushed against his ear, and he slid his arm down around her waist.

“You okay?” His gaze dropped to her open-toed shoes. “Do you think you broke your toe?”

“No, no. I'm fine.”

He loosened his hold, expecting her to pull away. Instead, she moved closer, and he rested his hand back on her hip, directing her away from the bar.

When they got to the booth, a waitress was delivering Nick's and Claire's drinks. Tessa and Josh slid into the empty side of the booth. The waitress placed an ice tea in front of Claire and an open bottle of beer in front of Nick.

“It's Paradox Brewery's Classic Stout,” Nick said as the waitress poured the beer in the glass in front of him. “I recommend it.”

Tessa's mouth twitched as the dark liquid filled the glass.

The waitress pulled out her pad. “We have a couple other local beers on tap,” she said, drawing Josh's attention from Tessa.

“No, thanks,” he said. “I'm good with coffee.” He waited for Tessa to comment on his caffeine “dependence.”

She sat quiet, staring at Nick's beer.

“And you?” the waitress asked.

“I...” Her voice squeaked and she cleared her throat. “I'll take an ice tea.”

Josh glanced at Nick and Claire. Neither of them appeared to think Tessa was acting or sounding odd. He must be imagining her fixation with Nick's drink. His father's return had his brain so muddled he could hardly think straight about anything. Josh clenched a fist under the table. He would not let his father dominate his life again, have him walking on eggshells and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

* * *

Josh was lounging against his truck in the school parking lot with his arms crossed in front of him when Tessa arrived for their Saturday pregame strategy session.

Early
. That was more like her Josh. Her
friend
Josh, she corrected herself. “You here alone, mister?” she asked as she walked to the trunk of her car, where the equipment was.

He looked to his left and to his right, making her smile. “It appears I am.”

“Want to give a girl a hand?” Tessa asked, batting her eyelashes before lifting the trunk door.

He pushed off and sauntered over. “Sure thing, pretty lady.”

Tessa made a gagging sound. “Okay, enough. My fault. I shouldn't have started it.”

Josh stepped beside her with a soft look in his blue eyes that disappeared before she could be certain it had really been there. She reached for the first thing she saw, the duffel bag.

“I'll get that,” he said, gently brushing aside her hand.

His touch flowed over her, leaving a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. He lifted the bag out, and Tessa gathered the orange cones into a stack, taking her time to give herself a moment before she faced him.

She closed the trunk and admired the smooth ease with which he threw the heavy duffel over his shoulder. “So with only our one practice to go on, what's your take on strategy?”

“After carefully analyzing the data I had, we should concentrate on keeping the right number of players on the field and make sure the kids move the ball toward our goal so they don't score for our opponents.”

Tessa laughed. “Works for me.”

Before they could start toward the field, Jack Hill pulled the Hill's Garage tow truck into the parking lot with Owen in the passenger seat. The little boy had his car seat belt off and the truck door open before Jack could walk around the front. Tessa held her breath as Owen jumped down onto the hard pavement.

“Hi, Coach Josh.” Owen ran over. “Did you talk to Mr. Hazard about the Pinewood Derby?”

“Owen,” Jack said. “Give me a minute to talk with the coaches, like I said on the way over.”

“Okay.”

“I have to drop Owen off early. I got a call for a tow job.”

“No problem,” Josh said.

Tessa let him answer for both of them out of a fear she'd laugh at Owen if she didn't keep her lips pressed together. The little boy hopped from one foot to the other in front of them as if he might explode with energy any moment.

“Thanks,” Jack said. “Suzi will be over with Dylan in time to watch the game. She has to drive Kaitlyn to her part-time job first.”

“Like I said. We're good,” Josh said. “Owen can help us set up.”

“You do what the coaches say,” Jack told Owen, who gave him a wide-eyed nod.

Tessa's heart ached for the little boy. From what Suzi had told her, Owen and his mother and brother had moved to the area over the Christmas school break, so he'd had to adapt to a new school and kids mid-school year. And then there was the accident.

“You can help me set up the field,” Tessa said.

Owen grinned and trotted beside her and Josh to the field. “I can take the cones apart for you. I'm real good at helping. I got the student of the week award at school last week for doing extra stuff for my teacher.”

“And if you finish helping Coach Tessa before the others get here, I'll show you a few passing tips,” Josh said. Josh pulled a ball from the duffel and tossed it in the air, knocking it forward with his head and racing over to where it landed as if he was the receiver. He dribbled it back to Tessa and Owen.

“Show-off,” Tessa said before glancing at Owen. The smile had left his face. Had her teasing Josh upset him? Or did Owen think she was reprimanding him for bragging about his school award, although she didn't think what he said was a brag?

The boy scuffed the toe of his cleat against the grass. “I was hoping I could play goalkeeper,” he said in a soft voice. “That's what I played last year on my other team.”

“Sure, for part of the game, at least.” Josh handed Owen two cones. “Run these down to the other end of the field. Do you remember how we had them at practice?”

“Yep, and thanks for letting me play keeper. I won't let the team down.” Owen raced away.

“Do we have someone else who wants to play keeper?” Tessa asked. “I couldn't seem to interest anyone at practice and had to assign someone for my scrimmage team.”

“I did, too, but that was before Hope missed the tying goal. After practice, she texted me asking to play keeper.”

“What did you tell her?” Tessa twisted the Fitbit on her wrist. Josh liked to think of himself as the fun brother and pretty much did anything Hope asked of him. Maybe she should slip in something about being careful not to play favorites.

“I told her she could give it a try. I didn't say she could be in for the whole game or anything. I say we start with Hope because she asked first—and I'll tell Owen that—then we can switch at the half.”

“Perfect.”

“And don't worry, if Owen is the better keeper, I'll have no problem if we put Hope in for less time in future games, if she even wants to continue in the position.”

She should have known that as much as Josh loved his little sister, he wouldn't play favorites.

“What can I do next?” Owen asked, coming to a screeching halt in front of them.

“We need to place the rest of the cones,” Tessa said, noticing some figures crossing the schoolyard toward the soccer field.

“Can you handle it without Owen?” Josh asked. “I need to talk with him for a minute. Guy stuff.” He winked at Tessa over the little boy's head.

“I can do that.” She lingered long enough to watch Josh crouch to Owen's level and say, “I talked with the scoutmaster, and we're all set to build that race car.”

She hummed to herself as she put out the rest of the cones. Josh had told her more than once that he wasn't father material, that he had no frame of reference. Something else they had in common. Her parents had provided for her financially, and she knew they loved her, but neither had taken any real interest in her as a person. The mission church was their “baby.” Tessa was fairly certain Josh's aversion to parenthood was one of the reasons his romantic relationships tended to be short. He laid out his expectations and limitations. Not that everyone took him at face value. When Josh was dating Lexi, he'd complained often enough that Lexi said she wasn't into kids at all and then made a show of cooing over and asking to hold any baby they encountered.

Tessa glanced over her shoulder at Josh and Owen before approaching a group of parents and kids who were walking to the field. Josh's hand rested lightly on Owen's shoulder while the boy explained something to him that needed a multitude of gestures. A pinprick of pain pierced her. Josh had no idea how much he had to offer a kid. It would be sad if he never had any of his own. She suspected he'd be the father he'd wished his father had been.

“Coach Tessa,” Hope called, pulling Tessa from her thoughts. “Am I the first one here?”

“Nope, Owen's here, too.”

Hope made a face, and Tessa hoped she wouldn't give Josh a hard time about sharing the goalkeeper position.

“Go ahead and check in with Josh. He has the roster.”

Hope raced down the sidelines to her brother, while Tessa walked with Josh's brothers and their families. Becca and Natalie fell into step with Tessa as the guys and kids moved ahead of them.

“Your father-in-law isn't coming today?” Tessa asked.

“No, he has a meeting he wanted to go to,” Natalie said.

Good
, Tessa thought. She and Josh needed a day without the elephant in the room looming. Tessa just hoped Josh's father wasn't losing interest in his family as Josh had prophesized he would.

“The Donnelly cheering section all present and reporting for duty,” Connor said when they reached Josh, Owen and Hope. “Where do you want us?”

On the word
all
, Josh shot a furtive glance past his family, probably making sure his father wasn't following.

“Front and center is good. We have Hope as first-half keeper. I just finished telling her we're going to switch her out for Owen the second half. He said he played keeper on a team last year.”

Jared and Becca nodded their approval before joining the rest of the family in the second row of the bleachers.

The first half of the game ended with the Hazardtown Hornets behind one to zero and Hope more than ready to hand the face mask and pads over to Owen.

“So, where am I playing now?” Hope asked.

“We're going to let you rest for a few minutes,” Tessa said.

The little girl checked Tessa's words with a frown at Josh.

“Yep,” he said. “We talked about this. The team has two extra players, and Tessa and I want to give everyone equal playing time.”

Hope huffed over to the players' area on the front bleacher. “That means I'll get like two minutes to play, and I didn't like being keeper.”

Tessa saw Jared bend over to talk with Hope before the referee blew the whistle for the players to take their positions for the second half.

“Owen really knows his stuff,” Josh said as the boy deflected yet another kick near the end of the game that looked like a sure goal for their opponents.

“Yes, he does. I wish we could get a goal, though.”

As if hearing her wish, a Hornet's player caught a pass from Hope's friend Sophia and charged to the goal and scored. The parents and other spectators behind Tessa and Josh roared.

Josh called the player in. “Great job. Since the game is almost over, I'm going to have you sit out the last few minutes.” He tilted his head toward the bleachers and Hope.

“Hope.” Tessa motioned the girl to her. “Go in as right forward.”

She raced in, and play restarted with Hope intercepting an opponent's pass almost immediately. Hope moved the ball through the other team's players until she had an open shot to Sophia near the goal.

“Pass!” Tessa shouted.

“Pass,” Josh echoed, frowning when she didn't.

They both groaned when she kicked from too far out for the other team's keeper not to be ready to block the ball, which was headed in a trajectory that looked to be to the left of the goalpost anyway.

In readiness, the keeper positioned himself slightly left of the net to catch the ball, but it curved and hit the inside of the post bouncing across the line and into the net.

“She did it. Unbelievable.” Josh slapped Tessa on the back so hard Tessa took a step forward.

“You okay?” he asked. “I didn't mean to...”

“I'm fine.”

The referee whistled the end of the game.

“We won!” the kids screamed as they circled around her and Josh, jumping up and down as if they'd aced a championship game rather than winning the first game of the season.

Yeah
. She was fine. Better than fine. Josh had slapped her on the back as if she was one of the guys. His touch hadn't evoked any unsettled feelings. She didn't see any guarded emotion in his eyes. Maybe things between them were getting back to their old comfortable friendship.