"Hop down and walk a little on that ankle," I said, knowing he would be fit for practice but hoping my extra care would keep Henry mindful to take care of himself out on the court as well.
"It feels perfect," Henry said, and although I doubted that, I knew he was okay to get back out to practice.
"So am I free?" he asked.
I nodded, hoping I wasn't sending him away just to have him back on my table in a few minutes.
"Thanks, Miss Josie," he said as he hurried toward my door and then paused. "Sorry your date was terrible." He scurried out of the room before I could admonish him for eavesdropping. But then again, it was probably more my fault for having that kind of conversation so close to young ears.
I chuckled as I walked back to my office and Emmie was laughing as well. "Those kids don't miss a thing," I said.
"Oh they miss plenty when I'm trying to talk to them about cosines, but when it comes to dating? Nope, not a thing," Emmie agreed.
"Are you done for the day?" I asked, looking at the purse slung over one of Emmie's arms and the messenger bag over the other.
She nodded. "It only took six teaching periods and an eons-long faculty meeting, but I'm done," she said as she cracked her neck.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked, ready to discuss anything but my horrible date
She narrowed her eyes as if she could see exactly what I was doing. "I want to talk about that date. Or why you won't tell that Easton of yours that you're head over heels in love with him," Emmie said.
"You know why, Emmie," I said, allowing a bit of the emotion I felt into my voice. If only I could explain the way I woke up every morning knowing I wouldn’t be living my life to the fullest because I knew Easton would never be mine. Or the suffocating fear that came when I thought about what would happen when he didn't return my feelings. Because he didn't. Deep down I knew that. If he did, Easton would have told me the truth. For as much of a coward as I was, Easton was courageous.
"So your date?" she asked with a soft smile that wasn't quite pity but close. She knew I hated being pitied.
I told her about the entire thing, and she was laughing from the moment I told her about Harry's mom hugging me at the door. She especially liked the part about Harry's grandma's tiara. She asked me if I'd find out where grandmaw got it, and I glared at her, causing her to laugh even harder.
"Your dates are honestly the worst," Emmie said between hiccups she'd gotten from laughing so hard.
"They are," I said with a shake of my head. You know your dating history is bad when the time a guy showed up with his mom doesn't even crack the top ten worst dates.
"So why do you keep on doing it?" Emmie asked.
"It's better than the alternative," I said.
Emmie cocked her head, waiting for me to go on.
"Admitting that Easton is the only guy in the world for me," I said.
Emmie patted my hand sympathetically in a way only a genteel southern woman could. "As much as your dating escapades entertain me, that isn't the only reason I'm here," Emmie said because she could tell I was more than over talking about my pathetic love life.
I nodded at her to go on.
"I have a friend in the athletic department at Laramore," she said, and a small smile slid its way onto my face. Emmie had friends everywhere. It shouldn't surprise me that she had a friend at the college close to my hometown, which was known for its nationally ranked basketball team.
"Of course you do," I said, my smile becoming larger. Maybe my love life was a mess, but my friend life was pretty dang awesome.
"I told him about you, and he let me know that they may or may not have an opening in their athletic training department. Specifically an opening for the trainer that works with the basketball team," Emmie said with a huge grin. "And when I say may or may not, I mean may," she added.
I laughed. "I got that," I said.
"Oh you did?" Emmie responded, and I laughed again.
But the serious expression on Emmie's face stopped me, her grin long gone. "Would you apply?" she asked.
She knew I loved my job with the high school athletes, but if I was already living my dream, being a college trainer would be my heaven. I loved my high school kids, but high school jobs weren't as secure as the college level ones. I knew my students loved and appreciated me, but if the school board didn't find the funds each year to keep me on, I could be jobless. At the college level it would be different. And to work with a nationally ranked team? Everything.
"I don't know," I said honestly, and she took both of my hands into hers.
"I would hate for you to leave me. Hate it. But this is huge, Josie. And it's in your hometown. I know you miss your family," Emmie said.
I had to nod because everything she said was true. It was not often an opportunity like this presented itself.
"You have to apply, don't you?" she asked.
But could I really leave The Ten of Us, Emmie, my students ... Easton?
However, could I turn my back on this kind of an opportunity? On a job I had hoped would appear in the distant future but which had already made its way to me?
I met Emmie's eyes. "I do."
Chapter Four
The smells of spiced meat and fresh veggies hit my nose as soon as I walked into Tia Maria's, the place The Ten of Us had frequented since our very first year as friends. As college students, we couldn't resist the dollar tacos on Tuesdays. And now as adults, we couldn't resist the nostalgia nor the way Whit demanded we all attend every Tuesday we possibly could.
From the doorway of the restaurant, I saw that most of our friends already sat at the table we'd occupied every Tuesday for the last ten years. Maria of Tia Maria had noticed us coming in often during that first year and had taken a liking to us. Now she reserved that same table every Tuesday, even though she made reservations for no one else.
Easton and I walked through the restaurant that was both bright and dark; the overhead lights were dim, but the orange, red, and yellow twinkle lights that decorated almost every surface of the mahogany colored walls offset the dimness of the other lights.
"Easton," Sophia called out as she wrapped our friend in a hug and Whit did the same for me. Easton went around the table, receiving hugs and handshakes from all of the group since he hadn't been around for a bit. But I just sat in the empty chair next to Sophia since I'd seen them all the week before.
I grinned as I noticed the water glasses that sat on the high-top, dark wood table instead of the margaritas that adorned most of the other tables at the restaurant. Whit might’ve been a task master when it came to some things, but she had our allegiance in all things. Like no alcohol at Taco Tuesdays. Whit's life before Livingston had been a rough one, one she didn't talk about too much. But we all knew that her alcoholic and abusive father had a lot to do with why her life had been so incredibly tough. Out of respect for her and her decision to never drink, we never did in her presence either. She'd told us all plenty of times it didn't matter to her if we drank, but we knew the truth. This was our way of telling her we loved her as much as she loved us. Whit was the girl who'd brought us all together ten years before. We’d all lived on the same floor, but without Whit, we would’ve been acquaintances—not the best friend group of all time. Whit had brought together everyone from Hunter, the college and now pro athlete, to Olivia, the genius who we were pretty sure now worked for the CIA. We were all so different, but Whit didn't see those differences.