Luke is obviously disappointed, but he nods.
“Coach will be in shortly,” the doctor says, and he leaves.
“Thanks for ratting me out,” he snarls at me once the door clicks shut behind the doctor.
I just smile sweetly.
Coach Thompson knocks on the door and lets himself in. His eyes edge over to me before they land on Luke again. “Can we talk?”
Luke glances at me and then at him again. “Yeah.” He nods and doesn’t dismiss me from the room, and for some reason my heart lifts a little at that. He trusts me enough to be in here while this conversation happens, whatever it might entail—and that means something to me.
Coach blows out a breath. “Cal was breathing down my neck about next year before your injury, but about a week ago, he seemed to let up a little. Any idea why?”
“Michelle’s baby isn’t mine,” he admits.
“Thank God for that,” Coach mutters, and I stifle a laugh. “What do you want next year? This is you and me, kid. Be honest.”
“I want my fucking knee back,” Luke says.
“Then you gotta work for it,” he says, and I hope his words get through to Luke. If they don’t, I’m afraid Luke will fall into a pit of despair where he won’t bother taking care of himself because he doesn’t see any reason why he should.
I have a reason.
“What else?” Coach asks.
“I want to play.”
“Another thing you gotta work for. I hate to break it to you, but that Higgins boy is fast. You need to keep up with him despite the bum knee or you need to take out Nolan.” My eyes lift to Coach’s at the mention of my brother. “I know that’s not an option. But might I remind you that as much as we’re a family, we’re still cutthroat, Luke. It’s still every man for himself out on that field, and I don’t know whether the man upstairs is issuing a contract to an injured player who’s been in the league nine years already.”
“But I put up record numbers last season,” Luke protests. This is his shot to plead his case, and clearly he’s jumping at it. “If this injury hadn’t sidelined me, I would’ve done it again. You have to fight for me, Coach. I need you.”
Coach presses his lips together. “You know how I feel about you, Luke.” His voice is gruff. “You’re a son to me. I’ll do what I can, but I can’t make any guarantees.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Luke says.
“How’s the progress?” Coach asks, nodding to Luke’s knee.
Luke’s eyes move to his knee, too. “Doc said the swelling has gone down but I can’t start PT until next week at the earliest.”
“Then you sit on your ass until you’re able to start PT, and you put in the work to get better,” Coach says. “It’s the only way you’ve got even a half a shot at coming back next year.”
Luke nods. “Understood.”
Coach blows out a breath. “We miss you, Luke. The locker room isn’t the same without you.”
“You just miss the granola bars,” Luke says, and Coach laughs. “I’ll have Deb whip up a batch.”
Coach claps him on the shoulder. “I’m sorry this happened to you. It’s the shit end of the stick. But get well soon, kid. We need you back.”
“Thanks,” Luke says, and he seems a little emotional at his coach’s words.
Josh is waiting for us when Coach leaves, and he helps Luke from the exam table and into a wheelchair. And then we head home—all three of us, which makes telling Luke about the baby a little more difficult.
I guess I’ll just put it off a little longer.
CHAPTER 12
“What are these granola bars Luke mentioned to Coach Thompson?” I ask Debbie on Saturday morning.
She chuckles. “I make these homemade granola bars and the boys all go crazy for them. Luke brings them in every Thursday since that’s their hardest day of practice.”
“Can you make some for Luke?” I ask. “I think they’d really cheer him up. And I want to try them too.”
Debbie laughs. “Of course, dear.” She lowers her voice and nods toward the family room, where Luke is watching—surprise, surprise—football again. He’s far enough away and engrossed enough in the game that he can’t hear us. “How’s he doing?”
I lift a shoulder. “Good days and bad. More bad. Mostly I just try to be helpful and kind of stay out of his way.”
“Is he being nice to you?”
I laugh at the question, but it isn’t long before I get sort of serious. “No, not really.”
“That’s how he was the last time he was hurt, too. He was extra grumpy with Savannah, though he was always sort of grumpy with her.”
“So what do I do?” I ask.
“You put him in his place. I’ve known Luke a lot of years, and I know he loves you. You can’t let him walk all over you. That’s not the strong woman he fell in love with, is it?”
I shake my head sadly. “No, it isn’t.”
“He’ll never tell you when he needs anything. He’s too hard-headed. So you just have to do your best to read his mind.” She winks at me, and I giggle.
“There’s just so much on his plate that I don’t blame him for being a little grumpy.”
She nods. “But no matter how much is on his plate, that doesn’t give him a right to take it out on you.”
“True,” I concede, and I have the sudden urge to confess my little secret to her. “Can I tell you something that stays between us?” I ask, lowering my voice.
“Of course you can.”
I glance at Luke. He’s still watching the game. I glance back at Debbie.
“Oh,” she says, her mouth dropping open. She covers it. “You’re not...” She nods toward my belly with wide eyes.
I nod, and I can’t believe the amount of relief that flits through me at finally unloading this very big secret on someone. I’ll never know why it’s Debbie I choose, but she’s a pseudo-mother figure to Luke, so that makes her this baby’s pseudo-grandmother.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaims quietly so as not to draw Luke’s attention. She grabs me into a hug, and then she drags me into the laundry room so we can talk without worrying about him overhearing. The smell of detergent rushes to my nose, and my stomach feels suddenly queasy. “Congratulations! How are you feeling?”
I shrug. “Pretty good. No real symptoms like you hear about.”
“And you haven’t told him?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Every time I try, another bomb is dropped. I just found out a few days ago myself. I haven’t figured out how to tell him.”
“Oh, honey,” she says. “You need to tell him. This could be exactly what pulls him out of this horrible funk. It’ll give him purpose.”
I nod as tears pinch behind my eyes. “He was just so relieved that Michelle’s baby wasn’t his...”
She gives me a stern look. “He was relieved he wasn’t going to be tied to that horrible woman for the rest of his life. But it had to come as a blow that he thought he was having a child and then that was taken away from him.”