“They kind of are, Natalie,” he whispered to her.
“No, I mean that’s how Patrick was with Lara. I remember that. They were very touchy-feely. I wonder if he’ll be that way with Faith?”
“Do you want him to be?” he asked, wondering if she was really okay with her dad’s relationship.
“I hope he is. Then I’ll know he loves her,” Natalie replied on a sigh.
Just holding her, he realized that was the kind of relationship he wanted with Natalie. To be able to sense her moods and do exactly what she needed him to do. To do things to just make her happy.
CHAPTER14
Walking into the house,Natalie was surprised there was nobody in the office or the kitchen. It was a Wednesday. Maybe they closed the office for the party. Once again, Natalie wondered why the party was the day before Della’s birthday… or did Max say the wrong day yesterday?
Noise came from the other side of the house, so Sam led her toward the open double doors. Her breath caught at the sight of the large room with a few tables in the middle. The room took up around a third of the main floor. The woodwork and polished floor gleamed in the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
“Welcome to the ball room.” Max pointed at some chairs for them to sit in.
“It’s beautiful.” Sam took a seat beside her.
“It is. We rarely use it, but we have a party every now and again, so we have a reason to come in here.” Max handed out beers.
Zachary was at the table with them, looking at Natalie closely. Too closely. He tipped his beer and asked, “How tall are you?”
“5’11,” she answered, then tipped her beer at him.
“Did you play sports?” Zachary asked, his eyes scanning the room and watching those who were holding his kids.
“Yes, any I could,” Natalie admitted. She was used to the question. It seemed once you were so tall everyone assumed that you played sports. When she was playing them, it hadn’t bothered her at all, but now it was a bit annoying.
“Basketball?” he asked as the women came back into the room, and he refocused his attention solely on his wife.
“Yes, and volleyball and track. In fact, she was being recruited by colleges when she stopped playing.” Sam jumped into the conversation as if he knew she was getting uncomfortable.
“You just quit?” he asked as his wife sat down next to him, his arm instantly going to rest on her chair to subtly touch her shoulder. Zephyr, for her part, leaned toward him.
Tearing her eyes from the intimacy of the couple, she told him, “No, I had a car accident and stopped playing. I just don’t move like I used to.”
“But she was good, which is why I was going to see if I could get her a coaching job this school year.”
In all the days they had been together, he hadn’t said anything, and before that, they hadn’t spoken in years. When had he come up with this plan? And more importantly, why was he asking her in front of all these strangers?
“What?” Turning to him, she frowned at him bringing this up.
“You’re good with kids. I even think the library would let you off to coach.” He only smiled and took her hand in his.
“What sport?” she asked him. She had no experience coaching anything.
Her mind was instantly working, trying to solve how she would get out of work to coach. He was right, the library wasn’t busy, so they would let her off. Especially since the library was so closely tied to the school. But what about the rest of her life? Did she even have time for this?
Shrugging, he admitted, “Volleyball. We’re short a coach since Miller retired.”
It was a sport she hadn’t played since the accident—not that she had played any sports since that day. Questions ran through her mind about how she was supposed to coach when she couldn’t play anymore. How was she supposed to coach when she didn’t know how to? And why wasn’t she instantly saying no? Why was she even thinking about it?
“Sam’s a high school teacher.” Max filled in the group watching the couple’s discussion.
It was only then that she realized the room was quiet, and everyone was watching them. Being the center of attention had lost its luster over the years. That they were being watched made her blush and whisper to Sam, “I think we can discuss this later, Sam.”
At her reaction, there were a few chuckles from the group as conversations started again. Natalie was silent as Sam and Zachary started talking about professional baseball. She wasn’t interested in that sport; her mind was on when the last time she had even thought about volleyball. Without a doubt, she knew it had been years.