After a lap around the desk, he headed down the hall to the viewing room to check on his swimmers.
“I don’t know why she still isn’t here.” Nicole, a single, aggressively pushy mother who had a boy on the team, said.
He cringed, wanting to leave the room now that he knew Nicole was there. It wasn’t that he disliked her. He just had no interest in dating a mother of one of his swimmers. And she didn’t give up, even after he politely refused.
“The poor man has her brother all the time. And even when she’s in town, he’s still stuck dealing with him. What is she doing?Out making a name for herself?”
It took Will a second to realize that they were talking about Aly.
“Flirting with her costar?” Another woman laughed.
This wasn’t the first time he’d heard comments about Aly, but when they knew he was listening, they affected worried tones and dropped the mocking altogether.
“Not that Logan would ever be interested in someone like her.”
His mouth opened, and the words flew out.
“Why?”
All four women spun, wide eyed. It took them a few seconds to regroup before Nicole finally spoke.
“Coach Will, we were just talking about how Andy’s sister really needs to get her priorities in order.”
He gritted his teeth. “They seem okay to me. What exactly is your issue?”
“Well,” another woman rolled her eyes, “she hasn’t picked him up all week, has she?”
Will’s eyes narrowed. “Because I’m here. If I wasn’t, believe me, she’d be here. Because Aly loves her brother and is doing everything she can to take care of him.”
They all stared, slack jawed.
“If you’re looking for ways to help either of them, I’m sure I could come up with a list. Since it’s been less than a year since their mother died. But if you’re only looking to bad-mouth Aly, take it somewhere else.” He glared down at the women. “I teach the kids that they must respect each other, and I expect parents to model that behavior as well.”
The women all nodded, and Will left without looking back. His office might have felt like a box today, but he needed another time-out. An inability to stop himself from snapping at busybody mothers was exactly why he shouldn’t get personally involved with any of the swim team parents.
“Will?”
He jumped, his attention darting to the doorway, where Andy stood, wrapped in a towel and dripping on the concrete floor.
“I don’t feel good.” Andy shivered.
Will’s worry spiked at that declaration. Never in the years that Will had known the kid had Andy left the pool during practice. Andy might have tried theI don’t feel goodroutine to get out of school twice since he’d been staying with Will, but never swimming.
“What’s the matter?” Will pushed the chair back from the desk and stood.
“My stomach. I just want to go home.” Andy grimaced.
Will moved toward him quickly and lifted the back of his hand to Andy’s forehead. It wasn’t overly warm, but it was hard to tell because Andy had just been in the pool.
Ten minutes later, Andy was dry and in his street clothes, and they were buckled into their seats in Will’s truck. They made a stop on the way home to grab flu essentials before they pulled into the garage. Andy dropped his swim bag on the built-in bench in the mudroom and turned to Will.
“Can I put my suit and stuff in the wash tomorrow? I want to go to bed.” Andy looked paler than he had a half hour ago. Normally, Will was a hard-ass about emptying their swim bags, but every rule had an exception. And today was a good day to enact one.
“I’ll get it. Go to bed. Call for me if you need me,” Will said, crouching to empty the bag. He tossed the towel and the swimsuit onto the floor, threw away ten half-drunk water bottles that Andy apparently liked to hoard, and then grabbed the disinfectant spray and gave the entire bag a good once-over. The suit and towel went into the washer before Will headed into the kitchen.
A smile broke out across his face when he found Aly at the old kitchen table with a sketch pad in front of her. He should have probably braced himself, because the last time he’d seen this woman, he’d kissed her and then left the room without talking about it. But there were no nerves in his system as he watched her tuck her long curls over her shoulder and study the pad on the table before her.
“Whatcha up to?” he asked.