Lex was drowning in bills.
Medical bills, to be exact. She’d been paid a little during her medical leave, but the sheer size of her MRI bill made her want to cry. She’d go back to work in about a week – and hopefully be able to pay this when she got her paycheck. She was thankful for her insurance; otherwise, her bills would be much larger.
Her cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“It’s Chester.”
“Hey, coz, what’s up?”
“I know you’re on medical leave, so I thought I should tell you -they announced sitewide paycuts today here at SPZ.”
“What? ”
“They’re trying to make up for a bad quarter with a 10 percent paycut for everybody rather than laying anybody off.”
Well, she supposed she should be glad they hadn’t let her go. But 10 percent? “Chester, I’ve got surgery bills.”
“Don’t whine to me. I’ve got a mortgage.”
Lex sighed. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“No prob.” He hung up.
Her phone rang again immediately. “Hello?”
“Hi Lex, it’s Ike. I was free tonight and wondered if I could come over with ice cream.”
Whoa. Talk about coming on strong and fast. Still, despite his touchy-feely tendencies, he was charming, nice to look at, and a good conversationalist. “Sure.” She gave him directions.
He arrived with four different pints of Ben and Jerry’s. “Didn’t know what you liked, so I bought a bunch.”
“Aw, that’s so great of you. Usually my brother and my dad get whatever they want without asking me.” She closed the door behind him.
Ike turned mid-stride on his way to her kitchenette. He looked deep into her eyes. “Yeah, well, I’m not your brother.”
Dark blue eyes. Rugged face. What’s not to like?
She snatched the Chunky Monkey, he picked up Cookie Dough. The rest they crammed into her teeny freezer.
They ate leaning against the counter and talking.
He liked weekend warrior-type sports – the occasional pickup basketball game, football with friends, softball with the church. He kept in shape primarily through the gym. “I just felt like we never got to talk on Sunday, and I wanted to get to know you better.”
Lindsay’s feline face hovered in her mind’s eye, but Lex gave a mental snarl and it dissipated.
Ike loved classical music and jazz, but he didn’t play it when with friends unless they liked it too. He didn’t have a favorite restaurant – he was happy with whatever someone else preferred. He liked going for long drives. “And I like hanging out with friends.”
Lex licked her spoon. “Thanks, Ike. This ice cream hits the spot.”Better than worrying over her bills. What a great time getting to know him. He was so easygoing, so down-to-earth.
Ike reached around her to throw his spoon in the sink, and came face-to-face with her.
He was incredibly male. His blue eyes seemed very close. He wore a spicy cologne – not too strong, but hecka sexy. His gaze fell to her lips.
She’d read a lot of romance novels, so she knew her pulse should start racing right about now, and her breathing should come in little gasps. She felt tense – did that count?
He was going to kiss her, and she was ready for him. Her first kiss ever. Well, second kiss if she counted that peck Aiden gave her to deceive Ben -
Don’t think about Aiden. Ike is about to kiss you.
He took his sweet time. He stared at her mouth for so long, she wondered if she should move in and plant one on him. But even though she moved through most of her life aggressively, something about this made her feel shy and scared.
No, you’re not scared. You’re anticipating. It’s different.
“You have ice cream on your lip.” Ike’s low, husky voice sent a chill – no, a thrill, that was a thrill she felt – down her spine. His finger came up and touched the corner of her mouth.
Her jaw flinched and banged against his knuckle.
“Sorry.”
He chuckled low in his chest. She guessed her nervousness encouraged him.
His head came down.
At the touch of his mouth, her heart slammed painfully against her chest. Ants crawled all over her skin, biting her collarbone, her neck. She hunched her shoulders, gasped against his mouth, twisted away.
He’d barely touched her and she freaked. She couldn’t imagine what he thought of her. The kindness in his eyes made her want to cry.
“I’m sorry, Lex, I jumped the gun.”
“No, I’m sorry.” She didn’t deserve his understanding. “You’re – ” She checked herself. What had Richard told her once? She shouldn’t tell a guy he’s nice because he wouldn’t want the “nice guy” syndrome. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
“I would too.” He dipped in and brushed a soft kiss against her cheek. She moved her head at the same time so he wouldn’t notice her automatic flinch. She had to stop doing that or she’d chase every guy away.
“I’ll see you at the gym.”
“Yeah.”
“No, don’t move. I’ll let myself out.” And he did.
She stared at the closed door. She was so stupid! What was wrong with her? It had been perfect! Perfect! Why couldn’t she just kiss a guy?
I’ d like to kiss Aiden -
Stop it, stop it, stop it! She flung her spoon in the sink.
She’d like to kiss Aiden…
“Hi, Dad – whoa! Spiffy!” Lex stared at her father, standing at the open door to Uncle Howard’s apartment. “Going out to dinner?”
Dad flushed. “No, no. I’m doing laundry.”
“Oh. Well, can I come in?”
“Uh… sure.” He stepped aside so she could walk in, carrying paper shopping bags.
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Uncle Howard’s out bowling tonight.”
“Yeah, I know.” She dropped the bags to the floor and bent to rub her knee. Man, it ached.
“You doing okay?”
“I got my brace off a couple weeks ago, but stairs are still killing me. Especially when I’m carrying something.” She opened one of the bags. “I found some of Mom’s stuff in my boxes. I wanted to know – ”
The doorbell rang. Lex moved to the door.
“No, wait, Lexie – ”
“Mary?” In a pretty pink dress, Mary stood on the doorstep. It was weird not to see her in gym clothes. “What are you doing here?” At Dad’s place. With Dad home, but not Uncle Howard.
Then it dawned on Lex.
Mary realized it at the same time. Her gaze shifted to the living room behind Lex. “You didn’t tell her?” Her irate voice shot over Lex’s shoulder like a bullet.
“Mary…” Her father’s voice sounded softer than Lex had heard it in a long time. But also more frightened than she’d heard it in a long time.
“Baka! I can’t believe you didn’t tell her.” Mary pushed her way into the apartment and stood toe to toe with Dad.
The late evening sun glinted into the living room, illuminating her father looking a little shriveled next to Mary’s strong, highly annoyed frame.
A smile tugged at Lex’s mouth.
Her dad cleared his throat. “Mary – ”
“Martin, you give her no respect. She’s your daughter. You know better than that.”
An unexpected tightness clenched behind Lex’s eyes. How strange.
She sounded too much like Mom, but in a voice so different.
“Now, M – ”
“The girls are always the last to know! Like she’s an afterthought.”
Wait a minute. “Dad!” Lex stabbed a finger at him. “You told Richard and you didn’t tell me?”
“Well – ”
“Dad, I can’t believe you!”
Mary waved a finger in his face. “She’s the one who took care of you for years, but you bothered to tell her brother and not her? Shame on you.”
“I was going to – ”
“I came over last week and you never said a word about dating anybody!” Lex’s voice roared in the little room.
“Lexie, I was going to tell you. Mary, this is Lex – ”
“We’ve met!” they both snapped at the same time.
Suddenly, Lex wanted both to laugh and cry.
Mary turned and approached Lex. “I’m sorry. When we met at the gym, I thought you already knew.”
Lex thought back to their first conversation. “No, Aiden had been talking about how faithful you were in coming to the gym every week, so I thought you were talking about him.”
“Aiden? Oh, he’s such a sweetheart. Unlike some men I know.” Her voice hardened. “Did you and your dad want some time -?”
“No, go out to dinner.” Lex opened the door. “I need to be alone.”
“Lex…” Her dad’s eyes peered at her with worry. Concern. Sorrow. Regret.
“I’m fine. Really. I just need some time. I’ll talk to you about it later.” She shut the door behind them.
“No, you’re going too fast.” Aiden snagged another exercise ball and joined her on the mat. He lay on his back and placed his feet on top of the ball. “Copy me.”
He lifted his body up off the floor in a bridging exercise, keeping his shoulders to the ground. She followed him. He lowered excruciatingly slowly. Her hamstrings burned.
“Good.” He set the pace for her entire first set of fifteen. She gulped for air when they finished, but he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Too soon, he got into position again. “Ready?”
She got into position and nodded.
“One.”
“Hey.” Lex noticed Aiden had lifted one foot from the ball and extended it out, performing the exercise single-legged. He’d also moved the ball out farther.
“If I have to set your pace for you, I may as well get a little workout in.”
She ignored the jibe. “I want to try that.” She extended her good leg and tried a rep. Lex couldn’t even get her butt off the ground.
“Oomph! My bad leg isn’t strong enough.” She switched legs.
Oh, man! Lex barely got three inches of air before her back struck the mat again. She rubbed her aching hamstring.
Aiden did another rep single-legged. “It’s more advanced.”
Advanced? It was Superman-level.
“Come on, both feet on the ball. Keep up with me.”
She kept up with him – sort of. She had a tendency to drop back down faster than he did. He glared sideways at her. “Slower. Don’t cheat.”
Any second now, her hamstrings were going to twang out of her thighs like snapped guitar strings.
Lex liked just watching him – effortless, strong. Like when he’d pushed her on that run. A pleasant tingling spiraled in her stomach. She was such a sucker for an athlete. She forgot that Aiden excelled in sports other than volleyball – she kept seeing him like that first night at Nikkei, awkward and wild on the court.
He’s cute.
But he’s not a believer.
She struggled to finish the set. As she lay panting, she watched him do a few extra reps.
Look, but don’t touch. And don’t let him know you’re feeling this way.
It was all her back’s fault.
Lex had been feeling achy, so she yelled at the girls more than usual. After the girls had left, Vince pulled her aside before she walked out of the gym with her bag. “You were hard on them again today.”
She knew it but didn’t want to admit it. She shook off his hand. When would he get the hint and stop touching her? “Playoffs are only a few weeks away.”
“No, this is different. This isn’t playoffs. This is something to do with you.”
“What are you, my shrink?”
“I’m your assistant coach, and you’re not coaching them well.”
“What do you mean?”
“What are your real motivations for pushing them? Is this about them? Or about you?”
“I have no clue what you’re getting at.”
“Look, I know that your mom used to coach these girls’ mothers. I know why you formed this club team.”
“You only think you know.” Coming from Vince’s mouth, it seemed like such a sad, pathetic thing for her to do – something in honor of her mother.
“Getting the girls to win isn’t going to bring your mother back.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“It seems like that’s what you’re trying to do.”
Lex rolled her eyes. “You are way off the mark, Vince. I’ve been having back problems, and it’s making me crabby. Should I admit that I’m PMSing too?”
“Now you’re making excuses to validate your denial.”
With a gust of frustration, Lex marched toward her car. “Goodnight, Vince.”
She had driven almost half a mile away when she realized she’d left her purse under the bleacher seat. She turned the car around, ignoring that alarming sputtering from the engine.
Vince’s accusations horrified her. Bring her mother back? Now that was just morbid.
Except… did a part of her sort of think that way? Did a part of her want to be here for these girls because her mother had been forced to abandon her old volleyball team, to abandon Lex years ago?
Mom had cancer. It wasn’t her fault.
But Lex had still felt abandoned. And she drove these girls and sacrificed for them because she didn’t want to abandon them either.
Oh, come on. This was stupid. Lex would not fall into some psychoanalysis pit. She was too complicated to compartmentalize like this.
She pulled into the parking lot. Another car had pulled next to Vince’s. It looked like Jennifer’s truck. No, it couldn’t be. Jennifer didn’t even know Vince. Lex got out and headed toward the gym.
Vince had company. She heard the voices as she approached the open gym doorway.
“Mrs. Sakai got you that coaching position at Olympic Boys’ School.”
Mrs. Sakai – Grandma? Coaching position? And that voice sounded a lot like Jennifer. Lex slowed her steps.
“Good. Tell her thanks.”
“The job starts in a couple weeks. You’ll honor your agreement with her and quit this job by then, right?”
What? Vince couldn’t quit. Lex needed him for playoffs. A volcano erupted in the pit of her stomach, with rolling, pitching, acidic heaving. She wanted to spew lava at somebody. Or two.
“This isn’t a real job, just volunteer. But yeah, I’ll quit.”
Traitor. Betrayer.
“Olympic Boys’ School will contact you this week about starting.” Jennifer’s voice moved closer to the doorway.
Burning, Lex stepped into the gym.
She stood nose to nose with her cousin. Jenn gasped and jumped back. Vince paled, but straightened.
Lex didn’t know what she looked like, but she certainly felt as lethal as Medusa. She pointed a venomous gaze at Vince. “Our conversation tonight wasn’t about me. It was you justifying leaving the girls, you slime.”
“You’re not going to have funding for playoffs anyway.” Vince picked up his bag and pushed his way out the door.
Lex skewered Jennifer with a jagged-edged stare. “Since when did you become Grandma’s messenger girl?”
Jennifer’s lip trembled. Her face screwed up tightly.
“No, no, no. Tears aren’t going to get you out of this one, Jenn.”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through!”
Lex started. Jenn yelling was like Grandma being quiet.
Jenn started sobbing in earnest. “Grandma’s over at our house all the time, asking about you. I stopped calling you so I wouldn’t have anything to tell her.”
“Grandma nagging is different from this. You betrayed me.”
“You still don’t get it.” Jenn snuffled loudly. “You’re strong. I’m not. It wasn’t just Grandma – it was Mom and Dad and my sisters. Grandma complains to them about you, so they complain to me.”
“This was their idea?”
“No, it was Grandma’s.”
“Figures.”
“They bullied me into doing this.”
“You could have said no.” But even as she accused her, Lex knew Jennifer never told her overbearing family no.
“No, I couldn’t.” Jenn started heaving with sobs. “I don’t control anything in my life anymore.”
“Jenn, I’m stranded and you betrayed me. You should have come to me instead of going to my assistant coach behind my back, arranging for Grandma to buy him off.”
Jenn shook her head and kept crying.
Her tears only fed Lex’s fire. “What could your family have done to you? You know who’s going to suffer? These junior high girls.” Lex turned away. “They don’t deserve any of this. I’m doing my best.”
“Grandma heard you were trying to find another sponsor.”
“I’m trying to save them.”
“Grandma wants you to have a boyfriend.”
“Grandma wants more great-grandchildren. Her immortality. A boyfriend is a means to an end.” Lex pressed her fingers to her temples. “I’m really trying, Jenn. I have one more month before the wedding, but you’ve just made things more difficult for me. You’ve made things harder for those girls.”
Jennifer sniffed.
“Just leave.” Lex went to grab her purse from the bleachers. When she turned around, Jennifer had gone.