Chapter 4
Gage clenched his fists and leaned forward in the stiff leather chair next to Mr. Andrews and stared across the large mahogany desk at the new district superintendent, Dr. Louis Crawford. He couldn’t believe he was only now finding out about this. At the slight shake of his boss’s head, he sat back and ground his teeth together.
“When was this decided and does Gage have any say in who gets the contract?” Mr. Andrews queried as he stood and walked over to the window of the superintendent’s lavish office on the third floor of the administration building.
“The school board met last night after the phone calls began to flood my office yesterday. Everyone agreed this would be good for the district, and I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if Coach Wilson chooses which offer to accept,” Dr. Crawford retorted, sitting back and smoothing the lapel of his expensive suit. Gage tensed at the smirk on his hawkish face.
“And what if I choose none?” Gage returned still furious the school board, and the small, weaselly man sitting across the table had agreed to allow a network to film a documentary about his first year as a high school coach without consulting him first. He’d been looking forward to leading a normal life for once and concentrating on being a good father to his rapidly growing son.
“Then, I guess we might be looking for a new head coach next year when your contract is up for renewal,” Dr. Crawford replied with a cruel glint in his eyes.
With the superintendent’s threat hanging in the air, Gage had no choice. No matter how much he wanted to leave the office and call one of the networks back to accept a broadcasting job, he couldn’t do it to himself and especially Jonathan, who was counting on him to be his coach the next four years. Gage took a deep breath then scraped his hand over the stubble on his chin and looked across at Dr. Crawford.
“All right. I’ll do it, but I have final say on negotiations with whoever I choose.” Gage nodded reluctantly and sat back in the leather chair. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the small man to contradict his demand.
“Excellent! Here are the offers we’ve received so far. I’ll let you have them, and you can get started on picking one right away,” Dr. Crawford said his puny chest thrust out as he came around the desk and handed Gage a legal sized manila folder with several sheets of paper inside. When Gage stood up and took the folder, the superintendent grinned. “Oh, and I see an abundance of new uniforms and equipment coming your way.”
Well at least one good thing would come out of this, Gage thought as he followed Mr. Andrews out the door.
***
Disappointed he hadn’t made it back to the high school campus before the last in-service meeting was over, Gage parked his truck on the far side of the small staff parking lot next to the athletic building. As he reached the edge of the field where his assistant coaches already had a few of the boys running some drills for the short afternoon practice he’d added to the schedule, he stopped and closed his eyes to breathe in the smell of the freshly mowed grass. No matter that cameras would soon be following him once again, he would never lose the peace and calm he got from simply being outside in the fresh air.
Walking over to the sidelines of the roughly marked football field, Gage grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler sitting next to the bench. As he unscrewed the cap, he watched as Jonathan threw several balls to two of the senior receivers. Gage’s heart swelled, and he took in a deep, satisfying breath as the ball connected each time. Although they could easily live off the millions he’d made playing professional ball, the tall, lanky, blond-haired boy out on the field was one of the reasons he’d given in to Dr. Crawford earlier. He’d already missed a lot of years with Jonathan. He wanted to spend as much time with his son as he could before he was grown and off to college.
A tingling sensation, as if someone were watching him, struck the back of his neck as he reached over to toss the empty water bottle in the trash bin. He slowly turned around, then chuckled when he saw a glimpse of brown hair duck away from a second-story window in the corner of the main building.
And there was the other reason.