Chapter 7

 

Tony arrived at the football field just as the high school’s door opened and the students streamed outside, free for the day. Most days, he’d already be inside Coach’s office by now, going over the man’s plans for practice that afternoon. Today, he’d remained at work for as long as possible. The last place he wanted to be was cooped up inside with Cat’s father and brother. He’d toyed with the idea of staying in Boston all afternoon and skipping practice all together, but in all the years he’d worked as an assistant coach, he’d only missed one practice. Even then it had taken a hospital bed to keep him away.

“Hey, Coach Bates,” a voice drifted through his open car window.

He must look like an idiot just sitting there in his car. He pulled the keys from the ignition and said, “Hi, Robby. How’s school going this year?” A junior at North Salem High, Robby Darcy had played on the football team the previous season. When his grades tanked, his parents pulled him from the team.

“Got Mrs. Andrews for algebra this year. She’s impossible.”

He’d had Mrs. Andrews himself for algebra, although when he had her, she’d been a first year teacher named Miss Marcus, but even back then she’d been a hard-ass math teacher.

“My parents got me a tutor.” Robby sounded less than enthused about it. “I’m meeting him at the library now.”

“Good luck. The team needs you next year.” What else was he supposed to say? If you got Mrs. Andrews for math, you’re screwed. He knew for a fact Robby Darcy’s talents did not lie in the academic arena.

Robby nodded and jogged toward his car in the student parking area.

With nothing else to delay him, Tony grabbed his stuff and headed for the familiar high school.

Like every afternoon, Coach sat inside his office, located at the back of the locker room, with the door open while the players changed and goofed around. Today, however, Striker wasn’t with him.

“Hey, Coach Bates,” a few players called out to him as he headed for the office.

Tony waved in the players’ direction, but kept on walking.

“Coach,” Tony said as he stopped in the doorway.

Coach looked up from his desk and waved Tony in. “Traffic bad today? You’re usually here before now.”

“Construction had everything backed up.” Admitting he didn’t want to face the guy or his son wasn’t an option.

“I sent Striker out on the field. I’ve already gone through the plan for this afternoon with him.” Coach picked up two clipboards containing the plays he wanted the players to run that afternoon and handed one to Tony. “Do me a favor and watch Briggs today. Let me know if you think he’s ready to play in Saturday’s game,” he said, referring to a junior on the team who’d just come back from an ankle injury.

“Will do.”

“And word of advice, Tony, keep out of Striker’s way today. He’s looking for a fight. I got an earful from him yesterday and this afternoon.”

“I’ll try.” He wasn’t looking to get into it again with Striker, but he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t happen either. Hopefully, Striker realized how bad it would look if they got into a fight with the entire team looking on.

Tony glanced through the plays on the clipboard and waited to receive his own earful from Cat’s father.

Instead, Coach stood and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “The guys look up to both of you. Don’t do anything stupid out there today.”

Don’t tell me, tell your son. The thought formed, but Tony managed to keep it from passing between his lips. So far, Coach wasn’t acting any different around him despite the fact he must know the truth. He’d like to keep it that way.

Tony spent most of practice running players through drills and watching Daniel Briggs for any sign he wasn’t ready to be back on the field again. At the same time, he kept as much space between himself and Striker as possible. From the moment he’d walked onto the field, the guy had been sending dirty looks his way. Despite the glares, Striker hadn’t approached him once. Before that afternoon, Tony hadn’t realized just how much he enjoyed talking and joking around with the guy. Funny how you didn’t notice some things until they changed.

Although they kept out of each other’s way, the players picked up on the tension floating between them. Several times, Tony caught different players glance first at Striker and then at him. He’d even caught George Dalton nodding in his direction after saying something to Ethan Hughes during a water break.

Coach blew his whistle twice, giving the signal practice was done and everyone should park their butts for a quick team meeting. Every year, the guy ran every practice the same way. He even had when Tony had played for him.

“Nice work out there today. Offense, you did a good job of protecting Hughes, but we’ve got Marblehead here Saturday. They’ve got the best defense in our division this year. You’ll need to step it up out there.” Coach looked at several of the offensive players seated on the bench, before he turned toward the defensive lineman sitting on the grass. “Defense, just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Tony tuned out while Coach spoke. So far, he’d made it through practice without a run-in with Striker. He only had to go another five minutes or so and it’d stay that way.

“That’s it for today. See you all tomorrow.”

He’d never heard better words.

En mass, the players stood, prepared to hit the showers and whatever responsibilities they had for the night. Now that he could, Tony planned to beat it himself, but the hand that came down on his shoulder stopped him.

It stopped everyone else who noticed as well.

“Got a minute?” Striker asked.

High school football players were a rowdy bunch, yet at that moment, Tony guessed he could’ve heard a mouse squeak.

“Now’s not a good time.” Tony took a step back.

The muscle in Striker’s jaw moved. “End it, Tony. Tell Cat you changed your mind and send her home.” Striker kept his voice low, but that only seemed to increase everyone’s curiosity. “You know she deserves better than you.”

He couldn’t argue with Striker on that one, but he still didn’t plan on telling Cat to move home. “She’s a big girl who can make her own decisions, Striker. And no one is forcing her to stay with me. She can leave whenever she wants to.”

Striker’s right hand clenched into a fist. “She doesn’t know you like I do. Cat’s not a slut like the women you usually date.”

One of these days, his big mouth was going to get him into trouble. “How would you know what type of woman she is? Didn’t you call her a whore yourself the other night?”

Tony prepared for the punch he knew was coming. The expression on Striker’s face gave him away.

A heavy hand dropped on his shoulder instead. “Both of you, in my office,” Coach said in a voice that left no room for argument. “The rest of you, hit the showers and head home,” he said to the players who had stopped to watch the exchange.

He followed behind Coach, tempted to blow off the man’s demand—it certainly hadn’t been a request—and go home. Unfortunately, Tony had too much respect for the man to do that. Striker walked next to him, his hands still balled up into fists by his sides. Tony suspected Striker wanted to go back inside about as much as he did.

The office door closed behind him, which was something that almost never happened. Coach believed in keeping his office door open, so his players could come in whenever they needed to.

“Listen, both of you, whatever issues exist between you two leave at home. I don’t want to see them on my field.” Coach stared at them both, and for a moment, Tony felt like a ten-year-old in the principal’s office.

Coach switched his gaze to his son. “We talked about this, Striker. Now get over it. Tomorrow, I expect practice to run smoothly. If either of you can’t do that, don’t bother showing up.”

Tony shot a look at Striker who, judging by his expression, wasn’t pleased with his father’s lecture. To his credit though, he didn’t say a word. Instead, Striker nodded.

“Bates, get out of here and have a nice night. Tell Cat I said hello.”

“Will do, Coach. See you tomorrow.” He didn’t stick around in case Coach changed his mind and decided he had some other words of wisdom to add.

“You need––” Whatever else Coach said to Striker, Tony didn’t catch because the door closed behind him.

Anxious to get home, Tony grabbed his jacket. Several of the players shot looks his way as he walked through the locker room, but none of them said anything to him, which was unusual. In fact, the entire locker room remained as silent as a tomb, which was something that never happened when you gathered that many teenage boys together.

Halloween decorations of every shape and size decorated most of the homes he passed on his way home. The ghoulish holiday had always been a big deal in North Salem. There was even a town Halloween party every year that was designed specifically for families, although all residents were welcome. He had been to the event more times than he could remember.

He turned onto Union Street and drove past Mack’s house. Already, he saw some young children on the sidewalks with their parents trick or treating. More than likely, his nephew would head out soon too, and Ben’s first stop would be his house. At some point, it had become a tradition for Andrea and Doug to bring Ben by his house before hitting any other home. The tradition drove his mom a little crazy, and perhaps that was why his sister insisted on doing it year after year. Since his brother-in-law’s parents didn’t live in town, he doubted it mattered much to them.

In another year or so, maybe he’d have another niece or nephew coming to his house in some outrageous costume. His younger brother had been married for six months now, and John had mentioned that Kendra didn’t want to wait to start a family. He knew Andrea and Doug were trying for a second baby too. He’d overheard his sister telling their mom at the family’s Fourth of July cookout that summer. Andrea hoped to have a daughter. She’d also wanted the perfect television family of a son, a daughter and a dog.

For a short time, he’d hoped for something similar himself. Not that he thought about that often anymore. And why would he? It wasn’t like he was missing out on anything. Actually, the way he saw it, he had the better deal. He could spoil his nephew rotten, and then send him home to his parents, much like a grandparent did. And it wasn’t like his lack of children would mean the end of the Bates lines. John planned on having children, and even if his brother didn’t, their cousins had children who would carry on the family name.

Yeah, there was no reason for him to ever get married and have children, no matter what Mom and Dad said. If the idea had been trickling into his thoughts more and more these days, it was only because he’d recently seen so many friends head down that path. First, Sean dropped the news he planned to propose, and now it looked as though Jessie Quinn had all but moved in with Mack. Once things around him went back to normal, the annoying idea would disappear again.

If it didn’t, then he’d find a way to make it vanish.

 

***

 

Cat parked in Tony’s driveway and practically bounced out of the car. She’d been on cloud nine since late that morning when Dolores set up the interview with her. She still doubted she’d get the promotion, but to even be considered said a lot.

She noticed the door ajar as she walked up the front steps, but didn’t give it much thought. Pushing the door open, she walked into the kitchen.

“Tony, you’ll never guess what happened today.” She put her purse and jacket on a barstool at the counter before heading toward the living room since she heard the television. “I’ve got an—” Cat stopped when she saw Tony’s sister, brother in-law, and whom she guessed was his nephew under the Storm Trooper helmet.

The conversation in the room stopped and all heads turned in her direction. Cat noticed Andrea’s eyes darted in Tony’s direction before she turned her attention on her.

“Cat, Tony didn’t say you were coming over tonight. How are you?” She walked over and gave her a hug.

She returned the gesture, although why so many women in town insisted on giving each other hugs when they met up, she’d never understand. What was wrong with just saying hello and leaving it at that? That was what men did.

“Great and you?”

“A little tired, but good.” Andrea turned toward the little storm trooper. “We need to go, Ben, if we’re going to get to all the houses you want tonight.”

“I want Uncle Tony to come with us,” a muffled voice said from inside the helmet. “He promised he’d come this year.”

Andrea looked toward Tony and then Cat. “I think Uncle Tony has other plans tonight, Ben. Besides, this will be the last time we get to go trick or treating just the three of us.”

“But he promised.”

Tony pulled the helmet off his nephew. “Sorry, Ben, I forgot. How about we do something together next weekend instead? Just you and me. We’ll leave your mom and dad at home.”

Ben’s eyes filled with tears, and Cat touched Tony’s arm. “Ben really wants you to go. Don’t worry. I’ll stay here and hand out candy and start dinner.”

Ben didn’t wait to hear his uncle’s answer. He grabbed Tony and his dad’s hands and pulled. “Come on, let’s go before all the good candy is gone.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind door duty?”

Actually, she was looking forward to it. Living on the third floor had meant few trick or treaters ever came to her apartment. “Just tell me where the candy is. I promise not to eat all of it myself.”

Tony kissed her on the cheek. “There’s already two open bags by the front door. If you need more, it’s in the cupboard near the window.” He leaned closer to her ear. “Thank you.”

After Ben stuck his helmet back on his head, Tony, Doug, and Ben headed out, leaving her alone with Tony’s older sister.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t know Tony promised to come with us tonight. We only stopped by because my brother’s house is always our first stop on Halloween.”

She’d known Andrea Bates her whole life, but she’d never interacted much with her. Andrea had been too much older than her for them to be friends or participate in the same activities. Still, she’d always come across as nice person.

“No big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to Ben, so thanks for encouraging Tony to go.” Andrea pulled her jacket back on. “Maybe I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. We have dinner with Doug’s parents, but stop by Mom and Dad’s at night.”

Thanksgiving was more than a month away. A lot could happen in a month. “I don’t know what my plans are yet, but maybe.”

She watched Andrea walk out the door, and then she turned her attention to dinner. She didn’t know how long Tony would be gone. His nephew was six, how long could a six-year-old trick or treat for?

The contents of Tony’s refrigerator left her with few options, as did the freezer. Either he needed to go shopping or he never ate at home. She guessed it was the second. Over the past few months anyway, he’d eaten several of his evening meals with her. If she planned on staying here until Striker moved out, she’d have to do something about the state of Tony’s refrigerator. Maybe tomorrow after work she’d stop and pick up some things.

Cat put the lone package of ground beef she found into the microwave so it could defrost and then looked around for paper for a shopping list. If she walked into the grocery store without a list, she’d buy things she didn’t need. That happened to her all the time.

It took a little searching, but she found a notepad and pencil in a junk draw. It seemed like everyone had one of those in their house. She knew she did, and so did her parents.

Immediately, she listed what she considered the necessities, but then stopped. Tony might not appreciate her filling his kitchen with her favorite foods. Rather than waste time making a list, maybe she should wait until he got back and ask him if he even wanted her to pick anything up. This arrangement was a temporary one. If she started doing things like grocery shop, he might think she wanted this to turn into a permanent situation. While she was open to the idea, she doubted he was.

Yep, she better wait until he got back.

She crumpled up the list and tossed the notepad back into the junk drawer before she got out her phone. She’d heard it beep on her way home, so she knew she had messages. As she suspected, one of the messages was from Mom. Cat had called her around lunch to tell her about the upcoming interview. The second message was from her college looking for a donation.

A new burst of excitement blossomed at the thought of the upcoming interview. The ringing of her cell phone and the name Zack across the screen sent the excitement spiraling downward.

She ignored his last few calls and the messages he’d left. Maybe she should bite the bullet and talk to him. See what he wanted. Get it over with.

“Hi, Zack. What’s up?” she asked as she watched the seconds on the microwave pass by.

“I heard about the interview. Congrats.” Zack sounded genuinely pleased for her.

Some of her annoyance slipped away. After all, friends could call each other to congratulate them.

“I knew they’d pick you as a candidate.”

Zack had his faults, but he’d also been supportive.

“Thanks. We’ll see how it goes. I’m sure they have a lot of other people to interview.”

“You have nothing to worry about, Cat. I’ll be shocked if you don’t get the position.”

The microwave dinged, and she pulled the ground beef out. Now what to do with it? Meatloaf maybe? She’d seen a box of rice in the cupboard and some frozen mixed veggies. Or maybe some meatballs with pasta. She’d spotted some pasta, but did Tony have any sauce?

“We’ll see.” She opened a cupboard and peeked inside. The only thing it contained was containers of protein powder and protein bars. “Zack, I’m about to start dinner. Can we talk again later?”

“Yeah, sure. I should find something to eat too.”

She ended her call and relief seeped through her. Avoiding Zack had bothered her. They’d been friends for so long. It looked like she didn’t have to do that anymore. Judging by his tone and the reason for his call, he’d gotten the message she didn’t want anything more than friendship from him. Of course, that didn’t explain why he was asking her friends about her love life, but maybe he was just acting concerned, sort of like a brother might.

That thought brought Striker to mind. How had practice gone for Tony with both Pop and Striker there? She trusted Pop not to say anything stupid during practice. He was too professional for that. However, that didn’t mean he hadn’t treated Tony differently this afternoon. Her brother, on the other hand, had a short fuse and often spoke before he thought. Saturday night was a perfect example of that. With a little luck though, Pop had acted as a reminder that Striker should keep his mouth closed.

Tony’s demeanor when she walked in had given nothing away. She’d have to ask him when he got back. In the meantime, she needed to finish getting some kind of meal ready for them.

An annoying beep erupted thirty minutes later just as Cat was about to answer the front door. Turning off the oven, she opened the door a wall of heat hitting her in the face and pulled out the meatloaf.

With dinner safely on the counter, she again headed for the front door and dropped candy bars into each of the bags presented to her. For the past half hour, there had been a steady stream of monsters, princess, and movie characters at Tony’s door. Not that she was complaining. She enjoyed seeing the various costumes. If it kept up this way, she’d need to open yet another bag of candy. Cat had already used the two Tony left out, as well as a third from the kitchen.

The crowd on the step dispersed, and Cat saw two more children headed toward the walkway. She heard the door in the kitchen open and close while she waited for her newest trick or treaters to reach the step.

“Ben has enough candy to keep him happy until next October,” Tony said, coming up behind her. “Whatever you made for dinner smells good.” Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her cheek.

“Meatloaf,” she answered as she watched Grace Ellsbury and her cousin walk toward the steps followed by Mack and Jessie.

“Trick or treat,” the two fairies said together. Both girls looked adorable dressed in fairy gowns identical to each other except for the color. The girls even wore their hair the same way with matching floral headbands.

As she put candy into each bag, Mack gave Tony a quick hello, and she couldn’t stop from looking at her brother’s best friend. Mack’s expression let her know he wasn’t surprised to see her there.

“Cat, I don’t think you’ve ever met my daughter Grace.” Mack put his hands on the purple fairy’s shoulders.

She’d seen Grace around town with her grandmother before Mack moved back to North Salem and several times since. However, she didn’t recall every speaking to the little girl.

“Grace, this is Striker’s sister Catrina.”

Grace smiled up at her. “Striker was over yesterday. He has a big black and blue mark on his face, but he told me it doesn’t hurt.”

Cat pressed her lips together. Children said whatever they wanted. “It’s nice to meet you, Grace. Have you gotten a lot of candy tonight?”

“Brianna, she’s my cousin”—Grace pointed to the yellow fairy next to her—“and I’ve gotten a ton. I can’t wait to go home and eat some. Daddy says he needs to check it all first.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“All right you monkeys, let's go,” Mack said, taking each girl by the hand.

“We’re fairies, Uncle Mack, not monkeys,” the yellow fairy said.

“I’ll try to remember that.” Mack looked back at her and Tony. “Jessie and I are having a cookout at my place Saturday. You two are welcome to join us. I invited Sean and Striker too.”

She’d never pegged Mack as the peacekeeper type, but perhaps he wanted to help mend the rift between his friends.

“Thanks. I’ll let you know,” Tony answered before she could accept or decline.

They spent another thirty minutes taking turns handing out candy. When only high school age trick or treaters rang the bell, Tony switched off the outside light and locked the door. Cat guessed they would have had to do that soon anyway regardless of who came to the door. They were down to half a bag of candy.

“Finally, we can eat. I was about ready to finish off that bag of chocolate and get out the extra bag I bought for myself.”

“This was the last bag.” Cat placed the meatloaf and rice on the table.

“I stashed some in my desk. A bag of extra-large peanut butter cups.”

“Who wants meatloaf then? Get ’em out.” She made as if she intended to walk out of the kitchen.

“I’ll share with you after dinner, promise.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “Thank you for not minding that I went out tonight. I promised Ben back in August that I’d go with him this year. I honestly forgot all about it.”

“It seemed like a bad idea to tick off an imperial storm trooper.”

Tony grinned and shook his head. “Nah, it’s Darth Vadar you need to watch out for. Storm troopers are mere puppets.”

“Thank you for that bit of knowledge, oh, wise one. Now let’s eat.”

As they started on dinner, Cat couldn’t shake the feeling of rightness that occupied the table with them. Although they’d never sat in his kitchen and eaten dinner together before, on some level, it seemed like it was something they did every day. Did Tony feel it too? If he did, he gave no indication.

“What were you going to tell me when you walked in earlier?”

She gotten so busy handing out candy and making dinner that her upcoming interview slipped her mind. Tony’s reminder brought all her excitement from earlier rushing back. “I got a call today from HR to set up a first round interview.”

“You’re changing jobs?”

Right, she’d applied for the position back in July before she started seeing Tony. Other than her family, only Zack and her friend Kelsey knew.

“At the beginning of July, I applied for the supervisor of new product development position. I never heard back, and then in September, a rumor went around that they decided to look outside the company for someone. Either management changed their mind or it was just a rumor because Dolores from Mr. Hernandez’s office called. I have an interview next week with him and Claire Underwood. They’ll weed out the candidates they don’t like before sending on people to meet with Mr. Carson.”

“That’s great.”

“It’s a long shot. I know at least two other people who applied for the position, and they both have more years than me at the company.”

“That doesn’t always matter.” Tony refilled his plate with more rice. “When you get the position, we’ll have to think of some way to celebrate.”

She didn’t share his confidence, but she did appreciate it. And while she had wanted the job and in many ways still did, a tiny part of her didn’t. While the promotion would be great for her career and her bank account, it would mean relocating. Back in July moving across the country to California had sounded exciting. She’d lived her whole life on the east coast. It could be fun to spend some time in a different location. Now, moving anywhere outside of Massachusetts held much less appeal, thanks to the man seated across from her.

A knot formed in her stomach at the thought of leaving Tony behind. If she got the position, she’d have very little choice. It was a fabulous opportunity that only an idiot would turn down for a casual fling with a guy like Tony.

Cat put her fork down. Should she tell him the position would require moving? Did she want to hear what he’d say if she did? Nope. Besides, the chances of her getting it were slim. Why hear something tonight that deep in her heart she already knew. No, tonight and for however long this thing lasted, she’d enjoy her time with Tony and not worry about the future.