a little … intense. And most of it probably went over your head. But believe me, the girls needed to hear it. Some problems I’d hoped they’d solve for themselves over the summer have gotten worse, and unless I step in and help fix them, I’m afraid there’s not going to be anything here for you in four years.”
Luci can’t believe that Coach would go out of his way to check in with her like this. That her future would be a consideration is both humbling and validating.
Coach rocks side to side with boyish energy. Nervous and excited. Like they are running out of time on a clock Luci can’t see. “You trust me, right, Luci?”
She has no idea why he’s asking. But really, isn’t there only one answer to give?
“Yes!”
He smiles. She wonders if he thought she would say no.
“Good. Because I came up with a little surprise team-building exercise for you girls tonight. Something to help bring the team together. And I need your help to pull it off. Cool?”
Luci bites her lip and nods. “Absolutely.” She’s not sure her heart is still beating.
“Excellent.” He checks the hallway again. “Do you have your phone on you?”
Their conversation now revving, Luci slips into a faster gear to keep pace. She pulls it out of her pocket, unlocks it, and passes it to him. He taps the screen with this thumbs then hits send. Luci hears his phone buzz in his pocket. Before handing it back, he switches her ringer to vibrate.
“Okay, so here’s the plan. On the table near the front door are Mel’s car keys. Once I take off, I want you to slip outside and hide your phone somewhere in the back seat. Don’t let anyone see you.”
Luci has no clue what he is talking about, why she would need to do such a thing, but she nods, like this is a perfectly normal request. “Got it.”
“I knew I could count on you, Luci,” he says, walking backward away from her.
“Oh. So that’s it? That’s all you need me to do?”
He winks and says, “For now,” and then hustles down the stairs.
Luci presses her back against the hallway wall and tries to catch her breath. She hears the front door open and close.
Her phone doesn’t have much charge, only 30 percent, and she contemplates powering it down to conserve it. But Coach didn’t say to. So she doesn’t. Luci slips downstairs and heads toward the front door.
She’s just about there when Mel walks in, a duffel bag in her hands.
Luci freezes. There’s nowhere for her to hide, so she spins and pretends to be admiring the family photos on the wall. Out of the corner of her eye, Luci watches Mel drop the bag on the floor and push it with her foot underneath the console table. She lets out a deep, cleansing breath, checks her hair in the mirror, and then walks into the living room.
Luci’s heart takes a second to resume beating. She could not do this, come up with some excuse why she was unable to do this very small but very important favor. Instead, Luci tells herself not to be nervous. She does trust him. He’s given her no reason not to. In fact, quite the opposite.
With quick, quiet steps, Luci picks up Mel’s keys from the table. They are exactly where Coach said they’d be.
It’s finally dark outside. That soft, fuzzy dark that happens only in summer. Fireflies are flickering across the front lawn. Coach’s Escalade is gone; Mel’s Mini Cooper is parked in the driveway next to Ali’s Jeep.
Luci clicks the unlock button on the key fob and opens Mel’s back passenger door. As she leans inside, her phone buzzes in her hand, and she startles so badly that she nearly drops it.
COACH:
COACH:
Luci ducks her head to peek out the rear window. See if she can find where Coach is watching her. But there’s no sign of him.
Maybe he’s not watching. Maybe he just knows that Luci’s going to deliver.
LUCI:
LUCI:
She does exactly what Coach asked her to do, sliding her phone into the space between the cushions that Luci sat on earlier this afternoon. When she locks Mel’s car up, the alarm beeps once, but no one inside seems to hear.
Luci hurries up the steps and through the front door, gingerly setting the keys where she found them.
“Cupcake, Luci?”
Luci spins. Mrs. Gingrich is practically on top of her with a platter of them. “Yes, please.”
Luci goes into the living room, sits