Janet (12 page)

o0o

True to his word, he won the game. By only
two points, if she were reading the scoreboard correctly, but
nonetheless it was a victory for The Eagles. She stood up with the
rest of the crowd and cheered. She even risked throwing Dan’s hat
in the air, but not very far. She didn’t want to lose it.
Carefully, she stuffed it into her coat pocket.

Dan came back to her in the thinning
crowd.

“How about a private celebration, Doc?”

“Hot chocolate at my house?”

“It’s a start.” He took her arm and helped
her down the bleachers. “Those little pumps you’re wearing are
impractical. You should keep an old pair of tennis shoes in your
car so that at least your feet can be comfortable.”

“Is there any special reason I should have
tennis shoes in the car... other than comfort?”

“For ball games. You ought to throw in an old
hooded parka, as well. Weather this time of year can be nasty.”

“You sound very certain that I’ll be coming
to more soccer games.”

They were at the bottom of the bleachers now,
tagging behind the rest of the fans now rushing toward their cars.
He stopped and lifted her chin with one hand. “I plan to make sure
you will, Doc.”

Dan looked so appealingly innocent standing
there with his tousled curls and shining eyes, that for an instant
she wanted to be an ordinary woman out on a Thursday night date
with her favorite man.

Janet drove home in the drizzle, and Dan
followed close behind in his pickup truck. When she reached her
apartment she hurried inside and waited for Dan with the door held
wide.

He shook the rain from his hair before
stepping inside.

“Now that’s the kind of welcome home a man
likes—a smiling woman, a clean house, and...” He stopped talking
and pretended to sniff the air. “What? No aroma of home-baked
cookies?”

“I’m smiling because my mouth is permanently
frozen in this position, and the cookies are in the pantry in a
white baker’s bag.” Smiling, she held out her hand. “Let me hang
your jacket in the closet.”

“Not yet. First I have to get you out of your
wet clothes.” He caught her shoulders and pulled her forward.

She closed her eyes and everything that was
Dan swept over her—the smell of wet leather, the unexpected
gentleness of his big hands, the joyful exuberance that seemed
bound in his large body. He appealed to the innocent, romantic part
of her that had huddled in a rustic cabin with six other little
girls in pigtails and made a pact that they would all grow up to
walk down the aisle in white dresses with the man of their
dreams.

“Your skin is cold—” his fingers traced a
line from her chin to the point where her skin disappeared into the
top of her coat. Slowly he undid the top button “—and much too
irresistible.” Bending over her he carefully kissed away the
raindrops that clung to her throat.

She shivered.

“I’m sorry, Janet. I’m being selfish.”
Quickly he unbuttoned her wet coat and slid it from her shoulders.
Underneath, her wool suit was heavy and damp with rain. “You’re
soaked.”

She chuckled. “You needn’t make it sound like
I did it deliberately. The rain helped.”

He hung her coat in the closet and started to
peel off her jacket. The rain had soaked her silk blouse. For a
moment he stood foolishly in the hallway, holding her wool suit
jacket halfway off her shoulders, staring down at her as if he had
never seen a woman before.

“You tempt me almost beyond endurance.”

She put her hands on his face. “And you,
me.”

He pulled her hard against his chest for a
kiss that got so far out of control, he was going to scoring the
goal before the starting whistle ever blew. He backed off to give
both of them some breathing room.

“I shouldn’t have come here tonight,
Doc.”

“I invited you.”

“Then you shouldn’t have.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t seem to play this game
anymore.”

“Was it ever a game, Dan?’’

“I’m not sure.” He reached to twine one of
her damp curls around his finger. “All I know is that I’ve got you
under my skin, and I can’t seem to do anything about it.”

“Do you want me to prescribe a cure?”

“Can you?”

“No. I’m not good at matters of the
heart.”

“I’m not sure that I am, either.” He released
the curl and smoothed her hair back from her face. “I used to think
I was. I used to believe in myself as a Saturday afternoon matinee
idol, some bigger-than-life hero who knew exactly what he wanted in
a woman.”

“And now?”

“And now...” His hands slowly memorized her
face. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

She waited for him to say more, waited for
her own emotions to become sane and ordered.

“Dan...”

“Shhh.” He pressed his index finger over her
lips. “You don’t have to say anything. I know you’re too sensible
to ever fall for a man whose life is measured by points on a
scoreboard.”

His words hurt. She didn’t take the time to
analyze the reasons; she acted on instinct.

“And of course you’re far too smart to become
seriously involved with a woman whose career might preempt a game
or two.”

He was stung by her vehemence. “Janet, is
that what you think of me? That I’m so shallow I put sports ahead
of friends and family?”

“Why shouldn’t I make that judgment? You’ve
already decided I’m too narrow to make room for anything in my life
except medicine.”

They stepped back from each other, as tense
as two boxers on opposite sides of the ring. Bright spots of color
rode high on Janet’s cheeks. Dan felt a small muscle twitch in his
own stubborn jaw. He longed to reach for her, to bridge the gap
with one passionate, all-consuming kiss.

“I think you’d better go, Coach.”

“I can’t leave you like this.”

“Like what?”

Hurt,
he wanted to say.
Angry.
Instead, he chose an easier way out.

“Wet.”

“Wet?”

“Yes. You’re liable to take a cold and I’ll
feel responsible.”

“You can leave with a clear conscience,
Coach. I plan to drink two glasses of orange juice. Vitamin C.”

His smile was tinged with sadness. “I would
have prescribed a warm brandy, a cozy fire and lots of
cuddling.”

“That just goes to show you how unsuitable we
are for each other. We don’t see eye to eye on anything.”

“You’re right.” Instinctively he reached out
to touch her, then changed his mind. Endings were best done
quickly. “Good night, Doc. Thanks for coming to my game.”

She almost said,
Any time.
But all
that was behind them now, the easy camaraderie, the fun and games,
the quick, bright passions.

“You’re welcome.” Clipped. To the point. No
welcome in that statement.

“Dan stood uncertainly a moment longer; then
he turned and walked out, taking care to close the door softly.

She almost called him back.

“It’s best this way,” she whispered.

Outside, Dan placed his hand on the doorknob.
He almost turned and went back inside.

“It would never have worked,” he muttered to
himself. As pep talks went, it rated as his worst. He climbed into
his pickup truck and drove to his big, rambling house on Church
Street.

Janet grabbed her books, then marched to her
bedroom and plopped into the middle of the bed to study. But she
kept seeing Dan. The image was so strong, she felt as if he were
standing in the room. She imagined she could even smell his
aftershave and that particular scent like wind and rain.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath,
as if she could inhale him. Suddenly her eyes popped open and she
jerked her pillow off the bed. There wadded underneath where she’d
left it was Dan’s sweatshirt.

She hung the culprit in the closet, where it
continued to wreck her study. Janet got up and flung it into a
dresser drawer. But just as she was getting back into her studies,
she thought how everyone of her panties would smell like the
coach’s aftershave.

Marching into her den, she buried his
sweatshirt under the sofa cushion.

“Unsuitable, my ass,” she said, and then she
stormed back into her bedroom and powered up her laptop.

From: Janet

To: Molly, Joanna, Belinda, Clemmie, Bea,
Catherine

Re: BAD advice

I don’t know why I thought my friends could
figure out how to handle a man like Dan Albany! For God’s sake, the
only one with experience is Belinda! I love every one of you
dearly,
but I’m through taking
bad advice.
First
I returned his sweatshirt, only I got so caught up in the
man
I
forgot to give it to him!
Then I completely
lost my mind and agreed to go to
soccer game,
for God’s
sake! As if I have time for sports! It was pouring, and I got
soaked and showed my
utter lack
of appreciation for the
game, and he told me in no uncertain terms that I am
unsuitable.

Granted, Dan Albany is big and handsome and
charming, but I’ve had it with dating and hot dogs and soccer games
and
especially coaches!

Janet

From: Belinda

To: Janet, Molly, Joanna, Bea, Clementine,
Catherine

Re: A Good Sign

The louder you protest, the deeper your
feelings. You sound exactly like I did when I was trying to
convince myself I wasn’t falling in love with Reeve. Do let’s have
lunch and talk about it. Clemmie, can you come, too? Next week?

Belinda

From: Clemmie

To: Janet, Molly, Joanna, Bea, Catherine,
Belinda

Re:
When Harry Met Sally

This is so exciting! Janet, you and Dan
remind me of Harry and Sally. You know, in that fabulous film with
Meg Ryan. The harder fought, the harder they fell. I adore that
movie! Every now and then when I’m feeling like Peppertown is the
jumping off place of the world and nothing exciting will ever
happen to me, I watch it on DVD and it just restores hope! Someday
I’ll be eating a piece of pie and making these sounds while I sit
across the table from a fabulous man, but you can bet your boots I
won’t be faking it!

Yes, Belinda, I can have lunch! What fun!

Clemmie

From: Joanna

To: Janet, Clemmie, Bea, Catherine, Belinda,
Molly

Re: The Nuns

Janet, you’re right about me not knowing a
thing about love. And at the rate I’m going, I never will. The nuns
won’t even let us watch
When Harry Met Sally.
They’d
probably faint if they heard somebody having an orgasm, even is it
was fake. UGH! I’ll be SO GLAD when my education is finished and I
can start LIVING!!!

Don’t give up, Janet. If I had a man that
DELICIOUS, I wouldn’t.

Joanna

From: Molly

To: Janet, Joanna, Bea, Catherine, Clemmie,
Belinda

Re: Ask Daddy

Ask Daddy what to do, Janet. He’s a really
smart man, and he’s known Dan Albany a lot longer than you have.
Sometimes I think it helps to have a man’s perspective.

Molly

From: Bea

To: Molly, Joanna, Catherine, Clemmie,
Belinda

Re: Men

Dang, Molly! Have you lost your
mind!
If I asked my brother Sam’s advice about love and
marriage, I’m get a boring lecture a
mile long!!!
Sam
knows as much about love as I do about brain surgery. His brain is
a computer and his heart is in a vault at that stuck-up bank he
runs. I swear!!! Your daddy’s smart like that, too. Of course, he
is
on Match.com, so maybe he’s still got a libido. How
would I know?
Thank God,
I’m not
fifty!

Listen, Janet. I think Clemmie and Joanna are
onto something with this Harry and Sally bit. If I recall, it was
years
before they ever got together. If you take that long
to figure things out, your Virginia will be like the Mojave
Desert!
Strike while the iron is hot, girlfriend! You can
figure it out later!!!

Bea

From: Catherine

To: Janet, Bea, Molly, Joanna, Clemmie,
Belinda

Re: A Hot Iron

Ditto, everything Bea said!!!

Cat

From: Janet

To: Bea, Molly, Joanna, Clemmie, Belinda,
Catherine

Re: NOT bad advice

I take back everything I said about bad
advice. I have the
smartest
friends in the world! You’ve
made me feel enormously better.

Belinda, Clemmie, I’d love to have lunch!
I’ll have to check my schedule and get back to you.

Janet.

o0o

It was only eleven in the morning, and
already Dan had lost his concentration for the sixteenth time.
Several students in the back of the classroom tittered. Dan had no
idea what he had said to cause such hilarity.

Blaming his bad day on the fact that it was
Friday, he faced his students.

“Turn to page sixty-five and we’ll continue
our study of love triangles.”

The class erupted in laughter. If Dan had
been a man given to puzzlement, he’d have scratched his head in
wonder.

“I hope all of you find the study of
triangles this funny on exam day.”

A brave soul in the back of the room raised
his hand.

“Question?”

“What kind of triangles, Coach Hall?
Isosceles or love?”

One of Dan’s finer qualities was the ability
to laugh at himself.

“In the spring a young man’s fancy turns to
love... and an old man’s, too,” he quipped. “Spring is not so far
away. I guess I’m a few months ahead of schedule. Or a few years
behind.” He glanced at the big clock on his classroom wall. Five
minutes till the final bell. “Take a break, class. You can use the
last few minutes to study or chat—or even to flirt, if you keep it
reasonable.”

Someone tapped on his door, and he found the
principal’s secretary in the hallway.