Chapter 36

"I'm working on my toast for your renewal," Chuck said the moment Eric settled into the booth across from him.

Eric had agreed to meet Chuck for lunch at the Drunken Dwarf. He didn't usually do more than wolf down a sandwich during spring training, but he felt like he needed a drink today, and how. He'd talked the school into giving Vince Howard a full ride and as many incentives as they could get away with, and today the kid had been a mess on the field, throwing short, not listening to the coaches, practically tripping over his own feet. He'd kept looking at Jess, too, as though he was confused by her role as something more than a shadow, and it was clear she was embarrassed for him.

Coach Taylor's offensive coordinator had eventually drawn him aside and said, "I thought you could vouch for this kid. What the hell, Eric?"

Eric hadn't known what to tell him. He didn't want to mention that Vince's mother had AIDs, which was what Eric thought was distracting him more than Jess was. That was a private matter, and it was Eric's job to ensure that Vince did well regardless of his life circumstances. But he was afraid he'd made a mistake taking Vince on at a time like this. A mid-semester transfer was practically unheard of, and he'd had to move a mountain to get Vince here for training. The kid wasn't actually enrolled in any classes yet – he wouldn't be until the fall – but they were letting him train anyway. After spring training, he'd be going back to live with and look after his mom until summer training started.

"Our renewal is three months away," Eric told Chuck now, "why are you worried about that?"

A pretty, young blonde waitress put a napkin down in front of him and smiled. Eric tried to guess if she was an undergraduate student or a graduate student. He was too old to tell the difference anymore. She looked about Julie's age, though. He'd guess she was a college senior. "Scotch please," he said. "Neat."

She bounced off, and Chuck asked him, "Not bourbon? I thought I'd thoroughly converted you."

"I need a scotch flavored drink this afternoon."

Chuck invited him to unload his concerns, and he did, concluding, "Vince is coming for dinner tomorrow night. Maybe Tami can work her magic and help him to get some peace of mind so he can actually prove to my offensive coordinator that I didn't make the wrong move."

The waitress set down Eric's scotch and he took a drink with a hiss.

"Speaking of Tami," Chuck said, "is she still frustrated with her new job?"

"Yeah. Still complains about it every night she comes home. Principal blocking this idea, principal blocking that idea. She's already talking about looking for a new job. I feel for her, I do, but sometimes you just have to suck it up, work within the system. You can't buck against it all the time. I don't buck against it all the time. There's a hundred things I'd like to see change about the way college football is done, but I just concentrate on doing what I can to improve the character of my boys and to win games, and I let other people worry about the system." He shook his head. "I just wish she was happy with her job."

"Well, it would make you feel less guilty if she was."

Eric set his scotch glass down. A small ring remained at the bottom of the glass. "Guilty? About what?"

"Well, you moved on and that tied her down. She slipped into a coma as the soon-to-be Dean of Admissions of an almost ivy, on the cusp of a grand new adventure, no doubt extremely proud of herself, and she woke up chained to a minor city in Texas with a pathetic job market and a sub-par public school system."

"What was I supposed to do? I had to support Gracie and pay the hospital bills and - "

" - I know that. She knows that. You know that. But deep down," Chuck raised his pint of beer and pointed at him, "You feel guilty about it anyway."

Eric sighed. "I just wish she could be content with this job. She used to be content as just a mother and wife. For over a decade. What am I supposed to do? Encourage her to apply all over the country, be ready to move for whatever dream job she gets? I have a steady job. It pays plenty. More than I've ever earned in my life." Although, he was wondering if he was still going to have it in a year if Vince didn't pan out.

Chuck shrugged. "If she's not going to find fulfillment at work, maybe it's time for her to stimulate her mind. She has big dreams, but she only has a B.A."

"What are you suggesting?"

"SAEU has a fairly decent combined M.A./Ph.D. program in psychology. "

"Ph.D.'s are expensive."

"You just said you make plenty of money. Besides, she can be a T.A. while she does it and probably get a large portion of her tuition waived. And think about it, she'll be happy because she's learning new things and coming up with new dreams. It could give her a sense of direction for her career. She's still adrift because of the sea change she woke up to. She went back to what she did before, looking for an anchor, but do you think that's working for her?"

"No." Tami had thrown herself into the job, but she never seemed to get anywhere with her plans. He'd done a lot of handholding these past several weeks. He almost thought she was trying too hard. She was new to the job, and she should just let herself get settled first. But he didn't dare tell her that. He could tell Tami wasn't satisfied, but when was she ever satisfied at work? And she'd just started the job. "How realistic is it, though, to think that's going to prepare her for anything? Aren't Ph.D.'s a dime a dozen these days? It doesn't mean she can just walk into some – "

" – Even if she never actually does anything with the degree, earning it will keep her happy for at least four years."

"I've already got one kid in private school. I hardly need my wife in private school too."

"I told you she can T.A. You'll end up paying a couple thousand a year, tops."

"Well, that and the entire salary she won't be earning as a full-time guidance counselor."

"You told her you didn't need a second income when she started talking about going back to work."

Eric scratched his forehead beneath his cap. He didn't have to take his cap off when he sat down at a table with Chuck the way he did when he sat down with Tami. "Where is this idea even coming from?"

Chuck smiled as if he was dwelling on a pleasant memory. "Pillow talk. Something Sharon said to me last night about something Tami said to her. Tami said she wished she'd gone further with her schooling back when she was a stay-at-home mom, taken a few classes at least."

"Yeah, she's mentioned that before," Eric admitted.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend. You could perhaps score some points suggesting it to her. She's probably thought about going back to school but figured it would just mean a fight with her tight-fisted husband."

"I'm not tight-fisted."

"You're a veritable Silas Marner."

Eric didn't ask who that was.

"Listen," Chuck continued, "it would give her something else to do other than a job she hates, and it would keep her in San Angelo like you want. She'd feel like she was going forward instead of going backward."

"What if I lose my job and have to find one somewhere else? She'll be in the middle of a Ph.D. program. She won't want to move."

Chuck smirked. "Then don't lose your job."

"Says the man with tenure."

Chuck leaned back as the waitress set a pizza on the table and disappeared. "I already ordered this for us," he told Eric. "Figured you'd be in a hurry to get back to training. Hope you don't mind."

"Why not? You're telling me how to handle my wife, why not order my food for me too while you're at it?"

"You'll thank me later." Chuck pulled off a slice and set it on his plate.

Eric took a slice of the pizza and tried not to look like he was enjoying it too much, even though the Drunken Dwarf had fantastic, meat-laden slices.

Chuck reached down below the table and then set an SAEU brochure and a course catalogue on the table. "Why don't you share those with Tami. I could really use a good T.A. next semester for my Philosophy of Psychology class."