[August 20 con't]

When Tami went to reclaim Julie, the girl was wearing her father's cap (which was falling down over her eyes, despite being tightened as far as possible) and had his whistle slung around her neck (which fell nearly to her feet). The little girl was walking up down the sidelines imitating Eric's gestures and echoing some of his words.

Eric saw Tami, crouched down next to Julie, and whispered something. Julie blew on the whistle, loud and shrill, and shouted, "Water Bweak!"

Tami smiled as she came to a stop before her husband and daughter. Eric squatted down, removed the cap and whistle from Julie, and put them back on himself. "How'd it go?" he asked when he stood up.

"I got the job."

"That quick you got the job?" He grinned. "Well congratulations!"

"It's only two days a week. And it only pays $450 a month."

She saw the words That's it? on his face, but he didn't speak them. Instead, he said, "Well, that'll cover the car payment. And gas. And probably babysitting too. That's great."

She knew he meant to encourage her, but his words deflated her instead. Her job would, in essence, cover her work expenses, because if she wasn't working, they didn't really need that second car or that gas or that babysitting.

He saw her expression. "Think of it this way," he said. "You get the experience without it costing you anything out of pocket. And when you're done, you own a car, and you apply for a better paying job."

That was better, at least. "I haven't said yes or no yet. I have to decide by tomorrow."

"Mrs. Taylor, ma'am?" Tami looked over Eric's shoulder at the two boys who had drawn up behind him, one tall and the other somewhat squat. The tall boy had spoken.

"Yes," she said.

"I apologize for my crude behavior earlier this morning," the tall boy said.

"Yeah...uh...me too," the squat one mumbled, looking at the field instead of her.

Eric cleared his throat.

The squat boy raised his eyes to Tami's and said, "I apologize for my crude behavior earlier this morning."

"It will never happen again," the tall boy said.

"We're deeply ashamed," the squat one said.

"I accept your apology," Tami told them while trying to suppress her smile.

"Go on now," Eric told them. "Get your water."

"Yes, sir, Coach Taylor, sir!" They jogged off.

"Sorry about those boys," Eric said. "I guess it's going to be my job to teach them manners too." One of those boys couldn't have been more than six years younger than him. What a difference a few years made, Tami thought. She would never understand these women who went after much younger men. She had no use for a boy. She wanted a man. And she was glad to have one.

Tami hooked a finger through one of Eric's belt loops. "It's kind of sexy to see you in command," she said.

"Yeah?"

She smiled suggestively.

He leaned in and kissed her. "Wait until you see me coach my first game," he whispered. He pulled back a little and looked in her eyes.

"Taylor!" shouted the head coach from across the field, "Romance your woman on your own time! On your own time!"

"I gotta get back to work," Eric muttered, and kissed her quickly on the cheek.

[*]

On the way home from work, Eric had picked up a bottle of sparkling white wine to celebrate Tami's job offer. She wished he hadn't. She didn't feel like the offer was much to celebrate.

They had a "balcony date night" after Julie was in bed. Even though it was still 89 degrees at 8:15 PM, it felt cool compared to last week. Their balcony was tiny, just big enough for two deck chairs and a small, circular table, and it overlooked only a sparse buffer of dried-up woods between two apartment complexes, but coming out here and talking was a way to connect and the closest thing to a date they could afford at the moment.

"It's not quite what I was hoping for," she said. "This job."

"Well, but it's something," he encouraged her. "And would it be so bad to spend three days a week with Julie?"

"No, it wouldn't. I missed too many of her firsts when I was busy with work and college. And this is a fun age. She's walking and talking and running and learning so much every day. If only the job were appealing, I wouldn't mind that it was only part-time."

"What's not appealing about it?" he asked.

"They only want me to do scheduling. No actual counseling." Tami was comforted by Eric's sympathetic frown. "And the principal…" She shook her head. "Good Lord."

"What about her?'

"Him." When she told him about some of the things the man had said to her, she could see his jaw clenching tight and his eyes darkening with anger.

"Where is this school again?" he asked. "It's called West what?"

"Eric, don't go down there and start a fight."

"I think he already started a fight, Tami. Seriously? Don't wear low-cut shirts because the boys will love you?"

"Well, your boys did love me, and my shirt wasn't even that low cut today."

"Well, yes, the boys will love you. That's just a fact. But it's one thing to think it. It's another thing to say it. Especially when he's in a position of….What the hell is wrong with that man?"

Tami shook her head.

"Was he looking at your...when he said that, was he looking - "

" - I would have to nip all that in the bud fast if I went to work there."

"You're not going to work there," Eric told her. "You don't want to go to work there."

She sighed and plucked her wine up from the small table between them. "You're right. I don't. Not even a little bit."

"Then don't," he insisted.

"It's my only offer. The school year starts on Monday! No one is going to hire me."

"You don't know that. Someone could quit a few weeks into the year. It happens. You can apply somewhere other than schools. You were talking about that right?"

"Yeah, but, then I go through the month's long process again - "

"- Tami, you don't have to take a job you're going to hate. We'll manage. I can support this family until you find something you want to do, babe. It'll be tight, sure...I know that. But there's no reason for you to do this. None."

She scowled. She slipped down in her chair. "And I was so excited to have an interview," she said.

He took her wine from her hand, leaned over, and kissed her gently. "I'm sorry, babe. I'm sorry it didn't work out." He kissed her again, softly.

"You have nice lips, sugar, but I need my wine back right now."

He handed it to her. She sat up in her chair again. "Guess I start faxing out my resume again tomorrow."

"We'll be a'ight," Eric assured her. "You'll find something."

She didn't reply.

He plucked his own wine up from the table and sipped it. "So…did you hear?" he asked.

"Hear what?"

"Mo McArnold got cut from the roster."

Tami had forgotten it was that time of year. NFL teams would have to be down to 53 by August 31 this year.

"He didn't even get to make it to his first season?" she asked.

Eric shook his head. "Just think if that had happened to me. I'd have wasted my time for the past couple months, be out with nothing to show for it."

Well, he'd have his signing bonus, and Tami was pretty sure he would not have spent all of his per diem either, and they'd probably be about $10,000 ahead right now, but she didn't say any of that. Instead, she said, "That' right. You'd have no teaching credential, no job lined up."

"You know...I think it's kind of nice to be settled. To know exactly where I am and where I'm headed." He smiled while he spoke, and it warmed her to see how happy he was. If he could get over not making it to the NFL, and find happiness in a modest teaching and coaching job, she supposed she could get over her present disappointment too. "It feels good to be steadily moving toward something I can actually accomplish," he said.

"Slow and steady…" She smiled at him. "That's why they call you the tortoise."

He waved a finger at her. "Don't you start with that. No one ever called me the tortoise but that one sportscaster."

She laughed and put a hand on his thigh. "Hey, slow and steady is not a bad thing. Some girls really appreciate slow and steady."

He grinned. He stretched his arm out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "When we're done with this wine, you maybe want to turn in, let me show you just how slow and steady I can be?"

She smiled over her wine glass. "I just might want that."

They drank and talked and laughed, and she let herself forget her frustration for a time.

He was gentle and teasing with her when they went to bed. He caressed her skin with feather-like touches of his fingertips, exploring her slowly and thoroughly, finding just the right spots to kiss and touch in just the right way, until she was whimpering and pleading with him to take her. His breath echoed hers as he moved inside her with strong, deliberate strokes. She pulled him close, her fingernails digging into his back when she came. She apologized later when she saw the scratch marks.

"It's a'ight," he said. "I consider it a badge of honor."

She laughed.

He snuggled against her and kissed her ear. "I like making you lose a little bit of your control," he whispered.

It wasn't long before he was asleep with his arm slung around her waist and his cheek smushed against the edge of her pillow. Tami, however, lay awake, staring a the ceiling.

The peace faded and the frustration returned. She slid out from under his arm, dressed, and went to the kitchen table to review her resume yet again.