Page 63 of Coach Sully
I nod and wait a moment before adding. “The gene is more common in men of Northern European descent.”
His hand stills on my stomach. I roll over to face him.
“I’ll get an appointment for genetic testing on Monday.”
I hate how somber his voice sounds, but it was something I needed to bring up either way.
My fingers trace the edge of his jaw. “Really?”
“Of course. We’ll find out if I’m a carrier, and we’ll go from there.”
First thing I do on Monday is make an appointment with my primary care physician to put in orders for a genetic test and to meet with a genetic counselor. I did some of my own Googling and it’s a concern, but I don’t have it in family history that I know of, and I’m using that to keep the glass half full. After all, I have Kendra, and we’re in this together.
The fact she’s agreed to see me, even in secret, has me practically whistling into work. It’s the best I’ve felt in weeks. I finally have my cake and can eat it too… I have to eat it in the closet, but only temporarily.
In my office, I spend about an hour going through my inbox and responding to emails. Most items get forwarded to the public relations coordinator. At five minutes to ten, my calendar flashes a notification reminding me that I’m meeting with Whit to go over lineups.
I grab my laptop and head toward his office, then knock on the open door.
“Ready?”
“Yup.”
He closes a couple windows on the shared screen and brings up the software we use to monitor our players and their stats. I want to be a coach who’s known for running a good bench. It’s all about getting the right players in the right situations, not being tripped up by unexpected changes, and making sure our athletes are put in positions that allow for successful plays.
“I noticed that Paulson has a better rapport with Walters than she does with Grattle,” Whit says.
I sigh. “Unfortunately, Grattle does best with Paulson. She’s improving, but it’s taking longer than we anticipated.”
He nods. “What about Delta Makkonen?”
“She and Cori Kapowski are a powerhouse. I’m very hesitant to split them. They make a killer training drill for the other players. Add in O’Hara and they’re a dream team. We have to watch Delta, she tends to push herself a little too hard sometimes. But the trainers have been talking with her about it.”
He furrows his brow. “If it becomes a problem, let me know.”
I cock my head to the side, looking at him. Why would I let him know? This feels like a line is being crossed. I can’t quite place it, but there seems to be a strange tension between Whit and Delta Makkonen that I can’t figure out. It caught me off guard when he postponed her pick on draft night. Yet minutes later, he was on board to make her captain. In addition, he’s more acutely aware of her than the other players. I don’t know if that’s because she’s the captain or if there’s something else going on.
“Will do,” I respond.
We continue going over our O line and make a few changes, but overall, things are looking pretty good for a new team. It’snot as smooth as what I’ve experienced in the NHL, but we’re dealing with all new players and a new league.
“Great job,” Whit says. “I think we’re on the right track.”
I shrug. “The real test will be game time, you know as much as I do lines can change minute to minute.” The more we learn about our players and the way they operate, the better prepared we’ll be when we need to make those adjustments in real time.
Jeanine has been working with the players this morning, so she arrives halfway through the meeting. She and I spoke earlier today to go over the changes I planned to present to Whit, just to make sure she was still on board with everything we discussed after the last practice. She’s a great assistant coach and has a good eye for our defense positioning. It’s nice having a female coach as part of our team, as she brings a lot of knowledge and insight to our players.
“How much did I miss?” she asks, taking the seat next to me.
“We’re just about to start defense. Whit is on board with implementing the changes we discussed previously.”
“Excellent,” Jeanine states. “I want to talk about Joey Breck.”
After the meeting, I make a quick stop in the gift shop and notice there’s way more Lakes gear than there is Rogues merchandise. The Lakes have a larger fan base, but still. It shouldn’t be this obvious. I was hoping to pick up a Rogues onesie to surprise Kendra with. However, the smallest Rogues apparel is youth sizes. I should talk to somebody about that.
Our kid will require both Lakes and Rogues gear, so I head to the other team’s baby section. The pickings are slim. Lots of branded items, but I frown when I stare at the onesies on display. There are two. One in Lakes team colors that reads:Future Hockey Star. The other is pink with sparkly white letters spelling outCutie, with a small Lakes logo underneath.Jesus, really?
I pull out my phone and dig through my email contacts until I find the director of merchandising. I snap a photo of the two onesies side by side and attach it to the email with the caption:WTF?I make sure to CC the public relations manager to remedy this situation before it gets picked up on social media. I’m not sure what the sex of our baby is, but it makes me mad as a goddamn hornet that these are the options young future hockey fans are given. I add a PS to the bottom of the screen with a request for more Rogues gear in our gift shops. Everything Lakes players have, Rogues should also have. Hell, our team needs the funding more than the Lakes do.