Reduced to Ashes

by Kay Gordon

  It’d been a long time since my surrogate family had jumped on my back about dating but I couldn’t really fault them too much. Their obnoxious comments were made out of love.

  “We’ll see.”

  Becca took my comment as surrender and let out a small squeal. “I have a co-worker I want to set you up with. You’ll love her. She’s pretty, smart, and only single because she’s so shy. Can I set it up?”

  “Take a breath, Bec. I don’t remember agreeing to this.”

  Dom gave me a knowing look. “Like you’re going to tell her no.”

  He was right, of course. Rebecca Morris wasn’t a woman you refused. She and Dominic had started dating during high school and she’d always had an authoritative air about her. Sometimes she was kind of scary.

  So, it came as no surprise to any of us at the table when I rolled my eyes and added more food to my plate.

  “Fine, but only after we close this case and I reserve the right to my own opinion.”

  The patronizing noise she made let me know that Becca didn’t believe that any more than I did but she didn’t say anything else.

  Dinner was over and I was getting ready to go when Dom’s phone rang. He frowned at the screen before bringing it to his ear, stepping out of the living room so he could talk.

  I hugged both of my nieces and was just accepting a container of leftovers when Dom reappeared with the phone still at his ear.

  “I would if I didn’t have these re-certification classes on Saturdays for the next six weeks. But Evan is here and he might be willing to do it, if that’s okay with you.” He paused and offered me a smirk. “Perfect. One second.”

  He held the phone out towards me and I took it reluctantly, frowning as I held it up to my ear. “This is Evan Coleman.”

  “Evan, hey. This is Simon Owens from the New Hope Fire Department. We met last month?”

  “Yeah, of course. What can I do for you, Simon?”

  He coughed once and I could hear papers shuffling around in the background. “I’m not sure if Dominic told you but he signed Grace up for fall soccer and as it turns out, she’s on my niece Kendra’s team.”

  “Oh. That’s a nice surprise.” I eyed Dominic, who was still smirking, and wondered where this was heading. “I’m sure the two of them will have a blast together.”

  “They’ll be best friends by the end of the first practice.” He laughed for a moment before it tapered off. “I’ve run into an issue, though. When my niece and nephew signed up to do this, I said I would coach both teams but through some scheduling error, they both happen to have games and some practices at the same time. I decided to coach Hudson’s team and I found a co-worker for Kendra’s but I still need an assistant coach for the girls’ team. I was calling all of the parents to see if anyone was interested.”

  “And Dom just threw me under the bus.”

  “Yeah, that’s basically it. I have another parent willing to do it but I’m not entirely comfortable with him. Anyway, the assistant coaches will have some days where we’re on shift and they’ll need to act as the coach. I need someone trustworthy.”

  I looked down to where Grace was looking up at me with hopeful eyes, obviously having been told to suck up by her father. I reached down and ruffled her hair before sighing. “Yeah, of course. I was probably going to be at all of the games anyway so I might as well be useful while I’m there.”

  “That’s awesome.” Simon let out a long breath. “You’ll need to go through a background check but if you give me your email address, I’ll send you everything you need right now. The first practice is next week so I’ll have the league rush it all.”

  We exchanged contact details and he promised to email me within the hour. I’d barely ended the call before Grace was in my arms.

  “Thank you, Uncle Evan! It will be so fun!”

  “Of course, noodle.” I squeezed her tight and narrowed my eyes at my best friend. “Just remember that I love you more than your daddy does.”

  “Do not,” Dom replied with a scoff. “I’d totally do it if I could.”

  “Uh huh.” I put Grace onto her feet and gave everyone one more round of hugs. “I don’t mind being the favorite.”

  I finally escaped the Morris house and headed back to my own with one thing on my mind.

  If I was going to be hanging around Simon Owens, was there a chance that I’d see Victoria Jones, too?

  And why did the possibility of that make me smile?

  Chapter Eleven

  Tori

  “I’m going to score a thousand goals.”

  Kendra bounced alongside me like a monster cracked out on caffeine and I smiled down at her while adjusting the bag of equipment I had thrown over my shoulder. Even though I was tired as hell from just finishing a twenty-four hour shift earlier that morning, the kid’s energetic personality was almost infectious.

  “Yeah, you are.”

  Owens’ niece was a cool little kid. She reminded me a lot of Coleman’s niece, Grace. Not that I was thinking about Evan Coleman. Because I wasn’t.

  Fine, I was. A good way to cure that was to remember that he was Tristan Dunsworth’s brother. Remembering the relation was enough to bring the fury back.

  I still wasn’t sure how I felt about being roped into this. Looking back, Owens had totally taken advantage of the guilt I felt for disobeying his orders and the pain killers I was on at the time.

  Asshole.

  Although, what else was I going to do with my time? Over the past six weeks, the loneliness was hitting me harder than ever. I was spending more time at my father’s house and with my friends. Dad and Vince were probably sick of me and the Owens and Christos households were likely shocked by how often I’d graced them with my presence.

  The soccer complex had a shit ton of fields and I had to look at the map seven times to figure out where we were assigned. When I finally arrived, about three other kids were hanging out with their parents. Each one of them was wearing what Kendra was: A purple New Hope Parks and Recreation t-shirt, black shorts, and some form of shin guards.

  I was in a stupid purple shirt, too. One that had Coach printed on the back. I had also pulled my hair up into a ponytail and worn a pair of my black workout shorts because it was hot as hades in the early September air. When I realized how many dads were there, though, I suddenly wished that I had chosen a pair of pants instead.

  Kendra and I stopped in front of the small group of people and I dropped the equipment bag on the ground, forcing myself to smile confidently at the adults. None of them were wearing a purple shirt like I was so I knew my assistant coach hadn’t arrived yet. Owens assured me that he found someone, which was good because I was going to miss several practices and two games due to our work schedule.

  “Let’s give the rest of the girls time to arrive and then I’ll go over everything.” I glanced to Kendra, who was chatting happily with two of the kids she must have already known, and left her there while I placed the cones.

  The soccer goals already had nets in them and the lines were clearly marked on the grass. I’d read the stupid literature in my coaching packet that talked about the best drill techniques and things to incorporate in practices but they all sucked. The most helpful ideas I had actually found on YouTube.

  Once I had everything set up, I turned to head back to where the small group had grown considerably. The sun was bright and I had to use my hand to shield my eyes since I hadn’t brought my sunglasses.

  A man wearing a purple shirt had his back to me and I could see the words Assistant Coach staring back at me. He had a black hat on his head, turned backwards, that boasted the Las Vegas hockey team’s logo. He seemed taller, probably a little over six feet, and the mothers there with their kids were already looking at him with stars in their eyes.

  Before I could take another step forward to greet him, a small body flew at me.

  “Tori!”

  I went into a crouch
just in time to catch Grace as she plowed into me. I wrapped one arm around her and couldn’t help smiling. When we pulled back, she had a beautiful smile on her little face.

  “I’m so happy to see you! Are you the coach? I didn’t know you were going to be here!”

  She was talking just as fast as ever and I chuckled while nodding my head. “I’m glad to see you, too, kiddo.”

  “Uncle Evan, look!” She glanced up to someone with a brilliant smile and my body froze. “Tori’s here!”

  Slowly, so damn slowly, I tilted my chin until I was looking up at the assistant coach who had finally turned around. My heart instantly dropped into the pit of my stomach.

  No. Way. In. Hell.

  Evan Coleman was staring back at me with an expression that told me he was just as surprised to see me as I was him.

  My mouth opened. Then it closed. Then it opened. Then it closed again. Rage boiled in my chest. I was going kill Owens for withholding this bit of information from me.

  “You’re the assistant coach?” I asked, obvious incredulity lacing my tone as I straightened back. Evan nodded slowly.

  “I didn’t know you were…” He trailed off and blew out a long breath. “I had no idea, Victoria.”

  We stared at each other without saying anything else. His bright blue eyes held mine and I could see the apology in them. I didn’t care, though. He needed to go. I opened my mouth to tell him just that when I realized that it had gone completely silent all around us.

  All of the parents and even the kids were watching our exchange with fascination. The conversation I needed to have with Evan Coleman would have to wait until practice was over and when I could tell him to piss the hell off without an audience.

  I sucked in a long breath, steeling myself, and looked away from the guy in front of me. I squeezed Grace’s hand and dropped it so she could skip back to her uncle. With a fake smile plastered on my face, I nodded at the group.

  “Hi, guys. My name is Tori Jones and I’m the coach for the Under Eight girls’ team. That means that every girl here should be seven or eight depending on her birthday.” I held up the clipboard I had tucked under my arm. “I have the roster here and we’ll figure out what to do if you’re not on it.”

  I could feel Evan’s hot gaze on me and I knew I needed to introduce him. Suppressing a groan, I gestured towards him without looking his way.

  “This is Evan Coleman, the assistant coach.” I looked down at the clipboard and grumbled, “For now.”

  His heavy sigh told me that he heard me, though, and I ignored him to begin calling out the names I had on my roster. All but one of the kids showed up and we didn’t have any last minute surprises, either. I told the parents to take a seat and led the kids to the sideline, each of them with a ball.

  “Okay. I know some of you have played before but for others, this is your first time. We’re going to work on basics today so let’s start with walking with the ball.” I showed them all how I wanted them to roll the ball with the bottom of their cleats, alternating left and right to help them learn ball control. After telling them to keep their heads up, I called for them all to go.

  I watched as the group of eleven began to move and tensed up when I felt Evan’s presence next to me. He didn’t say anything, not until the girls began to make their way back to where they started.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, ignoring how good his clean, masculine scent smelled. I’d been right with my thinking at the station house. He had a nice body that was more on display in that moment that it had been before. His arms were firm, with sinewy muscles that I knew he had to work hard for. His t-shirt wasn’t tight but it was clear he had a muscular chest, too. Hell, the man even had nice looking calves.

  The bastard.

  “There has to be someone else who can do this. Another parent.”

  I already knew there wasn’t when Evan shook his head. “I guess another dad but Simon wasn’t comfortable with him.”

  “We’ll see.” I went to where the girls were and led them through another drill. We did that for twenty minutes and then I had them scrimmage for the last fifteen minutes of practice. It was interesting, watching that group of girls play.

  Some played their hearts out like it was the World Cup and others were there just to be there. One girl laid in the grass and stared up at the sky for a minute, causing the girls with the ball to have to go around her. When I ran over to see if she was hurt, she told me she had seen a funny looking cloud and wanted to watch it.

  Okay? Kids were weird.

  Grace and Kendra both worked their asses off the entire time and were full of smiles when I called everyone back to huddle up. I told them what we’d be doing the next week and then turned to the parents.

  “The snack list has been going around so hopefully everyone had a chance to sign up to bring something for after either the games or practices. We have three more practices before our first game in two weeks. Please make sure your girls attend so we’re ready. Before our first game will be the team photo and I’ve been told to ask you to arrive thirty minutes early. I’ll remind you next week. Thanks, everyone.”

  Kendra handed out the orange slices that her stepmother, Stacey, had made and sent with us and I stepped back to speak to a few parent and kid duos that came over. A mother and daughter had just walked away when a father approached me, getting a little too close for comfort.

  “Tori, right?”

  I nodded my head and had to force myself not to step back. I crossed my arms over my chest and didn’t smile. “Yeah. You’re Melinda’s father?”

  “Alan Wickman.” He didn’t even try to hide the slow scan of my body he did with his eyes. When he finally made it back to my face, he continued grinning despite my hostile body language. “If Melinda needed some one-on-one time, when would be good for you to come by our house to… play?”

  The way he said ‘play’ made me want to vomit. I kept my expression locked down and my tone flat “I’m not offering any one-on-one time. If the parents want to get out there and practice with their kids, that’s on them.”

  “I would be willing to make it worth your while.” He reached his hand out, the one with a gleaming wedding band on it, and attempted to touch my arm. I flinched away and finally took that step back.

  “I’m not the slightest bit interested.”

  “Victoria.” A deeper male voice spoke, causing me to jump slightly in surprise, but I instantly felt comforted. Safe. Evan’s shoulder brushed against mine when he came to stand next to me and he glanced between me and Alan. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep, fine.” I gestured to Melinda’s father. “He was just asking if anyone could come over and give Melinda some one-on-one help.” I looked over at Evan and his eyes narrowed imperceptibly before he plastered a fake smile onto his face.

  “Oh, I’d be happy to come over and get some extra practice in. When’s good for you?”

  Panic monetarily swept across Alan’s face, so comically that I almost laughed, and he shook his head. “I think it would be better for the coach to get the job done, don’t you?”

  “She’s a busy woman with a demanding job.” Evan reached up and squeezed my shoulder, something I don’t think he realized he was doing because he froze at the same time I did. I resisted the urge to shrug him off and he recovered first, clearing his throat as he did. “She doesn’t have time. Would you like me to come over?”

  Alan shook his head with a scowl. “Never mind.”

  Evan and I stayed where we were as the sleazy father stomped off to where Melinda was eating her orange slices. I let out a long sigh and glanced over at the man next to me, taking a step to the right so his hand would drop from my shoulder.

  “I can handle myself, you know.”

  Evan nodded his head seriously. “I know but there are some things you don’t have to do alone, Victoria.” He paused and stuck his hands into his pockets. “Let
me know if you find another assistant coach by the next practice. I’ll be here with Gracie one way or another.”

  He turned and took two steps away before I blurted, “What have you told Tristan about me?”

  “What?” He swiveled back around and looked at me with furrowed brows. “I haven’t spoken to Tristan in months and even if I had, I wouldn’t tell him anything about you.”

  “You don’t talk to him?” I asked, my voice smaller than I meant it to be, and Evan shook his head.

  “My half-brother and I aren’t close, we never have been. What he did to you was horrible, Victoria. I know you might think that I helped him back then but I didn’t. Make no mistake- I was never on Tristan’s side in all of this.” He offered me a small smile and glanced over his shoulder when Grace called his name. “I’ll see you next week. Let me know about the coaching gig.”

  All I could do is watch as he walked away. He grabbed his bag before taking his niece’s hand and the two of them headed towards the parking lot. They were almost off the pitch when he looked back at me. When he saw that I was still watching, he smiled again and held up his free hand in a wave.

  I continued staring after they were gone and only snapped out of it when Kendra said my name. I jumped and turned to look at her with a forced smile on my face.

  The two of us finished cleaning up the rest of the equipment and I threw the bag over my shoulder before leading the little girl back to my car. Owens had offered to drop her off and pick her up but since Hudson didn’t have practice until the next day, it didn’t make sense for anyone to make a special trip. Besides, Alex Owens, Simon’s brother and Kendra’s father, lived in a neighborhood that wasn’t too far from mine.

  Kendra talked the whole way back to her place. Literally. I had no idea how that kid was still alive because there was no way she was getting any oxygen to her brain. How any one person could have so much to say was a mystery to me. She told me every single detail she’d learned about her teammates and then some.

  I dropped her off with at her dad’s house and then headed back to my place. When I pulled into the driveway in front of my dark house, I let out a long sigh. The loneliness settled in the pit of my gut again, harder than it had in years.