“I miss coaching, and someday, I would like to do that for a living,” Alan said.
David could see that. Alan had a mind for figuring out how to win. When they played video games, he always kicked their butts. That carried over to football. His biggest problem was that Alan had a mouth on him that didn’t have a filter. Alan also didn’t like jocks.
“If I remember correctly, you had to go to Wesleyan because I announced I was no longer going to protect you.
The whole team wanted a piece of you,” David said.
“That’s something I’m working on.”
Tami gave Alan a sad look and shook her head to say,
‘When I see it, I’ll believe it.’
“What do you want from me?” David asked.
“To put in a good word to Bo Harrington. Ask him to give me a chance.”
David almost told Alan to ‘kiss my ass’ but stopped. In the grand scheme of things, Alan no longer mattered to David. He looked over at Tami and could tell she was on board with telling Alan, ‘no.’
“If I do, I want something in return,” David said.
“Anything.”
“That’s it. This is the last of the goodwill you’ve earned by us being friends since kindergarten. I’ll be cordial if we see each other in the future, but we’re done being friends,”
David said.
“I’m good with that.”
Tami slid out of the booth, and David followed.
“Tami, if you could stay, I need to make amends,” Alan said.
“You really don’t. Unlike David, I don’t have it in me to forgive you.”
Alan didn’t have anything to say to that, so they left.
When they got into the car, Tami wanted to talk. They rehashed everything Alan had pulled, and as their discussion continued, it honestly made David regret agreeing to help him. Even with his mental health defense, he’d been a vile shit of a human being.
“I can’t believe you’re going to call Coach Harrington,”
Tami said.
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Stop and think about me for a moment,” David challenged.
“Screw being a man of your word for Alan. He wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, and you know it.”
“That may be true, but I said I would do it. I didn’t say I would talk him up, though,” David said.
“But you will.”
She was right. He would tell Bo what he thought of Alan as a potential help for his program. But he would also recommend Bo keep an eye on Alan and why.
Tami dropped him off at the hotel. David sent his parents and Cindy a message to meet him because he had another project he wanted to take on.
◊◊◊
Cindy took in the land David wanted to build a house on.
They’d parked at his farm and followed a path through the woods leading to a bridge crossing a lazy, winding river.
David had taken them through the woods, where a clearing opened on a bluff that overlooked the river.
“How did you find this?” Rob asked.
“Zoe took me horseback riding. We took a break under that walnut tree,” David said.
“Were you thinking about building your permanent home here?” Carol asked.
“Eventually, it might be that, but it would be a getaway for now. I could see us doing Christmas here. We also dug out the river, and the bottom is now gravel. There’s a sand beach on the other side of the bridge,” David said.
“What are you looking for?” Cindy asked.
“I don’t know. It could be anything from a cabin to something high-end. I thought you could talk to the people at Ohio State and have them come up with candidate designs.”
“I liked Devin Range’s log home,” Carol said. “But I also liked the great vaulted room in the guest house with a fireplace surrounded by two-story floor-to-ceiling windows.
They would need to do something like that to capture the view.”
“An outdoor area with a fire pit would be nice,” Rob added.
“What about Tim?” Carol asked.
“Who?” Cindy asked.
“Tim Foresee. He’s studying to be an architect at Oklahoma,” David said.
“Maybe have them do something similar to Ohio State.
Offer a prize for the winning design,” Rob said.
“That sounds good, but I’m not guaranteeing I will build the winning home. I might see some ideas from others I’d want to incorporate,” Carol said.
Both his dad and he looked at his mom. ‘When did this become her home?’ David wondered.
His mom ignored the men as she and Cindy began to talk about possible ideas.
“I think you know who to delegate this to,” Rob said.
“But … never mind. Like she said, I’m not promising to build what they come up with.”
His dad just laughed at him.
◊◊◊
Crystal had decided on a day-spa outing with Chloe and Brook. They’d gotten Brook to open up about when she and David had dated.
“Looking back, I always knew that David would be okay if we split up. His friends used to joke that David was a victim of the Tiger Woods effect. He gets no credit for all the girls he turns down in a day, but one slipup … and he receives a golf club upside his head at four in the morning.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for you now that the James Bond movie is out,” Brook said.
“I don’t think he even realizes women are interested in him,” Chloe said.
“He does, but I don’t worry because he backs his words up with actions.”
“What about this morning?” Chloe asked.
‘Yeah, what about this morning?’ Crystal thought.
“We talked about him possibly being with you beforehand. I swear, he’s the only guy I know who would warn you he might cheat before doing it,” Crystal admitted.
“Is it really cheating?” Brook asked.
“I guess not,” Crystal conceded. “It’s just that … I don’t know.”
“Like you said, he backs up his words with actions. I’m sure he cares about you very much,” Brook said.
It helped to hear that a former girlfriend had the same insecurities that Crystal had periodically. Crystal had no doubt that David loved her and that Chloe was no threat.
Crystal felt like their relationship was fine for now.
Then she remembered something her mom had told her.
The moments when life seemed perfect usually signified that stuff was about to go awry. Maybe even very awry.
Like an opalescent bubble, the illusion could burst in an instant.
Crystal’s phone rang. She looked and saw it was her dad. He never called unless it was important, so she answered it.
“Hey, Dad.”
“I need you to do something for me. I want you to talk to David and get him to see reason regarding his casting choices.”
“You lost me, Dad. What are you talking about?” Crystal asked.
“Oh … erm … I just assumed he would talk to you about this.”
“About what, Dad?”
“About his soap. They asked me to find the actors to play David’s wife and girlfriend. They said that he got to make the final decision. I’ve got two up-and-coming girls who could use the exposure …”
“Pun intended,” Crystal interjected.
“Whatever … it’s a big opportunity. The girls would appear during sweeps week in The Young and The Wild’s new time slot. But David picked his own women, who aren’t really in the business, and they’re being unreasonable,”
Kendrick complained.
“You said they aren’t really in the business. Who did he pick?”
“Adrienne and Kate Upton.”
“Why would he pick Adrienne and Kate Upton?” Crystal asked.