Page 36 of Love on the Sidelines

We drive to Costco, chatting here and there about things. The conversation is a lot smoother than any other we’ve had. Maybe she’s getting used to the idea that I’ll be around for a while.

I have to stop and think about that for a moment. Since when did I swing from the no-dating category to looking for an opportunity to make it happen?

We squeeze into Costco just before they close the gates, each of us armed with a cart.

"Where first, Coach?" I ask, waiting for her to give me directions.

"Probably the fresh fruit. We'll need a bunch of that for the girls. Then we'll get some meat, Greek yogurt, and go from there."

I lean over to see the list and breathe in her lavender scent. She smells good.

"No treats on there?" I ask.

"Oh, there's plenty of treats. I'm just trying to balance them out with more nutritious stuff. I don't need them to be slow when it comes time to play."

“I don’t remember you ever playing lacrosse when we were younger. What got you started?”

Ava disappears into the cold fruit locker and I wait outside. Not because I'm cold, but because there are still a million people here and I probably wouldn't be able to get the cart all the way around the middle section.

Ava comes out with half her cart filled with fruits and vegetables and walks over past the bakery and meat sections. She stops to pick up several packages of meat and two rotisserie chickens.

"I started around fourteen. You and Bobby were gone already, you went to college and Bobby to the National Guard. I needed something to do, and a friend invited me to try lacrosse. I absolutely loved every minute."

"Were you recruited to play at CU, then?” It had come up in my research of her online profile.

She nods. “Yeah, I played in a travel tournament between my junior and senior year of high school and that’s where I got to see a few more schools than the local ones. CU offered me a full-ride, so I took it.”

“If you started later, why do all these tournaments when the girls are this young? Emily has at least four years of school left.”

"It's never too early to have options. There was a girl on my team who committed to a school at fourteen."

Shaking my head, I say, “I can’t even think I’d know what was the right decision at fourteen. Four years is a long time to stick to a commitment like that.”

Something in her expression flickers. “Not all the girls who commit end up going to those schools. Commitment is often broken in our society.”

I think that has a deeper meaning than college lacrosse. But I don’t want to dive into that, so I change the subject.

"You mentioned hurting your knee. When did you do that?"

She sighs and pushes the cart along to the dairy area. A lot of eggs and milk later and we're strolling up and down the aisles. I'm thinking she won’t answer when she says something.

"The first time I tore my ACL was my junior year of high school and then a second time in my senior year. I missed out on all the opportunities to show coaches my improvement. So I went to CU and played."

"I take it you tore it again. Is that why you stopped playing professionally?"

She turns and looks at me like she's seen a ghost. "Maybe. Did you stalk me online?"

I shrug. "Maybe. I had to know who was teaching my niece. Well, Coach Ava, anyway. I only remembered you from when you were younger."

“You did enough teasing to make life difficult back then.”

She turns to guide her cart over to the cereal section.

"Are you okay?"

"To be honest, I'm just surprised you're still talking to me."

"Why?" I ask, not understanding what she means.

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