Page 74 of Pickled
“Piper!” Janie Myers appeared beside me, clipboard in hand and whistle around her neck. “So glad you could make it. Olive’s going to love this.”
“Thanks for including her. This is incredibly generous.”
“Thank your friend Judy.”
My suspicions were confirmed, but I didn’t care. If Judy wanted to spend her money on Olive’s racket sports development, I wasn’t going to argue.
“Can I go play now? Please?” Olive tugged on my hand.
“Of course, sweetheart. Have fun.”
She ran onto the courts, gravitating to the group of kids her own age. Gabby and Ariana were both already involved in drills. There were so many kids and so much action it was hard to follow the little girl in pink. I caught one more glimpse of her; she was already laughing and hitting balls. My heart swelled. What did I do to deserve a boss like Mrs. Lockelhurst?
“She’s a natural,” Lisa said. She had two coffee cups in her hands. “Want to grab a seat in the lounge? We can watch from there.”
I took the coffee, still not ready to forgive her for the ambush but grateful for the caffeine. “Fine. But we’re not talking about Gideon.”
“We don’t have to talk about anything. I just want to hang out with my friend.”
The club lounge overlooked the courts through floor-to-ceiling windows. We settled into leather chairs, but Olive’s group had been moved to one of the far courts. It was hard to see what wasgoing on, so instead, Lisa and I caught up, and I found myself forgiving her.
Forty-five minutes later, we headed back to the courts as the clinic wrapped up. Olive was helping younger kids collect balls, which made my heart swell with pride.
“Mom!” Olive ran over, vibrating with excitement. “That was so much fun! Janie let me play with the older kids, and there was this really nice man who was coaching too. He said I was really good at pickleball.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah! But I told him it didn’t matter how good I was. In doubles, you have to work together. He said that was very smart.” Olive’s words came out at a million miles an hour. I hadn’t seen her this excited in a long time. I also liked the idea of a positive male role model in a sport that she loved.
“It sounds like you had a good teacher.”
“He was so cool, Mom. You should’ve heard him tell off the grown-ups who were being mean about us being noisy.” She grinned. “He told them that there was something wrong with them if the sound of children laughing bothered them so much.”
I laughed. “This coach sounds pretty cool.” Although I wasn’t impressed by the other members making comments to children. The fact that this new coach confronted them made me like him more already, and I hadn’t even met him.
“That’s him, over there.” Olive pointed toward the far court. My heart almost stopped beating when I realized who it was.
Gideon Bailey.
He was wearing athletic shorts and a faded T-shirt. Those broad shoulders that stretched out his T-shirt had pinned me against the wall of his pool. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would be good with kids, but Olive’s description painted a different picture. It was a side of him I’d never seen, and it was the last thing I needed to hear right now.
As if he could sense us watching, Gideon looked up. When he saw Olive, he smiled and waved. Then his gaze met mine, and dammit, a jolt ran through my body.
His smile faltered, but he walked toward us. I had to force myself to breathe as he approached, all six foot seven of him towering over everyone left on the courts. How had I missed this gorgeous giant man when we dropped Olive off?
“Olive! Your serves looked so good at the end there.” He held up his fist, and Olive grinned, bumping it with hers. “Is this your mom?” His eyes stayed on me, dark and intense.
“Uh-huh! Mom, this is the man I was telling you about. He helped me with my backhand.”
Gideon’s smile returned, softer this time, and I hated how it made my pulse skip. “That makes sense.”
“What makes sense?” Olive asked.
“Never mind,” he mumbled. There was something I couldn’t read in his expression. “She’s a cool kid, that’s all.”
My throat tightened. This was dangerous territory. “Olive, why don’t you go help Janie finish packing up?”
“Okay! Bye, Coach Bailey! Thanks for helping today!” She skipped off, leaving us alone.
