“You told us he was the best,” Todd says, narrowing his eyes. “I mean, his track record speaks for itself.”

“It does,” Ryan hedges.

He looks at me for backup. I appreciate that he doesn’t take the liberty of revealing uncomfortably personal details to the Conways without my permission.

“He’s emotionally abusive,” I confirm. “Bullying, name-calling, fits of rage… He lashes out when girls get sick or don’t perform up to his standards. He might be responsible for a lot of gold medals, but he’s not a good coach. He’s toxic.”

Hallie’s jaw drops. “Whoa.”

“You’re sure about this?” Todd asks.

“Believe me, I trained with him for five years,” I say. “I know what he’s really like. And I didn’t even get the worst of it.”

“Oh my god,” Kim says, appalled.

“Well, Hallie’s not going there,” Todd says flatly.

“Yeah, no, he sounds horrible,” Hallie says. She gives me a sympathetic look.

“I’m glad you understand,” I say. “Thank you for listening.”

For so many months now, I’ve felt powerless to stop Hallie from getting hurt. To see how quickly and effectively I could change her fate is mind-blowing. I’m so grateful that the Conway family came around to my side immediately.

“It was my mistake to recommend a move to Powerhouse earlier,” Ryan says. “I really do apologize for that, and I hope you can trust my judgment going forward.”

Hallie nods in approval, but Kim and Todd exchange worried glances.

“You have to understand—we’ve put Hallie’s career, our family’s lives, in your hands,” Kim says. “We’ve always trusted that you know what’s in her best interests.”

“I… I understand that,” Ryan says, faltering.

Todd piles on. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to ask: can we trust you?”

“Dad,” Hallie says, slinking down in her seat and covering her face with her hands. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“This is important, Hallie,” Kim says.

Ryan straightens up. “You can trust me. You can trust both of us,” he says, nodding at me. “I couldn’t do this without Avery.”

I watch Kim and Todd chew that over for a few moments. She sighs heavily.

“All right,” she says. “All right.”

Todd gives me a small smile. “Thanks for everything you do,” he says.

“Of course, you’re welcome,” I say.

“So I’m going to tell Dimitri we’re both staying put—you and me,” Ryan says to Hallie, who appears to be recovering from the humiliation of her parents having an opinion about her well-being. “That is, if you still want to keep training.”

“Yeah,” she says. “The more I think about it, the more I really do want to train for 2024. No matter what happens this summer, I’ve worked too hard to retire at sixteen, you know?”

Ryan grins. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Part 9. June 2020

JUNE

2020

Chapter 29