Two days later, Jake touched down at Burbank Airport. He took a deep breath as he exited the terminal, before stepping into the town car that awaited him. He loved spending time with his family and was over the moon that Harold’s health had steadily improved. But the fact of the matter was he’d missed California. Had missed the school and working with the kids. And while he wouldn’t acknowledge it, the truth of the matter was ... he missed Dominique.

53

53

“Coach!” Justin ran up to Jake and threw himself in the older man’s arms. It was the second week after the holidays and just the two of them were in the players’ locker room. Justin had gone there to retrieve the backpack he’d left before the holidays, and Jake had gone there to inventory the various sports equipment.

“Hey, son.” Jake winced at the noun, even though he often addressed his players in this manner. But given the precarious nature of his relationship with this particular student, Jake wished he could have taken back the word. “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Justin said with a shrug of his shoulders, once again in control of his emotions and a bit embarrassed at the excited bear hug that he knew Michael would have labeled as “totally uncool.”

“Did you have a good Christmas?”

Justin nodded.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Big, questioning eyes looked into hooded, pained ones.

“How’s your mother?” Jake asked, clearing his throat of the hoarseness that had accompanied the question.

“She’s fine.”

“Good,” Jake said, checking the air pressure of a basketball and trying to ignore the bad feeling gathering at the pit of his stomach. “What about you?”

“I’m okay,” Justin replied, looking down at the floor.

“You know we could have really used you on the basketball team. I wish you’d taken my advice and signed up.”

“I’m too big for that game, Coach.”

“Man, what are you talking about? You’re quick and you have good hand to eye coordination. You’d make a good center. You should try out next year.”

Justin shifted his weight from one foot to the other but remained silent.

Jake could see that the boy had something else on his mind but he was no more ready to have that conversation than the child was. “Think about it,” he said as he placed the ball in the large storage basket and reached for another one.

“All right, Coach.” Justin had almost reached the door when he stopped and turned around. “You don’t like my mama no more?”

Jake’s head shot up and silence filled the room as he weighed his answer. “I love your mom,” he honestly replied.

“Then you should call her.” That said, Justin walked out the door.