Free The One & Only: A Novel by Emily Giffin Page A

literally holding my breath, in agony over the fact that Lucy looked so upset, and Coach so guilty.
    I exhaled as Coach cleared his throat and defended himself. “Sweetie pie, I most certainly did not forget your mama’s birthday. I was just … busy until now.” He glanced toward the rest of us and said under his breath, “Lawton, help me out here.”
    “He was just busy,” Lawton echoed. “Until now.”
    Coach cast him a frustrated look that said,
That’s the best you can do?
    Lawton shrugged as Caroline pressed on. “Busy coaching football?”
    “Yeah, he was busy coaching football,” Neil said, pulling her out of Coach’s arms and tossing her in the air.
    She giggled and forgot the debate for a few seconds, as Coach addressed no one in particular. “Okay, then. No more football talk for the night,” he said.
    “Until tomorrow?” Caroline asked, glancing his way with judgment and mischief. It was almost as if Lucy had given her child a script and a course in twisting the knife.
    “Until tomorrow, yes, sweetie,” Coach said, pretending to be relaxed. I wondered who else could see through his act, as he looked at my mother and me. “Hello, Marie. Hey, Shea. How’s everyone doing?”
    We both murmured that we were fine, then transitioned to breezy small talk. At one point, Coach asked if I’d heard back from Smiley.
    “Not yet,” I said, part of me relieved that I hadn’t.
    “Call him again,” Coach said. “You gotta be persistent.”
    I nodded, then said, “So how was practice?”
    “It was good,” Coach replied, glancing at Lucy, then giving me a strained smile. “But no football talk tonight. Remember?”
    “It’s okay, Daddy,” Lucy said, removing condiments from the refrigerator and handing Caroline a few carrot sticks. “I mean, whatever else would there be to talk about?”
    I don’t think Lucy meant the rhetorical question to sound as biting as it did, because she followed it up with a shrug and said, “I mean, it is the week of the spring game. I get it. It’s okay. You can tell Shea—and all of us—about practice.”
    “Practice was fine,” he said. “I just had to deal with some other stuff today … It’s always something …”
    “What happened, Dad?” Lawton asked, tossing Caroline over the back of the sofa. She bounced, laughing, then giddily circled around for more.
    “Oh, it’s a long story,” he said with a sigh. “Just a little issue with Reggie … Probably nothing.”
    “Who?” Lucy said.
    I think I must have gasped, because Lucy glanced at me and said, “What? Like I’m supposed to memorize a hundred players?”
    “Reggie
Rhodes
, honey,” Neil said. “You know who he is.”
    “He’s only the biggest recruit we’ve had since Ryan James,” Lawton said.
    “Oh,
him.
Yeah. I didn’t recognize the first name,” Lucy said. “I know him.”
    “Of
course
you know him, dear,” my mother said, tossing her tomato and onion salad.
    “So what happened?” Lucy asked. “Did he get hurt in practice?”
    Lawton laughed and shook his head, twisting off the cap of a Bud Light. “He’s not here yet, Luce.”
    “What do you mean he’s not here?” Lucy snapped back.
    “Lawton means … that he’s still in high school,” Neil said. “He’s coming
next
year.”
    “Well, wherever he is … He could still get hurt!” my mother said, rushing to Lucy’s defense. “He could have gotten in a car accident. Or … had a random slip and fall—”
    “On a banana peel?” Lawton quipped.
    “What happened, Daddy?” Lucy said, scowling at Lawton.
    “Nothing, really … Just a little mud in the water … It’ll be fine.” He shook his head, then shifted into his faux upbeat voice and said, “So, who’s hungry? Neil, let’s fire up that grill, son!”
    We all agreed that was a very good idea—because everyone knew that there weren’t many things in Texas that barbecued ribs couldn’t fix.

Seven

    A few days later, Walker played its