Free Homecourt Advantage by Rita Ewing Page B

and her usual hairstyle was a snatch-back feathered concoction reminiscent of the early eighties. She also never bothered with much makeup … and had no intention of wearing it despite Alexis’s orders. Trina had ignored her and then Casey on that count.
    Trina swiveled her chair around and caught a glimpse of Remy entering the lounge. Just about everyone in the room turned and gazed at the star as she headed toward the fully stocked bar. Three little girls and boys rallied around Remy, clinging to her pantsuit, which Trina noted was uncharacteristically conservative. Trina chuckled under her breath thinking about how Remy had obviously been influenced by Casey, who, as far as Trina was concerned, was behaving like Alexis’s puppet.
    Casey, along with Lorraine, had been the most welcoming of the wives from the start. But Trina was an old-fashioned woman at heart. She liked her family and personal affairs to be handled at home behind closed doors. Rick took care of the business of basketball. Trina attended every home game and genuinely supported her husband andhis career, both on and off the court. Although Rick had not mentioned it to Trina himself, she had overheard a conversation he’d had with his agent about the team possibly being sold and moved if the Flyers didn’t win the championship this year. Apparently the prospect had everyone up in arms. She knew not to ask Rick about anything that related to his work for fear of him accusing her of meddling. Besides, what was happening with the Flyers and the powers that be was out of her control. She was not about to let Alexis or Casey get her tangled up in her husband’s business affairs.
    For one thing, Trina did not oppose the prospect of the team being sold and relocated to Albany. Rick would not be hurt by the loss of any endorsement opportunities. He was at the end of his career anyway. No corporations were banging down his door to advertise their products. There were younger, more athletic, more marketable players taking his place all the time.
    As Trina watched Alexis glide into the Family Lounge with her prep-school-poster daughters in tow, she was reminded of the cover of a
Town & Country
magazine. Maybe Albany would not be that bad. Trina welcomed a change of scenery. She wasn’t even sure she could handle one more glittery season with the frantic, chaotic pace of the Mecca.
    She and the kids went where Rick’s career took them, and the final destination did not matter. So long as they were together as a family, they all eventually learned to adjust. Certainly it was a hassle packing up and moving an entire household time after time, and school placement for the kids was a chore in and of itself. Still, it was part of the life of a professional athlete. The summers were still theirs and they had a home in Florida where the kids had plenty of cousins their ages and a slew of friends to give them a sense of stability. Trina had never had complaints about the transient nature of their life until they hit the fast pace of New York.
    New York, the Flyers, and everything that accompanied them deified the position of a professional basketball player in this town. And it had brought out the worst in Rick. The accessibility of a boundless nightlife clearly was a disaster.
    Just then Casey arrived in the room and hugged Paul Thomas’sbrother and sister. Trina waved her hand to get Casey’s attention as she worked the crowd.
    Alexis stopped Casey in her tracks before she had a chance to weave her way to Trina’s corner table. Mrs. Coach, as Trina thought of her, looked like she was having a secret conference with Casey right in the middle of the Family Lounge. Her two daughters were obediently sitting on the brown leather sofas with their ankles crossed, reading books. Alexis had obviously not spared her daughters from etiquette lessons.
    When Casey finally approached Trina’s table, Remy was by her side.
    “Well, hello, ladies. You two on your way to a meeting