A Woman of Conviction Ch 4
Chapter 4
BPOV
A
hangover and working at a diner isn’t something I have ever wanted to
experience. The smell of day old bread and grease is turning my stomach.
The
morning is awfully busy and it makes my head spin. When it finally begins to
slow down so I can tend to my health from a mistake of a night, the sound of
the door ringing signals that customers have arrived. I turn slowly and see the
business group from yesterday. They choose a table in my section again, so I
quickly grab menus and get over to greet them.
“Hello
guys, glad to see you came back. What can I get you to drink today?” I can’t
help but stare at my over-tipper, Copper Hair. He has a strong jaw and just a
few small stress wrinkles around his eyes. I’m happy that I can still
multi-task even with a hangover, because as I’m scoping out the hunk of a man,
I manage to catch their drink orders.
“Alright,
I’ll go grab those while you decide what you would like to order today.” I
smile; I think it came out as a smile, anyway.
I grab
the drinks and take them back over, trying to maintain my usual peppy self as I
take their food order. I’m happy that they’re the only ones here, because once
I get them all set I finally take some Advil and sit down for a moment.
I get
them their bill when they’re done and watch them begin to leave, but then I see
a piece of paper with a Benjamin Franklin next to it. You have to be
kidding me! I growl as I snatch the money up and I storm out to
confront him.
“Hey
you,” I shout to Copper Hair, who turns and looks at me with a startled
expression.
“Yes,”
his voice is wary. I watch him put his hands in the pockets of his pristine
charcoal grey suit that probably cost a year’s worth of my salary.
“What
the hell is wrong with you? Do you think if you keep tipping big I’ll get into
bed with you? You think I’m some charity case you can flaunt money at and get
what you want from me?” I’m just shouting and making no sense whatsoever, but
I’m just so angry. Angry at Jake, angry at this man who just tips whatever he
wants.
“I just
thought you deserved it,” he answers, unabashed.
I can
feel my mouth pop open and I just stare at him. Me? Deserve hundreds of
dollars? No. I raise my arm with the money in it towards him. “I don’t
deserve it. Please take it back,” I whisper.
He
pushes my hand down, stepping closer to me. “You do. If I promise to never tip
like this again, will you please keep it?”
I think
of my boys and know they can use it. As much as I hate charity and not earning
this, I have to think about them. “Okay,” I agree, then I decide I should
threaten him. “If you do, I swear that I will tear it up right in front of
you.”
“Deal.”
He smiles a bit and walks away from me.
Days
turn into weeks and they come in every weekday. It might not be all of them,
but a few of them are always there. I’ve even learned their names. Pixie is
Alice, the leggy blonde is Rose, the big guy is Emmett, basketballer is Jasper,
and Copper Hair, aka the over-tipper, is Edward. I even call him over-tipper to
his face because he leaves twenty to thirty dollars each tip, but I don’t argue
with it because he’s keeping to his word and I don’t feel as much like a charity
case.
__________________________________________________________________
“Mom,
hurry up!” Damon yells from the door. He and Lucian are so excited today
because Tanya and Irina found a flag football league and it’s sign up day for
one of the teams. This team is based just a little ways away from the diner.
“I’m
coming!” I grab my purse and we head to the field that the flyer directed us to
go to.
We
arrive and there are lots of kids and parents around, making it look chaotic. I
scan the area, trying to find someone that looks like they might know
something. I spot a young woman with a green shirt holding a clipboard and walk
up to her.
“Excuse
me, I want to sign my ten-year-old and eight-year-old up for flag football.”
“Yes,
eight- to ten-year-olds are over there by the bleachers. Edward, Emmett, and
Jasper are the gentlemen who will be coaching that age bracket.” She points to
the right of where we’re standing.
I’m in
shock knowing that my regulars, my over-tippers, are going to be coaching my
boys. I really don’t know why I’m freaking out, but I definitely feel freaked
out.
I take
a deep breath and take the boys’ hands, walking in the direction pointed out to
me. Rather quickly, I spot Edward’s copper hair as he holds a clipboard while
talking to Emmett and Jasper. They’re all standing by a big white table covered
with lots of clipboards and boxes.
“Aren’t
they the regulars, Mom, the ones with lots of money?” Damon questions.
“They
are, but let’s not describe them that way, okay?” I look at my son seriously.
“Okay.”
He shrugs, not asking further.
“Let’s
get you two signed up.” I lead us over to the table.
“Hey,
Bella,” Jasper greets me and then looks down to my boys, still smiling. “You
dragged your big sister down here to play some football?” he says directly to
Lucian and Damon.
“She
isn’t my sister, she’s my mom,” Lucian corrects him.
I can
feel the heat rise through my chest as I feel several pair of eyes on me. After
so many years of being a young mom, I don’t usually get uncomfortable with
people knowing how young of a mom I actually am.
Trying
to move on from this awkward silence, I say, “Lucian is ten, and Damon is
eight.” I raise each child’s arm as I introduce them.
“Here’s
the paperwork for Lucian; he’ll be with my assistant, Quill. Jasper and Emmett
will be Damon’s coaches, and I think Jasper has the papers for you to fill out
for him.” Edward hands me the clipboard, his voice hesitant.
I take
the clipboard from him. He smiles toward Lucian.
“I’m
having my group start warm-up with Quill down on that field.” He points to a
field behind me. I see a young man maybe eighteen or nineteen doing some
jumping jacks with a group of kids. “You can go join them, Lucian,” Edward
tells him.
Lucian
looks up to me, his brown eyes wary. He bites his lip, hesitating. My poor boy
is nervous.
I bend
down to his level. “Hey, sweetheart, don’t you want to play football anymore?”
I ask in a soft voice.
He
pushes his glasses up his nose. “Yes, I do. I’m just scared that the other kids
will tease me like the kids did at school.” My chest tightens with sadness. I
go to pull him in for a hug when I feel Edward crouch down beside us.
“If
anyone bothers you like that, you tell me or Quill. I will not tolerate
anything like that. On this team, we treat each other with respect.” Edward is
firm in a way that is comforting. I feel something stir inside me when he
comforts my son this way.
“Okay,”
Lucian sounds more confident.
“If
anyone messes with you, I got your back, brother.” Damon puffs up, narrowing
his eyes at the boys that Lucian will be joining.
“Damon.”
I sigh, straightening up. My youngest child is going to be the death of me with
all his attitude and anger.
“I’m
not sure you can play on my team if you’re going to have that kind of
attitude,” Emmett addresses Damon with a raised eyebrow.
A small
smile forms on my lips as I watch Damon explain himself.
“Sir, I
love my brother, and he’s my only brother. He’s smart and has a big heart,
that’s what my mom says, anyway. I have to use my size and protect him,” Damon
tries to reason with his potential coach.
“I
understand how you feel, big guy, but on this team, we don’t fight. We use our
words and talk things out. I don’t know if you can handle that.” Emmett crosses
his arms.
Damon’s
mouth pops open and gapes at Emmett for a moment. “I really want to play. I
promise I will try really hard, please let me play.” His voice shocks me
because it’s the first time my youngest has shown any weakness.
The big
hulking man clasps Damon’s shoulder gently and bends down. “And that’s all I
need from you, is to try. If you’re having any problems you come to me or
Jasper.” He gestures over to Jasper who tips his imaginary hat back. “We’ll
figure it out.”
“Okay.”
My youngest son nods his head in understanding. I really hope that this will
help his hot head. I love that he’s protective of his brother and me, but he
needs to learn that we have to fight our own battles, and that he can’t talk
with his fists.
“Alright,
let’s get over to where we’ll be practicing, and your mom can get all the
paperwork done.” Emmett stands up and begins to lead Damon away, and I nudge
Lucian to go to his own spot for warm-ups.
It’s
now an awkward silence between Edward, Jasper, and me. “I guess I better get to
these.” I wave my clipboard and then go and grab one from Jasper.
“If you
have any questions, Jasper can answer them,” Edward says to me curtly and walks
away in the direction of his field.
I sigh
and find a place to sit to start filling out the paperwork. It starts with
permission slips, and a form for emergencies. I put down Tanya and Irina. Then
there is a t-shirt form. I feel so happy that I can feel safe about them
playing with all these questions and information they ask. I’m not necessarily
an overprotective or overbearing mom, but they’re my whole world and the only
blood family I have.
Finishing
the paperwork, I look over to the table and see Jasper is over there filing the
papers in different bins. I get up and walk over to him.
“Is
cash okay to pay for the fees and t-shirts?” I ask him.
“No
fees for anything. Edward’s company pays for everything, including the
t-shirts,” he answers me with a smile.
“Oh,
that’s generous of his company,” I say politely. It would figure that he works
for a well-off company that does things like this.
“It’s
Edward’s company; he started it in college. He’s very good at what he does, and
he likes sports, so he likes to help the community kids have fun,” Jasper
explains and corrects me at the same time.
I’m
stunned into silence. Edward, grumpy over-tipper, owns his own company, and it
must be a billion-dollar company at that with the way he tosses money around.
Not
being able to respond to the new information I received, I bounce between
fields watching the boys play. Damon is not overly fast but he is a good
blocker and he seems to have a bond with Emmett already, because he listens to
him so well I want to take Emmett home with me.
Lucian
is fast, remarkable so; I’ve yet to see anyone catch him. Edward is a good
coach, but I notice that he really watches Lucian and engages him often enough
I begin to wonder why. On the other hand, I’m happy that some form of a male
figure sees what I see in him.
After
an hour, practice is over. I see all the parents talking and taking their kids
away, but I wait at the white sign-up table. I thought it would be easier to
talk to Edward and Emmett together about the boys rather than separately.
After
what feels like an eternity, Lucian walks up with Edward, and Emmett with
Damon. “So, how’d they do?”
“Damon
is great, and he listens well. He needs to work on focus, though. I kept
catching him looking over toward where his brother was.”
“I just
was checking. I’ll do better next time,” Damon defends quickly.
“You
better, or you’ll do laps,” Emmett warns him with a smirk on his face.
“Yes,
coach,” Damon mumbles back with his shoulders slumped.
“And
how did Lucian do?” I question Edward. I’m more concerned with how Lucian did
because of the issues he has in school with other kids. He’s also very shy and
likes to keep to himself.
Edward
meets my eyes and they freeze me with the intensity of green they have. “Lucian
is the fastest kid on the team. We have to work on communication and speaking
up, but I think he’s going to fit right in.” He smiles and pats Lucian on the
shoulder.
“All
the practice schedules are on the sheet at the end of the table, and it also
has the game schedule.” Edward points to a paper that I missed.
“Okay,
see you coaches later.” I smile and wave as I take the schedule off the table.
The
boys talk nonstop about the first practice and upcoming games. They compare and
talk about their coaches. I’m so excited for them.
But all
of that comes to a halt when we arrive home and I see a note stuck to my door.
The handwriting is familiar and makes my blood boil.
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