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Nate wasn’t in his office, but his secretary, warily eyeing the baby bucket and the Dunkin’ bag, buzzed him through the intercom. Then she granted Sandra a fake smile and said, “He’ll be here shortly,” even though she knew no such thing. Nate did not come running when his presence was requested.
Sandra turned to go into his office.
“You can wait out here,” the secretary said quickly.
Sandra was annoyed, but she did as she was told, and plopped herself down in the small waiting area. At least this one had chairs, unlike the hard bench at her son’s school. How did she manage to end up waiting outside the principal’s office two days in a row?
As she expected, it was a long wait, but Sammy was in a good mood, so Sandra could fiddle with her phone to pass the time. Then, just when she thought she’d have to leave to go pick up Peter and Joanna, Nate sailed through the door, and indeed, his face did light up at the sight of his family, even before he saw the donut bag. Still, Sandra thought she’d go for the gold and held it up. “Brought you a treat!”
“You’re the best!” he cried and bent to kiss her on the cheek. “Come on into my office. You didn’t have to wait out here!” He picked up Sammy and then put his hand to the small of her back, a gesture that still gave her the shivers after all these years. As she passed, she flashed a triumphant smile at the secretary, who pretended not to see it.
Once they were settled in his office with the door shut, Nate asked, “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“We just wanted to pop in and say hi.”
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
She giggled. “Well, I did want to ask you something.”
“Shoot. Anything for you.” He shuffled some papers around on his desk, already distracted.
For once, she didn’t mind. It might be good if he was a little distracted for this question. She took a deep breath. “I know this sounds like it’s coming out of left field, but I’ve actually been thinking about it for a few days.”
He nodded without looking up. He was staring at a spreadsheet.
“I was thinking about becoming a soccer official.”
That got his attention. His face snapped up and his lips parted a little. Then he just stared at her.
She held up a hand. “Hear me out. I’ve learned that they are desperate for officials, and I think it would be fun—”
“Do you even know the rules?”
“They will teach me the rules.”
He frowned. “I’m not so sure that’s true.”
“Well, then, I’ll learn them myself. That’s why God made YouTube. It’s not a very complicated game.”
“Right, but there are lots of little rules that only refs know. Do you know how far back a kid’s allowed to stand before kicking a corner kick?”
She tried not to let it show on her face, but she was pretty sure there was no rule regarding that question. “I’m an intelligent woman, Nate. I can learn the rules to a simple sport.”
It was his turn to hold up a hand. “Don’t get defensive. This is the first I’m hearing of this, so give me a chance to process.” He folded his hands on his desk and leveled a gaze at her. It appeared he was trying to think up arguments.
“I just don’t get it,” he finally said. “Do you even like soccer?”
She didn’t. Not really. She liked that Peter liked soccer. “Of course I like soccer. And it would bring in some extra money—” As soon as the words left her lips, she wished they hadn’t.
He flinched. “We don’t need you to work, Sandra.”
“I know that. But there’s no such thing as too much money, and I could use the exercise.” She couldn’t give two hoots about exercise, but the more he resisted, the more she wanted to make this happen.
“How are you going to have time?”
“I will only take games that don’t conflict with Peter’s schedule, and I found a free babysitter.”
His eyes grew wide. Finally, some news he liked. “Free? Who?”
“Ethel Baxter.” She was certain he wouldn’t know who that was.
“Oh, Ethel?” he cried. “She’s a lovely lady!”
I stand corrected. “She sure is. And she just loves Sammy.”
“She does? How do you know that?”
Oops. How was she supposed to explain why she’d dropped off their son in the middle of the day so she could go all secret super sleuth at a widow’s house? “I ... I went over to a friend’s house today. Her house was broken into, and she needed some help picking up.” Not exactly a lie. Probably too close to a lie to qualify as truth, but her conscience only piped up a little.
“Really? How lovely of you. What friend?”
“Isabelle.”
“Isabelle?” He scowled. “I don’t remember you mentioning an Isabelle.”
This was getting so sticky. Best to redirect. “I really want to do this. At least try it. If it causes a lot of problems for the family, of course I’ll stop.” She knew that it wouldn’t cause any problems.
He chewed on his lip. “I guess so.”
Really? That was easier than she’d expected. “Thanks, Nate!”
“Sure. Do you have any idea how to become a soccer ref?”
She shook her head. “None.”
He gave her a patronizing smirk.
“It can’t be that hard to figure out, Nate. I can just Google it.”
He picked up his phone. “Let me make a call. I know the guy in charge of the local district of soccer referees.” He punched some numbers and then waited. Then he said, in his official professional voice, “Could I speak to Mike White, please?”