Marty would’ve liked to press his buddy for clarification but resisted. Caleb’s ability to listen and keep information in confidence was one of the many reasons why they had become friends since meeting at church.
Between the two of them and the dolly, they had the flats of beverages stored away in minutes. Marty moved his truck away from the front of the gym and walked back in, ignoring the ache in his left leg. It was a frequent reminder of how quickly life could change.
Emma glanced up at him when he entered the gym before focusing on something in front of her. A pang of guilt hit Marty. He might have spoken the truth, but that didn’t mean he should have. He could have been kinder or taken the higher ground and put an end to their snarky conversation.
Most of all, he thought about how he’d feel if someone had spoken to his mom like that. Or a sister, if he had one. That’s what convicted him the most.Be kind. You never know what someone might be going through.Didn’t he see that on a meme on social media somewhere? It was good advice he should’ve remembered thirty minutes ago.
Marty approached the counter and cleared his throat. “Hey. Look, I egged you on earlier. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry.” He thought she was going to ignore him completely until she lifted her chin and looked at him.
“Yeah. Well, I took the bait.” She shrugged as a flicker of regret crossed her face. “It wasn’t my finest moment, either.”
It seemed that was going to be as close to an apology as he was going to get. He gave her one of his winning smiles. “Maybe we both jumped to some conclusions about the other person.”
Emma seemed to consider that. “Like you said, I don’t know you. And you definitely don’t know me, either.”
“You know, we could fix that if you’d go out to dinner with me tonight.”
Her green eyes widened as her nostrils flared. “Never going to happen. Don’t you have a class to coach?” With that, she pushed away from the counter and turned her back to him.
His ego ought to be offended—at least a little—by her immediate rejection and clear disgust at the suggestion. Instead, he chuckled. “Never say never, honey.” He smacked the top of the counter with the palm of his hand before moving toward the class of rambunctious kids that was waiting for him.
Every ounce of common sense told him he should steer clear of Emma. But it was the way his heart flip-flopped in his chest that had him looking forward to the challenge of getting her to change her mind about him one day.
2
Emma handed a receipt to a parent who’d just paid for the month’s classes for her two children. When Emma was alone again, she fumed at Marty’s back as he and Bo, one of the other coaches, worked with kids out on the floor.
She’d been impressed he’d apologized, until he’d asked her out on a date. Really? If their little excursion to Costco taught her anything, it was that they didn’t get along. Why voluntarily put herself in that position again?
Besides, if she went on a date with him, he’d never let her forget it. Not that she’d consider it for a minute.
Never say never indeed. And calling her honey? He was lucky she hadn’t thrown something at him. Who did he think he was, anyway? Like she told him, he obviously considered himself God’s gift to women. “Not this woman,” she muttered, then glanced at the group of parents in the nearby observation area to make sure no one had heard the crazy lady talking to herself.
She watched Marty’s class for several minutes. It was clear the kids loved him. He was a great coach—one of the few who actually kept control of the class and didn’t let the kids run amok. She had to give him a lot of credit for that. There were two other coaches who didn’t do as good of a job, and their classes made Emma cringe.
Marty ran next to one of his young charges as the girl raced to the warped wall and did her best to climb up as far as she could. For a moment there, it looked like Marty nearly tripped. Or maybe he was limping. She’d never seen him limp before. Then again, it might be the padding he was running on that gave that impression.
Not that it mattered. She had no business analyzing the way he ran.
Or the way he constantly had to sweep his dark blond hair out of his eyes because he wore it longer and shaggy around his ears. When was the last time he got a haircut? So what if it actually looked good with the ends curling slightly at the back of his neck? It totally wasn’t practical considering how many hours a day he worked at a gym. Combine that hair with the bright blue eyes and he ought to be on a beach surfing somewhere instead of coaching a bunch of kids.
As though he knew she were thinking about him, he ran a hand through his hair and caught her gaze from across the gym. He winked before turning his attention back to his class.
He was probably winking at one of the single moms out there watching her kid. Emma rolled her eyes.
Marty was right about one thing, though. She had free access to the gym and had never used it. She pulled her shirt collar up a little to make sure her scar was hidden and then put a hand on her stomach. Unfortunately, her rather sedentary life was beginning to show now that she was thirty. Gone were the days where she could sit around—even if she were sick at the time—and eat whatever she wanted without worrying about her weight.
Growing up, her heart condition meant not stressing herself out with physical activity. Since recovering from her transplant nearly three years ago, she’d gotten the all-clear from her doctors. Even still, Emma was nervous. What if working out caused problems with her heart? Just thinking about Marty laughing at her lack of coordination and stamina made her face flush. Not going to happen.
Emma tried to focus on customers as they rounded up their children at the end of class. Several kids chose a drink from the cooler and deposited their money in the jar on the counter.
With red faces, sweaty hair, and bright smiles, the kids left with their parents. Emma took a deep breath as the welcome silence surrounded her. She never realized how loud the gym was until the little rascals were gone.
They had two hours of open gym followed by two more classes. Then Emma would be free to head home at six when the final class of the day began. Caleb closed the gym at that point, and she didn’t need to stay for that. She was more than ready to go home today.
She checked in several adults who had arrived for open gym then got up to start tidying the observation area. It wasn’t long before Marty crossed the gym and approached her, a bottle of Gatorade in one hand. He took a long swig before replacing the cap. “Must be something in the air. Those kids were wild today.”
“Well, you kept them busy, so that’s good. Maybe they’ll crash for their parents this evening.”
