Reye's Gold (34 page)

“Yes. The ceremony was very nice, very grand.” She
overemphasized the word like she was the Queen of
England. Her dad chuckled. “We, the recipients, were
given the red carpet treatment, a beautiful suite, fabulous
dinner, a plaque, and a standing ovation. I’ve never felt so
appreciated. All kidding aside, it was great, Dad.” She
waited a minute before nonchalantly adding, “I ran into
Stephen. You remember him, don’t you?”

“Sure, the young man from Dallas that went to the
law school here?”

“Yep, that’s him. I think their family’s firm helped to
sponsor the event.”

“Really.”

“Yep, and guess what?” Reye decided she needed to talk about this with someone other than Sam. She loved
her sister-in-laws and her mom, but she’d never felt close
enough to discuss Stephen with them. But her dad, he knew firsthand what Stephen had meant to her.

“What?”

“He wants to see me again. He say’s he realizes that he
loves me and made a mistake in leaving.”

“Huh,” he grunted. “Well, what do you know,” he
said, glancing at her face. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I’ve done nothing but think about this
since I’ve been home. I’m tired of thinking.”

“Do you still love him?”

“
Unfortunately, I think so. What does that say about
me? That after all my tears and grief, I’m actually giving
him further consideration. See, Dad, I’ve always told you
I’m the weak link in this family’s chain.”

Her dad chuckled and she joined in. “Loving
someone doesn’t make you weak, baby girl. It actually
takes more than a bit of courage to put yourself in
someone else’s hands, to risk.”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, mocking her, but continuing to talk.
“Love is sometimes unexplainable, certainly unpre
dictable, and a whole lot irrational. It goes beyond what
you can see to what you feel, and it’s scary. But if you find
that someone, it is so worth it. Your mom was worth it
for me,” he said, smiling at her. They sat in silence for a
long time, looking out at the night sky.

“You know what, Dad?” she said. “I don’t have to do
anything right now, do I? I can wait and see what he
does, can’t I?”

“You can do whatever you want, baby girl,” he said,
looking at her.

“I love you, Dad.” She leaned over to give him a hug. “I love you, too.”

* * *

Stephen sat in his dad’s office reviewing documents
from an estate for which the firm had been named
executor. One of their long-standing clients had died
early this week, leaving behind a large fortune to be dis
t
ributed to his family and local charities. It was one of the
services provided by their firm, a timely and thorough
transfer of assets in accordance to the client’s direction,
usually a will or trust. They were in the beginning stages
of the process, and depending on the size of an estate, it
might take years to complete the process.

His dad was giving him a large chunk of it to work
through. Stephen, having gained experience from his
summers spent working at the office, understood what
was required. In addition to having a law degree, Stephen
held an undergraduate degree in finance, another advan
tage in the trust and estate business. It was now nine-
thirty, and they’d been working in his dad’s office since the firm officially shut down at five. His dad had agreed
to spend tonight completing the preliminary review so
that Stephen could take tomorrow, Friday, off. He was going to Austin.

“Your first trip to Austin?”

“Yes, sir. I thought about leaving on Saturday, but I’m
getting a bit anxious.”

He looked at Stephen, proud of the man he was
becoming. “Well, good luck.”

“I’ll need it.”

Unfortunately, the office called, and Stephen went in
for a short time Friday morning, so he’d arrived in Austin
around three in the afternoon. He’d booked a hotel close
to the university, dropped his bags off, and had changed
into jeans and a t-shirt, leaving his hotel in search of
Reye. His first destination was the center where she
worked. He was headed there now, taking in the city as he drove. Austin was so different from Dallas. It was more laid back compared to Dallas’ rat-on-a-treadmill
pace. It was slower here, and slow was good sometimes.

Stephen turned into the parking lot of the center,
where Reye spent a large chunk of her time, filled with
regrets. He was regretful that he’d never been to this place
before, that he’d never helped her coach, and that he’d been stingy with his time on things that had mattered to
her. He’d felt supremely sad that she’d left thinking their
relationship had been just sex. It hadn’t, he’d just been
clueless at the time. No use crying over spilled milk, his
grandmother liked to say, so he pushed ahead.

He walked up to the center, noting the kids around
it, standing and hanging out. He gave a nod to the group
of boys clumped together working at looking cool and
indifferent. The indifferent part needed more work. He
opened the door and walked in, taking a second to look
around. The information desk was located a few steps
away. He walked over, making eye contact with an older
woman, short, with a short afro talking on the tele
phone. He stood next to her, waiting for her to finish the
conversation.

She looked up, smiling at him, holding a finger, the
age-old sign for wait, shaking her head as she listened to the person on the other end.

“Girl, let me call you later, there’s a gentlemen at the
desk that needs my assistance. I’ll call you back in a
minute.” Stephen gave her a huge smile, hoping his
charm would aid him in finding Reye.

“Can I help you?”

“
Yes, I am looking for Reye Jackson. She works here
in the aftercare and summer care programs.”

“I’m sorry, son, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Stephen Stuart.”

“Is she expecting you?”

“No, I was hoping to surprise her.”

“Well, Stephen Stuart, you’ve just missed her.” His
smile stayed in place, but his eyes dimmed a bit. Of
course Susan knew who
he
was. So this was the face that
belonged to Reye’s Stephen. He was indeed handsome,
tall, with a beautiful pair of blue eyes, a thick head of
black hair, and a smile that had probably gotten a lot of
women in trouble. She also knew what he’d meant to
Reye and the hurt he’d left behind. Men! She loved them
dearly, but they could wreak some havoc, leaving plenty of destruction in their wake.

“Do you know where she is?” he asked, his question
bringing her back from her musings.

She hoped she wouldn’t regret this later. “On Friday
afternoons, Reye is usually at soccer practice with her
team. They meet at the soccer fields located at
Henderson and Third. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes.”

“She left about thirty minutes ago, so you better get
a move on. They practice for an hour. If you miss her
there, she and her dad have been working on restoring a
house for the new non-profit. That address is 9234
Henderson, which is not far from the soccer fields.”

“Thank you,” he said, his eyes reflecting surprise.

“
I love Reye like she was my daughter, and she has
given so much to the children here. I want her to be
happy, and if you ever hurt her again, I’ll personally come
looking for you.” Her smile was broad, but he believed
she meant business.

“I won’t, and thanks again. I’d better get moving. Thank you . . .”

“Susan,” she said, “Dr. Susan Houston, Reye’s boss.”
She extended her hand for him to shake.

“Nice meeting you, Dr. Houston, hope to see you
more often,” he said, accepting her hand. He gave her
another one of his smiles as he backed away from the
desk and walked out the door.

The fields were located fairly close to the center,
within five minutes or so. This neighborhood was mixed,
Hispanics, African-Americans, whites, some Asians. He
pulled in to the parking lot of the soccer fields and got
out of his car. There were three fields, sitting side by side.
He spotted Reye on the field farthest from him. The
other two fields were being used by adults, playing as if they were representing their country for the world cup. He was glad he’d taken the time to change.

The kids were divided into two lines standing side by
side, facing the soccer goals, practicing their shooting.
Reye stood in the middle of the goal; large goalie gloves
covered her hands as she stood catching the balls while
giving instructions to the children as they took their shots.
One of the kids’ shot hit her in her chest. It was caught
easily and rolled back to him. Stephen walked over to
stand next to the goal. She glanced over at him, surprised.

“
Where did you come from? And how did you know
where I’d be?”

“I stopped by the center and Susan told me you were
here. Can I help?”

“Sure. I guess you could be the goalie. It’ll give me
more time to work with the kids. We are working on
striking the ball correctly.”

The kids had stopped and were watching them
intently. She called them over to her. “Kids, this is going
to be our goalie for today. His name is Mr. Stephen.” He
looked out into ten or more assessing pairs of eyes.

“Hi,” he said, “I’m a friend of your coach. I met her
last year when I played soccer against her.” The children’s
eyes swung back to Reye. “I love soccer, and I started
playing when I was your age and continued to play all through high school,” he continued.

“Let’s take a water break and then we’ll start again,”
Reye said to them. The kids took off like bullets to the
side of the field that held their water bottles.

“So, how was your Christmas?”

“Fine. I spent it with my family, as usual. Yours?”

“It was good.”

“How long are you going to be in town?”

“The weekend. I thought I might talk you in to a
movie or maybe you would have dinner with me?”

“I wish I could, but I usually help my dad on the
weekends and I have a soccer game with the kids
tomorrow.”

“Maybe I could help. I came to see you, so I don’t mind hanging and helping you and your dad.”

“
Maybe. We’ll talk after practice,” she said, walking
away. She moved to stand in front of the kids, who were
back in line, ready to resume the kicking drill.

“Ready when you are,” she said, turning to look at him. He’d forgone the use of gloves and assumed the
goalie position, waiting for the first kick. The kids were
much more enthusiastic in their kicks with him in the
goal. Stephen was impressed by some of their techniques, and he told them so. He listened as Reye offered instruc
tion and further demonstration to the children. She was
a good coach, he thought to himself.

After about what seemed like fifty kicks on goal, Reye
called the kids over to her. They formed a circle around
her. “Are you all ready for tomorrow’s game?”

“YES!” her team shouted as Stephen walked towards
them.

After noticing Stephen, Shondra raised her hand. “Is
he going to be there?”

“I don’t know. If there aren’t any other questions,” Reye said, extending her hand out in front, little hands
piled in on top of hers.