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  “Nothing, honey,” Annie said. “Just go back to sleep.”

  Charlotte, too tired to resist, shuffled back to bed.

  Annie returned to her bedroom. She hoped the slamming door had awakened Tim so they could talk about what had just happened. But he was dead asleep. Nothing would wake him now.

  She climbed into bed, turned on her side and curled up close beside him. They fit together perfectly. She closed her eyes and dove into sleep.

  Eight

  POWER POINTERS—July 15th!!! News of the Day

  Welcome, or Welcome Back, to all brand-new as well as all continuing members of this year’s Power!!!

  A special hello to two of our newest players, Evelyn Murphy and Jolie Blum, who are joining us all the way from Tyler Park!

  I am confident our “old” players will make all our “new” players feel right at home!!!

  Reminder to All New Players: Please purchase a two-inch three-ring binder for this and all subsequent team dispatches as well as for our team roster, snack schedule, and volunteer sign-up sheet, which is being typed up by our noble team manager, Ken, father of our amazing midfielder, Bailey!!!

  I am pleased to announce that Marilyn Brown, mother of Secret Weapon Forward Shelby, has agreed to serve as my special assistant. This is an unofficial yet extremely important position, as all of our returning families know.

  Practice Update: Practice will continue to be held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the summer, from eight forty-five to twelve fifteen and four forty-five to six thirty, irregardless of the weather!

  Remember, no Power player has ever melted because of rain!!!

  Please note the following allowable excuses for missing practice:

  One: Death

  Two: Official Power Team Tourney

  Note: As soon as the Winslow West Mountain Ridge Soccer-Plex officially opens, we will begin ball skills sessions every Tuesday and Thursday, from nine fifteen to twelve fifteen and two fifteen to four forty-five. These sessions are recommended for all players who wish to improve their skills. This includes everyone except Bobbi, who will attend the special Soccer-Plex Goalkeeper School as soon as her right ankle and left knee heal.

  Important Note for New Players: Please do not schedule any activities for Saturdays as Saturday Scrimmages will begin shortly!!!!

  Final Note on Practice Times: The Power training program alone is not sufficient to take us to the next level. We will only reach the next level if every player on the team continues to train on her own, during her free time, each and every day!!! Believe me when I say that I can tell within the first twelve seconds of practice who has been working hard and who has not.

  Note: Any player who does not want to improve her conditioning by participating in our high-level training, should see me as soon as possible for alternatives to the Power!!!

  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call Ken, Marilyn, or myself!

  Note to New Parents: For obvious reasons, I am not available on game weekends for discussions of any sort on any subject!!!

  Good Luck to One and All from Winslow West!!

  Nine

  Winslow stood on what would soon be the dead center of the field of his Soccer-Plex, and inhaled the promising scent of wood shavings, newly poured concrete, epoxy, and paint.

  Soon, deliciously, the air would fill up with other smells: artificial turf, sweat, french fries, young dreams.

  “Winslow?” Tony, the electrician, called him back to the present. “Do you have a minute to walk through the control room?”

  “Of course,” Winslow said, but only because Tony was someone he liked. The control room didn’t interest Winslow. He’d already given that responsibility to Parker. It would be Parker who would keep an eye on the pressure of the control room blowers. Winslow had other pressures to think about.

  Like the pressure on the team, which he needed to keep up high—very, very high. If he let it slacken for even one day, he knew precisely what would happen. The top players would leave.

  It was something people didn’t understand. The parents at the top had the loyalty of a flea, always looking for the next dog to suck dry. Lose the top and the middle followed. And what did that leave him but the dregs.

  It happened every day. Teams collapsed in less time than it took to blow a whistle. And he would not let that happen to him.

  For a moment he pictured Shelby in the red jersey of his rival team, and he let out a groan.

  “You okay?” Tony asked as he stopped at the control room door.

  “What?” Winslow asked. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” He smiled.

  “Okay. Here we go.” Tony entered the security code into an alarm pad on the wall.

  “Does Parker have that code?” Winslow asked.

  “Yup,” Tony said. “I gave it to him yesterday. You have it, he has it, and I have it. If I were you, I’d leave it at that.”

  Tony opened the door and led Winslow inside. The door slammed shut behind them with a tight seal.

  Winslow felt the hum of the giant blowers. His body vibrated with their power. He loved the blowers, this room, the Soccer-Plex, his life. He opened his nostrils and breathed in the charged air.

  “Your two main fans are over there,” Tony yelled to be heard over the noise.

  Winslow nodded. He checked his watch. How long was this going to take? He ought to be in his office, calling that coach from Holder. For the third time in a week he’d heard boasts that the Holder coach had taken his team to a new level. Now, all of sudden, the Holder Crush was the team everyone said smelled like a state cup win. Of course that couldn’t be true. Winslow wouldn’t let that be true.

  Tony’s voice droned on. “And those blowers over there are your auxiliaries.”

  “You did go through all this with Parker, didn’t you?” Winslow wanted to make sure it wasn’t necessary for him to pay attention.

  Tony nodded. “He knows the system backward and forward.”

  “Good,” Winslow said.

  Tony flipped a lever, and the noise level increased to a roar. “These little babies are what’s going to let you sleep at night,” Tony shouted.

  Winslow smiled and nodded and tuned out Tony’s voice. Thanksgiving was the other thing he needed to attend to. If he made the calls today he might actually pull off hosting the first-ever Winslow West Thanksgiving Soccer-Plex Tournament.

  “Automatic backup,” Tony shouted.

  This had gone on long enough. Winslow mouthed, “Can’t hear you,” and pointed to his ear. Tony nodded that he understood. They headed to the door and stepped back out onto the field. The silence felt heavy, as if it had snowed while they were gone.

  “Those fans are beautiful, aren’t they?” Tony asked.

  “Beautiful,” Winslow agreed. He glanced across the concrete subfloor and was disheartened to see the plumber waiting for him.

  “Winslow,” the plumber called. He jogged over. “How’s it going?”

  “Very well, Roy. Very, very well. How’s the plumbing coming?”

  “I’m ready to lay the pipe to the first stall,” Roy said. “But I don’t like how the concrete was poured. And you know as well as me, if you don’t get those things right from the get-go they screw you later on. I had the same problem over at the tennis bubble near the parkway.”

  Winslow couldn’t fathom why people insisted on giving him so many unnecessary details. He asked the only question that mattered. “Will you be able to finish on time?”

  “Definitely,” Roy said. “The only thing is someone told me you might be bringing your team in here to practice soon, which worries me because there are certain solvents I don’t want to use if there are going to be kids around.”

  “You tell me how long you need me to keep the girls out and that’s exactly what I’ll do,” Winslow said.

  “Actually, I was thinking maybe you could bring the team in during the day,” Roy said. “And I could work with the solvents at night.”


  Winslow liked that—Roy coming in when he wasn’t around. “You don’t mind?”

  “Hey—I got a kid too. And Nadine, she’s dying to get in here and onto the field. To me, this isn’t a job. It’s personal. Just like with you.”

  Time to disengage. “Yes.”

  “Speaking of which,” said Roy. “I hate to bother you, but I’m a little concerned. About Nadine and all.”

  Winslow didn’t respond, but that didn’t make a difference.

  “If she stays on that Asteroids team,” Roy said, “I think she’s going to start losing interest in the game. Don’t get me wrong. Gerri Picker’s nice and all. But she’s more like a babysitter than a coach. And the team has a lot of players who spend a lot of time on the field fixing their hair, if you know what I mean.”

  “There are different levels of commitment on every team,” Winslow said.

  “I know,” Roy said. “It’s just that Nadine is one of those really committed players. She knows it’s all about working hard. I tell her all the time. You work hard, you’ll move up to the Power. And she is. She’s working really hard.”

  “Working hard is its own reward, isn’t it?” Winslow asked. He glanced around, looking for an escape route. Where was Parker? Where was anyone?

  “The thing is,” Roy went on, “we haven’t been notified about the teams yet. I understand first dibs on the Power go to the girls who’ve been playing with you since they were little.”

  “That’s true,” Winslow said. He didn’t share that there were only two of those left.

  “I don’t want to put you on the spot,” Roy said. “I just thought maybe you could give me an idea. You know, let me know what direction your thinking is going.”

  “We’re in the final stages of planning now,” Winslow said.

  “So does she have a chance?” Roy asked.

  Winslow thought about Dick, the other plumber who’d bid on the job. Dick was more expensive, but clearly Winslow had made an error in not offering the job to Dick.

  “Here’s what I think, Roy. I think people don’t really understand what my girls do. I think people don’t get that my girls practice with me at least four hours every day. Then they go home and get in another hundred touches on the ball. Because it all comes down to that, doesn’t it? Touches on the ball?”

  “Nadine is sleeping with the ball,” said Roy.

  “I’m sure she is,” Winslow said.

  “What I was thinking,” Roy said, “is maybe you could let Nadine train with you over the winter, if she doesn’t make the team. Because I know if she trains with you, you’ll see in a minute how good she is.”

  What Winslow saw was Tony coming out of the fan room.

  “Pardon me, Roy, but if I don’t meet with Tony about the inflation levels, I’m afraid the whole bubble might come down on our heads.”

  “Nadine is tough,” Roy called after him as Winslow strode across the field to where Tony was packing up his tools. “She’ll never let you down.”

  “Roy giving you a hard time?” Tony asked.

  Winslow smiled. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He gave his back to Roy and engaged Tony in a lengthy discussion about Tony’s new summer house in Port Pleasant. When he was absolutely sure Roy had left, he turned.

  He should have waited longer.

  Roy jogged over. “What do you think about the winter training idea? Of course, I’ll pay. I’ll pay extra if you want me to.”

  “Why don’t we talk tomorrow?” Winslow said. He tapped his watch. “I promised the Holder coach I’d get back to him at exactly five o’clock. It would be bad form to keep him waiting, don’t you think?”

  “Sure,” Roy said. “No problem. Sure.”

  Roy watched Winslow walk away, and smiled. He’d done it. Nadine was in. Because no way would Winslow have asked if they could talk tomorrow if she wasn’t in. No way.

  Ten

  It came together more quickly than Annie could have hoped. Her friend Linda gave her the name of an acquaintance who had the magic combination of deep pockets, lots of work, and not enough bodies to get the work done.

  “Promise me this,” Linda said. “When Sondra asks you your rate, think of the highest number you can imagine, and double it. Zaxtec is desperate. Keep that in the front of your brain. Desperate.”

  “I don’t think I can double it,” Annie said.

  “You’re right,” Linda said. “You should triple it. You’re worth it, and they’ll pay. I’m telling you Annie, if you don’t triple that number I’m going to come out to New Jersey and find you.”

  “That’s not much of a threat,” Annie said. “Besides, you’ve always made it very clear that you come from a long line of New Yorkers who don’t believe in crossing the Hudson River.”

  “I’m willing to cross it once,” Linda said. “Maybe. If you get this project.”

  Annie made the call. Sondra, the client, asked for her rate. Annie thought of an unthinkable number, and doubled it.

  “Wow!” Sondra said. “Great!”

  Annie immediately knew she had undervalued herself by a lot. But that was okay. This was her first client, and the first was always the hardest to get.

  She quickly reorganized herself so she could get to Zaxtec for the early morning meeting. Tim was happy to help out by pushing back his return trip to Atlanta so he could get Charlotte off to camp. Getting out of the house had been easy for Annie. She simply left before anyone else was awake. As it turned out, she was grateful for an excuse to leave early. The night before, they had finally told Charlotte what happened with Hildy. Not surprisingly, it hadn’t gone well.

  They had put off telling Charlotte all week because they had both believed Hildy would be back any day to explain why she had left and to say goodbye. But when Hildy finally did return for the rest of her things, Charlotte was at camp and neither Annie nor Tim was home.

  Charlotte found the loving note Hildy left for her on the kitchen table. But even after reading it, she couldn’t believe her babysitter was gone for good. Finally, Annie took her up to Hildy’s room so she could see for herself.

  Charlotte scanned the empty closet, the bare shelves, and the naked bed.

  “I’m so sorry,” Annie said. “I know you two were very close.”

  “That’s okay,” Charlotte told her. “I’m kind of old to have a babysitter.”

  Annie was surprised by Charlotte’s stoic response. But later that night as she passed Charlotte’s closed bedroom door she heard the sound of quiet crying. Her daughter wasn’t as tough as she pretended to be.

  Annie knocked gently and let herself in. Charlotte lay in bed, her eyes closed, her eyelashes damp with tears she hadn’t had time to wipe away.

  “Charlotte?” Annie said.

  Charlotte squeezed her eyes tighter, as if that would fool her mother into thinking she was fast asleep.

  Annie leaned over and gently kissed Charlotte’s head. When Charlotte recoiled slightly, Annie understood immediately that her daughter had decided Hildy’s departure was entirely her mother’s fault.

  It was good that Tim would be the one to wake her up today. Because Hildy-departure-management could not be her problem right now. Now she was racing across Park Avenue, in record-breaking heat, to meet her very first consulting company client.

  As she crossed the street she felt the macadam melting, but she didn’t care. The bottoms of her pumps stuck slightly each time she took a step, but it didn’t slow her down.

  She was working for herself. No Crawford, Bingham, or Roxanne Lacombe. No puffed-up Blaine Glass or petering-out Pederson. No more nights in musty hotel rooms. No more debilitating waves of mother guilt. Now that she worked for herself, finally, her hard work would pay off.

  She arrived at the Zaxtec midtown office smiling and feeling great. She was a perfect eight minutes early. It was a perfect day.

  The receptionist cheerfully escorted her to a small conference room and promised that Sondra would join her in a minute.

/>   The room was cool, just the right temperature for storing potatoes or wine. Annie noticed the thermostat across from her, locked in a wall-mounted Lucite box, like a museum display. The digital numbers stared back at her: sixty-eight degrees. It felt good, refreshing. Annie breathed in deeply, letting the brisk air energize her.

  She waited a long while before checking her watch. She had nowhere else to be but here. When she glanced at it, briefly, fifteen minutes had passed. That was okay. She looked again after twenty minutes. Then, half an hour.

  After forty-five minutes, the digital thermostat reported a temperature of sixty-four degrees. The steel frame of the conference room chair was so cold Annie’s leg began to feel like it was burning. Soon her hands went numb. She was wiggling her fingers in the air to see if that would revive them when a woman burst into the room.

  “Hi. I’m Sondra. Hello to you too,” she added, returning what she thought was Annie’s jiggling finger wave.

  Annie flung out her numb hand, hoping it would obey her brain’s instructions to give something resembling a firm shake. But Sondra had already turned her back to close the door. Annie quickly let her numb arm flop down to her side.

  “Meetings,” Sondra said, and shook her head.

  Annie didn’t know if this referred to why she was late, or to what they were about to do. Either way, it didn’t matter. She smiled and looked sympathetic.

  She recognized Sondra’s type immediately. Young, ambitious, pretty, smart. She had dimples when she smiled, and she knew how to use them. She had lots of ideas she thought were better than anyone else’s, and she knew how to use them too.

  Sondra leaned toward Annie. “I hear you’re totally wonderful,” she said. “In fact I hear you’re the best change management specialist in town. Which is perfect for us, because at Zaxtec our culture is all about being the best.”

  “That’s great to know,” Annie said.

  “We are going to make things happen here for both of us,” Sondra said.

  Annie couldn’t believe her good fortune. They were soul mates already.