Page 76 of The Maverick's Homecoming

At home alone in bed that night with Ed and Tom curled up together at her side, Kenzie thought about what Lauren had said a while ago now—that any man who made Lauren consider giving him her trust would have to be something special.

Finn was just that, something special. He was also a grown man now, a man who’d said he was ready to take care of her and her baby. She’d believed him when he said it.

But she’d held firm to her plan to raise her baby on her own, not to give her trust to him again no matter how many ways he proved he was worthy of it.

It had hurt so much to send him away. She’d known, though, that she’d done the right thing.

Too bad that since then, doubt had crept in.

Honestly, who was she kidding?

She loved him. Sometimes she couldn’t help thinking that she’d loved him since he was hers in high school, that she’d lied to herself for fifteen years, even married another man. But what good had all that denial and a broken marriage to the wrong man done for her in the end?

No good at all. Because the whole time, she still loved Finn.

The hard truth was, she’d never stopped.

* * *

At practice the next day, the team seemed more determined, more cheerful. And more focused.

Finn got Barrett aside for a moment and asked him if he’d noticed the sudden change in the players.

“I’ve noticed,” Barrett replied.

Finn regarded the other man sharply. “I’m getting the feeling you know what’s going on here.”

“I do, Coach.” Barrett couldn’t hide his grin.

“Tell me.”

“Remy O’Dare, Darren Tuttle and Kevin Brown got permission to miss school today. The three of them drove to Billings and back.”

Finn got the picture then. Three of the team’s top players had made a special trip to St. Vincent Regional. “They visited Sean,” he said.

“Yes, they did. And they came straight back to school from there. They got here about an hour ago. Evidently, the grapevine still works. Just about everyone at Tenacity High knows now that Sean is feeling good, already getting stronger and determined to reclaim his spot on the team next fall. The news is turning out to be a real spirit-lifter.”

Finn scoffed. “I told them the same thing the other day after I went to visit him.”

Barrett shrugged. “Apparently, it means more coming from their teammates.”

Well, that was humbling. Finn muttered wryly, “Yeah. Probably so.”

They got back to work. Practice went well.

Except for how hard it was not to keep checking the first row of the bleachers, keep stealing glances at the woman in the maroon scrubs and barn jacket, her silvery gold hair in that heavy braid down her back.

Damn, she was beautiful. And he couldn’t stop wishing that something would change, that he would find a way to earn her trust again, that somehow, he still might make her his.

Finn was the last to leave the field after practice. When he got to his crew cab, he found Oscar waiting by the driver’s door.

“Hey, Oscar.” Finn forced a smile. “Need a ride home?”

“Thanks, Coach. But my dad will take me.” Oscar tipped his head toward the pickup waiting two rows away. Jesse Abernathy sat behind the wheel. He waved out the open driver’s-door window and Finn waved back.

Finn stuck his hands in the pockets of his team jacket and leaned back against his crew cab. “So what’s going on?”

Oscar mirrored him, hands in his pockets, eyes on the sky. “You’re a good coach. I like working with you.”