could swallow him.
Natalie frowned. “You know better than that, Lucas. We don’t single out players. We all did our best. And win or lose, we play as a team. Now, I saw some really good stuff out there today. We’ll build on that in practice, and we’ll be even stronger for next week’s game.”
But the solemn looks on all the players’ faces suggested she wasn’t getting through.
“We’d better have extra practice because we really need it,” Kendall, one of the two girls on the team, called from the Natalie’s left side.
“Maybe all night,” piped one of the boys.
The children all murmured their agreement. She was losing them. They were giving up, and she worried she wouldn’t be able to stop it.
“Hey, what are all of those long faces about?”
Natalie turned in the direction of Shane’s voice. She’d been so aware of him throughout the game that it didn’t seem possible that he could have wheeled his chair to the back of her team huddle without her noticing. But there he was.
The children turned their heads first and then swiveled their chairs to face the visitor they’d probably noticed from the sidelines. He was hard to miss.
“Hi, I’m Shane.”
“That’s Mr. Shane,” Natalie corrected.
Shane grinned. “I just wanted to know what all this sadness is about. I saw some good basketball out there. You guys really played your hearts out.”
Had he been watching a different game? If he’d seen any good basketball, it had been from their opponents, but she was grateful for his encouraging words.
“Are you Coach Natalie’s friend?” Lucas wanted to know.
“Do you play basketball, too?” Kendall asked.
Without even receiving answers to their questions, the players suddenly sat higher in their chairs. Even Chase. Their loss was all but forgotten as they watched, with open curiosity, the muscular man, who traveled by wheelchair like they did.
“Yes, I’m Coach Natalie’s friend,” he said, responding to the first question.
Natalie could have sworn that his warm gaze on her felt more than just friendly.
Kendall rolled to the outside of the huddle to get a closer look at Shane. “You have a wheelchair.”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, something happened at work.”
“An accident?” Lucas asked.
“Something like that.”
“I was in a car accident,” Lucas said.
“Sorry, man,” Shane told him.
Natalie braced herself, waiting for Shane to reveal what she already knew, but he didn’t volunteer any details.
“What kind of job do you have?” Kendall wanted to know.
“I’m a police officer.”
Shane met Natalie’s gaze as he said it, so she forced herself to look away, toward the basket on the south side of the court.
“Really?” one of the players chimed.
“That’s cool,” another called out.
“You aren’t a cop anymore, are you?” Lucas, ever the realist, asked.
Shane smile tightened. “Sure I am. I’ll go back to work when I get better.”
He blinked as if recognizing that he’d said those words to the wrong audience. But the children only nodded. Some of them still believed they’d get better, too.
“But I need something to do while I’m waiting to go back to work, so maybe I could be your assistant coach,” he blurted.
Natalie could only stare at Shane. His eyes widened. Had he even shocked himself with his knee-jerk offer? She shook her head, even as her pulse rushed.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Why had he offered? Did he know anything about basketball? “The season is more than half over, and the kids would have to get comfortable with another coach...”
“You’re probably right.”
She’d expected him to argue, so her disappointment that he was giving up without a fight surprised her.
Chase, who seldom had an opinion about anything, suddenly rolled his chair closer to Shane. “Can Mr. Shane be our assistant coach, Coach Natalie?”
“Yeah, can he?” another chimed.
Natalie was caught—had been from the moment he’d arrived at the gym with an agenda that still wasn’t obvious to her. But as much as she couldn’t disappoint the children, who were excited to be near an adult facing challenges similar to theirs, she reasoned that it might be good for Shane, as well. Somehow she needed to help restore his confidence if she wanted him to move forward in his recovery.
“We’ll need to check with the league. And your parents.”
Who was she kidding? League officials would be thrilled to have a police officer among the coaching ranks. As for the parents, they were already crowding closer, excited about the prospect of having someone with a physical disability serving as a role model for their kids. She couldn’t blame them.
“If it’s okay with them, then it’s fine with me,” she said.
What followed were the loudest cheers her players had made all day.
The man who’d been with Shane earlier strode across the gym as the players waved and started off with their families. He raised an eyebrow when he reached them.
“What have you gotten into now?” He turned conspiratorially to Natalie, gesturing toward Shane. “This guy. You leave him alone for a minute and he causes all kinds of trouble.”
“I’m starting to realize that,” she said with a wry smile. “Hi. I’m Natalie.”
“Trevor.” He shook her hand.
“One of Shane’s police officer friends?”
Trevor waggled an eyebrow. “Did he already tell you about me?”
“Just a guess.”
“Good. He didn’t tell me about you, either.” He exchanged a look with Shane and then turned back to her.
“I’m Shane’s physical therapist,” she explained.
“Oh, I see.” He gave Shane a thumbs-up and then turned back to her. “Count on Shane to have a therapist like you. He always finds the pretty ladies.”
“Just his PT,” she clarified. And what exactly did the guy see? “Well, apparently, we’re going to do some coaching together.”
“Him? Coach basketball?” Trevor stifled a laugh. “So that’s why you wanted to come to a game. To coach?”
“I’ll be the assistant coach,” Shane clarified.
“If everything checks out,” Natalie couldn’t help adding.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Trevor said. “You’ve got one of the good ones. The kids will be lucky to have him.”
“I keep hearing that. He must pay you guys for endorsements.” But even as she said it, the officer’s words replayed in her thoughts. You’ve got one of the good ones. She didn’t have him at all, and didn’t even want to...right?
“He pays every month, just like clockwork.” Trevor turned back to Shane. “So, since you’re assistant coaching and all, you’ll be needing rides to the practices and games.”
“I can pick him up,” Natalie heard herself saying.