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He stops in the doorway. “Yeah?”
I look at him. “Why don’t you ever call him Coach?” I ask.
Dad lowers his head, pausing for a moment before stepping back into the room. He closes the door behind him, getting my full attention. With his hands in his pockets, he looks at me and nods. “Back when your mom and I first got together, he wasn’t thrilled about it.”
“Yeah, you’ve told us that,” I say. “You guys secretly dated.”
“We did. He didn’t want guys on the team dating his daughter, but you know your mother.” He cracks a smile. “She’s gonna do what she wants.”
“And she wanted you.” I shrug. “So, what happened? He obviously came around, right?”
“Eventually. Before that, he tried to break us up. Damn near succeeded, too.”
“And that’s why you stopped calling him Coach?”
“He thought I wanted to be like him so much that I’d give her up. Courtney, too. Ally was pregnant.”
I pause. “He thought you’d leave us just to play football?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what he did.” He shakes his head once. “He never wanted to be a father. He thought having a family would hold him back, so he abandoned your mother and only came around when it would benefit him. Cary Pierce was my childhood hero, but all that changed when I found out who he really was. Controlling. Selfish. That’s not the man I wanted to be. That’s why I never called him Coach again.”
I scoff. “But you let us call him that for years? After what he did to you and Mom?”
“Connor—”
“Why didn’t you ever tell us about this?”
“Cary wasn’t a good father, but he was a good grandfather to you kids. I wouldn’t have agreed to do this today if he wasn’t,” he says. “It didn’t happen overnight, but he put in the work and your mother got twenty years with the father she should have had from the start. He changed.”
“Not enough for you to call him Coach again, though.”
“You’re too young to know this, but someday you will. Some grudges are good for you. They keep you from slipping up.” He sighs. “Doesn’t always work, though. I’ve made mistakes. Especially with you. I took something I wanted without thinking about how it would affect you. I became the man I never wanted to be, and for that, I am truly sorry, Connor.” He shifts, tightening his stance. “I’ve prepared my resignation from the team. I’m going to give it to the Dean on Monday.”
I blink. “What?”
“It’s your time,” he says. “I can find some other way to give back that doesn’t take away from you.” He reaches out and sets a hand on my shoulder. “I love you, Connor. I’ve always tried to do right by you. I’m not about to stop now.”
My stomach clenches as his hand slides off my shoulder. The weight of his words still lingers there as he turns away and a sense memory I haven’t felt in so long rises to the surface.
Me, curled on the couch next to him watching football games.
Him, carrying me back to my room when I inevitably fell asleep.
My father. The great Junior Morgan.
You could be the best player for the job, but you also might not be yet. If you’re coached by… you know, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play football, then you will become the best.
Dana was right.
I’m not the best, not by a long shot.
But I could be.
I will be.
