A Time to Dance/A Time to Embrace Read Free

other woman seemed unfettered, lovely and young and without the burdens of two decades of marriage. What was this feeling assaulting her? Jealousy?
    No, it felt more like regret. Abby’s pulse quickened. It couldn’t be, could it? What was there to regret? Hadn’t they both realized the place they were in, the place they were headed?
    Or was this how it would always feel to see John with another woman?
    Her vision clouded over, and again she heard John’s voice from long ago. “Dance with me, Abby . . . dance with me.”
    The silent words faded from her mind and she blinked back fresh tears. One thing was certain: if this was how being divorced was going to feel, she’d better get used to it.
    No matter how much she hated it.

Two
    T HE STADIUM WAS EMPTY, STREWN WITH CRUSHED Gatorade cups and half-eaten hot dogs. Assorted remnants of blue and gray hung from the student section, proof that the Marion Eagles had indeed been there, that John and Kade had accomplished their lifelong dream and won a state championship together.
    Abby wandered down the steps to the field and across the grass toward the locker room. John would still be inside, talking to the press, going over the game’s great plays with the other coaches, picking up after his team.
    Savoring the moment as long as possible.
    There was a bench just outside the visitors’ door and Abby sat down, gazing across the empty field. Kade, Nicole, Matt, and Sean were holding a table for them at Smokey’s Pizza a block down the street from the stadium. Abby’s father was waiting in the car. She studied the muddied lines and the way the goalposts stood proudly erect on either side of the field. Had it only been an hour ago that the place had been packed, an entire crowd holding its collective breath while Kade threw the final touchdown?
    Abby shivered and buried her hands deep in her pockets. The temperature had fallen, but that had little to do with the terrifying cold that reigned in her heart.
    A Marion assistant coach walked out and stopped when he saw her. “Hey, Abby.” A smile took up most of his face. “How ’bout them Eagles.”
    She chuckled softly. No matter what painful twists her life was about to take, she would remember their football days as absolutely wonderful. Every player, every coach, every season . . . all of it a mosaic of memories she would cherish forever. “Amazing. A dream come true.”
    The man huffed slightly and shook his head, gazing into the winter sky. He was the biggest coach on staff, a former lineman with a reputation for getting in kids’ faces. But here in the quiet shadows of a stadium void of cheering fans and the guttural grunts of sixty teenagers in full warrior gear, Abby noticed his eyes glistening with unshed tears. He cleared his throat and caught her gaze.
    “If I live a hundred years, I’ll never forget the way John and Kade worked together tonight. They’re magic, those two.” He crossed his arms and stared up at the stadium lights, trying to compose himself. In a moment, he looked at her again. “What a ride, Abby, you know? I’m just glad I got to be part of it.”
    “Me, too, Coach.” The corners of Abby’s mouth lifted slightly as a layer of tears clouded her vision. She gestured toward the locker room. “Is he almost finished?”
    “Yep, last reporters left a few minutes ago. He’s just getting his things.” The coach smiled at her again as he set off. “Well . . . see ya next year.”
    Abby nodded, afraid her voice would betray her if she tried to speak. There won’t be a next year for us . . . for me.
    When the coach was gone, Abby thought about John, about their wedding more than twenty-one years earlier. What had happened to the people they were back then, the people who had walked through fire together and come out stronger on the other side?
    Forget it, Abby. The coach was right. It was over now; she was just glad she’d been a part of it. Abby wished with everything in her she could go