Red Zone by Leslie North

Author:Leslie North [North, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-28T16:00:00+00:00

12

After work that day, James headed to pick up Emma from her dance class. His gut was still in knots over the way their relationship had been blasted across the internet, but he knew there was nothing else he could do except wait.

He was more worried about the fallout for Daisy. She’d worked hard—probably harder than most people—to get to her position. Because she wasn’t just climbing a difficult work ladder, she was scaling a rock face originally designed for men alone.

James knew how much of a boys’ club the sports world could be, especially when it came to the high ranks of the NFL. He just prayed this storm would pass quickly, that it might remain a simple waterspout as opposed to developing into a category five hurricane.

James pulled into the cul-de-sac in front of the main doors of the dance school. Emma was already there, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, a frown pulling at her mouth. She hurried toward the car when she saw him, her white dance tights contrasting with the shiny black of her tap shoes, and she slipped into the back seat.

“Hey there, honey,” he said brightly. She said nothing in response, so he reached into the back seat to pat her knee. “Have a good dance practice?”

She shrugged, her eyes fastened to the black practice pants she wore. “I guess.”

Silence stretched between them. “You don’t look so happy.”

She shrugged again, looking out the window then.

“You have a good day?”

“Not really.”

Now, at least, he was getting somewhere. Though he could only guess what the cause might be. The latest social media drama, or maybe they were back to the original bully issues. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

She sighed softly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He nodded to himself as he drove, doing some mental calculations about how he might be able to get his daughter to open up the fastest. “Well, I wish you would. Listen…how about this? I get you some ice cream, you spill whatever’s on your mind, and then we all feel better and go home.”

She cocked her head as though she was thinking about it. “That might work.”

“Ice cream always works,” he told her. That earned him a small smile, so he let the radio fill the silence until they made it to the nearest ice cream shop. Emma ordered first, her usual double scoop chocolate cone with extra sprinkles, while James played it safe with a vanilla yogurt.

“All right,” he said as they made their way to a bench at the far edge of the property where it butted up against a small downtown park. People milled closer to the building, which meant they had relative privacy and plenty of shade from nearby trees to protect their precious haul. “So let’s hear it, honey.”

Emma’s brows knit together as she took a few licks of her ice cream cone. Then she asked, “Is Daisy okay?”

The simple question illuminated everything for James. Emma hadn’t been spared from the social media blowout.

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