This explained why Matthew had been reticent to tell me what he’d found about the team over the phone. It… It was a lot of information to chew on. The mayor of the town, a woman my own age in green dungarees with tiny daisies on them, had volunteered a lot of personal details in under a minute. And apparently the Green Warriors, formerly known as the Warriors of Green Oak, had been brought back to life only last year. “I… I think I have a few questions. Topics I’d like to clarify and discuss, ASAP if that’s okay.”
“I’ll show you the pictures,” she offered. “My mom kept all of them. And let me tell you, it’s a blast from the past.” She seemed to remember something. “Oh! I almost forgot the most exciting part: we’ll be representing our county in the Six Hills Little League!”
That made me pause. “Little league?”
An enthusiastic nod. “The Green Warriors were the best U10 team in the county last season, so we qualified for the Six Hills. Yay!”
All the blood seemed to leave my face. “U10?” I thought I whispered, but my ears were ringing, and I suddenly felt faint. Josie’s smile fell. “What do you…”
And before the question fully left me, we were being swarmed by kids. Children. Little girls. In colorful shorts and sneakers and ponytails that pointed in all directions and a tutu, shockingly enough. One of them held a soccer ball under her arm. And all of them looked, roughly, under the age of ten.
“Adalyn,” Josie’s voice made it through the haze of confusion and disbelief that was my head. “It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Green Warriors.”
I blinked at the team. The kids. As they blinked at me in return. “But my father…” I started, but all I could come up with was a jumbled mess of questions. “My father never— This is not— Why— They’re kids?”
Somehow, my eyes ended up on Cameron, who was looking at me like I was some puzzle he couldn’t figure out. Or as if I was about to sprout a second head. I wasn’t sure. It didn’t make sense. Nothing did. I—
“Juniper,” he called for one of the kids. “Can you please bring an ice pack for Adalyn?”
“I’ll do it!” someone exclaimed, and a blur of pigtails and messy black hair passed right by me.
“Thanks, María,” he grumbled under his breath, eyes still on me.
I should have probably complained. But I didn’t think I had the energy. As I stood in that spotty field of grass, I really was feeling at my lowest. I’d thought that assaulting my team’s mascot in a clear lapse of judgment had been rock bottom. Then, when I found out there was footage of it and the clip had gone viral, I was sure that had been the rock bottom under the rock bottom. But then, I’d been banished and sent away, only to realize I was stuck in some tiny and tacky hunting cottage in the middle of the mountains. And I’d thought, this is it. This is the real bottom.
I’d been wrong.
This was.
The Green Warriors were. This children’s team that held the key to my redemption was my real rock bottom.
The girls moved around us, and I was vaguely aware of Josie interacting with them. My eyes blinked back to reality, and I found myself gaping at Cameron. At all that dark hair, the unkempt beard, the green eyes flashing with something between curiosity and… concern. He was even wearing workout clothes. A long-sleeved thermal that clung to his chest and made his shoulders look even broader, and shorts. Nylon shorts that reached the middle of his thighs.
“What…” I heard myself mumble. “What are you doing here? Why are you here? It doesn’t make sense.” I also didn’t make sense. But I was so confused and blindsided, and my brain seemed set on fixating on the fact. “You’re Cameron C—”
Josie’s panicked face materialized beside Cameron, who was now looking at me with a hostility that hadn’t been there before. “Oh no. No, no.” She chuckled, but there was tension in her voice, now lowering to a loud whisper. “He’s just Cam around here.”
My still dumbfounded gaze flickered in Cameron’s direction, and before I could prepare, he was turning around and walking away.
Josie sighed.
And I… What had just happened? Why was Cameron leaving so suddenly? And why was Josie concealing Cameron’s identity?
But instead of asking any of those very valid questions, I watched him stride along the sidelines of the unkept facilities and asked, “Does he always storm out of places?”
“Don’t think too much about it,” Josie said with a conviction that made me glance at her in surprise. “Cam’s a bit… standoffish, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be back.”
“I genuinely hope you’re wrong,” I blurted out, obtaining a curious glance from Josie. “I fired him for a reason.” I simply needed to decide exactly what that reason was.
She laughed, as if that’d been a joke. Although perhaps it was just the way Josie operated. Maybe she was one of those always glass-half-full people. Always laughing. Smiling. Positive.
“It’s for the best,” I told her. “The dislike for each other is mutual. We didn’t exactly start off on the right foot and he… has a good reason to hate me. I—” I shook my head. “I might have almost run over his pet this morning.” Josie’s eyes widened. “I know. I feel horrible, but it’s not that easy to spot a chicken crossing a driveway.” Neither was spotting a six-something pro soccer player, apparently.
Josie muffled a cackle with a hand, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with humor. “Oh, don’t worry about the poor thing, they are resilient creatures. I’m sure it’s still alive and clucking. Did you see it running?” I nodded and she smiled before pointing at my forehead. “Is that how you hurt yourself? I didn’t want to be rude and ask, but it looks recent, and Cam asked one of the kids for the ice pack.” Concern entered her expression. “You should get it checked out.”
“So I’ve been told,” I whispered, defeat entering my voice.
“I’ll take you to Grandpa Moe when we’re done here. He used to be a paramedic and still volunteers around town sometimes.”
“It’s nothing,” I assured her, wondering what else the man did. “It barely hurts.”
“I insist.”
“Okay,” I relented, returning my gaze to the group of girls, now sitting in the grass and chattering between themselves. The one with the tutu shot me an accusing glance, as if I’d just ruined all the fun, causing an unexpected pang of guilt to surge in my stomach. I turned to Josie. “I know you must have been very excited about the perspective of having someone like… Cameron coaching the team, but I can assure you: you’ll be fine without him now that I’m here.”
Josie smiled, but it was short-lived. “I’d appreciate if you’d keep under wraps who Cam is.” Her expression turned serious. “Nobody in town knows.”
“But…” I trailed off, the wheels in my head turning. Was Cameron Caldani… hiding? Was that the reason for him staying in a place like Green Oak? I shook my head. “How is it possible that no one has recognized him?”
“The beard?” Josie offered. “The fact that he doesn’t play football or baseball or isn’t an influencer giving away cars?” Another shrug. “You’re the first. And we should keep it that way. It’s important to him, and I want to respect that.” Her megawatt grin returned. “And you know how small towns are, the moment someone finds out, everyone in Green Oak will know, then the whole county, and before we can blink, there’ll be journalists trying to snap a photo of a”—she lifted her hands—“retired soccer star, feeding the chickens.”
I could see how that would make good news. Cameron Caldani had never gained celebrity status in the States, but I knew well how something like this could be turned around.
“Also,” Josie continued, “besides the Vasquezes, I really am the only one who cares about soccer around here.” A puff of air left her lips, falling quiet for a moment until she sent me a secretive glance. “I was engaged to someone in the MLS once. That’s how Cam and I met.” Her lips pursed with a flash of emotion I didn’t catch. “He witnessed the whole thing go up in flames.”
I turned away slightly, my eyes drifting toward the group again. I wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but that was a lot of personal information Josie kept volunteering. And I was a complete stranger.
“Oh, don’t worry, honey,” Josie said, misinterpreting my silence. “I’m okay now. It wasn’t my only failed shot at love, either. But that’s a story for another day.”
