CHAPTER 1
When Katryn heard the car honking outside, she glanced at her watch and was surprised at the time.
“Timmy, see if that’s Julie, please,” she asked, heading to the hall closet for her jacket. She was zipping it up when her son let her know that it was, indeed, Julie. Katryn grabbed the equipment bag and headed towards the door.
“Love ya’,” she told her boys. Then, to the sitter she said, “I’ll be back the same time as usual.” She hurried outside. Opening the car door, Katryn teased her friend about being early.
“I wanted to make sure I got you before you got away,” Julie explained.
“It wouldn’t surprise you to hear I’d rather not go to practice, then?” Katryn asked, knowing the answer.
“You, Katryn Delaney, NOT want to go to practice? Why on earth would I suspect that? It can’t be volleyball. I’ve known you for too many years to think that. There have been times I thought you’d rather play sports than breathe.” Katryn had to chuckle, and her friend continued.
“If it isn’t the sports, than I wonder what could possibly make you want to miss practice. I’m sure it’s not the team...” Katryn agreed it was not “It’s not too far, too late or too cold...” Katryn shook her head. “That could only leave one thing that I can think of. Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that we have a new man trying out for the team?”
“Cute, Julie. Yes, it’s the new man,” Katryn admitted needlessly.
“Honest Katryn, he won’t be as bad as John.”
“Easy for you to say,” Katryn told her friend.
“This one will be different,” Julie promised. “And this time we can all help you decide.”
Katryn nodded even while part of her wanted to scream, ‘but that’s not the part that’s hard. DECIDING is easy. It’s having to ask someone NOT to join that’s hard’. She was not sure Julie would understand, though, and she did not want to get into it with her friend, so she calmly answered.
“It’s a deal. Now, where’d you say you got this guy?”
“Dave, the guy I share an office with, asked if we needed any more men for our volleyball team. He said he knew someone who was looking for a team.”
“Has he ever played City League ball, before?” Katryn wanted to know. Trying to teach someone how to hit legally, especially if they have been hitting poorly for any length of time, often took a lot of energy, she knew well.
“I asked Dave. He said he honestly didn’t know. But Dave did say, and I’m quoting, ‘this guy’s quite an athlete and would surely catch on real quick’. Katryn cringed, thinking of all the times she had been told that before.
“What exactly did you tell Dave?” Katryn wanted to know.
“You don’t have to worry. I told Dave that Paul was welcome to come to a practice or two and see if he even liked the team. Dave caught on right away. He laughed and asked if that was a polite way of saying we wanted to check Paul out.” Julie chuckled and Katryn found herself smiling.
“That was pretty cagey, I have to admit. Thanks, I appreciate it. You haven’t met this guy, Paul, before?” Katryn asked.
“No. Dave tried to set me up with him a couple times last fall, but I just wasn’t in the mood for another blind date at the time. It was right after Mark, remember?” Julie shook her head vigorously and shrugged her shoulders as she thought of Mark. “Anyway, Dave said he’s a good looking man, mid to late 30’s, who seems nice. I understand he broke up with a long-time girlfriend probably about a year ago.”
“Is he divorced? Does he have any kids?” Katryn found herself asking, knowing she really did not care, anyway.
“No, he’s never been married. I know it appears a bit odd for a guy his age, but Dave said he was with his girlfriend for six or seven years. It seems he wanted marriage and kids, but she was never quite ready. Dave says he finally quit waiting. I guess he gave her six months to make up her mind. When she still wasn’t sure, he left.” Katryn nodded absently while they pulled into the empty high school parking lot.
“We’re the first ones here. We might as well go in and get the net set up,” Katryn told Julie.
“Katryn,” Julie stopped her friend. “Remember that Ed, Ken, Mary and Anne all tried out and worked out ok. I have a good feeling about this guy. Dave said he’s really nice. Think positive!”
“Thanks, I needed that,” Katryn teased, her mood a little brighter. When they got inside the gym, Katryn headed for the equipment room. The door closed automatically behind her. She felt for, and quickly found, the familiar light switch. She rummaged around in the small room before she found the net. Every week it seemed to be in a different cubby hole. She opened the door and headed out into the gym.
“Katryn,” she heard Julie say, “I’d like you to meet Paul Keegan. Paul, this is Katryn Delaney, our team’s captain.”
Hoping her first impression of him would be positive, she steeled herself. Taking a deep breath, Katryn turned. A strikingly good-looking man extended his hand to her. Katryn’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt her face go red. He smiled warmly, but she saw the quick look of surprise in his eyes. She wondered if it were so obvious, the shocking sensation that had hit her. She had been half afraid she would dislike him right from the word go. It startled her that, instead, her whole body turned so warm. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ she asked herself.
Katryn had never believed in love at first sight before. Still, she wondered what other explanation there was for what made her heart skip beats, her face grow redder by the minute, and her brain stop functioning completely. Well, if it weren’t love, she quickly decided, then it must be lust. Embarrassed by where her thoughts had so quickly led her, she stammered a “pleased to meet you” and she reached to shake his hand.
His warm grip sent another shock wave through her. She pulled her hand away as soon as was politely possible and took another look at him. Katryn was drawn to the warm smile he still offered her. Having been single for many years, she had grown used to the slightly guarded, protected grin she usually got from single males. Not much of a smile, really, it was more an assessing look that gave nothing away of the man who was assessing. Paul’s smile was a welcome change, and Katryn hoped her face was at least a little less red when she found herself smiling back.
“I can help you with that,” Paul offered, nodding towards the net partially coiled over her left arm.
Katryn tried to hand the net to Paul. She had found it in a heap in the cubby hole, though, not folded up properly, so it was now an unwieldy mess with parts sticking out everywhere. Paul started towards the center of the gym, one end uncoiled. Katryn, her mind elsewhere, did not notice.
“Careful,” Paul warned when she tripped slightly on the uncoiled end of the net that dragged behind him.
Katryn’s face reddened appreciably. She held back from the other two, and bent down pretending to retie her shoes, needing a moment to collect herself. Watching Paul help Julie untangle the net, she was surprised by the strength of the attraction she felt for this man she did not even know.
Forcing herself to look away from him, she stared at her shoes and re-tied them yet again. She tried to understand the impact this virtual stranger was having on her. Her immediate, and much too strong, reaction to him made no sense. While it had been awhile since she dated, still, she did not feel lonely, nor in any way ‘desperate for a man.’
In fact, though it was a little exciting to feel drawn to Paul, exhilarating even to feel her heart speed when he touched her, there were immediate negatives that came quickly to mind.
She started to enumerate, as a reminder to herself that they did exist, some of the pitfalls of falling in love. Her orderly life could be dumped upside down. Her poor heart could be broken into a million pieces. Her ...
“Takes a lot of concentration to tie those, huh?” Tom teased, walking past Katryn to help with the net. Startled, Katryn was jolted from her thoughts. She realized she hadn’t even noticed Tom come
into the gym. Covering, she answered lightly,
“I can’t remember. Is it left over right or right over left?”
“Have you tried Velcro, yet? It might save you some time,” Tom continued kidding her while he took one end of the net from Julie and fastened it to the far side of the gym. “Then maybe you could come help us put up the net.”
“Velcro probably wouldn’t help,” Julie joined in. “Knowing Katryn, I’d bet she’d still forget if it were right over left or vice-versa.”
“Cruel. You guys are really cruel.” Katryn pretended she was hurt, but no-one bought it. She got her volleyball and joined the others, trying not to stare at Paul. Ken showed up next, and Julie took a moment to introduce Tom and Ken to Paul.
Once the net was set up, the five of them got into a loose circle and began to set the ball to each other. Katryn found the familiar movements of volleyball a welcome distraction from Paul. Concentrating on skills helped keep her mind on the sports, though it was not enough to completely stop her thoughts from wandering.
Eventually the rest of the team straggled in and also joined the circle. Julie kept up with the introductions until everyone had met Paul.
Katryn watched Paul surreptitiously. She was supposed to be assessing his playing abilities, but for just a few moments she found herself noticing other things. He was probably just over six feet tall, with thick coal black hair, and bright blue eyes. He was neither too thin nor too fat. He was obviously athletic, having good ball sense and the smooth quick moves of someone who had played a lot of sports. And he was quick to learn.
Though it was apparent that his sets were not entirely legal when he started, she saw that he watched the others intently to see how they set. Even over a very short period of time, his sets were improving. Of course, keeping an eye on him did nothing for her own skills. She wondered if anyone suspected why she blew so many easy sets.
And while she had at first dreaded even meeting this man, suddenly she no longer minded being captain at all. She only hoped Paul was unaware of how close an eye she was keeping on him.
After ten minutes of setting, Katryn gave everyone a minute before she broke them up into pairs to practice bumping. When she started to pair people up, she saw that Julie had already taken a ball, and Paul, off to the side to practice.
Shoot, Katryn thought. She had planned to put Paul with one of the stronger players. Julie had been Katryn’s best friend for over ten years, and she had played on many volleyball teams with Katryn off and on during most of those years. However, John had been right about Julie’s ball-handling skills, and Katryn would have preferred that Paul not pick up any bad habits. For a second she even considered splitting them up. Julie was too good of a friend, though, and Katryn would not dream of embarrassing her. She paired up the rest of the team, had them make two lines facing each other, and started the drill. One of each pair threw the ball easily to his partner who then bumped the ball on the forearm, back to their teammate.
“Remember,” Katryn kidded, “Bill would call this a ‘MUSCLE MEMORY DRILL’.”
When Paul asked what that meant, Julie answered.
“Bill was on our team a couple years ago. He swore muscles have memories. In fact, he was pretty adamant about it. He always broke every skill down into its smallest parts, and we’d practice each part over and over. He believed that if you did something the same way, over and over, your muscles would eventually remember to do the activity by themselves. Like walking, he’d point out. You do it without thinking about it.”
“So,” Katryn added, “for a few minutes we work on just keeping our arms straight, our hands locked, and hitting the ball with our forearms. We start with lightly thrown balls. If muscle memory is real, we should be able to train ourselves to bump correctly by practicing with the easy hits. Then, during the game, we’ll automatically, according to Bill, anyway, do well without having to think about it. In my case, though, I think I’m suffering from memory loss!” she ended on a light note; when she missed an easy throw from Tom.
Soon all the pairs were practicing. Paul and Julie were at one end of the line, and Katryn positioned herself at the other. She needed the practice, and if she could not see Paul, she knew she would concentrate better. It worked well, and she was able to get a lot out of the drill working with Tom.
After awhile, the partners backed up and they threw the balls harder and lower. This meant the bumper had to bend his knees and stay on his toes to get below the ball for a good clean hit. This drill was a little harder than the first.
Finally, the last bumping practice was ‘Turkey’. One player, the turkey, got in the middle of a very large circle. There were two balls out in the circle being thrown low and hard at the turkey. While it was rare indeed that both balls were ever thrown at the same time, the turkey still had to recover almost immediately from one bump to get the next. It was a fast paced drill for working on skill and reflexes, and although it always wore them out, the team felt it was one of their better drills.
Everyone took their turn being the turkey in order around the circle. Paul was second to last, and when it was his turn, Katryn offered him an out.
“Paul, since you’re new, you sure don’t have to try this drill on your first night with us.” Then, when he headed to the center of the circle anyway, she added lightly, “Some of these people are down-right vicious. Quit when you’ve had enough.”
The team started out by going easy on Paul, as she knew they would. Once he got into the swing of it, though, things slowly changed. His technique was good, and his reactions were quick. Without anyone noticing, the pace picked up, and Paul kept up, seemingly effortlessly. Finally it dawned on Katryn how fast and furious the pace was getting, and how long Paul had been the turkey.
“Ok,” she called out, and she made her way into the circle. Paul, on his way to the spot she had vacated, winked when he went by. She knew it was because he had done quite well on the drill. She guessed he probably did know, after all, that he was on trial.
Katryn had been captain of the EVER READYs since the team began. Her teammates liked and respected Katryn, both as a player and a coach. She had played volleyball in every league up to and including ‘A’ league, and she had been to more clinics than the rest of them combined. While she was quick to point out she was by no means an ‘A’ league player any more, her skills were equal to any on her team. More important for the team, she understood the theory, the nuances of volleyball better than most.
In spite of her knowledge, and skills, though, Katryn never took herself, or the position of captain, too seriously. She could take a joke as well as any, and enjoyed the light hearted competition that sometimes arose during practices.
In fact, more often than not she could count on the turkey drill becoming especially quick when she was the turkey. She was not surprised, then, when the drill started, good naturedly, with both balls being thrown simultaneously at her. She got one, side-stepped the other, and prepared for the onslaught.
While it never again happened that both balls came at once, they came one right after the other, thrown quite hard and very low. The men on the team threw the balls back and forth over her head so she would never know, for sure, where the ball would be coming from next. Katryn was having a good night, however, and she was able to get good bumps out of most of the throws.
When she was sure she had gone a bit longer than any of the others, Katryn caught the ball thrown to her, stood up and called “Ok, I give.”
It was too sudden, though, and the others were caught off guard. Tom had already let go of a ball thrown to Ken. If she had not stood up, the ball would have sailed right over her head. Instead, the ball caught Katryn on the right temple, and spun her slightly, knocking her off her feet.
Paul glanced at Tom before he rushed to Katryn’s aid. Tom stood stock still, stunned. He was unable to move. Paul recognized the look on Tom’s face, and wondered if Katryn had any idea. He was unsure why he though
t so, but he would bet she did not know. By the time he got to Katryn, Julie and Ken were already beside her.
“I’m fine,” she was saying. “And, Tom, just tell me if you don’t like the drills, ok? Honest, I can take a little criticism,” she joked, starting to stand up. While Katryn continued to get up, Paul asked her to please sit still for a minute.
“That was a pretty hard throw,” he explained. “You might be a little dizzy for a bit.” Embarrassed, Katryn started to get up, anyway.
“It’s really Ok. I’m just fine. You don’t think I’ll sit here and let you guys get out of more drills, do you? Tell him, Tom. I’m not that nice.” In spite of her words, she was just the slightest bit unsteady when she tried to stand. Paul reached to steady her.
“Can I help you over to one of the benches?” he asked her. Katryn had been on her own too long. She was not impressed by men who treated women like they were too weak to handle something as minor as getting hit by a ball. She was also embarrassed that she had actually fallen down.
“I don’t need any help,” she angrily assured Paul, stepping away from him. Then, to the others, she continued, “Now let’s set up for a hitting drill. Everyone line up behind Ed. I’ll be the setter.”
“No,” Paul said firmly. “We don’t practice until you go sit down.” Ignoring Paul, Katryn turned to Tom who had absently picked up the errant volleyball.
“Tom, will you throw the ball to Ed so we can get started.” Instead, Tom sat the ball down on the floor, and started off the court.
“I have to agree with Paul,” he explained. “I know how hard that ball was thrown.” Slowly the rest of Katryn’s team followed Tom off the court until only Katryn and Paul remained. Katryn was furious.
“I AM ok,” she whispered to Paul. She turned too abruptly, though, and was a bit perturbed when she felt herself sway just a little. Immediately Paul’s hand closed around her arm, helping to steady her while he walked her over to the bench.
In spite of how angry she was and how foolish she felt, she was unable to ignore the spark of electricity that shot through her when he touched her. She had to acknowledge, though unwillingly, the warmth that was spreading from her arm where he held her, through her entire body. As soon as she could, she pulled away and sat down on the bench, hoping he had not noticed how foolishly she was reacting to him. ‘Knock it off!’ she told herself. ‘Pay attention to volleyball. You’re supposed to be the coach’.
“Now, if you’ll just rest for a few minutes, we’ll go back to the drills, ok?” he asked. While his tone was kind, it grated on her. It was not bad enough that he had made her appear weak in front of her own team, but the fact that his touch had made her react like a school girl with her first crush, totally unnerved her. She was far too old for such foolishness.
Besides, unwilling though she was to acknowledge it, she had to admit to herself that she was still slightly dizzy from the hit. And while she was actually relieved to be able to sit out for a bit, she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Not after he had made her look so bad.
“Anne,” she asked, regaining what little control she could, “Would you please set for the hitting drill? And maybe the rest of you wouldn’t mind getting back out to practice, now?” Though she tried to make it sound like a joke, everyone guessed she was still a little upset.
Katryn sat out for about ten minutes. It may not have seemed a very long time to the others, but it had felt like hours to her. She walked out onto the gym floor more than ready to play. She went to the back of the line, behind Tom. She watched Paul take his turn at spiking; secretly hoping he would miss his hit. He jumped high and spiked the ball hard, down the line.
“Darn good hit!” Tom congratulated Paul. Katryn smiled wryly.
“Feeling better?” Paul asked when he got into line behind Katryn.
“I’m fine,” she shot back. Paul merely nodded, suppressing a grin. In a moment, Katryn was at the front of the line, and she threw Anne the ball. Anne gave her a nice high set, and Katryn was able to get a good clean hit. She began to joke with the team again, and practice slowly got back to normal. She never had been one who could stay angry for very long.
Katryn took her turn at setting, and kept an eye on Paul. While she was really no longer angry, she found herself wishing he would do poorly. She told herself that she would like to inform him that he was not wanted, but she could not quite convince herself it was true. In spite of how much she might wish it were not so, she had to admit she was attracted to him. Besides, he not only was playing quite well, he also seemed to be getting on famously with the rest of the team.
Julie had tried to help him all evening. She had explained each drill to him when they had practiced it, and offered suggestions whenever she could. Anne, who was usually very quiet, seemed more talkative around Paul, too, and took some time helping him with his sets.
The men appeared to approve of him, also. In fact, Tom and Ed had both given her the ‘ok’ sign, already. Katryn was well aware it really no longer mattered how she felt, anyway. If the rest of the team wanted him, she would go along with them in spite of how foolish she had been made to feel earlier. Oh well, she told herself, you no longer have much of a say. She realized, once she said it, that she was relieved. In spite of what she had tried to tell herself, she knew she would have hated to ask Paul NOT to join.
Katryn set up one last practice with everyone setting to them-selves against the wall. Paul again asked Anne for help on his sets, and Katryn berated herself when she felt a prick of jealousy.
When everyone was about beat, Katryn began to divide them into two teams so they could play some games.
“Julie, Paul, Ed, and Mary will be one team. Tom, Ken, Anne, let’s move over to the other side,” Katryn told her teammates, ignoring the questioning look from Tom.
Both sides lined up with a setter in the front row and three players in the back. The two outside players in the back row played both offense and defense. While in the back row, they practiced getting their bumps to the setter. Then they had to be ready to move up to the front row to spike when the ball was set to them.
Since everyone rotated through all the positions, it gave each of them a chance to work on their best, and their worst skills. When the teams were evenly matched, it was fun, competitive, and a good practice. Most everybody had realized from the start, though, that the two teams were not evenly matched.
Katryn and Anne were the two best setters on the team. Katryn was also skilled at bumping and Anne was tall and quite a good hitter. Tom and Ken were excellent all-around players, able to bump, set and spike well. That four-some faced the others.
While it was true that Ed was a good at spiking, he was having a bit of trouble with his bumps and sets. Julie was probably the weakest member of the team, since she had difficulties setting or bumping. Mary was fair at all positions, but Paul, of course, was brand new.
Paul was not so new, however, nor so unobservant, that he missed the inequality in the teams. He smiled to himself, wondering if Katryn put all potential teammates through this particular test.
Though Julie’s team served first, Katryn’s team got the ball back immediately. Katryn rotated into position. Her first four serves were hard and low, and no-one was able to return them. She changed to a slow underhand serve next, and both teams volleyed fairly well. It was when Katryn moved up for a spike that things changed.
Katryn jumped and got well above the ball for a good clean spike. Paul was there, however, and blocked her hit back into her court. Katryn missed it completely. It unnerved her to realize she had never even considered Paul a blocker. She had thought he was too new! The surprise must have shown in her eyes, she realized, because Paul winked wickedly at her while her teammates called out, ‘Good play, Paul.’ ‘Nice block.’ ‘Way to be there.’
While Katryn perhaps should have been happy that Paul was doing so well, she was, instead, chagrined that she had not been ready for his
block, had not expected him to be there at all. Katryn did not make the mistake of under-estimating Paul a second time. While her team did beat his, it was not anywhere near as badly as she had wanted.
Katryn noticed that Paul didn’t get discouraged by losing. Instead, he continued to encourage his team, and complimented each of them on good hits. He played team ball even when he knew setting to Julie or Mary might mean losing a point. And he never took hits that were obviously to someone else. When Katryn’s team won, he congratulated his teammates for a game well played. She sure could not claim he was a poor sport.
“Let’s change sides,” Katryn told everyone after the first game. When they started to move, Tom interrupted.
“Paul, why don’t you and Mary trade with Anne and me for this game?”
Katryn was surprised that Tom would try to set up the teams. It dawned on her, though, that he was trying to make the teams a little more even, and she realized there was no sense in ‘testing’ Paul anymore, anyway.
Her team lined up with Katryn playing setter, Paul and Ken were the hitters, and Mary was in middle back. While it unnerved Katryn a little at first to be next to Paul, she soon all but forgot his affect on her. Once the game got underway, her attention was solely on volleyball.
The next two games were a lot of fun. With the teams more evenly matched, points became harder and harder to win. Paul proved to be quite an asset since he spiked and blocked well. Tom’s team took the first game by two points, and Katryn’s team was ahead 17 to 16 in the final game. Ken’s serve was immediately returned by Tom’s team deep to Paul. His bump went over Katryn to Ken. Ken set a beautiful, high set that was falling right between Katryn and Paul. Usually the hitter takes the third hit, and Katryn, as setter, waited till the last second to move. Still Paul did not call for the hit, so Katryn took a short step to her left and jumped to hit the ball.
Colliding soundly with Paul, she just barely managed to stay out of the net while she stumbled back and to her right. She landed on the floor, watching Paul’s spike bounce off Tom’s hand to go out of bounds.