“Touché,” James replied with a grin, “All right, let me think this over.”
“Good. Once you have an answer, give her a call. I’ll text you her number when we hang up.”
“You sure she’ll actually talk to me?” James asked, remembering her shyness.
“She told me it was fine. She’s not a total shrinking violet, you know. Besides, it’s time I got out of the middle.”
After exchanging goodbyes, he put the phone down and sighed before getting a beer out of the fridge. Was he really willing to give up some of his rare free time?
‘For Lily… Yeah,’ he thought.
Some sort of gut instinct, which James had learned to finally trust years ago, told him that Lily Black was special, and not just in hooping. He had seen a deep love in her eyes for her daughter Melissa, and a gentleness of spirit. James’ heart went out to her when he thought of how hard life must be since her husband had died. From what he could imagine, Lily probably had some inner courage he hadn’t seen yesterday.
He looked at the time and then texted Kayla. Since Lily had been home Tuesday morning, he was guessing that might be a good time for a lesson. Kayla replied that he was welcome to use one of her smaller spaces for a few weeks from 10 to 11 a.m. Perfect.
Since his mother had always drilled the rule of “no phone calls after 9” in his head, he hesitated about calling Lily at 8:50. But he was so eager to hear her voice again that he finally called the number Paula had given him. He almost thought her phone would roll into voice mail when she picked up on the sixth ring.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Lily?”
“Yes,” she replied slowly. James felt like a telemarketer.
“Hi, it’s James, Tim’s brother. We met yesterday.” Suddenly he heard an explosion of giggles in the background.
“Sorry, my daughter has some friends over.” He could hear Lily walk to another room.
“Oh, no problem. Listen, Paula told me that you’re interested in some hoop lessons?”
“Yeah,” Lily cleared her throat, “Some private lessons, if you offer them.” Tim could tell by the waver in her voice that she was nervous.
“I have an opening starting Tuesday morning if you like.”
His response was met with silence on the other end. “Hello?”
“Um, this coming Tuesday? Of next week?”
“Yep, the one and only,” he said in a teasing tone. James wanted to try to put her at ease.
“Um, that’s sooner than I had expected,” Lily paused, and then finally spoke again. “Where? What time?”
“K.S. Fitness, on the east side of Indy. I can send a link to it along with a class agreement and fee schedule by email if you like. You can even pay online. Will 10 o’ clock work?” Again, he heard silence.
“Lily?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Okay. Go ahead and email me everything…”
“So, that’s a ‘yes’?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Yes.” James had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. She was obviously frazzled. James thought it was endearing.
“Okay, you have my number now on your phone, right? Just go ahead and text me your email address when we’re done.”
“Sure. I’ll do that. Thank you.”
“Great. And Lily?”
“Yes?”
“I look forward to seeing you again. Goodbye,” he grinned mischievously as he hung up the phone quickly. He knew, right now, that Lily Black of Field’s Corner was blushing.
Chapter Six
James was 100% correct. Lily couldn’t believe the heat that had instantly crept up into her neck, ears, and face the moment James had said goodbye.
“Mom, are you okay?” Brian asked as he came into the kitchen for yet another snack. Lily was glad she had run to the grocery store right after work that day. The boy could hardly stop eating at times.
“I’m fine.” Lily murmured as Melissa walked in. Brian seemed satisfied with her response and walked out of the kitchen.
“Who was on the phone?” Melissa asked. Suddenly Lily was ready for her kids to return to school so she could have both her privacy and normal grocery bill back.
“Uh,” No matter how she answered, Lily knew she was about to be take part in an inquiry session hosted by her curious teenage daughter. “Tim’s brother, the hoop guy.” Melissa’s blue eyes almost danced.
“Cool! You’re gonna go to the jam, aren’t you? Then the whole world can finally see my talented hoop mama!” Melissa did a little twirl before fetching a soda from the refrigerator for her friend.
“No, but I am going to take some lessons.”
“That’s great, Mom! When do you start?”
“Tuesday, at 10.” Melissa grinned.
“So soon? Good for you!” Lily wished she could be as excited as her daughter about the whole thing.
“Text me when you’re done that day. I want to hear all about it,” Melissa said. “Maybe you’ll make friends with other women who hoop.” Lily didn’t bother to mention that it would be a private lesson. She figured that would open up a whole other can of worms. Fortunately, Melissa returned to her friends and Lily stepped outside to get some air and to hopefully cool down her face. She let out a long sigh.
‘Okay, God,’ she prayed. ‘I know I’ve been asking you for some changes in my life… But this is a BIG one! Can’t I just take a baby step?’
Lily knew that her mother, her son, and Belinda would also be thrilled to hear that she was going up to Indy to try something new. Her heart felt warm when she thought of the faith and confidence they all had in her. She wished she could feel the same.
Perhaps staying in the background all of those years and letting Steve be in the limelight hadn’t been the best thing for her low self-esteem. But Lily had always been comfortable with her position as an encouraging wife, mother, and community volunteer. She was the quiet one. Always had been, always would be.
Lily also wondered if she’d be so nervous if she encountered a female hoop instructor. James was very handsome.
‘But probably married,’ she thought. She instantly felt annoyed at herself. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’
Lily knew she wasn’t ready to even consider dating anyone yet. The pain of losing Steve, the love of her life, was still lodged in her heart.
She continued to do battle with her conflicting emotions the rest of the week. All too soon, Brian and Melissa were packing up to drive back to college on Sunday as soon as church ended. Lily knew they would be home for the summer in less than two months, but she couldn’t stop the tears from starting as soon as Brian’s old, slightly rusty black Jeep backed out of the driveway. She was relieved that Paula and Tim had invited her over for dinner so she wouldn’t face the evening alone.
Lily did a half-hearted hoop session in her basement both Sunday and Monday evenings, and could barely sleep after the Monday one. Her lesson with James loomed over her, and she rose with a shaky walk Tuesday morning.
She gave herself a pep talk and said some prayers on the 40 minute drive to K.S. Fitness. It was a bright, sunny morning, not quite as warm as the previous Tuesday, but nice enough that she had cracked open a few windows in her minivan. The fresh air and pep talk made her feel almost normal as she drove