Playing by Heart by Anne Mateer

until he cackled with laughter. The sound eased the boulder of uncertainty that threatened my breath. Then I looked at my sister. My vision blurred as sadness caved my chest. Her entire future had changed. Mine had only been deferred for a few months.
    â€œWell?”
    I focused on the far wall. “I’ve accepted the position of music teacher at the high school and pianist at the church.”
    â€œOh, Lula!” Jewel hugged me quick and tight. She sat again with a satisfied sigh. “Davy and I have long thought you worked too hard. You need some fun in your life. This is it!”
    Russell squirmed out of my arms, grabbed a wooden car, and ran it across the floor. I chewed my thumbnail. “My position at the high school came with a secondary assignment.”
    â€œOh?” Jewel glanced up. “A math class?”
    â€œNo.” I imagined myself in a gymnasium with a group of girls looking to me for direction. How in the world had I let Mr. Gray talk me into this?
    Oh, right. The money.
    I tried to smile, but it wouldn’t stick. “Apparently I’m to coach girls’ basketball, as well.”
    â€œOh my!” Jewel raised a hand to her cheek, as if she, too, realized the ridiculousness of the assignment. Neither of us had ever gone in for athletics. Nor had our brothers.
    I dropped to the sofa beside my sister. She reached for my hand. Squeezed. Then an alarming glint appeared in her eyes. “This is perfect!”
    â€œPerfect?” I squeaked. Perhaps the grief and the pregnancy had addled her brain.
    â€œYes!”
    Russell tapped Jewel’s knee. “Mama?”
    Jewel lifted him onto her lap, but her gaze never left my face. “It’s exactly the excuse to invite Bo to dinner.”
    â€œBo?”
    â€œYou remember. Davy’s friend from high school. Bo.”
    I lunged to my feet, crossed the room, and stared out the window at a swirl of red and orange leaves dancing in the breeze. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause according to my contract, I’m not to keep company with men.”
    â€œOh, pshaw. Bo isn’t other men. He’s my friend. And he can help you.”
    â€œI don’t need any help.” Well, actually I did. Desperately.
    â€œOf course you do!” She stood behind me now, her hand on my shoulder. “What do you know about basketball?”
    I groaned. Coaching basketball suddenly sounded easier than dodging my sister’s matchmaking attempt.
    â€œExactly. It’s the perfect way for you and Bo to get to know one another.”
    I’d hoped her broken heart would afford me some protection from her attempts to find me a husband. “I appreciate your . . . thoughtfulness. I really do. But I’m not interested in pursing a relationship with any man.”
    Jewel shifted Russell from one hip to the other. “Now, don’t get all in a huff, Lula. You’re a lovely young woman. Men will notice, when you let them.” She leaned closer. “Men like Bo.”
    â€œI’m not here to catch a man.”
    â€œAre you sure? Because Bo’s one of the best, right behind my Davy.”
    I whirled to face her. “It wouldn’t matter if he were MajorGeneral Pershing himself. Please, Jewel. Leave it be.” My teeth ground into one another. How many ways did I have to say it for her to understand?
    Jewel softened. “All right, little sister. But I know there’s a man out there who’ll turn your world upside down. If Bo doesn’t spark something in you, we’ll find someone else. What about at school? Aren’t there any single men there?”
    Laughter spilled out before I could stop it. “I haven’t even been there one day! How would I know?”
    I thought of Chet Vaughn. His arresting eyes refused to vanish from my mind. But handsome faces could be avoided. Especially if his classroom sat