Chapter 96: Special Assignment

Chapter update is here.

Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding ??

?

Katherine came back upstairs after touring the first floor and making breakfast, completely unaware that one person had already escaped Nolan’s room.

She saw Nolan looking too awake for a man who had slept so little and launched herself at him.

"I missed you."

Nolan caught her against him. "You were gone one month."

"Exactly."

She buried her face against his chest and rubbed against him like she was trying to reclaim territory.

Katherine had changed since leaving for Yale. The girl who used to orbit Nolan with anxious devotion now came back with more confidence, more appetite, and a stronger sense that she could leave without losing him.

Nolan liked the change.

It also made lying to her more necessary in the short term.

"How far have you gotten with the girl next door?" Katherine asked later, smiling like she was only teasing.

If she knew Charlize had spent the night trapped in his closet, she might walk across the hall and start tearing hair out by the roots.

For household peace, Nolan temporarily deprived Katherine of the whole truth.

"She has better hair, better clothes, and one small movie job," he said. "Lisa got her an audition."

"A real movie?"

"A real movie."

Katherine looked relieved. Living in this neighborhood made the question fair.

Then she started talking about Yale: the campus, the dorm, the shock of East Coast weather, and the roommates she had acquired faster than Nolan expected.

"Elizabeth is from Utah," Katherine said. "Her family owns copper interests and a hotel in Salt Lake City. Do you know how many siblings she has?"

"Too many?"

"Twenty-six. Six mothers, one father. Her family is Mormon, and every weekend they do these huge dinners around one long table. One of her brothers asked for my number when he helped her move in. I told him I have a boyfriend."

"Good survival instinct."

"Jenny is from Seattle. Her mother is an engineer at Boeing. Bonnie is from Boston, and her family fishes for a living. Yale is strange."

"You like it."

"I do."

At noon, Charlize came downstairs yawning, still stiff from spending too many hours silent in the closet.

Katherine looked up and smiled.

"Nolan said you have been making him late-night food. Thank you."

"It is nothing," Charlize said, sitting across from Nolan and beside Katherine with more calm than Nolan expected. "How is college?"

The two women settled into conversation far more peacefully than Nolan had imagined.

He watched them and decided the Utah matter needed to move up the schedule. If Elizabeth’s family really had a hotel in Salt Lake City, the coming road game gave him a chance to learn more.

...

Mia returned to the house that evening with notes from her script-doctor work.

"The crime thriller is moving," she said over dinner. "Principal photography should start soon. If nothing falls apart, the release will be next fall."

"The one Lisa put you on?"

"Yes. Seven."

"Good."

Katherine spent the weekend with Nolan. Lisa heard from Mia that Katherine was home and, wisely, did not call.

On Sunday night, Nolan sent Katherine back to New Haven on Lisa’s card and returned to school on Monday as if his personal life had not just become a three-ring circus.

The coaches’ meeting was already waiting.

Wasatch Ridge High School was not a casual opponent.

Thomas stood in front of the room with a folder thick enough to look like a legal case.

"The Rams have Cal Mercer, one of the best prep coaches in the region. Their quarterback is Makoa Tali, a Polynesian senior with a big frame, a calm pocket, and a clean arm."

He flipped a page.

"Their defensive front is the real problem. Grant Harlan at defensive end. Luka Vale at defensive tackle. Harlan has the frame and hands to become a major college prospect if he keeps developing. Vale is a violent interior player, strong enough to wreck a high school line by himself."

Nolan marked both names.

Thomas continued.

"Derek McCall set the school’s single-season receiving mark, and their running backs and tight ends are not just local kids. The Rams have pulled enough regional talent into one program to look more like a select team than a normal school roster."

Someone muttered, "Great."

Thomas ignored it.

"We are not treating this as a normal road game."

The general meeting ended, but Nolan stayed behind with the offensive staff. The smaller meeting lasted longer. Wasatch Ridge’s film showed the same thing over and over: pressure from the front, discipline behind it, and a home crowd that fed the defense like an extra player.

Afterward, Cooper asked the question several players had been circling all week.

"Where are we staying?"

That was how Nolan discovered the travel problem had not improved.

The San Mateo trip had been a mess. Arizona had been better only because Nolan intervened. For a team trying to make national noise, BHHS still handled road logistics like an amateur club begging for a ride.

Thomas gave a vague answer about the athletic department.

Nolan went straight to Grace.

...

The athletic director’s office looked like a paper avalanche had chosen a desk to die on.

Grace had a phone wedged between her ear and shoulder, a form in one hand, and three different budget sheets spread in front of her. She waved Nolan inside without looking up.

"No, the handball coach cannot have new uniforms and new bleachers in the same month. Pick one. No, I do not care what the parents promised. Put it in writing."

Another line rang.

Grace grabbed it, listened for five seconds, and swore under her breath.

"The scoreboard is still broken?"

Nolan sat down.

The first call ended. The second became an argument about baseball medical expenses. The third was someone asking whether a travel company could adjust the football quote.

Grace finally stood, yanked the phone cord out of the wall, and slammed the dead receiver down.

"I am so tired of this."

"Utah travel," Nolan said.

She stared at him. "Of course."

"The last trips were bad. Players were sleeping poorly and eating worse. That costs performance."

"I know."

"The travel company is charging you too much."

"One hundred eighty dollars per person per day," Grace said. "Rooms, food, transport, coordination."

Nolan leaned back. "They are robbing you."

Grace picked up the disconnected receiver as if she might throw it. "Those bastards."

"Let us handle it directly."

"By ’us,’ you mean you."

"I was being polite."

Grace took a checkbook from a drawer.

"Roster, coaches, trainers, support staff, plus the cheer squad because the school wants official representation and supervised travel for the interstate showcase." She wrote as she spoke. "I am not going. If you can fix this, fix it."

Nolan calculated quickly. With the cheerleaders included, the trip could reach around eighty people. Three days of team activity, four nights of lodging, meals, local transport, contingencies.

Grace tore out the check and slid it across the desk.

"Fifty thousand. Bring me receipts, and do not make me regret trusting a student with adult money."

"You trust me with the football team."

"That is different. The football team hits back."

Nolan took the check.

"One more thing," Grace said. "My car is dead. Drive me home."

Nolan looked at the check, then at her.

"This feels like part of the special assignment."

"It is."

?

?

?

Ready for more?

The next Chapters are already waiting on my Patreon, along with early access, previews, and extra story updates ???

/cw/TheBacklotFanfiction