"Yeah, it was fine. How about yours?"

"Great. This was Elizabeth's first Thanksgiving, so we had more than the usual supply of relatives show up. I think my wife is really glad that it's over." He rubbed his hands together and said, "It's really freezing today, isn't it?"

"I just got back from Colorado Springs last night, and compared to that, this weather feels positively balmy," she joked.

"Were you skiing?"

"No. My partner, Ryan, is on the basketball team. They had to go all the way to Colorado to get their b.u.t.ts kicked."

He c.o.c.ked his head and commented, "I thought Ryan was on the volleyball team."

"She was. But the season's over, and she felt compelled to jump right into another sport."

"Are you opposed to her playing basketball, Jamie? You certainly don't sound very happy about it."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not opposed to her playing. I'll admit that I don't care for the chemistry on the team, but she thinks she can help improve that."

After a moment, he asked, "What do you think of ours?"

"Our... what?"

"Our chemistry," he clarified. "How does it compare with what you've seen with Ryan's teams."

"Mmm... I'd say we're right in the middle of the two extremes that she's experienced this year. The volleyball team was a very tightly knit group. They really liked one another, and they socialized quite a bit as well as playing together. But the basketball team is very cliquish, and I get the impression they don't like to be around one another more than is absolutely necessary."

"And where do we fit into the continuum?" he asked.

"Well, I don't detect a lot of camaraderie, and I don't think many of the girls socialize, but I also don't see any antagonism or jealousy. We're all polite to one another, and we joke around in the locker room, but that's it. To be honest, we don't know each other well enough to have much to talk about."

He shook his head. "I wish we had the budget to do some things to build some team spirit. All I can afford is the one weekend before our first tournament in Vallejo."

"It's really an individual sport, Scott. I don't see that it's possible to do much to bring the team together. For what it's worth, this is no different than my high school team was."

"Things were a little different last year," he commented. "We had three seniors who were all very gregarious. The younger girls really followed their lead."

"This is a pretty quiet group," Jamie observed.

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that the team is so young. With four freshman and only two seniors it has been hard to keep the spirit from last year going. You're brand new, and Juliet is... well, she's just not the type to spend her time getting to know the other players."

Jamie chuckled and said, "I don't think I've ever heard her speak."

"I'd guess that she's the most focused player I've ever been around," Scott mused. "Her goal is to turn pro as soon as she graduates, and I think she's honestly got a chance."

"I haven't seen her course management skills, but she's a heck of a ball striker," Jamie agreed. "She has one of the most beautiful swings I've ever seen, too."

"Yeah, I wish I could take credit for helping her build that swing, but she had it when she got here," he chuckled.

"I'd better get busy if I want to build my own swing," Jamie joked. "I'll try to think of some ways to promote a little harmony, Scott. It's just hard when we have to practice at the beginning of the day. Not having our own course makes things tough."

"It does," he agreed. "But we're never going to get a course, so we'll just have to be more creative."

Scott had spent time with Jamie the previous week, giving her a few tips on improving her draw shot. She worked on that diligently, then spent another hour going through her entire bag, hitting 15 or 20 b.a.l.l.s with each club. Scott and his a.s.sistant, Evan Foster, split their time among all of the women, spending a few minutes watching each and offering tips where needed. By the time Jamie was finished, only Juliet remained. It was not quite 8, and she didn't have cla.s.s until 10, so Jamie sat down at the base of a practice bunker to watch her teammate.

Even though they'd been practicing at the same facility for nearly three months, Jamie could not remember saying more than a total of 20 words to Juliet. However, after talking with Scott, she decided that she needed to start being a little more aggressive about making friends on the team. She actually felt a little guilty about her own self-involvement, but she selfishly wanted to spend every minute of her free time with Ryan. You're going to have a lifetime with Ryan, she reminded herself. If you're going to be a member of this team, you've got to make an effort to help turn it into a real team, rather than a collection of individuals.

She spent at least a half hour watching Juliet's nearly perfect swing. When the woman finally stopped and began to stretch, catching Jamie out of the corner of her eye, she turned around in surprise and said, "Uhm... hi." Looking over her shoulder just to make sure Jamie wasn't looking at someone else, she asked, "Are you uhm... waiting for me?"

"No, not really," Jamie smiled. "I don't have cla.s.s until 10, so I thought I'd hang out for a bit."

"You've... been watching me?" Juliet asked, obviously puzzled.

"Well, if I'm going to sit and watch a teammate, you're the one I'm going to choose," Jamie answered honestly. "Might as well try to learn from the best."

"You uhm... think I'm the best?" Juliet asked, a small smile forming.

"I know you don't pay a lot of attention to what's going on around here, Juliet, but you don't seem oblivious," Jamie chuckled. "It's no secret that you're the best player on the team."

The woman just shrugged, looking uncharacteristically shy. "I just work hard," she said.

"A lot of talent and hard work are a great combo," Jamie said. Looking at her watch, she asked, "Do you have time to get some coffee?"

"Uhm... not today," Juliet said. "I have cla.s.s at 9." She hesitated a beat, then added, "I could tomorrow, though. My first cla.s.s is at 11."

"11, huh? My first is at 11, too. Why don't we come out early and play a round after we practice for a while. I'm sure Scott would let us cut practice short."

Juliet nodded. "I'd like that. It's getting tough to get 18 in after cla.s.s, now that it gets dark so early."

"Where do you usually play?" Jamie asked.

"Here at Tilden, mostly. I usually go home to Sacramento on the weekends, though. I can get in a lot more holes, since the course is much less crowded. On a good day, I can play three rounds."

Jamie gave her a warm smile and said, "You do work hard, doncha?"

"Yep. I know what I want, Jamie. I might not get it, but I swear I won't fail because of a lack of effort." Her watch alarm went off and she hefted her bag onto her shoulder. "Gotta go. See you bright and early tomorrow, okay?"

"It's a date," Jamie smiled. She watched Juliet practically sprint for the parking lot, thinking, It wasn't a huge gesture, but I feel good about at least trying to form a friendship.

Jamie stopped back by the house after practice to find her mother and Mia in the kitchen, chatting companionably. "How are you feeling?" Jamie asked when she crossed the room to offer a kiss.

"Better," Catherine said. "A good night's rest made a big difference. You were right, as usual, honey. I'm sure I slept better knowing that you were close by. I only woke up once, which is a big improvement. When I couldn't get back to sleep I almost took a crack at playing that elaborate drum set that I a.s.sume must be Ryan's," she chuckled.

"How'd you guess?" Jamie asked wryly. "I gave it to her for her birthday, but she's barely had time to break it in."

Mia stood and walked over to her friend. "I've got to get going now. I'm really sorry to hear the news," she said, meeting Jamie's eyes.

"Thanks. We'll get through this, won't we, Mom?"

"We will, Jamie. We're tougher than we look."

"That's a relief," Mia joked, bending to kiss Catherine's cheek.

As she was walking out of her morning cla.s.s, Jamie reached down to her waistband to retrieve her ringing phone. "Yesss," she drawled.

"How do you always know it's me?" Ryan asked. "Or do you use that s.e.xy drawl with everyone?"

"No, just you. And I know it's you because you're the only person who knows my schedule so intimately," she revealed. "What's up, babe?"

"I have good and bad news," Ryan said with a note of mystery in her voice.

"Hmm, give me the bad first," she decided.

"I've been asked to try out for the national volleyball team," she replied, unable to keep the enthusiasm out of her voice.

"That's the bad news?" Jamie shouted, unable to control her excitement.

"Well, it's both," Ryan admitted. "It's good news since it's a huge honor, but it's bad news since it requires me to make some hard choices."

"Are you at home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm coming home for lunch," she said decisively. "I have to congratulate you properly!"

A half hour later, Jamie rode up to the house and automatically matched the grin on her beaming partner's face. Ryan hopped off the top step and trotted over to the bike, lowering it to the ground. "I am so proud of you!" Jamie cried as she threw her arms around Ryan's neck.

"Thanks, honey," she mumbled into her shoulder. "I'm pretty excited myself."

"Well you should be! I guarantee you're the only woman with only two years experience at the college level who got invited."

"Actually, a couple of freshmen got invited, including that cutie from Stanford, but I am the only 24-year-old."

"It just makes me so happy that you were able to play this year," Jamie said as her eyes welled up with tears. "It's wonderful to see you this excited about something."

Ryan grasped her hand, and pulled her into the house. They jointly prepared soup and sandwiches, and a half hour later when Mia came wandering in, she had to laugh at the scene. Jamie was perched on Ryan's lap feeding her spoonfuls of soup like a bird feeding her young. "You two are so cute," she said affectionately as she ruffled Jamie's hair.

"Have you seen Jordan?" Ryan asked as she craned her head around to make eye contact.

"Not in the last 15 seconds or so," she said as Jordan came strolling in.

Ryan urged Jamie off her lap as she jumped up and threw her arms around her teammate. "Congratulations!" she said as she gave her a rough squeeze.

Jordan leaned back in the embrace and asked suspiciously, "How did you know?"

"Coach told me when I talked to him this morning," she said without elaboration.

"Why were you talking to Coach?"

"'Cause I got invited too," she said, her eyebrows bouncing wildly.

Jordan let out a joyous cry and jumped into Ryan's arms. "That's so cool! That little rat didn't say a word about you!"

"He wanted to tell me first, and since I was out of town he didn't get hold of me until this morning," Ryan explained. "But since he had already talked to you, he was free to tell me about you."

"Ryan, we're going to have so much fun!" Jordan cried again, but another looked showed that Ryan did not share her exuberance. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Ryan put her back on the ground and said, "Umm, we're not sure that I'm going to accept."

"Not accept? Are you nuts! You'll never get another chance to go to the Olympics, Ryan. How can you possibly not accept?"

"There are a ton of repercussions to accepting this invitation, Jordan. I'm just not sure if I can turn my life upside down right now."

Jordan sank down heavily into a chair as she let out a breath. "Boy, you jacked me up awfully high only to cut me right back down."

"I'm sorry, but we have to spend some time discussing this. It's not an obvious choice for me."

"You two can discuss it, but I have to get back to school," Jamie announced. "I love you, Tiger," she said softly as she kissed Ryan's lips gently. "And I'm very, very proud of you." Walking over to Jordan she bent to offer her a kiss also. "You're not so bad yourself, Jordan," she said affectionately, patting her cheek.

Jordan looked at Ryan as soon as Jamie left the room and asked, "Doesn't she want you to go?"

"No, that's not it at all. She's very much in favor of my going. I think she's a little confused by my reluctance, too. I guess it's hard for me because this isn't something I was planning for. I mean, I'd been scouted for the national team in soccer since I was 14. I'm pretty sure I would have made the team after my freshman year in college if I had gone to Cal at first. That was always my goal, and after that died I just put thought of the Olympics and World Cup aside. I'll admit it was hard to let it die, but once it did, I didn't expect to resurrect it again."

"But this just fell into your lap, Ryan. It's a tremendous gift!"

"I know, Jordan. But I'd have to drop out of school for at least a semester - even if I didn't make the darned team. If I did that, I would not only not graduate this year, I'd have to put graduate school off another year."

"But what's your rush?" she demanded. "It'll all be here when we get back with our gold medal."

"There are things I want to do," she explained. "We want to wait to have a child until I'm out of grad school. Delaying that a year just slows our time table down."

"Jamie could go first," Jordan reminded her.

"I know, but I like the way we've planned things. Besides, if I do this, Jamie will have to drop out and come with me. I couldn't be away from her for almost nine months."

"But it's the Olympics, Ryan," she moaned. "This is not just some small thing."

"I know, Jordan, but I'm also tied to the basketball team. It's not fair to just ditch them."

"That's a joke," she scoffed. "The equipment manager plays as much as you do!" Ryan shot her a stunned, hurt look, and Jordan rose to come stand behind her chair. She put her hands on the strong shoulders and gave her a gentle ma.s.sage. "I know how good you are, Boom, and it just kills me that your stupid coach doesn't. I listened to your game on the Internet on Sunday, and there was a good ten-minute period where you would have sparked them in a big way. What in the h.e.l.l is wrong with her anyway?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but she doesn't seem to share your enthusiasm," Ryan said glumly.

"Well if you're going to let that be a big factor in your decision, you had better ask her if she's going to use you. It's dumb to pa.s.s up the Olympics to ride the pine."

"You've got a point there, but that's not the only factor. I loved playing volleyball this year, but now that I'm on a team I don't really like, it reminds me of how much chemistry matters on a team. What we had this year was really special, and that's why I loved it. I'm not sure I love volleyball enough to devote nine months of my life to it if I wasn't crazy about my teammates."

"You're crazy about me," Jordan reminded her with a shy grin.

"Now that's the absolute truth," she agreed.