She had thought Mark loved her, really loved her, but in reality, he loved himself more; his own ego was more important to him than she was.
Mark watched her angrily. First she made him feel like a complete failure as a man, professionally and sexually, and now she was trying to make him feel guilty into the bargain.
‘We can’t go on like this, Mark,’ he heard her saying.
‘No,’ he agreed, suddenly purposeful and aware of the only option that was now left open to him—the option he had been putting off taking for days, weeks now… but which was, he knew, now inevitable. ‘You don’t need me any more, Deb, and I don’t want you. It’s time we both accepted that and went our separate ways.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘KEEP it clean… sharp… make each stroke count,’ Joel shouted as he ran alongside the boy swimming the length of the pool.
‘They’re coming along nicely, Joel,’ the leisure centre’s manager praised him as he paused to watch the three boys climbing out of the water. ‘You make a good instructor.’
‘Thanks…’ Joel looked away from him to check on his pupils.
Ian, the youngest of the three, was by far the fastest, but as yet he hadn’t got the rhythm’of his breathing quite right, and Joel wanted to have a word with him about it.
‘Have you ever thought of taking up something like this professionally?’ the other man asked him.
Joel grimaced. ‘I’m a foreman, Neil, or at least I was… a working man.’
He thought of Sally’s sister as he was speaking. She had made very plain over the years the difference that lay between her husband’s career as a teacher and Joel’s ‘job’. ‘I don’t have the education… the qualifications…’
‘Maybe not, but there’s nothing to stop you getting them, is there?’ Neil Saunders asked him. ‘You’ve got a natural gift for dealing with kids, Joel—for teaching them…’
It had been his pet scheme, this idea to utilise the skills and at the same time hopefully boost the morale of the unemployed people who attended the leisure centre under their special scheme by getting them involved on an unpaid basis with coaching others.
He had had quite a struggle getting it past the committee, who had pointed out all the problems they could have with insurance and injury risks, but in the end he had got his way.
His wife had teased him for being a crusader, but it gave him almost as big a kick to see how much it boosted the flagging self-confidence of the adults who joined the scheme as it did the kids who benefited from their help.
Joel, though, was outstandingly good. He possessed that rare blending of patience and firmness which seemed to bring out the best in those he was coaching.
‘Think about it,’ he stressed now as Joel turned away from him and started to walk over to his pupils. ‘Oh, and by the way…’ He caught hold of Joel’s arm, detaining him. ‘They could do with a bit of help with the adult swimming classes if you’re interested?’
‘Yeah… anything else you’d like me to do in the rest of my spare time?’ Joel joked, but in reality he acknowledged that it felt good being told that he was wanted, that he was contributing something of value. It felt good having a purpose in life again, he admitted… having a reason to get out of bed in the morning. He had even found himself working on extra schedules for the boys when he was at home, going to the library and borrowing books so that he could pick up on any little tips to help him get the best out of them.
At first he had been apprehensive that Tim Feathers, the professional swimming coach employed by the club, might not just resent his presence, but that he might also dismiss his efforts as a waste of time. However, to his relief and surprise, Tim had warmly welcomed his help.
‘If you can take over the juniors that will give me more time to spend coaching the seniors. We’re hoping to put a team in for a couple of the internationals this year. Of course, we’ve left it a bit late. The time to really start training them is when they first start to learn to swim.’
It had been Tim who had suggested that he do a bit of reading up on some of the modern teaching methods. Tim’s method of teaching him had been to offer praise and encouragement rather than criticism, Joel had quickly realised, and it was a tactic he had immediately adopted into his own teaching programme.
The start of the Easter school holid
ays had meant that the leisure centre was extremely busy, and, looking back, Joel was amazed that it was barely a fortnight since his meeting with Duncan and that first tentative suggestion that he become one of the centre’s volunteer workers.
‘I’m off for lunch in half an hour,’ Neil told him. ‘Fancy joining me?’
Joel shook his head. ‘I’d like to, but I’ve got Paul, my son, with me and I promised him a game of snooker when I’d finished here.’
Paul had been truculent and unresponsive at first when Joel had brought him down to the leisure centre with him.
‘Why can’t you stay here at home with him?’ Sally had demanded irritably when Paul had complained that he wanted to stay at home and watch a video instead of going with Joel.
‘Because I’ve already agreed to help them out at the centre, and besides, it will do him good to get a bit of exercise.’
Sally’s face had hardened. ‘Oh, come off it, Joel,’ she had told him. ‘The only reason you want him there is because it suits you.’