Sweet Victory by Sheryl Berk Page B

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    At the end of the day, the girls gathered in the teachers’ lounge with Herbie to tally up all the money they’d earned.
    â€œDon’t forget we still have the Golden Spoon’s weekend sales,” Lexi reminded them. “But Delaney says she and Sophie have already made ten thousand dollars.”
    â€œTyler texted me that his high school sold all one thousand cupcakes and made over seven thousand dollars,” Sadie added.
    Herbie jotted down the numbers and tallied them up. He held up the paper and showed Sadie. “I think that’s a pretty impressive number to tell Coach Walsh, don’t you?”
    Sadie had been patient long enough. As much as she hated hospitals, she couldn’t wait to get there. “Come on, Herbie,” she said, pulling on his sleeve. “Let’s go.”

When Sadie walked into the hospital room, she found Coach Walsh sitting up in bed watching the sports report on the local TV news. She was surrounded by bouquets of flowers, stuffed teddy bears, get-well cards, boxes of chocolates, and balloons—so many that she didn’t even see Sadie and Herbie at the door. Sadie noticed she looked a little tired, and her hair was tucked under a bandanna. But her cheeks were rosy and her eyes lit up as soon as Herbie parted the sea of balloons and waved.
    â€œSadie! Herbie! I’m so glad to see you!” Coach Walsh said, smiling. “Please come in.”
    Sadie wanted to ask how she was, but she was too nervous. So Herbie said what she was thinking: “So, how’s the patient doing?”
    â€œGood,” Coach Walsh said. Sadie studied her face to make sure she wasn’t just trying to be brave. “Really good. The doctors said we caught it early, and they got it all with the surgery. So I can go home tomorrow and I’ll be back to work in a week.”
    â€œReally?” Sadie exclaimed. “You’re coming back to Blakely?”
    â€œUnless Herbie is prepared to fight me for it,” Coach Walsh teased.
    â€œNot a chance,” Herbie said. “The job’s all yours as soon as you want it. I was just keeping it warm for you.”
    Coach Walsh beamed. “I heard about the win over the Coyotes,” she told Sadie. “Coach Keren called me and said one of my coaches was pretty tough on her.”
    Sadie blushed. “Yeah, that was me. I’m sorry. I guess she just rubbed me the wrong way.”
    â€œAs long as you brought me my trophy,” Coach Walsh reminded her.
    â€œThe trophy! I almost forgot!” She pulled a small gold cup out of her backpack. “From our win over the Coyotes.”
    â€œNext stop, the regional champs,” her coach said. “I hope the team is ready to train hard.”
    â€œWe are,” Sadie insisted. “We’ve already started.”
    â€œI’ve got them on a tight schedule of drills,” Herbie reported. “And I’ve come up with a new strategy. I call it the ‘Dubois Dunk.’”
    â€œCan’t wait to see it,” Coach Walsh said, winking at Sadie.
    â€œI like how you’ve decorated the place.” Herbie tugged on a balloon string.
    â€œIt’s very cheery, but the food is awful,” Coach Walsh replied. “If I never see another cup of yellow Jell-O, it will be too soon.”
    â€œWe brought you something else,” Sadie said, presenting her with a box of cupcakes.
    Coach Walsh opened the lid. “Is this what I think it is?”
    â€œNo holes!” Sadie said.
    â€œWow,” the coach replied, taking a big bite. “What do you call it? A cupnut? A doughcake?” She polished off the rest in just two bites.
    â€œJenna calls it delicioso ,” Sadie recalled.
    â€œWell, that sums it up,” Coach replied, licking the sugar off her fingers.
    â€œAnd we have one more thing,” Sadie said, pulling a check out of her pocket. “We held a fund-raiser at Blakely to beat