Danny nodded. “We already went to Grandma’s and put extra salt on her driveway. Dad let me help.”
I saw Adam’s spine go rigid as he looked at the end of thebench. He turned around in a panic and began searching the bleachers. I assumed it was for Danny.
I whistled.
It instantly caught his attention, and his eyes shot to mine and then to Danny at my side, and his shoulders relaxed. He smiled at us and then turned around to refocus on the game. There were three minutes left, and we were still down by four. Our team had the ball, and my breath got stuck in my throat.
“Come on,” I whispered.
Danny started spouting off some space facts that I couldn’t focus on.
“Right, Ms. Faith?”
I shook my head and looked at Danny. “Um, sorry, what?”
We scored, and now were down by two, but the other team had the ball.
Scott leaned forward. “Hey, I heard the moon is actually made of cheese?”
Danny giggled. “No way!” He turned his energy and space facts toward Scott.
I made quick eye contact and mouthedThank you.
He nodded.
We had the ball, and Adam seemed unaffected under all this stress. It had to be crushing. He chatted with the same energy as before. I blinked rapidly.
We were still down by two. Twelve had the ball and passed to seven. They passed it around looking for a shot, but there was under a minute now. I blew out a tight breath.
They passed under the basket to forty-four, and he went up for the shot as the buzzer rang. The person in front of him shoved him hard to the ground, but the ball still went in. Tie game.
“Come on!” I waved my hand in the air. “Surely they can’t just push like that, right?” I looked at Scott because I didn’t actually know.
“Sorry, I wasn’t watching.” Scott looked up to the game.
The referee blew the whistle and made hand gestures I didn’t understand.
“Wait, what does that mean? Are we not still tied?”
Dotty leaned forward so she could see me better. “No, they still counted the points. He gets an extra shot because of the foul.”
I nodded as if I understood, even though I had no idea.
Adam stood, his shoulders relaxed, hands on his hips. The energy coursed through me, and I needed to fidget.
Forty-four bounced the ball a few times and lined up for the shot. I spun my ring and tried to take a normal breath.
He shot; the ball hit the backboard, traced around the rim, and then fell in.
Without realizing it, I was on my feet, jumping, clapping, and cheering.
Adam smiled and clapped. He patted the boys on the back as they came over to him from off the court. They had won the game.
I honestly believed that if they had lost he wouldn’t have treated them any differently. I shook my head. This man was amazing. How was that much amazing even possible?
He went down the line to each one and said something to them and patted them on the shoulder.
I put my hand on my chest, trying to settle my heart. “We won! I can’t believe people do this sports stuff all the time. I think I aged five years.” I chuckled.
