“Wow,” I breathed out as the wind was knocked out of me. “I can’t believe I forgot that.”
“For her birthday, I always bought two pairs of earrings, one for her and one for Madison Three.” She brought her hand to her mouth when her voice cracked.
“I remember the earrings.” I reached out to grab her hand back. “You were always great with her. That meant a lot to me.”
“She was easy to love.” She inhaled a long breath through her nostrils and straightened. “It would be a privilege to be Maddie’s coach. I’m glad you’re both here.”
Not thinking about Emily had just become a million times harder as I’d be seeing her all season, but I could figure out a way to do this for Maddie.
“Uncle Jesse, is Emily the friend you had the good dessert with?”
I shared a chuckle with Emily before I turned to where Maddie stood behind me. I had been so caught up in the swell of emotion between Emily and me, I’d forgotten to make sure Maddie wouldn’t hear us.
More evidence that I’d made the right choice to keep my distance from Emily. She’d consumed me from the beginning, and I couldn’t afford that now.
And somehow, I’d have to figure out a way to avoid it for the entire soccer season.
“Yes,” Emily said, her voice steadier even though her eyes were glassy. “Diner cake is the best cake.”
“It is! I love diner cake.” Maddie’s eyes lit up as she looked between us. Now that it was all out in the open, my shoulders sagged with relief, even if my heart rate still kicked up at Emily’s wide smile.
Regardless if I’d resolved not to date anyone for a while and ignore whatever I was feeling for her, now that Emily was Maddie’s coach, she wasveryoff-limits, no matter what my intentions had been.
“I better get with the other coaches,” she said, straightening her long chestnut ponytail, her old tell when she was nervous. “I am so excited you’re on my team. It’s going to be an awesome season.” She looked between us with a wide smile and jogged behind the registration table.
“She seems really nice. And pretty,” Maddie whispered as she leaned against me. “Were you good friends in school? Why did you stop?”
I exhaled with a soft groan, my eyes still drifting toward Emily until I forced them away. I didn’t know what to tell my niece and didn’t have the energy to lie.
“Because sometimes, Mad,” I sighed, letting my gaze linger on Emily’s departure for one more minute before I dragged it away, “some things are too good to keep.”
7
EMILY
“Hey, are you okay?”
Penny put a hand on my shoulder as I shoved the file folder with all the coach and league materials into my bag.
When I spotted the sympathy pulling at her features, I nodded back even though I had no idea how to answer.
After the parents and the kids had filtered out of the space, we’d had a little meeting to discuss rules and regulations and what we had to do before the first practice.
It was nothing unexpected, as I’d played in a league exactly like this as a kid, and I had a lot of great memories on the field and hanging out with my friends at Pizza Hut after a game.
After Penny had convinced me to be a coach, I’d gotten excited to plan those fun little events for my team and relive a little of the great experience I’d had.
Any ideas or plans I’d been thinking about had been forgotten as I’d fixated on one parent and child for the rest of the afternoon.
Seeing Jesse here signing up his daughter, much less signing her up to be on my team, had been unexpected, but I’d been confident I’d find a way to manage.
Finding out his daughter really wasn’t his daughter, and that he was taking care of his deceased sister’s child was jarring and heartbreaking enough to rattle me for the rest of the day.
I’d forced myself to make small talk with parents and kids and half listened to Penny’s coach instructions. Memories of Tessa floated around in my head, each one deepening the dull ache in my chest.
She had been the cutest little thing. Maybe notlittle, as she’d always been tall for her age, but she’d been the girliest girl I’d ever known. Every time I’d stepped foot into Jesse’s house, she’d dragged me by the hand to her bedroom to show me her new dolls or a cool pair of earrings from the little store at the mall that I just had to see.
I’d remembered her as a sweet bubble of love and light and the pride and joy of her entire family—especially her big brother.
