“Who’s ‘we’?” I turned onto Main Street and began looking for a place to park. Cutter pointed to a spot, which I effortlessly paralleled into.
“You have to teach me how to parallel park,” he said as he unbuckled his seat belt. “Mom refuses to park on the street unless she can pull in.”
“I’ll teach you,” I said as I put my car into park and shut it off. I glanced at Nova through my rearview mirror. She looked tired but had unbuckled. Honestly, she deserved ice cream. We all did. Once we were on the sidewalk, I asked Cutter again what he’d meant by “we.”
“My travel team,” he said as he held the door to the ice cream parlor open. Despite it being winter, the place was packed, mostly with teens from the basketball game. We took our place in line and waited.
“Go on.”
“Oh, right.” Cutter shook his head. “I played with them over the summer. Do you remember when you and Brendan came to my games in Boston?”
I nodded.
“That’s the team. We did really well, and Coach is going to take us farther south, where we’ll find better competition and more scouts.”
“What are the scouts for?”
“College,” Cutter said as we moved forward. “The tournaments give scouts a chance to see a ton of players at the same time.”
“So this summer travel is for basketball?”
“It’s for baseball too,” he said. “Coach has the schedule down to a science—at least that’s what he says. He makes sure there isn’t any overlap.”
“Overlap?”
“You know, for those of us who play two sports. Like I’ll never have a basketball tournament on the same weekend there’s a baseball tournament.”
“Ah,” I said, pretending to understand. If it wasn’t for Cutter, I probably wouldn’t have ever seen a game of any kind. Whenever Brendan went to one of the many sporting events in Boston, I tended to stay home, where it was quiet and not crowded.
Cutter, Nova, and I ordered. Once we had our ice creams, he went to sit with his team while Nova and I found a spot for the two of us. She ordered vanilla with sprinkles, while I went with my favorite: black raspberry and chocolate.
“Do you want a bite?”
She shook her head no. “Do you want a bite of mine?”
I nodded and leaned forward, taking the spoonful from her. “So good,” I muttered with my mouth full. “Do you want to try mine?” I asked her again. Nova was a fussy eater. Miri tried to get her to try everything, but Nova often refused.
She scrunched her nose and shook her head. “No, thanks.”
I shrugged. “Oh well, more for me.”
Nova and I finished and then colored on the place mats for a bit while we waited for Cutter. In hindsight, I should’ve texted Miri and asked her if it was okay for Cutter’s coach to bring him home. It was cold out, Nova and I were both tired, and my mind was elsewhere.
When she began rubbing her eyes, I told her I’d be right back and went to get Cutter, knowing full well I could face his teenage wrath, making me miss the sweet little boy he’d been.
As I approached the group of kids, I gave Cutter a soft but apologetic smile. He rolled his eyes and groaned audibly. “Sorry,” I said when he came near. “It is a school night, and Nova needs to get to bed.”
Cutter, in all his teenage angst, walked past me and out the door without waiting for me and his sister. I sighed heavily and went back to Nova to gather our things. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go home.”
“How come Cutter is a butthead?”
“He’s salty because I won’t let him stay out later.”
“Mommy would be sooo mad at him right now.”
Well, this is good to know.
“Yeah . . .”
