I appreciated him but owed a huge thanks to Toni. After chatting with Brendan for a few more minutes, I made my way over to her, now sitting at the table.
“Thank you for saying something to my mom.”
“You’re welcome,” she said without looking at me. I knew it was because I’d been a jerk to her, and yet she’d still spoken up on my behalf.
After breakfast, we climbed into my mom’s Tucson, which was a bit cramped with all five of us, especially with Brendan and me being so tall, and headed to the school. I almost told them to stay home until my game, but I wanted my mom to drive me and suspected Toni wouldn’t allow her to drive by herself, which left Nova with Brendan, which probably wasn’t a great idea.
Although, if we were going to be a big family soon, he would probably need to spend some quality time with her.
Chapter 18
Antonia
For an hour and a half, cancer didn’t exist. In that time span, we cheered, ate popcorn, and shimmied to music. We hooted, hollered, and stomped our feet each time the Timberwolves made a basket.
Each shot Cutter took, we held our breath.
On the drive over, Cutter told Brendan he wanted to score twenty-five today, so Brendan kept his stats. Every made “bucket,” Miri checked to see where her son was.
When Cutter hit his goal, Miri stood and clapped for her son. I had no idea what the significance of the points meant, but I was proud of Cutter for creating a goal and achieving it.
At the end of the third quarter, the game was tied. In the fourth, Cutter went off, according to Brendan. I pretended to understand what he meant, but honestly I had no clue. I knew Cutter was good at his sports—basketball and baseball—but that was it.
During the game, I looked over at Brendan and watched him as his eyes followed the flow of the game. He was like the proud uncle he didn’t know he was about to be. I would tell him later, after everyone had gone to bed. Maybe we’d sit on the porch and light the propane lantern for some heat. Maybe he’d make things easy and suggest we move in together.
I would need his help in telling the kids they’d be moving before school started in the fall. That wasn’t going to be an easy or comfortable conversation, and I expected Cutter to object, and rightly so. Maybe this was the time for Brendan and me to buy a house and take our relationship to the next step. We’d raise the kids together and finally give Cutter and Nova the father figure they’d missed out on.
No one ever wanted to switch high schools in the middle of their four years. Lord knew I wouldn’t have wanted to if something had happened to my parents.
At the final buzzer, the teammates hugged and then shook hands with the other team.
“How come they don’t storm the court like I’ve seen on TV?” I asked Brendan.
“That’s mostly college and usually when the school has beaten their rival, a highly ranked team, or they’ve won a championship.”
I nodded in understanding.
“That reminds me,” Miri said as she touched my arm. “The basketball championship will be the first weekend of March.”
I pulled my phone out and grimaced when I saw that Brendan and I were supposed to be in Aruba. I added the dates and put my phone away.
“We’re in Aruba that weekend,” he said without missing a beat.
“We’ll have to postpone,” I said under my breath. This wasn’t the place to have this conversation, especially with Miri sitting in front of us. The last thing she needed was for her impending death or her children to feel like a burden on me. They weren’t. I didn’t care if I had a wedding date booked; I’d cancel it at this point.
Brendan stood and walked down the bleachers until he was on the court. I watched him throw our garbage away and focus his attention on Nova. I was willing to bet that if he had his car there, he would’ve left.
“I can find someone else,” Miri said quietly. “If taking the kids is too much.”
I blanched at her words and mentally cursed Brendan out for having the gall to bring up that trip in front of her.
“Miri, I may have been seventeen when I made that promise, but I meant it wholeheartedly. Your babies are my babies, and it’d be a cold day in hell before I allowed anyone to raise them but me.” I pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled.
“Ignore Brendan. He doesn’t understand our friendship because he doesn’t have one like ours. He wasn’t there from the beginning of us or even Cutter. He’s new to this and doesn’t have anyone he’d drop everything for.”
“Not even you?”
Sadly, I shook my head. “Sometimes I wonder, but he means well, and we’ll figure it out. Never know, maybe the kids will have a much-needed vacation.”
