It took her a minute to stifle her laughter, but she shook her head. “No, but I’m sure I have one of you and your dad performing it somewhere at home. You two used to sing it all the time. My favorite was when you used the toilet paper rolls for microphones.”
I laughed, unable to keep my eyes off Jake during their exchange. It was too easy to picture him as a cute, little, blond boy singing a John Denver song. It made my heart ache in the sweetest way.
Jake caught me staring and pointed a finger. “Don’t youdareask to see it!”
“I want to see it!” Harrison piped up.
“Oh, I do too. Definitely.”
Jake looked to his mom for help, but she was grinning wide. “No. Mom, NO!”
“I think you’re outvoted, Jake. I’ll have to see if I can find it.”
He mumbled something and took a bite of his hamburger, trying his best to pretend the conversation never happened. If I wasn’t already in love with the guy, I would have fallen a little more right then. He truly was irresistible sometimes.
The adults fell into silence as we ate the rest of our meal, while Harrison chattered on about things he was learning in school. He squirmed continuously in our seat, bumping elbows with both Jake and me, but neither of us said anything.
Katheryn laughed at some of Harrison’s stories, and every time I looked over at her, there was a knowing look in her eyes as she looked between Jake and me. I wondered what Jake had told her, if anything. I knew they were close, and I saw the evidence of that almost from the moment I met her. It honestly made me a little envious and slightly homesick. I couldn’t remember the last time my parents knew me the way Katheryn seemed to know Jake. Katheryn was so different from my own mom. Much calmer and more intuitive, she made me feel right at home in her presence.
“Thanks for dinner, hon,” Katheryn said as she stood to collect our plates.
Harrison jumped up with her. “Can I play in the yard?” he asked me.
“Sure. Just stay where the we can see you, okay?”
He nodded and ran to my car, opening the back door to grab the soccer ball.
Jake let out a breath as soon as he was gone, stretching his legs out in front of us. His blue eyes were bright in the evening sun, his hair somewhat messy, and there was a light stubble along his jaw that I knew would be rough against my skin.
Neither of us said anything, but I sensed Jake struggling with something internally. I couldn’t resist reaching for his hand and lacing our fingers together, trying to draw his attention away from the troubling thoughts. Something passed over his face too quick for me to read, and he suddenly stood and hopped down from the patio, heading around the corner. I debated following him, but the front door swung open again before I could, blocking my escape. Katheryn held a couple of bottles of beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. She looked around for Jake before giving me a curious expression.
“No idea,” I said.
She sighed and offered me the beers. I set one on the deck and was surprised when Katheryn sat next to me on the swing. She took a sip of her wine, watching Harrison dribble the ball between his feet in the yard. Every so often, he’d kick it at a large boulder, pretending it was another player catching a pass.
“He seems like a good kid,” she said, gesturing to Harris.
“Yeah, he is.”
“Jake says you used to play professionally?” she asked hesitantly. I risked a glance at her, but there was only gentle curiosity there. No expectations. If I didn’t want to talk about it, she’d respect that. And for some reason, that made me want to tell her.
“I was on the national team in Mexico for five years.”
She didn’t seem the least bit surprised, so Jake must have already told her as much. “Must have been quite the experience, playing all over the world like that.”
I gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, it was. I was let go after a knee injury though.”
She rested a hand on my arm and gently squeezed. “Well, I’m sure you know the saying. When one door closes, another opens. It’s okay to grieve the loss of something important to you, but don’t let the loss hold you back from finding something else you love.”
An ache I hadn’t expected ripped through me, making me tear my eyes away. Fuck. How much had I wanted to hear something like that from my own mom? To know that it would be okay, that she still saw my worth? It didn’t matter that I’d already made my decision to stay, Katheryn’s words made the roots of that decision go a little deeper. She gave me the maternal confirmation I hadn’t known I needed.
“I already have actually,” I said, my eyes locked on Harrison. “I’m going to be coaching full time now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m buying into HotShots. I’ll be co-owner soon.”
I turned to look at her when I felt her shift next to me and was met with an intense, wide-eyed look that pierced me right to my core. “Jake didn’t tell me that!”
