I wash shampoo into her hair while she tells me, in breathless detail, how Daisy stole the puck, how Dex fell, how Bobby cheated by being too nice, and how she definitely scored even if her father is apparently anti-truth.
"He said it was debatable," she says with deep offense.
"That does sound like him."
"Do you think I scored?"
"I think you terrorized several grown men," I say.
"Good," she says, satisfied.
I laugh and rinse the shampoo from her hair.
For a minute it's just warm water, bubbles, and Maddie humming to herself while she sails a plastic cup through the foam like it's a pirate ship.
Then she looks at me.
"Natalie?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a question."
"That sentence never leads anywhere peaceful," I say.
She considers me very seriously.
"Do you love my dad?"
Everything in me stops.
The room goes completely still.
Even the water seems to stop moving.
"That's a big question," I say carefully.
Maddie shrugs.
"You smile at him a lot."
I don't say anything.
"He smiles at you too," she adds.
The words land harder than they should.
"Your dad is very easy to smile at," I say finally.
Maddie watches me with the unsettling focus only children possess.
"Do you love him?" she repeats.
I reach for the shampoo bottle even though I already used it.
"Tilt your head back," I say.
She does, but she keeps looking at me.
