“The other thing,” Danika continues, “is I think there’s a lot to sort through. Where we both stand, how it affects us going forward.” Her mouth turns down at one corner. “Listen to me. I sound like a lawyer. I hope it won’t involve lawyers. But I’d like to keep in contact, to meet up. And when we each tell our daughters, that’s a whole ’nother ballgame.” She looks at the pitch, where Cami and Bella stand together, sucking orange quarters. The friendly match must be over.
Kim hasn’t been following the match at all. Hopefully, she can bluff her way through it later when Bella asks if she’s watched. She turns her attention back to Danika. “I didn’t know what would happen when I turned up at your door. Honestly, I didn’t think it through as much as I should have. But if there’s a ten-step plan for this sort of thing, then I missed the memo.”
Danika has a lovely smile. It’s the first time Kim has seen it fully, but it shines on her face, and she finds herself smiling back.
“Mum and I talked last night,” Danika says. “She encouraged me to take this step…with you. If you’re willing. But to be honest, it’s hard to think of sharing Chris’s memory with anyone. But you probably think the same?” Danika has an expressive face; her emotions flit across it like summer showers.
Kim’s mouth turns down on one side. “The hardest part for me was when the police said there was no such person as Chris Henwood. That the person I lived with didn’t exist. And so I don’t know what I am now. I’m not a widow. I’m a single woman with a child and a deadbeat partner who didn’t provide for us in the end.”
“Did he…did he support you when you”—Danika squares her shoulders—“when you lived together?”
“We kept separate bank accounts—his idea.” Which of course now was understandable. “I have my own business—I help people declutter their lives. Moving houses, after a bereavement, retirees moving to smaller places, that sort of thing. Chris moved into my apartment, and we split expenses. He told me he’d taken out a life insurance policy for me and Bella, but I never saw any paperwork, and when I contacted the firm he’d mentioned, they had no record of him.”
Danika is silent, and Kim wonders if she’s overstepped, talking about money. It’s tight, of course, as a single parent, but she’s getting by. “I’m not after money. Bella and I, we’re doing okay.” She waves at the field. “Here we are at an expensive soccer clinic.”
Danika reaches out a hand and touches Kim’s. Her fingers are dry, slightly rough. It’s the first time she’s touched Kim, who stares at the pale fingers resting on the back of her hand. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I didn’t think that. And if the last few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that money isn’t happiness.” She switches her gaze to the field. “Guess it’s all over down there.”
Bella and Cami are looking around, obviously searching for their mums. Then, side by side, the girls race up the grandstand toward them.
Bella jumps over the bench in front and hugs Kim around the waist. “You’re talking to Cami’s mum! That’s super cool.” She looks at Cami, and the two of them giggle. Cami sits next to Danika and nestles into her side. It’s so like what Bella does that Kim catches her breath. “Bella’s my new friend. Can she come around sometime?”
Bella and Cami share a look. It’s as if they’ve jumped several layers of friendship and moved straight to besties. Or sisters.
“We’ll have to see,” Danika says. “They live quite a way away.”
“But can she?” Cami presses. “If it’s okay with Bella’s mum.”
“And can Cami come to ours, too?” Bella asks.
Oh, this is so unfair. How can she refuse when Bella is looking at her with big eyes and a hopeful expression? “That’s fine with me, Hella-Bella, but it’s a long way and Cami’s mum may not be able to bring her. You can’t go organising people’s lives like this.”
Bella sucks her lower lip and nods.
“We’ll see,” Danika says to Cami. “Now, have you got your things from the clubhouse?”
“I’ll get them now,” Cami says, and jumps down the steps two at a time, followed by Bella.
Danika rolls her eyes. “I guess we should have expected that, the way these two have bonded this week.”
“What do you want to do?” She’s letting Danika drive this. It seems only fair after how she landed the whole situation in Danika’s lap.
“Honestly? Hope Cami forgets about it. They’ll get together again at some point, but I’d rather go at my own pace.”
“I’ll go along with that. Hopefully, Bella will stop pestering me, too.” She wants to prolong the conversation in case Danika and Cami disappear from their lives. In case Danika finds she can’t, after all, deal with this at all. Kim wouldn’t blame her for that. But the urge to get to know them both better is beating in her chest. They’re family.
Sort of.
Or they could be.
“Two goals!” Bella bounces so hard in the back, the seat rocks.
“You’re awesome,” Kim says again. “What was the final score?”
“Fifteen to thirteen. So if I hadn’t scored two, it would have been a draw.”
Kim nods. That’s a massive score, but the idea is to get all the kids involved and give them a chance to shine, so it’s not surprising.
“And Cami scored one, and Sylvie would have, but she had to leave early. Can Cami come around next week? Sylvie too?” Bella continues with barely a pause for breath. “I really like them. Cami best. The coach thought we looked alike. He called me Cami once.”
