He smelled like coffee and the cigars he occasionally smoked with his buddies. He smelled like home, like my childhood.
As I stepped back from his embrace, I could see the unshed tears in his eyes. I could see the regrets swirling there, but none of it mattered. What did matter was that he was here now.
“Are you coming to my competition today?”
Regional competitions were being held in the Boston Sports Complex, and the drive to there was around two hours from our town. In the past, he rarely missed any of my competitions, but taking into consideration the situation right now, I wasn’t sure if he would be coming.
I could feel my mom’s eyes on us. When Dad smiled, I knew I was going to like the answer.
“Of course I am. I took a couple of days off work, so we can go to that ice cream place you like after the competition.”
“Seriously?” I beamed at him. “Yeah, I would love that. Are you coming, Mom?”
“What do you think?” She wiped her hands with the washcloth and turned around to take the plate with pancakes. As soon as she placed it on the table, Andrew came strolling in, looking worse than I felt.
“Morning,” he grumbled and went straight for the pancakes.
“Andrew Theodore Anderson, get your hands away from my pancakes.” Mom hit him with the washcloth, while Dad laughed from his spot.
“I’m hungry.”
“Then you need to wait for everybody else to sit down and eat.”
“But Sophie always takes so long, and you and Dad are the same.”
“I don’t care,” she grumbled. “Go and wash your face and your teeth and then come back. You can wait for five minutes.”
“Seriously?” He glared at her, that sleepy look still evident on his face.
“Yes, seriously. Get going, chop-chop.”
He grumbled all the way to the bathroom, and I almost felt sympathy toward him when he bumped into the shelf, cursing loud enough for us to hear.
“So, are you ready for today?” Dad asked.
“Yep.”
“How are you feeling in general? Headaches, nausea, diz—”
“Dad.” I placed my hand on top of his. “I’m fine, trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“I know you do. I’m just, you know, worried. I don’t want you to push yourself too hard if you can’t do it.”
“We talked about this, Daddy. This is one of my last competitions, and then afterward, I can focus on other things.”
He observed me for a second, but it seemed that he was happy with the answer I provided.
He didn’t have to know that I couldn’t wait for the pills I took to kick in, or that I wouldn’t be able to eat more than two pancakes because my stomach felt as if it wanted to jump out of my body. Right?
13
SOPHIE
The Boston SportsComplex looked just as I remembered it—a white, round building, with several entrances. The building that gave me my first golden medal, and the one that had so many good memories.
Bitterness spread through me when I remembered that Noah wouldn’t be here today, but I swallowed it down and focused on what was in front of me.
I could see people rushing toward the main entrance, hauling their huge suitcases and their dress bags with them. I loved this feeling. I lived for this feeling.
