Troy wanted to punch the air when Michaela said, “If you put it that way, how can I turn it down?” She looped her arm through Rosie’s, and the two women headed over to pick out their shoes.
He and Gideon followed. “You’ve got to do this again,” Gideon said with all sincerity. “I’ve never seen a group so energized.”
As they picked up bowling shoes, Troy asked, “You don’t think Will’s going to mind helping Nathan?”
Gideon made a what-the-heck face. “Hell no. He lives for that kind of stuff.” Then he elbowed Troy lightly. “And you know Jeremy will get in there too. Cars are his thing.”
Troy knew that was how Will had met Harper—because Jeremy had seen his cars and wanted to ride in one. Will was the kind of guy who would help out any young person. In fact, all the Mavericks would, just as Troy’s brothers and sisters would.
“You know, we have a wealth of knowledge between the Harringtons and the Mavericks. You need to call on all of us more.”
As they put on their shoes, Gideon said, “You’re right. And I will in the future. We should get Connie, the girl interested in AI robotics, together with Matt.”
They started making plans. But Troy couldn’t keep his eyes off Michaela. She and Rosie chattered away like besties.
They managed to form two girls’ teams. Following Troy’s gaze, Gideon said, “You know, they’re going to be good. We’ll have to watch out.”
Troy wondered which would be more fun—to be on Michaela’s team or to bowl against her.
Dylan grabbed Gideon and Troy for his team, along with Nathan, then he shouted, “Game on.”
The next two hours involved a lot of screaming, shouting, laughing, and mock crying. Troy wasn’t a bowler, and his scores weren’t great, but he did manage to get three strikes. His lackluster performance was beaten by Gideon. Surprisingly, Michaela had more strikes than Troy. So did Rosie.
Troy leaned close to his teammates. “I suck. The girls are way better.”
Dylan high-fived him anyway. So did Nathan, who said, “But we’ve got Gideon, the secret weapon.”
Troy adored watching Michaela as she bounced and laughed and punched the air whenever she knocked down a lot of pins. She’d never laughed or smiled that much for him, but tonight, with her teammates, she was beautiful and exuberant, jumping up and down when any of them had a spare or a strike.
When Gideon called, “Watch out, Rosie, Isabella is heading toward the lane,” all the activity stopped.
But instead of crawling into the lane, Isabella went straight for a bowling ball.
Troy marveled, “That girl crawls faster than a speeding car.”
Rosie ran to her, then stopped two steps away as Isabella grabbed the edge of the ball return and pulled herself up. She patted the smallest ball one of the girls had been using, laughing and chirping as though she was trying to say something. Then she toddled four steps toward her mother before she plopped to her knees.
Rosie cried, “Oh my God, her first steps. That’s crazy.”
Troy hooted. “There you have it, folks. A champion bowler in the making.”
Every person in the bowling alley cheered, even the vets who’d come along to watch.
He was going to kiss her. Michaela knew it.
She just didn’t know what she’d do when he tried.
It had been such a fabulous evening. As they drew closer to her office, she had to say again, “You were amazing with those kids.”
It was dark in the car, but she thought maybe he blushed. “Thank you. Gideon’s asked me to come back for the next group when they’re aging out.”
With all the enthusiasm she felt, she said, “You have to do it. You inspired each and every one of them. They all have dreams, but I’m not sure many of them have ever voiced their dreams before. Or acknowledged they have them. But you got them to do it.”
She wasn’t lying to stroke his ego. What he’d done was incredible.
“And Gideon Jones,” she went on. “I can’t believe what he’s done with his youth centers. All the help he’s giving those young people.”
Troy turned onto Santa Cruz Avenue, heading to her office. “He has a pretty amazing story too. Right out of high school, he went into the Army. While he was out of the country, he completely lost track of his sister Ari when she went into foster care after their mother died. It took them years to find each other again. That’s why he helps both veterans and foster kids, because of what he and his sister went through. He’s never said it, but he’s got some PTSD from when several of his comrades were killed in action.”
