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Whatever he was saying she knew this was important to him. He had spent a good portion of his summer working on his soccer skills, going for runs, lifting weights, and she had overheard him and his friend, Jonah, discussing their chances of getting a coveted slot on the varsity team, even though they were still a year away from being seniors.

It was meaningless, of course, in the grand scheme of things. It was high-school soccer in a small Maine town. But at that moment, it was what he had going on and it meant a lot to him, which, she supposed, meant it wasn’t meaningless. Nothing had meaning in itself; everything had to matter to someone if it was to matter at all. Was an Olympic gold medal more meaningful than Otis making the high-school varsity team before he was a senior? Yes, to the person who won it. But not to Otis.

And not to her.

‘I’m really proud of you,’ she said, and was pleased to see a shy smile play across his lips. ‘Have you told Ryan?’

Ryan himself was a soccer player and since she had introduced him to the family he had taken an interest in Otis’s soccer career, spending countless hours outside kicking a ball with him. It seemed to have paid off.

He nodded.

‘What did he say?’

‘He messaged me thumbs up and heart emojis. Low-key it was kind of mid.’

Despite his description of Ryan’s message she could see he was thrilled at his stepdad’s response.

‘He’s proud of you. I am, too.’ She held out her hands. ‘Here. Give me a hug.’

He gave her a hug, longer and fuller than his normal cursory effort – which was unfortunate, because he really did smell, but there was no limit to a mother’s love – then looked at her. She was wearing a floral print semi-formal dress.

‘Why are you wearing that?’

She hoped it hadn’t absorbed any of his smell. ‘I’m trying on outfits.’ She pointed at a long red dress folded over the back of a chair. ‘It’s between these two.’

‘Both are fine.’

‘That’s what Ryan would say, too.’

‘Why are you trying them on?’

‘We’re going out tonight.’

He frowned. ‘Where to?’

‘A fundraiser for the library. They’re adding a new building.’

‘Why? The building that’s there is big enough. And it’s just a library.’ His expression brightened. ‘You could use the money to build some basketball courts.’

‘That’s not quite how it works. The library has to use the money it’s given for the purpose they asked for it.’

He shrugged. The shrug was one of his favourite methods of communicating; in addition to its vagueness, it signified both a lack of interest and a low-level disapproval. ‘Then ask for money for a basketball court.’

‘That’s not really a core library service.’

‘Could be. Don’t know unless you try.’

‘True,’ Mary said. ‘Maybe next time.’

‘Are you eating there?’

‘There’ll be food, yes.’

‘So what about me?’ Otis said.

‘What about you?’

‘What am I having for dinner?’