Jeff patted my shoulder as I leaned to tap my card. “Glad you’re here.”
I exchanged a look with him and felt warm all over. I wondered what made him change his tune about me, but I was glad he did. “Me too.”
Emma waited for us off to the side.
“A pretzel for a princess,” I said, extending the crusty, supposed-to-be-soft pretzel down to her.
“Ooh, and you got the cheese,” she said, ripping off a piece to dip in the yellow would-be-cheese goodness.
A little drop of it hung at the edge of her lips. I used my thumb to wipe it away, then sucked on it.
“Harlan,” she scolded me.
“Good shit,” I said. “Let’s go sit.”
That fucker thought she wasn’t worthy of me? I’d prove him wrong.
We sat hip to hip in the bleachers, making casual conversation. Jeff sat on my other side, and I appreciated how nice he was to Emma. I’d never had a kid or gotten a divorce, but he seemed like a really great dude. I saw how Liam became who he was, born of two easygoing parents who wanted their son to shine. I played a hand-slapping game with one of Jeff’s other kids, but overall, I kept a low profile. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Tonight was about the boys, about how far they’d come, about the community sending them off into their futures.
I did my best not to overanalyze how much or how little Emma touched me.
Just before the end of the second period, Emma clasped my hand. Jeff, Emma, and I braced forward and became a blur of nonsense shouting. Liam was on a breakaway, just one well-placed shot from a goal.
A wrister sent the puck sailing over the visiting goalie’s shoulder and into the net.
I yelled so hard my throat hurt, and I didn’t even feel a little jealous when Jeff and Emma hugged. More than anything, I felt honored to be included.
And I felt even warmer when Emma lunged at me and hit me with a big smacker of a kiss.
THIRTY
EMMA
MARCH
The last fewseconds ticked out on the game clock, and the boys headed for the locker room.
“I think we’re gonna take off, Em,” Jeff said, holding his sleeping daughter against his chest.
“Yeah, go get that little one in bed.”
Harlan appeared antsy at my side. “Or, um, we could all go out to celebrate. Take Liam and his friends out?”
Jeff’s wife leaned in. “I can take our kids home. It’s past bedtime. They’d be monsters at a restaurant.”
“I can help,” Jeff offered.
She shooed him off. “Go be with Liam.”
Harlan looked at me uncertainly. “I don’t want to overstep.”
“No.” I shook my head. “He’ll love it if we go out. I think you made his night by coming.”
“I didn’t want to be a distraction,” he said.
I laced my fingers with his. “You’re not. It means a lot to me that you’re here even though you don’t want kids or anything.”
Harlan turned to face me. “I don’t really see this like that. I’m in his fan club. I’m proud of him, and if he wants me here to support him, I’m here. It’s nice to see a kid with a good family.”