“Thanks. Can we just go home please?” she saidquietly.
Luke pulled out of the parking lot.
“Want to get an ice cream from Dairy Queen?” I asked Luna, looking for her in the rearview mirror. Luke caught my eye and nodded.
“No, that’s okay.” Her tone was so morose.Maybe we need to let her mope…
But she was eight. And it was so hot. There was no way a sugary frozen treat wouldn’t help, at least a little.
“Do you mind if we make a quick stop there on the way anyway? I really want one.”
“Sure,” she huffed.
Luke’s mouth quirked up. He knew my ploy.
When we pulled into the parking lot, I turned around in the front seat. “Sure you don’t want a small chocolate peanut butter cup Blizzard? Since we’re already here?”
She looked out the window at the little white house-turned-ice cream shop. Reconsideration glimmered in her big brown eyes.Got her.
“Okay,” she said. Luke told me what he wanted (a medium strawberry shortcake Blizzard), and I headed inside. They were talking when I got back with the ice creams.
“Luna, I’m so proud of you. You worked so hard and played so well. I know you wanted to win, and it’s so disappointing you didn’t, but I’m proud of you anyway.”
She nodded noncommittally.
“Whether you win or not,” he went on, “I’m proud of you and I love you. Nothing will ever change that. I don’t care if you lose every other tennis game or sailing competition, I love you and I’m proud of you. No matter what.”
Oh my gosh. His speech was so sweet. He was going to make me cry. The words were familiar.“She’d always pull me aside, tell me she was proud of me, that I was doing my best, that I was human, that she loved me no matter what.”
“I know,” she said softly between bites of chocolate ice cream.I’d stopped eating mine. It was too hard to swallow over the lump in my throat.
“Can you say it for me?”
“You love me and you’re proud of me,” she mimicked.
“No matter what.”
“No matter what.”
I had to look away, out my own window, emotion seizing me. This wasn’t the first time they’d had this talk. It wouldn’t be the last time, either.
I took a deep breath and turned to face them again. I looked at Luke, tacitly asking if I could say something, too. She wasn’t my kid, so it wasn’t necessarily my place. He nodded his encouragement.
I turned around in my seat. “You two looked amazing out there, Luna. I was so impressed. You worked hard all summer, did your best, and had fun doing something you love—that’s what really matters. And you were so poised. It’s not easy to shake the hand of your opponent after you just lost, but you did it. I’m so proud of you.”
Luke smiled at me privately, reassuring me.Is this what it would be like? The two of us working together to build Luna up?
“Thanks, Val,” she murmured before asking, “What’s ‘poised’?”
A chuckle escaped me. “It means being kind and treating others with respect even when we’re upset.”
She nodded.
“How is it?” I asked, gesturing to her ice cream cup. “They put in enough peanut butter cups?”
“Yeah, lots this time.” A little grin appeared on her lips.
I didn’t miss the smirk and slight shake of Luke’s head. Luna and I had snuck to Dairy Queen for a pre-dinner ice cream here and there this summer, never mentioning it to Luke. Guess our jig was up. Luna didn’t seem to realize she’d revealed our secret as she scooped big bites into her mouth. We ordered the same thing every time, including today. I’d given her the one that looked like it had more candy pieces in it.
