“I’m going to stay out of the way and observe from back here.”Not my business anymorewas what he wanted to say, but he kept it to himself. “I probably won’t stay long.”
She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “One of these days you twohaveto talk again.”
“Not tonight,” Mike said.
“Why not? It’s almost Christmas, and it would be way more fun with the two of you… all of us together.”
“He’s a hardheaded old fool.”
“Dad?” She cut her eyes.
There was a scolding tone in her voice, and he deserved it.
“I’m sorry.” He wished he could take back the words. “This is between your great-grandpa and me. Our Christmas is going to be fine. The best ever.”
She exaggerated a pout, which always melted his heart. “Promise?”
He cursed himself for making the comment about his grandfather. He was usually so good about keeping all that to himself, but it just went to show that he couldn’t sweep it under the rug. It was still impacting her. “If there’s one thing I can assure you of, it’s that we will both love you… always.”
“I know, Daddy.”
A young woman from across the way waved a hand in the air toward his daughter.
Misty tiptoed, waving madly. “That’s one of the girls from work. I’m going to go see her. Okay?”
“Of course.” Wouldn’t be long before she quit asking permission entirely. He was lucky at sixteen she did. They had a good father-daughter relationship and he prayed it would last forever.
Mike watched her dash to the other side of the auditorium to greet her friend. He tensed, preparing himself for that high-pitched squeal girls made when they got together. Always had been like nails on a chalkboard to him, but her smiling face made that easier. And there it was.
Why do they have to do that?
Misty was born wise, and ready to go. She’d kept him and Olivia on alert as a baby, never knowing what she’d be into next. She’d crawl out of her crib. Leave the house to go see the animals. The kid was fearless.
Losing Olivia was hard on them both. By the time Misty was fourteen she’d been champing at the bit to work. The day she turned sixteen, she already had a job lined up at Porter’s on the retail side, like her mom had, and she loved it.
But she had his love of horses, and that had taught her discipline. The horses kept the two of them close. He thanked God for that every day.
It was hard not to watch as his grandfather sat in the front row talking to the people around him. He’d always been popular in this town. Even held the office of mayor when Mike was a teenager.
Mike moved out of view of his grandfather. The curtain on the stage fluttered. He saw the back of a woman looking down on the lit screen of her phone, tapping and swiping her fingers across the screen. He wondered about people like that. He had a smartphone only at his daughter’s insistence. He’d have been happy with his old flip phone forever.
The woman turned, and Mike’s knees gave.Chicken stew? It can’t be.But it was the woman from the ball game. Vanessa.
Clearly there was more to Vanessa’s story than she was sharing earlier.Why didn’t I put it together before?
Misty had her mother’s intuition. Her hunches were usually spot-on. He hoped Vanessa wasn’t about to make all Misty’s worries come true.
Knowing that Vanessa hadn’t been entirely truthful niggled in his gut. That he’d let her capture his attention, even for a minute, bothered him even more.
He watched as she stood behind the burgundy velvetlike curtain. Lilene walked to the center of the stage.
She tapped the mic, sending out a loud thumpity-thump-thump followed by a squeal.
“Sorry, y’all,” Lilene said. “Is that better?” Looking for a few head nods, she continued. “Good evening. Let’s start with a big ol’ congratulations to our Fraser Hills Falcons!”
The room came alive with applause, whoops, and whistles.
“That was one awesome game.” The applause faded.
