Bonnie reached in, her small hand settling warm and soft over mine. Our gazes met and held.
“One, two, three. Brookline!” Rosie yelled.
And the team chorused, “U9!”
Bonnie grinned at me, and I found myself smiling softly back. I realized suddenly that everything about this day had been entirely unexpected ... but I didn’t hate it.
Bonnie
After a delicious, if slightly awkward, dinner of Brady’s sun-dried tomato pasta, I found myself tossing and turning and unable to sleep.
My restlessness was pretty common. A few nights a week, I struggled with my anxiety at bedtime. Usually, I thought about what I had left on my to-do list, and then I ran through scenarios of what I might be forgetting. The recent incident with the background check hadn’t helped. My mind just couldn’t seem to quiet.
Once I realized I wasn’t getting to sleep anytime soon, I ignored my therapist’s advice and grabbed my phone from the bedside table and started scrolling. It was just after three in the morning, and I knew my school day was going to be rough.
At dinner tonight, my sister, Mac, had been careful with me, the way she’d been since the divorce. Well, since I’d shown up on her doorstep mid–panic attack back in the summer. I knew my sister was worried about me, but no matter how normal and fine I acted, she wasn’t convinced.
Brady had been present for the panic attack, too, but he was less obvious in his worry for me. He did things like ask me to dance at weddings and walk me to my car, carrying leftovers and foisting them upon me.
Mac was a little more obvious in her attention because she wasn’t a naturally soft sort of person. My sister could be pretty abrasive and salty. But it was like the divorce had put her on high alert. She was always aware of me and my reactions, doing her best to cheer me up or make sure I wasn’t lonely. Her spiteful anger at Danny had made her even more loyal and steadfast toward me.
I appreciated her. I really did. But it was exhausting trying to reassure her that I was okay all the time. I felt like I was managing her emotions as well as my own.
I’d talked to Brady at dinner about helping Jack coach soccer when Mac had been distracted. It wasn’t that I expected him to keep it a secret from Mac; I just didn’t want to have to explain how or why I was involved. It would only raise more questions and make my nosy sister that much more curious.
Brady usually gave Mac one cooking chore to handle at every dinner. Since she wasn’t a natural in the kitchen, the task usually required all her attention. And when she’d been keeping the breadsticks from burning, I’d quietly brought up coaching with Brady. He’d readily agreed, and I’d promised to text him the details for the next practice.
With that settled, I figured I could text Jack later and put him out of his misery.
He’d been so out of sorts with the girls this afternoon. It was the only time I’d ever seen Jack Ellis as anything but calm, cool, and collected. He’d looked on the verge of panic the entire time.
Honestly, it had been kind of sweet, in an amusing sort of way. The bad boy facing down ten second graders and defending his lack of a man-bun.
I giggled a little into the darkness of the guest bedroom and started a new thread in my messaging app.
I’d forgotten to text him earlier, but I’d do it now, and he could see my message in the morning and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that help was incoming. Friendly, affable assistance who knew his way around a soccer ball and was great with kids. I was pretty sure Brady could charm anyone.
Unsure of my opener, I typed my message and reread it a dozen times, like I was fifteen years old and texting my crush. That wasn’t too far off. Jack definitely gave me butterflies, but I was over thirty. It was silly to be this worried about impressing him. Or more accurately, making a fool of myself.
Me: Hi Jack. It’s Bonnie. Just wanted to let you know that Brady agreed to help out with the team.
There. Simple and to the point.
So I wasn’t sure why I was fretting over it.
I debated adding my last name, but, in the end, I didn’t want to typeJensendespite it being accurate. And I figured I didn’t need any sort of closing. No pluckyHave a good day!orGood luck this season!We weren’t friends. I was just some woman who’d slept in his bed once. There were probably plenty of those.
After a deep breath, I made myself hit send so I would stop obsessing over a single text message.Good lord. Then I navigated over to my favorite social media app.
But almost immediately, a response popped up, and I dropped my phone on my face.
Oh crap. Jack had texted back. At 3:14 a.m.
Jack: Thanks for setting that up. The next practice is the same time, same place, if he can make it.
With thumbs fumbling across the keyboard, I hurriedly typed,I’m so sorry if I woke you. I thought you’d see my message in the morning.
Jack: What did I tell you about apologizing to me?
