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“Wow,” I say softly.
My mom whispers so Jasmine can’t hear us. “You didn’t tell me that was a date, Kylie. You said you were just helping him out.”
I furrow my brow, still admiring the photo of the broad, six-foot-six man who looks like he was made for me with the way my shoulder fits beneath his. If I had known he was looking at me that way, I probably would have taken him directly to the front desk and asked for a room at the hotel.
“I was,” I tell my mom, finally looking up at her. “Who sent you this photo?”
“It was posted on the Las Vegas Saints Facebook page. I was just looking for pictures of Pike and Indie and I saw this one. You look radiant. It’s been so long since I saw a smile like that from you.”
I glance over my shoulder to make sure Jasmine isn’t walking into the room. “I didn’t think I was ready to feel something for another man, but…I like him. I like him a lot.”
My mom’s eyes shine with unshed tears. “I’m so thrilled for you, honey. You deserve this.”
I look away, doubt clouding the joy I was just feeling.
“Isn’t it too soon, though? What if I think I’m ready, but I’m not? And Jasmine is so full of attitude lately, I feel like I need to focus on her more.”
Putting her hands on my shoulders, Mom says, “Look at me.”
I meet her eyes, still swimming with emotion. My mom has been by my side through all the ups and downs. Without her and Pike, I don’t know how I would have survived what happened to Eric.
“Life doesn’t follow a set schedule,” she says. “There’s no good time to have your world turned upside down. We live and love and lose without warning. That’s what makes life so precious. Just like devastation can knock us off our feet out of nowhere, so can love. It’s like a tornado. And you’ve got to hold on with everything you’ve got when it happens.”
“You’re right,” I say, my whisper so soft it’s barely audible. “But love? Do I love him, or could I? I don’t know yet, and with Jasmine…it scares me. The stakes are higher when you have a child, especially one who’s been through what she has.”
Mom nods. “Take it slow. If he’s the right kind of man, he’ll understand.”
“I think he’d be fine with going slow, but it’s still scary.”
Her expression turns serious. “Do you remember who you were before Eric’s injury?”
I scoff. “I was naïve.”
“You were fearless. So full of life. A glass-half-full person. When Pike took us to Hawaii and Jamaica, you were the first one to suggest parasailing and bungee jumping. But after Eric was injured, you became a glass-half-empty person. Assuming the worst would always happen, because it already had.” Her smile shrinks with a tinge of sadness. “And it could happen again, honey. It could happen at any time. But if you live in fear, you’ll miss out on all the best stuff.”
I nod, about to tell her how right she is when Jasmine walks into the kitchen.
“Grandma, do we have any ice cream?”
Mom gives my shoulder a squeeze and then turns to Jasmine. “You know Grandma won’t ever let us run out of ice cream, baby. We’ve got chocolate chip and strawberry.”
“Can you make me a bowl with both, like you did that one time?”
“Where’s the magic word?” I ask my daughter.
“Please, Grandma. And thank you.”
“Of course, baby. How’s the game going? I assume we would have heard you yelling if anyone had scored.”
Jasmine is already walking back toward the living room, but she calls over her shoulder.
“We’re still down a goal. It’s 3–2.”
“Do you want ice cream?” my mom asks me.
“No, I’m too full from all the pizza.”
I pack the remaining breadsticks into a glass container and put them in the refrigerator, then start washing the plates we used for dinner.
“Did your brother tell you he wants to enroll Jasmine in a youth hockey league?” Mom asks me as she puts the lid back on the strawberry ice cream.
“Lord help us. We’re already on the go three nights a week between dance and tumbling.”
Mom shrugs. “Pike said he’s helping out with the youth league, coaching here and there, and he wants to enroll Jasmine and Nolan in it. He’ll pay all the fees, of course.”
I bristle a little at the words of course. It’s true that I couldn’t afford dance and gymnastics for Jasmine if Pike hadn’t bought our house for us, but I’m an independent person and I’ve always paid my own way. My mom knows me so well she can read the meaning behind my silence.
“Kylie, he’s a multimillionaire. He just got some new endorsement deal that’s worth more than his hockey salary. And family takes care of each other. You’d do the same if the tables were turned.”
