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“Huh?”
He shakes hands with another man in passing. “The golf course. There are eighteen holes. You can pick whichever one you want and we can stop.”
Lovely.
“I’m not interested in a rickety golf cart. No, thank you.” Plus, I’m fairly certain there’s security and cameras, so… no.
Lucas stops us at a table where we are supposed to check in for the dinner. They tell us which table we are at. Considering what he has going on under my dress, I’m happy we aren’t seated with my dad. That would just be wrong.
We stop and greet my dad and his date. Lucas spotted her for him and, yes, she’s lovely and kind. Reminds me of his stepmom, Jen.
We’re seated with a few older people at our table. One is a former coach that retired before my dad. Ralph McKnight. He has white hair, an oversized suit jacket, and an extremely loud voice. His wife beside him is quiet but friendly. I can tell she’d much rather be watchingWheel of Fortuneright now.
Lucas holds my hand over his thigh under the table while holding a conversation with the man beside him.
These people are a mix of the old staff, current staff, and donors. It’s not like we are raking in millions here, but it helps especially with the students that can’t afford the equipment and uniform. The travel. All the expenses.
The current team players are also here and a few stop by to talk to Lucas. I know most of them, so I smile and keep to myself.
I went to high school with their siblings and I definitely know some of them remember me from my momentous graduation where I threw up while getting my diploma. I can’t look at them without wondering if they remember that event in my life or if they’ve forgotten it already.
Also, if I ever see Mr. Hoover ever again, I may just die thinking about him grading papers on his desk.
Why couldn’t we have gone to my least favorite teacher’s class?
There’s music that plays from the other side of the room. It’s a string quartet because this is an upscale country club and I guess a DJ was out of the question.
“I’ll be right back. Do you want something to drink?”
Gosh, I’m going to need alcohol to get through whatever other forms of pleasant torture he has planned.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I got you,” he winks and kisses my temple. “Two minutes.”
He’s gone, and I use the first minute to check my phone. Sure enough, Charity is regretting giving my child too many popsicles, and she is asking about the off switch.
I warned her. Now she can suffer for it.
There’s a small area where a few people dance, and I catch my dad with his date. I don’t really remember my mom and she didn’t really have much of a family. After my dad’s parents died, it was us and the team. I have a distant aunt and that’s it.
He looks happy with her, though. That’s what matters most.
Maybe that’s why things wouldn’t work with Ted. Apart from whatever happened in this accident that he’s trying to cover up, I never really saw a future there. Not in the way I see one with Lucas. It also never really felt like a family bond. It felt kind of forced in some ways. Not the way things naturally fell into familiarity with Lucas.
Maybe having a kid is part of that, but I just don’t think Ted ever wanted me for me. Or Jadon. Comparing Lucas and Ted now, I realize I never got the sort of attention Lucas gives me, which makes me question why Ted was ever in this with me.
Sure, I put up boundaries, but things were always stagnant.
“Is that your husband?” The woman beside me asks. She smells like White Diamonds and has giant diamond rings on her wrinkled fingers.
“No, he’s my…” for now, I guess, “boyfriend.”
“Oh,” she nods. “He seems very sweet.”
He is when he isn’t sticking toys in me or trying to push my boundaries. Instead of unloading my woes against his ploys that I secretly hope start soon, I nod and smile. “He’s very sweet.” It’s the truth. He’s not what I ever expected.
I set my red clutch on the table when it starts.
