Page 83 of Faking the Shot

“Well, hello Zac Parotti.”

He hadn’t realized Ainsley’s brother was gay. Here was another secret she kept well hidden. Not that it was anyone’s business. But still, it surprised him.

He then met her aunt, her frailty reminding him that Ainsley had said she had cancer.

“It’s good to meet you, young man.”

“And you.” He held her hand gently as he shook it.

She didn’t release his hand until the others had moved to the other side of the room. “I understand you are becoming good friends with my niece.”

He used Ainsley’s line. “I really care about her.”

“I can tell you do.” Her head tilted. “Well, what is it about Ainsley that you like the most?”

Wow. This felt like a loaded question. “I could say her smile, but I think it’s actually her heart.”

Her expression softened. “Sometimes I think her heart is too big,” she mused. “She wants to do so much for others, that she almost forgets she still needs to live herself.”

“She’s really compassionate.” He wondered if her family knew about Ainsley’s visit to the strip club. Somehow, he didn’t think they did.

“So, will you promise to take care of her?” Winifred persisted.

Didn’t she know about their so-called arrangement? “I promise to take care of her as long as she’ll let me.”

She nodded. “I know she might think this is temporary—”

So she did know.

“—but I think you’d be good for her.”

“So do I.”

She chuckled. “And probably she’d be the same for you.”

“Oh, I know she is.” His mom was right. Ainsley drew his attention to things bigger than a sport. She made him want to be a better man.

He caught her smiling at him across the room in front of the Christmas tree, and his heart thumped.

“Do you think we should get that picture now?” Ainsley asked.

He drew near and took a selfie of the two of them, then they posted at the same time.

The evening passed with more food, then gifts, and he remembered what she’d done. Her increased level of shimmery excitement and whispers with Mack confirmed that.

The gifts were passed out, including one for him, then Ainsley stood next to the tree. “So, Mack and I have one final gift.”

“It’s really Ainsley,” Mack mumbled.

“It’s something both of us have been wanting to do for years,” Ainsley said. She glanced at Zac, and he nodded, which seemed to brace her shoulders.

“So, Mom, Aunty Win, here’s a little gift for you.”

“Or a not-so-little gift,” Mack murmured, as Ainsley handed an envelope to her mother.

“What is this, Ains?”

“Just open it.”

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