Page 24 of Flyboy

“No, but once I send a guy by for a few days running, I bet she’ll change her tune.”

“You would do that?” Ivy couldn’t wrap her head around this other side of Colton. It just didn’t seem to mesh with the reckless, careless sort of man she thought him to be.

“Of course.” He didn’t turn to her. His attention seemed to have been distracted by something across the way. “Is that what I think it is, Omar?”

She and Omar followed his gaze.

A group of guys playing soccer in an open area of dirt was not usually something to draw much attention, but Colton closed the door. “Let’s go check this out, shall we?” He pocketed the car keys and started walking in that direction.

Omar jogged after him, and so Ivy was left to herself, her feet dragging slower the closer she came. It wasn’t as if she didn’t like soccer—or football, as they called it. She just couldn’t figure out Colton. And one thing had begun to tug at her conscience. He obviously had a good heart. What if all her judgments of him had been misplaced? Or at least some of it. Today he had seemed less reckless and more careful. Could a person deliberately choose to set aside the rules? Why would someone do that?

When she arrived at the dirt field, the men were already chatting in the center, Colton with lots of smiles and gestures. At last, after what looked like some haggling, they placed Omar and Colton on opposite sides, and the game restarted.

She sat at the side on the dirt, hugging her legs to her chest. Before too long, a soft, small presence at her side made her smile. A child, a young girl, had come to join her. And then another, and another, until she and the children made for quite an audience. She smiled at them all, waving her hand in a small wave. “Tudo bem.” A common greeting she’d noticed that basically meant,How are you?

They giggled.

“I’m Ivy.”

The kids all said her name one at a time, and then she tried to remember their names. There was Amanda, Gilson, Roberto, Tiago, and several others, and they were all pronounced differently than she would have thought. They spelled them out in the dirt.

After a moment of quiet, the boys cheered.

Colton raised both hands in the air and ran back to centerfield. Had he just made a goal? She laughed as he tried to high five every guy out there, even if they weren’t on his team.

Omar huddled up with his guys.

And she started a cheering section with her group.

“What’s his name?” Gilson pointed to Colton.

“Flyboy.” She laughed.

Gilson’s face lit up, and he held his hands out like an airplane. “Fly . . . boy?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Flyboy. Flyboy. Flyboy.” He started chanting, and the others joined him, pointing. Then a few ran in circles with their arms out as if flying.

Colton started to notice. He ran close to them, with his arms out, and then he winked at Ivy and went back out after the ball.

The kids looked like they’d been recognized by a celebrity. They jumped up and down and cheered. And then for the rest of the game, every time Colton touched the ball, they took up their cheers.

Once, Omar came close. He held out a hand to high five the group as he ran by, but they would have none of it. And they started a new Flyboy chant.

Ivy laughed when Omar shook his head and ran back to the game.

The time went quickly, and soon the guys finished their game. The kids ran to the center of the field, gathering around Colton.

Soon Gilson was up on Colton’s shoulders, and the group was laughing and bouncing in place.

Omar came and sat beside her. “I don’t know how he does it.”

“Does what?”

“Becomes everyone’s best friend. Look at him, even with the kids. When did he become Barney?”

Ivy laughed. Then she grew serious. “Do you think he’s reckless? Am I totally off base with this?”

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