Page 47 of Give Me a Shot

“You do!” she squealed. “You do like her! Aww, Daddy.” She wriggled around to give him a side hug.

“I mean, yeah, I guess,” he said, hugging her arm.

“Does she like you?” Maddie asked.

Mo shrugged, then nodded. “That’s great!” Maddie said. She pulled back and squinted at him. “Then why do you feel staticky?”

Mo sighed.

“I’m worried about doing something different,” he said. “About changing anything.”

Maddie stood up and put her hands on her nonexistent hips. She frowned and then cleared her throat.

“ ‘Change can be a good thing,’ ” she said, her voice comically lowered the way it was when she imitated him. “ ‘You can learn new things.’ ” She began strutting around the room, her chest puffed out, pontificating. “ ‘Discover more about yourself and the world.’ ”

Mo wanted to be stern with her for throwing his words back at him, but he couldn’t keep his laughter from tumbling out.

“Okay, okay, sugar plum,” he said, still chuckling. “Point taken.”

“Good.” She stopped and smiled at him.

“I also want it to be okay for you,” he said.

“Are you happy?” she asked.

Mo took a moment to assess. If he was honest with himself, deep down he was over the moon.

“Yes,” he said.

“If Daddy’s happy, I’m happy,” she said. She rushed over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You better finish lifting. ‘We see things to completion in this house,’ ” she grumbled, imitating him again.

“Okay, Mads,” he said, picking up his dumbbells again as she went to the doorway. She stopped.

“Did you talk to her like you talk to me?” she asked.

“Um, I guess.”

“See? Told you so,” she said and waved at him before she walked out of sight.

—

That evening, Mo closed the sliding glass door and took the three small steps down from his back porch. He checked the patio chair that Madison had left at the foot of the stairs, but the seat had a little puddle on it from the rain the previous day. He turned it to let the water run out then tipped the back against the side of the porch so it could dry. He sat on the steps, his feet square on the grass below. Taking out his phone and holding it in both hands, he looked at the screen. Nervousness jangled and sparked his tired muscles.

Maybe there isn’t enough lifting to help.

Before calling Jess, he turned his head to the side to listen. Madison hadn’t followed him, and he didn’t see her at the glass patio door through his peripheral vision. It seemed that she was still snug in the pillows and blankets he’d made into a nest on the couch for her to watch a movie. She’d started the day off playing basketball with Khalil. That, combined with the mental effort from her coding, had her eyes drooping over dinner. Mo doubted she’d see much of the movie. He ran a hand down his beard and opened his contacts. Letting out a deep breath to calm his nerves, he called Jess.

“Hi there,” she said when she answered.

A little wriggle of nervous happiness passed through him at the sound of her voice. He smiled.

“Hi,” he said. “Sorry it took so long. I had to make dinner for Maddie and get her comfortable with her tablet.”

“No problem,” she said. “I figured you were doing something like that. Plus, you said you’d call tonight. It’s still tonight.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“It’s your weekend with her?” she asked.

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