Page 26 of Knight's Journey

“You swore you wouldn’t lie to us.”

She sighed. Of course, he would throw her words back at her — her promise to him and his sister the day of their parents’ funeral.

“I’m not lying. You finished out your seasons at your old school. It’s all they ever asked of you. I can’t say they wouldn’t be disappointed you aren’t playing anymore, but I can honestly say they wouldn’t be mad. They would want for you whatever makes you happy.”

“How do I know what that is?” He paused when he heard the quiver in his own voice. “Nothing feels right. Playing football doesn’t feel right. Not playing doesn’t feel right. I don’t know what feels right.”

“It’s okay not knowing. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m guessing my way through this. I don’t know what’s right either. Maybe moving here wasn’t right. This school, letting Lowe skip a grade to go straight to high school, letting you chip in so much when I should manage this on my own. None of it feels right.”

“How do we figure this out?”

Bridget turned to lean her back against the chain link fence. She buried her face in her hands, her nephew’s question feeling like a punch in the gut. Her hands slid down her face until she dropped them to her sides.

“Damn, Mat. I wish I knew the answer.”

He turned to mimic her stance but crossed his arms over his chest. “The move made sense. We needed a fresh start.”

She cut her eyes at him. “Really? Does your sister feel this way?”

He smirked. “Maybe. She likes the STEM program. She said her teachers are cool. She’s nervous about the Technology Fair though.”

“Why? That’s right up Marlowe’s alley.”

“She hasn’t made any friends yet, and she has to choose a partner. She doesn’t think anybody wants to be her partner.”

“She never said anything. I’m not sure I could help her even if she did.”

“You know what Mom would tell you?” She turned surprised eyes to meet his. “She’d say your job is not to rescue us.”

Bridget smiled at the reminder. “It’s to love you. And I do. I hope you know that.”

He returned her smile. “We do.”

She melted, tears pricking the back of her eyes. She hastily blinked them away. “Okay. Well, then, I’ll stop trying to fix everything for you. You’re a smart and talented guy. You’ll find your place here. If it’s on the football or track team or being in the drama club or band or just being a student, then you’ll have my support. Your mom and dad would be proud of you no matter what.”

“Don’t worry about Marlowe either. She’ll figure out this partner thing too.”

“Maybe she’ll make some friends as part of this. You never know.” She knew she sounded uncharacteristically optimistic, but she couldn’t stop hoping a glimmer of truth lived behind her words. “What about you? Made any friends?”

He shrugged. “I thought so. There’s this girl. Bianca. She seemed nice, but her boyfriend’s the quarterback. His name is Jones, and he’s a douche. I’m not sure it’s worth the hassle of trying to be friends with her when he’s freaked out by it.”

“Shit. This sounds like all the high school drama I lived through when I was your age. I thought it would be better now.”

He snorted derisively. “Don’t know why you thought that.”

Bridget rolled her eyes. “I’d rather deal with sick people. I got marriage proposals and offers to cook us dinner. That’s way better than your drama.”

“If you got offers to cook dinner, then where’s the food? I’m getting tired of your meals of scrambled eggs and hot dogs.”

She shot him a mock scowl and punched him playfully in the arm. “Just for that, I’m going to race you back to the house. Loser cooks breakfast.”

She suddenly broke out into a run, glancing over her shoulder to see him hesitate before sprinting after her. He overtook her quickly, as she knew he would.

When they made it back, Marlowe was up reading whatever book held her attention at the moment while the television was tuned into the Discovery channel for background noise. Mathias disappeared to shower and get ready for school.

Bridget decided to postpone a shower, planning to get one later when the kids had left. They all could use a special breakfast and some fun conversation before school, and she wanted to take advantage of the time they had for that.

With her focus on her niece and nephew, Bridget failed to notice the blue sedan which trailed behind her and Mathias as they ran and now parked at the curb across the street from their house. The driver kept his eyes trained on the house, waiting as if he had all the time in the world.

---