Page 74 of Making the Play

“It is. I guess he wanted it to be here waiting for me.” The outside of the box saysBest Cookie Ever Bakery.

Dad sits on the edge of the bed. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

He studies me like he knows I’m lying. I’ve never been able to get anything past him. “I didn’t bug you while we were at your aunt’s house, but we’re on our home turf now, so spill.”

If I don’t come clean, he’ll keep pestering me. “Leo came to see me,” I say, starting from there. I tell him about our entire conversation. And I tell him about how Finn and I left things after a somewhat awkward car ride to the airport. As I talk, he rubs the new beard on his chin. He decided that No Shave November should roll through December, too. It’s taken me a while to get used to it.

“I’ve told you all along you’re not cursed,” he says lovingly. “Some bad luck, yes. But thank God for that, because none of those boys were good enough for you.”

“You loved Leo.”

“No. But I would have, for you.”

I can’t believe my ears. “I thought—”

“Faked it.”

“Dad!” Since when does my father surprise me? Since never.

“I had a feeling it wouldn’t last so there was no need to voice my concerns. Not that you would have listened to me anyway.” The beard hides the lines around his mouth, but I can still make out his indulgent smile.

“Since when are you an expert on dating?”

“I may be rusty, but I remember exactly how it felt when I started dating your mom.”

My mom and dad were college sweethearts. They met when my dad coached her powder-puff football team during a Greek Week event. Mom was a receiver and when a girl on the other team tripped her and my dad didn’t call it, she threw the football at his chest. He was immediately smitten. “How come you haven’t dated? It’s been a long time since Mom passed.” It’s a question I’ve wanted to ask for a while. My dad is only fifty-four.

“Who says I haven’t?”

“What?” Okay, Surprise Dad has got to knock it off.

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Your aunt set me up with one of her friends.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“I’m telling you now.”

“How was it?”

“Terrible,” he says with conviction, so I lean over and hug him. “But you know what your mom always said.”

“In order to grow you have to step out of your comfort zone,” we say together.

“I wish she was here,” I say softly.

“Me, too. Every day.” His chest rises and falls. “She’d be so proud of you, Chloe.”

“Why was the date terrible?” I ask, steering the conversation back to him so I don’t start to cry.

“We had nothing in common. And then she told me she hated baseball.”

I make a face. “What was Aunt Becky thinking?”

“That she’d torture her baby brother.” He looks down at the floor, lost in thought, before raising his eyes back to me. “You know, just because I’ve chosen to be alone, doesn’t mean I want you to be.”

“I know. But…” I squeeze my eyes shut for a second. “I’m afraid if my heart is broken one more time, it won’t ever be fixable.”

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