Page 47 of Brews & Bartenders

“I will.” Caroline grabs my hand and we head toward the living room. “It was nice meeting you.”

My sisters don’t wave. They surround us in a group hug. “You have to come back.”

“We will.” She manages to wiggle out. “We better get on the road.”

David opens the door and waits for us to walk out before closing it. The sounds of the suburbs surround us. Cars driving down the road to get home, and kids on bikes hurrying home before their parents call for them.

“Thank you for setting this up,” Caroline says as David climbs into the backseat of her car.

“Anytime. Maybe next time we can go out for dinner or something.”

“It’s a deal.” She leans up and wraps her arms around my neck. I want to kiss her so badly, but I’m not sure how much affection she wants to show in front of her son. She gives me a peck on the cheek before letting go. “I’ll call you when I get home.”

She slides into the car and turns on the engine. “Be careful,” I yell before she has the door all the way shut.

“I will.” I watch her back into the road, then keep my eyes on the taillights as she drives down the street.

When I turn around, both of my sisters are staring out the window. I’m never going to hear the end of their torment. It’s worth it, though. Now to plan an outing for the three of us.

21

Caroline

All David has talkedabout this week is going back to Ms. Raquel’s house to Carlos’s sisters. He’s definitely taken a liking to them and I don’t blame him. They remind me a lot of my brothers.

“Mom,” David yells, “I can’t find my cleats.”

“Did you look in your closet?” I swear this child loses everything, and we’re already running late for practice.

He rushes down the hall with his cleats in his hand. “I found them. Can we go now?”

“Yep, let me grab my bag and book.” I scoop my book off the table and the bag off the couch, stuffing the book inside as I head toward the door. “You got everything?”

“Yes, Mom.” He waves the cleats in one hand and his water jug in the other. “Is Dad coming to my practice? He told me he was going to try.”

“I’m not sure.” The only plus side is he said he’d try and didn’t tell him he’d be there for sure. It’d be another disappointment for our son. “He hasn’t said anything to me, but I bet he’ll try as hard as he can.”

“Okay. What about Carlos? Will he be there?” There’s no venom or bite. I think he genuinely likes Carlos. I don’t know what they talked about last weekend at Raquel’s, but whatever it was, it must have put David’s worry at ease.

“As long as he’s not working.”

“I hope he isn’t. He said I was going to be an amazing quarterback after watching me play cornhole.”

“Looks like Uncle Bryce’s coaching is paying off.”

He nods vigorously as I shut the door behind us and lock it. “I hope he can make it to a game. If college isn’t too busy for him.”

“He will. He’s bugging me for a schedule. Between all of us, you’ll have an entire cheering section just for you.”

He gets in the car and babbles on about football plays and his friends on the way to the field. I have no idea what any of it means, even though Bryce played the entire time he was in school. I’ll listen, though. These moments don’t last forever and I’ll take whatever he’ll give me.

As soon as we pull up, he jumps out of the car as soon as I have it in park. I sit in the car for a few moments to see if Nathan did show up. I don’t see him, and turn the car off. There’s a chair I keep in the trunk, and I grab it before sitting on the side of the field.

Realistically I should probably socialize with some of the other parents, but I’d much rather read my book than talk. I have to socialize all day at the flower shop, and this is the small bit of downtime I have to myself. I do need to get with them for snack rotation and all that, but I’ll do that toward the end of practice. My book boyfriend is calling my name.

The coach’s whistle becomes background noise as I lose myself to the pages. Nothing exists around me except the words I’m taking in. I’m so engrossed in my book that I don’t notice the shadow fall over me.

“Hey, whatcha reading?”

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