Page 41 of The Scout

My dad’s voice rang out again. “I’m coming!” she shouted back.

“It’s okay, Mom. Go on.”

“Sorry, I’ll talk to you later. You’re a great mother, sweetheart. Jimmy knows that too. He’ll come around, and everything will be just fine. You’ll see.”

“Thanks. Tell everyone I said hi.”

“Will do. And you kiss my grandbaby for me.”

After the call ended, I got in my car and headed home to get ready for dinner at Cash’s.

* * *

Dinner was quiet. Cash had made roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. To say I was a bit impressed was an understatement. Jimmy sat quietly through most of the meal while Cash and I made idle chitchat.

Normally dinnertime was when Jimmy and I caught up on our days. He was always interested in mine, or at least pretended to be. Tonight the tines of his fork were too busy making figure eights in his mashed potatoes.

“How was your day? I saw the announcement about the end-of-year jamboree.”

Cash took a sip of his water. “Wow, they’re still doing that? Remember when we went, Hannah?”

I glanced up at Cash, and his eyes prompted me to talk. “Yes, of course.”

“Crowned king and queen, if I recall.”

“I still have my sash,” I admitted.

“I still have my crown.”

“You were king and queen of the jamboree? They don’t do that anymore.”

An instant smile spread across my face thanks to Jimmy’s question. Well, not the question exactly, but that he was interested. “Yes, two years in a row. Your father was quite the dancer. Didn’t hurt that he flirted with the female judges.”

Jimmy chuckled, his cheeks taking on a cute pink tint.

“FYI, I still am a good dancer, and for the record, smiling isn’t flirting,” Cash retorted. “I can’t help it if I’m charming.”

I shook my head with a grin.

Jimmy shoveled some food into his mouth. I knew it would be only a matter of time. After swallowing, he shook his head. “I’m not going to a hokey dance.”

“Why not?” Cash asked. “I heard Max say that Jasmine Landon wanted you to ask her.”

Giving my son a bit of a reprieve, knowing he didn’t want to acknowledge Cash’s statement, I changed the subject. “Was the team excited to have Cash as a coach?”

“Yeah, they are.”

Cash and I exchanged a glance. “Are you?”

Jimmy looked at me. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just weird. No one knows about ... you know.”

The last thing I wanted was for my son to be stressed out. Cash meant a lot to him, even more so now if I had to guess. “That he’s your dad?” He nodded. “Would you like them to?”

Jimmy looked at me, then Cash. “I’m not going to say if it’s okay with your mom, then it’s okay with me.”

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Quick learner. Honey, if you want to tell people, you can. And they might have questions, and that’s okay. If you don’t know the answer, you can ask us.”

“Or if you don’t want to answer them, you don’t need to. What happened between me and your mom is our business.”

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