“Soccer’s dumb, Mom.”
“To some people, it’s not,” I argued.
Luca just stared at me through the rearview mirror as I made the turn toward Roxbury, a nearby town with the ice rink and the bigger stores we needed every so often.
“What about golf?” I asked hopefully. Golf seemed contact-free.
“Mooooom, have you seen what they have to wear?”
My kid had a point there. I slumped against my seat. Maybe he’ddo this camp and realize he hated hockey. Wearing all that gear had to be a total pain. And ice rinks were cold.
Luca chattered on and on about hockey, The Reaper, the Seattle Sparks, and anything else even remotely having to do with ice-related things. And, just like always, I couldn’t find it in me to keep him from something that lit him up. So, I gave in. I’d scrounged for the gear, scrimped for the exorbitant cost of the camp, and drove him the twenty-plus minutes to the rink so he could have his dream.
We pulled into the rink’s parking lot, and I grabbed a spot at the end of one row. I cringed when I saw Evelyn Engel helping her son, Daniel, out of her SUV. Everything about the woman was…perfect. Down to her name. Not in a flashy way, but in an I-have-everything-together way.
Her mid-range SUV didn’t have a speck of dirt on it, and I was sure there wasn’t a Goldfish crumb to be found in the back seat. She wore flawlessly pressed khaki shorts that hit mid-thigh and a cap-sleeved, pale-pink blouse. And, of course, her jewelry matched perfectly.
I hated myself for the envy that flared. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to juggle all the balls. As I looked down at myself, I took in the flour smeared across my jeans and the dab of blue frosting on my shirt that I knew would leave a stain. My blond hair was piled in a bun that I was pretty sure I’d put in place with a butter knife this morning.
Sighing, I turned off the engine. “Ready?”
Luca was quiet for a moment, nibbling his bottom lip.
Concern swept through me, and I twisted in my seat to face my kid. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer right away, but I waited patiently, knowing he would in good time. His gaze dropped to his lap. “What if I’m not any good?”
My heart gave a painful squeeze. “Well, it’s always hard when we try new things, right?”
Luca’s turquoise gaze lifted.
“Remember when I was trying to learn how to make a soufflé?” I asked.
A smile tugged at Luca’s lips. “You said a lot of bad words.”
I winced but laughed. “Words we’re not supposed to say, right?”
“Right,” Luca agreed quickly.
“But I just kept practicing and finally got it. No one expects you to know everything going into this. That’s why you’re at camp. It would be no fun at all if you already knew everything.”
Luca’s shoulders slumped. “If I knew everything, I could be playing for the Sparks already. That would be thebest.”
I grinned at him. Already wishing his life away while I desperately tried to hold on to these vanishing moments of childhood. “You know, I bet getting to the Sparks will be a lot sweeter if you remember how hard you worked to get there.”
Luca mulled that over for a moment. “The Reaper did say playing peewee was his favorite.”
“See?” I had no idea what peewee even meant, but if it kept my kid in the moment, I’d take it.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Luca declared, his confidence surging back to life as he unbuckled himself.
“That’s what I like to hear.” I reached back and gave his knee a squeeze. “Love you more than bees love honey.”
He rolled his eyes but still gave me what I wanted to hear. “Love you, too, Mom.”
Releasing Luca, I slid out of my seat, only to be greeted by Evelyn’s warm smile.
“Hi, Sutton. How are you?”
