“Yeah, I do.” To be honest, Jude wasn’t sure at all. He hoped that Cannonball’s better nature would take over and he’d give his son one last day full of memories for him to hold close, just in case the worst happened tomorrow.
15
Cope
Cope was tired after the meet and greet. Thankfully, there were no other disturbances after Jude and Ronan led Cannonball away. He’d met with a lot of great people that morning, several of whom were already making plans to visit Salem next summer.
When Jude told him about Cannonball possibly joining their mini golf outing, he wasn’t sure that was the best idea. With the exception of the day at the indoor water park, the stuntman had been volatile at every encounter they’d had. He was mostly worried about Everly, as she was the one who’d seen what was to come for Cannonball and for Wolf, who seemed to idolize the man more every day. He still wasn’t sure how to handle that problem.
“It’s ten past eleven,” Tennyson said. “How much longer are we going to wait for this guy to show up?”
“We’ll give it a few more minutes. Jude seems convinced that this outing will do Cannonball and CJ a world of good.” Cope had listened carefully as Jude had filled him in on the conversation they’d had with the daredevil after they’d gotten him out of the ballroom. It didn’t surprise him one bit that Cannonball’s unhappy childhood was the reason for all of this madness. The one thing Cope had noticed about the man as a father, was that he obviously loved his son, but didn’t seem to understand how to connect with him. It made perfect sense why that was the case when Jude told him about Rooster’s treatment of his son. Maybe today, Cannonball could take a lesson from Ronan, Jude, and Fitz, who were amazing fathers themselves.
“There he is.” Ten pointed toward the elevator where several kids were asking to take selfies with Cannonball.”
A few minutes later, Cannonball and CJ joined the group. CJ ran to Wolf and the two began laughing together “Ready to go?” He looked absolutely exhausted.
“Let’s do it.” Jude wrapped an arm around Cannonball’s shoulder and led him toward the lobby doors.
Cope stayed a few steps behind with the kids. Whatever Jude was saying looked important and Cope didn’t want to interrupt.
“What would you do with your last day on earth?” Ten asked a few minutes later as they started up Clifton Hill toward the mini golf course.
“I’d want to spend it with Wolf, Lizbet, and Jude. I’d want to build Legos with my son and read every storybook we own to my daughter and spend my last few hours alone with my husband.” Just the idea of having to say goodbye to his family was gut-wrenching, Cope didn’t know how Cannonball was handling it so well.
“I don’t think he is handling it well,” Ten said, obviously reading Cope. “I think he’s scared to death and trying to hide his feelings with his bravado.”
Cope turned his attention to Cannonball, who was still deep in conversation with Jude. He wondered what they could be talking about. Whatever it was had a calming effect on Cannonball. He stunned Cope a moment later when he burst out laughing.
When they reached the golf course, Fitzgibbon paid for everyone and the kids began to choose their putters. Disaster was narrowly averted when a second pink club was found for Aurora, after Everly took the first one.
To see who’d go first, Ronan flipped a coin, with Aurora calling tails. “Tails it is, little lady.”
Aurora set her ball on the mat and lifted the club over her head as if she were about to bash it to smithereens.
“Hold on!” Fitzgibbon knelt beside his daughter. “You have to hit the ball gently enough to get it through the T-rex’s legs.” Heshowed Aurora how to hold the club and how to swing it. “Got it?”
Aurora nodded. Her tongue stuck out as she concentrated on the ball and took her swing. The bright pink ball rocketed through the dinosaur’s legs, hit the back wall and rebounded forward, neatly rolling into the hole. “I did it!” Aurora jumped up and down with Everly, Wolf, and CJ congratulating her.
“That looked so easy,” Wolf said and waved away Jude’s offer of help.
Cope knelt on the ground to take a video of Wolf’s swing. They’d never played mini golf before and knew his son had never used or even seen a golf club. He crossed his fingers and prayed the ball made it into the hole.
Wolf swung the club and the ball sailed through the rex’s legs, stopping a few inches in front of the hole. With a short putt, Wolf sank his shot. “Yeee Haaaw!”
“Everly, do you want to go next?” Ronan asked.
“No, Dad. CJ can go before me.” Everly took a few steps back so that she was standing beside Cannonball, who was snapping pictures of his son. “He’s gonna need three shots to make the hole,” she said quietly. “First one’s gonna hit the side wall and bounce right back to him. Second shot will ring around the hole, but not go in. He’ll make the third shot.”
Cope could hear what Everly was telling Cannonball, he watched as the daredevil shot her a questioning look, but stayed silent. Cope had a feeling he knew exactly what Everly was doing, proving to the man that her visions were always on the money.
CJ took his first swing and, like Everly predicted, it hit the side wall and rolled back to CJ. “What!” the little boy laughed. Hereset the ball on the little tee mat and swung again. The ball headed straight for the hole, but just as it was about to fall into the cup, the ball circled the rim, but didn’t drop in. CJ made the hole with his third shot.
“How did you know that?” Cannonball asked, kneeling in front of Everly.
“I saw it in my mind. Just like I can see that it’s gonna take my dad four shots on the hole and he’s gonna say a bad word.”
Cannonball laughed. “What bad word?”
