She linked arms with both of them. “So what’s on the schedule for today?” she asked.
“I want to show Mark my pictures from Chicago,” Dirk said. He glanced over her head. “I went there with my school. It was Thanksgiving. We took the train and then stayed in a hotel.”
“Sounds like fun,” Mark said.
“It was. I took my camera. Darcy gave it to me and then she gave me film. I like taking pictures.”
“He’s very good at it,” Darcy told Mark. She returned her attention to her brother. “Then what?”
“After lunch some of the guys want to play basketball. I’d like you to watch.”
“Absolutely,” she promised. “I’ll even cheer when you get a basket.”
Dirk smiled. “Would you like to play with us?” he asked Mark.
“It just so happens that basketball is my game.”
* * *
Life was bitterly unfair, Darcy thought later that afternoon as her brother and Mark raced down the court. The two guys were a terrific twosome, tossing the ball back and forth, making baskets and then high-fiving each other. They didn’t look that much alike, but there was a similarity in their physical grace.
Mark had collected his workout clothes from his gym bag in his truck. Darcy tried not to notice how good he looked sweating. She’d worried about him and Mark for no reason. They were getting along like old friends. Which made her concerned for a completely different reason. How was she supposed to resist him now?
“Darcy’s got a boyfriend.”
She turned toward the singsong voice and saw Andrew climbing the bleachers to sit next to her.
“I’m not even going to dignify that comment with a reply,” she said with a sniff.
Andrew laughed. “Dirk told me you were bringing a friend. I wanted to check him out for myself.”
“What do you think?”
He turned his attention to the basketball game. “Aside from favoring one leg, I would say he’s a pretty good player.”
She glared at the counselor. “He hurt himself playing last weekend, and you know that’s not what I meant. I don’t care about his physical prowess on the basketball court.”
Andrew nodded. “I know. I watched him at lunch. He’s okay with the kids. Some people feel uncomfortable, but they get over it. Others never fit in. They’re awkward and find excuses to stay away. Your friend there—” he jerked his chin toward the court “—is one of the good ones. He doesn’t really care that these kids are different.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Darcy admitted.
“You sound like you wish it wasn’t true.”
“I don’t, exactly. Let’s just say his acceptance of Dirk complicates things.”
What she wasn’t about to tell Andrew is that it made her more vulnerable, which was the last thing she needed with Mark. She was already in love with him and having daydreams about happily ever after. She had to keep reminding herself that he hadn’t shown any interest in a permanent relationship. Her luck in the man-woman department had been pretty lousy for years and he’d just been through a horrible experience during which the woman he’d wanted to marry had tried to kill him. Not exactly a formula for romantic bliss.
“What are you scared of?” Andrew asked.
“I’m not afraid. More resigned. Life has taught me that when things get tough, people tend to desert like rats on a sinking ship.”
Andrew returned his attention to the game. Dirk made another basket and Mark yelled out congratulations.
“Maybe your friend is more the lifeboat kind.”
“Maybe.”
She desperately wanted to believe it, but she was afraid of being let down again. She was tired of being hurt. Not that she had much choice. Now that she was in love with him, it was unlikely she would get out of this unscathed.
