“Why don’t you ever offer to go play in traffic?” she asked, peeling off a piece of licorice.
“I’d take you up on that,” Eddie said from behind them. He reached over Leo’s shoulder and snagged two pieces of candy, handing one to his son, Max.
Max, a stocky eight-year-old with his mom’s coloring and nose and Eddie’s dark hair and hazel eyes, waved his licorice like a sword before biting it.
Her gaze drifted back to Neil. She hadn’t seen him since Monday, he’d kept his distance from Bree, giving their daughter time to cool off, Maddie was sure. Still, she and Neil had talked on the phone Monday night and had settled on Bree’s punishment—two weeks of being grounded with no electronics of any sort, an early bedtime every night and Bree’s worst nightmare, extra chores.
Now he stood apart from the other parents, his hands in his pockets. As if sensing her watching him, he turned his head, and though he had on dark sunglasses, she instinctively knew he was looking right at her.
She wished she could see his eyes.
“Aunt Maddie,” Elijah said, jumping onto her lap and effectively giving her a heart attack, “can I have a dollar for the ’cession stand?”
His bony little knee was digging into her thigh so she slid him to the bleacher between her and Leo. Leo propped his elbow on the kid’s head and waved a piece of licorice back and forth. Elijah giggled and snapped up the candy.
“Sure,” Maddie said, pulling a crumpled dollar bill from her pocket. “Doesn’t your mom have a dollar?”
“I don’t know. She’s waiting for Daddy to text her and told me to ask someone else for one.”
Maddie gave him the money then made her way down the bleachers. She waved at Mitchell, who sat on Carl’s lap. Gerry laughed at something Rose said while Frank lifted his fists when one of Bree’s teammates stole the ball.
“Hey,” Maddie said to Fay, who was reading her phone, “you okay?”
Fay lifted her head as if just realizing Maddie was there. “Huh? Oh...yes. I’m fine.”
“I thought Shane was coming.”
“He’s...uh...running late.” Fay shut her phone and smiled but it was a bit shaky around the edges. “He’s catching up on yard work. He wants to get it done so he can take Elijah fishing this evening.”
“Elijah will love that,” Maddie said as Fay’s phone buzzed. “If you want to go, too, I can keep—”
But Fay was checking her text message as she walked away.
“Mitchell,” Maddie finished. “Or I can just stand here talking to myself.”
“What was that?” a familiar voice asked from beside her.
She turned. “Nothing,” she told her dad.
She looked back at Fay, who stood under a large maple tree typing on her phone, her brow furrowed. They hadn’t spoken in a few days but the last time they’d talked, Fay had been positively giddy over her and Shane’s reunion. She and the boys had moved back in with him and he was trying to find work locally instead of reenlisting like he’d wanted.
Frank rocked back on his heels. “I was surprised to see that boy here.”
That boy. “Neil is Bree’s father.”
“Believe me, Madelyn, I realize that. It’s just that he hasn’t spent much time at her sporting events.”
No, he certainly hadn’t.
“I can’t help but notice that you’re having a hard time keeping your eyes off of him,” Frank said.
Busted. And by her father. How embarrassing. “He happens to be in my line of vision,” she said, her face hot.
“I also can’t help but wonder what your feelings are toward him?”
She slid him a sideways glance. “Nonexistent.” She prayed that was the truth.
“That’s not what you told me the first time I asked you that question.”
“That was a long time ago,” she said, recalling that conversation vividly. She and Neil had been seeing each other for six months when she’d admitted her feelings for him to her dad.
“He’s the father of my child so he’ll always be a part of our lives, but that’s it.”
Frank seemed satisfied with that. “Good to see he’s making more of an effort with Bree, at least.”
“Yeah, it is. Dad?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you think people can change?”
“Of course. People change every day from good to bad and back again. Do you think your mother and I are the same people we were when we first got married? The same parents with you as we were with your brothers? People learn from their mistakes and try harder. Realize life is short and start living for