the important things. Overcome addiction, find God, lose their faith, make amends, seek out forgiveness.”
“But what’s inside a person?” Maddie asked, wanting to trust the changes in Neil but unsure if she could. “What makes them who they are, doesn’t that always stay the same?”
“Maybe,” he conceded, “but from what I remember, what was inside of Neil was a decent young man, one focused on improving his life. Seems to me, he’s fought hard for the life he has now, and maybe he’s realized that money isn’t everything. Maybe he wants to focus on other things, like being there for his daughter and family.” Her father watched her carefully. “Are you trying to tell me you’re the same as that sixteen-year-old girl who told me you were in love? That you haven’t changed?”
“I grew up,” she said, feeling as if she was under a microscope. “I had to.”
“You did and you did a good job of it. But along the way, you got...hard.”
She bristled. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Merely speaking the truth. It’s so important for you to do everything on your own, to prove your worth to everyone, to prove you’re smart and capable and independent when the only person who really needs to believe all of that is you. We all know you’re capable. You had a baby when you were barely more than a child yourself and you’ve done a remarkable job of raising her.”
“I didn’t do it myself,” Maddie pointed out.
“Relying on each other, leaning on those who love you gives you strength to get through and to be the one they lean on in return.”
She agreed. Her parents had always been supportive. She’d turned to them—she glanced at her brothers and Carl and Gerry—to all of them, at one time or the other when she or Bree needed them.
Unable to resist, Maddie looked back at Neil, not surprised to find him staring at her. She knew who she could count on. Did she dare add his name to that list?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NEIL COULDN’T STOP searching out Maddie. Her hair was pulled back, making her look younger than almost thirty, her shorts showed off the long length of her tanned legs, her tank top accentuated her strong shoulders, the curve of her collarbones. Seeing her in the bleachers reminded him of all the times she’d sat in the stands of his games and even some of his practices.
She’d been a part of his life since her friendship began with Fay in the fourth grade, a constant for eighteen months when they’d been a couple. He’d missed her.
When he’d first walked away, it’d been a persistent ache, a daily longing to see her again. Touch her. Tell her he was wrong, he was sorry and he’d give up anything, everything for her. Then, time had marched on and the ache had eased, the longing had mellowed.
But there were still days even now when he’d think of her, when he wished he could call her just to hear the sound of her voice. Times when he remembered how it’d felt to be with her. How much he’d enjoyed listening to her go on about some project at school. He’d hear something on the nightly news and wonder what she thought of it now, as an adult, was curious as to if and how much she’d changed. After every goal he scored, he still found himself looking for her, hoping to see her cheering him on.
Hell, maybe it was just ego, his desire to have her at his side, devoted to him.
That would be easier to swallow than the other possibility; that he still cared about her. Or his biggest fear; that he always would.
When Bree finally got put into the game a few minutes before the half, he forced his attention to the field. He couldn’t believe that was his little girl. She seemed taller, older than even the other day when she’d given him hell. He’d given her time and space, hoped that Maddie was right and Bree would want him here.
She was growing up and he had a flash of everything he’d missed, all the sports games and school activities, all the Christmas mornings, family picnics and game nights.
From the corner of his eye he saw a good-looking man talking to Maddie, flirting with her. She didn’t seem very interested, but jealousy still stung Neil. Maddie was a beautiful, smart, interesting woman. How was it that she’d never met someone else, fell in love and got married?