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“Was it?” I ask.
She nods.
Damn. Could have sworn it was more recent than that.
“Well, it was great,” I say again. “Really.”
“I’m sure it was wonderful,” Coach says to her. “I’d love to read it myself.”
Dana nods, looking down as her smile falls, too.
“So, Junior, where’s that sister of yours these days?”
Dad chuckles. “In Greece with her new boyfriend, last I heard.”
“And your parents? How are they?”
“Retired and happy in Seattle.”
“Good for them…”
I study Dana, unable to look away from her downturn eyes, as the others chat away.
Nothing remarkable, I guess.
Can’t say I agree with that, Dana.
After a few minutes, Coach sets his elbows on the table, steepling his hands. “You know, kids, you’re all about to enter a really important stage of your lives.”
“Ah, here we go,” my mother says.
We laugh. No visit from Coach is complete without a little pep-talk.
“Now, let me finish,” he says, waving her off with a smile. “These next few years are going to shape who you are.” His kind gaze wanders from face-to-face around the table. “The person you are right now might be a shadow of who you’ll be a year from now. Two years, four years. Twenty,” he adds, gesturing to the adults. “As tempting as it is to waste it partying or blowing off classes — and you can certainly learn a lot about yourselves doing just that — I urge you all to dig deep and look inside yourselves and envision the person you want to be. Twenty years from now, when you’re sitting around this table, who do you want to be? Now is the time to figure that out.” He looks at me and grins. “This is your time. These are the moments. Make ‘em count.”
I nod, the words lighting a flame in my chest.
This is my time.
My mother groans into her wineglass. “Gonna need a bigger table.”
We laugh.
CHAPTER 4
CONNOR
I place the last plate in the drying rack. Mom and Dad cook. The kids clean. Always. Especially on party night when cleaning up the kitchen takes just about as long as dinner itself.
Just as I finish drying my hands, an extra plate plops down onto the counter beside me. I fire a glare at my sister, who simply shrugs.
“Missed one,” Courtney says before reaching for some fresh paper towels.
I wash it quickly, keeping one ear on the conversation behind me in the living room. Shop talk and sports from the dads. Gossip from the moms. Coach simply listens, though he clearly has his ears pointed more towards the gossip. Alex and Ben wrestle-play with Aster on the floor with Violet keeping a big sisterly eye on them to keep her baby brother from getting hurt, but he’s in safe hands. Alex and Ben might play rough with me, but they’d never put Aster in danger. None of us would.
As I dry off the counter, a shape catches my eye through the windows above the sink.Dana is outside, alone, sitting on the old swing hanging from a thick tree branch across the yard. Her back is to the house, blonde hair lightly flowing past her shoulder blades as she rocks back and forth, her sandals gently kicking the grass beneath her. That pretty yellow sundress dances against her knees. Orange light of the setting sun stains her pale skin, casting a shadow on the lawn beneath her.
“I forgive you forever, Connor Morgan,” she whispered, her smile banishing the autumn chill in the air.
