fearless, and mortal. I’d once told Angus that Ultimate always made me think of the poetry of A.E. Housman. My son had looked baffled and slightly annoyed, but I knew that some day he would understand, more than most, the poignancy of Housman’s line about all those early-laurelled heads.
Zack had positioned himself by the bench where Angus’s team, Blackjack, had set up. He was watching the game intently – not cheering, just observing. Occasionally, he’d lean close to one of the kids on Blackjack and ask a question. He seemed perfectly at ease, as if there were nothing more pressing in his life than mastering the intricacies of a new sport.
Zack and I hadn’t talked on our way back from the restaurant, but our silence had been companionable rather than awkward, and when I’d pulled up to park behind the ball diamond, he had leaned across and kissed me. It was a good and serious kiss with the lingering effects a good and serious kiss always has. I wanted more, but I could hear my daughter calling, and so Zack and I had touched fingers and gone our separate ways.
As soon as I found a place on the bleachers, Delia Wainberg joined me. Her hair was spiky, there was the faintest dusting of blush on her pale cheeks, and her outfit – black shorts, a white T-shirt, and white runners – was youthful and flattering.
“How’re you doing?” she said.
“Fine,” I said. “And obviously you’re blooming.”
“Thanks for noticing,” she said. “I’ve decided Chris wouldn’t want me to disintegrate, so I’m making an effort.” She waggled her fingers theatrically. “No cigarette,” she said. “I’ve quit smoking – again.” Her voice made one of its appealing squeaky trills. “I haven’t had one all day, but I’m not to be trusted. If I come up with some phony-baloney excuse to leave, sink your teeth into my leg and don’t let go.”
I laughed. “Just watch the game,” I said. “Seeing the shape these kids are in will firm your resolve.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said.
We settled back to follow the progress of the disc as it arced through the summer air. Like Zack, Delia had questions about Ultimate, and I did my best to answer them. At one point, her attention was diverted, and she touched my arm.
“Look over there,” she said. “Hard to believe that an hour ago our daughters were asking us if they could have a party with the boys from the cottages down the shore.”
The girls had found the playground, and with the Merlin-like ability of preadolescents they had become kids again, abandoning the mysteries of growing up for the sheer pleasure of daring one another to go higher, faster, and farther.
“I’ve missed so much,” Delia said simply. “But no more. I’m going to do better. I’m going to be better.”
Remembering the plans of Clare Mackey’s friends, I felt a pang. Suddenly, I very much wanted Delia to have her chance.
In front of us, Leah, her face dirty and her hair soaked with perspiration, made a heroic leap, caught the disc, and hit the grass. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of her, and for an endless moment she lay motionless on the ground. When Angus ran over to see if she was all right, Leah shook him off angrily and pushed herself to her feet. The game continued.
“She’s tough,” Delia said admiringly.
“Not a bad quality in a woman,” I said.
“I agree,” Delia said. “Is she tougher than your son?”
“I’d say they were evenly matched,” I said.
“Are you and Zack evenly matched?” Delia asked mischievously.
“I don’t think that’s an issue,” I said. “We hardly know each other.”
“I don’t believe you,” Delia said. “I saw that kiss he planted on you in the car. In all the years I’ve known Zack, I’ve never seen him be publicly demonstrative with a woman. In fact, I’ve never known any of his women. I know they exist, but he keeps that part of his life separate from us.”
“Sometimes it’s wise to keep professional and private lives separate,” I said.
My only intention had been to switch the focus off the subject of Zack and me, but Delia seized on my words. “That’s always been a problem for us,” she said. “We’ve never been able to separate the personal and the professional. Noah and I can’t. Blake and Lily can’t. Chris and I couldn’t.”
Delia’s reference to her relationship with Chris shook me. An image from the night Chris died flashed into my consciousness: Delia standing behind Chris, her arms encircling him as if to keep him from slipping away. Had she been the woman with whom he’d had the affair, the woman who’d chosen not to go through with her pregnancy?
Innocent of my speculations, Delia peered intently as the opposing team advanced the disc effortlessly down the field. When they scored, she pounded her fist into her hand. “Damn,” she said. “Anyway, Noah and I have been lucky. We seem to have survived.”
“Do you think Blake and Lily’s relationship will survive?” I asked.
“I hope not,” Delia said. She winced. “I know that sounds cruel. But that’s a relationship that never should have been. Blake got far more than he bargained for with Lily. We all did.”
“In what way?” I said.
“I shouldn’t be talking about her,” Delia said. “It’s disloyal. More to the point, it’s unfair. As much as any of us, Lily is responsible for the firm’s success.”
“That seems odd, since she’s not a lawyer.”
“You don’t have to be a lawyer to have a brain,” Delia said wryly. “Lily is one smart cookie. More significantly, she’s able to see the big picture. There are a lot of sharp elbows and egos at Falconer Shreve. People are focused on their own work. There’s not much glory in taking care of the day-to-day business of the firm. Most of us deal with office stuff on a need-to-know basis, but Lily’s always understood what had to be done.”
“That is a gift,” I said.
“What’s a gift?” Blake Falconer’s question was casual, the kind of gentle repetition of a phrase that allows a newcomer a graceful entrance into a conversation, but Delia and I both jumped when we heard his voice. “Sorry,” he said. “Noah and I just got tired of standing. We decided you two looked pretty comfortable. Did we interrupt something?”
“No.” Delia patted the space next to her. “Lots of room here in the cheap seats,” she said. “I was just telling Joanne how much Lily has contributed to the firm.”
Blake looked abashed. “You know, sometimes I lose sight of that myself,” he said.
Despite another heroic leap by Leah, Angus’s team lost by a single point. It was a heartbreaker, but the RUFDC tournament had just begun. There would be other games, other chances. The members of Blackjack came over flushed and weary.
“We’re going to get something to eat,” Angus said. “We won’t be long. Everybody has to work tomorrow.”
“Have fun,” I said.
“You’ve earned it,” Noah said. “That was a good game.”
“Not good enough,” Angus said.
“So what prize are you playing for?” Blake asked.
Angus pointed to the parking lot. “See that puke-green shit-beater over there by the dumpster?”
Blake laughed. “The one with 779ULTI painted on the side?”
“Yeah,” Angus said. “We’re playing for the right to drive that for the rest of the summer. It’s called the Bohmobile.”
“Because Boh beer is the team sponsor,” Blake said.
“Indirectly,” Angus said, grinning. “Anyway, the Boh-mobile is the prize for playing the hardest, bitching the least, writing the funniest post-game anthems, and generally demonstrating the spirit of Ultimate Flying Disc. All of which sounds pretty stupid now that I explain it.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid at all,” Blake said. “It’s a lot more sensible than always playing to win.”
There was sadness in Blake’s voice, and Angus, who wasn’t always swift to pick up on the emotions of others, reacted. “Hey,” he said softly. “There’s no rule saying you always have to play to win.” He tossed Blake the disc in his hand. “Go hard,” he said.
“Point taken,” Blake said finally. He turned to Delia. “Hey, partner, look alive.”
With surprising speed, Zack wheeled himself over the bumpy grass to join them, and when he motioned to
