But for others, like Riley, it only served as a reminder of what they didn’t have.
Em knew that feeling all too well. Neither of her parents would have ever dreamed of showing up for a Muffins with Mom or Donuts with Dad event. They’d never been on a single field trip, and couldn’t be bothered to show up to any of Finn’s soccer games back in high school.
Every time they didn’t show up, it felt like a dagger to the heart. She always wondered what was wrong with her. Now that she was an adult, she knew the problem wasn’t with her, but her parents. But her students were still too young to understand that.
She’d spent the week reminding her kids that any special person could be their guest for that morning’s event, but either Riley hadn’t realized that her gentle reminders were for him...or he didn’t care.
She doubted it was the latter though based on the way he tried—and failed—to put on a brave face. She’d caught him with watery eyes on several occasions throughout the day. Em wanted to cry for him but had kept the tears at bay for his sake. She didn’t want to draw more attention to him.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t Riley’s fault that his dad died, just like it wasn’t the other kids’ fault that their parents had left, or didn’t want to go. And yet, they were the ones who paid the price for it on these cutesy, themed breakfast days.
So she’d kept it together until the bell rang and even made it out to her car before the tears streamed down her cheeks. Her gentle crying had quickly become loud sobbing as all the emotions from her childhood came to her in a rush.
It was moments like this that she usually grabbed takeout and showed up on Finn’s doorstep. If she knocked on his door right now, he wouldn’t turn her away—except for the pesky fact that he was on the other side of the country for an away game.
Em knew she could always go to her best friend with things like this too. Frida had always been there for Em growing up, but she was gone for the weekend at an art teacher conference, so she was also off the table.
Why did the two most important people to me have to disappear on the same weekend?
Em rested her forehead against her steering wheel and closed her eyes. There was only one other person who she’d opened up to about her awful parents, and she knew he was in town. Too bad she’d ghosted him in the middle of a date last week.
It would be completely unfair to expect Grant to talk to her after the way she’d treated him, she knew that. But she didn’t know who else she could turn to.
It was possible she would show up to his house, and he would be gone doing something else. Or worse, he could have another girl over—that waitress had probably pounced the second Em had left the table last Saturday.
There was also the chance that Em would show up only to have Grant send her away. She wouldn’t blame him.
But, said a tiny voice in her head, what if he let me in? Em had to hold on to that possibility. She took a deep breath and lifted her head from the steering wheel. After she composed herself, she pulled down the rearview mirror. There were giant black streaks running down both of her cheeks.
Yep. Grant might shut the door in my face.
But she had to try. Thankfully, she already knew where the team house was. She just needed to grab some food before she showed up on his doorstep. Luckily, she knew just where to go.
Twenty minutes later, Em was standing outside a large, two-story bungalow in one of the nicer parts of town. A porch swing rocked gently in the breeze, and Em could see the edge of a lanai jutting out from the side of the house. The team’s owners made sure the guys from out of town got the best Florida had to offer to entice them to stay. Em assumed the proximity to the best food trucks in town was a part of the strategy as well. She carried a bag in one hand while the other hovered just inches from the door.
Showing up unannounced had seemed like a good idea until she actually got there. Now, faced with the very real possibility of rejection, Em’s stomach twisted in knots.
I shouldn’t have come. If I leave right now, no one has to know I was even here…
She started to turn when the door opened with Grant on the other side. Her heart raced at the sight of him. He didn’t have his crutches but was favoring his foot as he leaned against the doorjamb. Wearing a plain tee and athletic shorts, he looked very different from the last time she saw him.
A corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn’t quite a smile. “I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t wait for you to knock. It’s not exactly easy getting up and down these days.”
Em wanted to crawl under a rock. She’d been standing in front of the door for longer than she’d realized while she dithered—and he’d known she was there the entire time.
She opened her mouth to explain but noticed a shadow of a bruise under one of his eyes. She lifted her hand to his cheek. “What happened?”
He turned his face causing her fingers to fall. “Nothing.”
It didn’t look like nothing. What kind of trouble are you getting into, Grant? Instead of pushing, she asked, “What are you up to?”
Grant stared at her, his expression still unreadable. “Just hanging out. Why?”
Em lifted the bag in her hand. “I thought you might be hungry.”
Grant looked at her for a long time. His eyes went
