Change of Hart(12)

Jaxon marveled at all the seats in the stadium and how big it was. Then we tossed the football around until he started to get bored. Maybe bored isn’t the right word. Distracted is more like it.

“What’s that guy doing over there, Jason?” he asked me, staring at one of the maintenance people. Eli looked up from his project right then and I waved in his direction.

“Looks like he’s painting the goalposts, buddy. Making sure everything looks nice for tomorrow.”

“Can I go watch him?” Jaxon asked, staring at Addison with wide eyes.

“Um . . . ,” she stammered, looking over at me like she wasn’t sure what the right answer was.

I smiled. “Sure you can, Jax. Just don’t touch anything.”

“And don’t bother him for long!” Addison yelled after him as he took off down the field. But he was already so far away, he either didn’t hear her or just chose not to respond.

Addison and I looked at each other and started meandering toward the goal posts, which were a good seventy-five yards away. I was kind of glad Jaxon left us by ourselves. And not just because she was hot. Turns out, she was witty and smart and had a great sense of humor. We’d had a lot of fun during the tour and I was interested in getting to know her better.

“Thanks again for inviting us,” Addison said shyly. “He’s really having a great time.”

“Well, he’s a great kid,” I smiled back at her. “I enjoy spending time with him. Kind of reminds of myself when I was his age.”

Addison laughed. “Oh, your poor mother!”

“I don’t know how either of you do it as single moms,” I said. “I’ve heard raising kids is hard. But I can’t imagine raising boys with so much energy all by yourself.”

“I didn’t know your mom raised you alone.” She blushed. “I mean, it’s not like I know a whole lot about you. I don’t stalk you online or anything. I just . . . oh, geez . . . you know. You’re on the news a lot so I just see things here and there.”

There was that nervousness again. I liked seeing her blush. “Yeah, I’m on the news more often than I like. But what can I do? I chose the job and everything that goes with it.”

“Did your parents get a divorce, or . . . ,” her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, I’m getting really personal. You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, no,” I said, trying to reassure her. “It’s actually kind of funny.”

Addison looked at me with those bright hazel eyes again. Damn, she was beautiful. “Well, not ‘ha ha’ funny. Just kind of ironic.”

“How so?”

“My dad actually died when I was a kid,” I said, glancing over at Jaxon and Eli, happily conversing about, well, whatever Jaxon was interested in at the moment.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Addison said, knowing first-hand the difficulties. “How old were you?”

“I was eight,” I said, my gaze dropping to the grass in front of me, memories coming back as we walked. “Car accident. Just like Jaxon’s dad. I’m actually surprised he didn’t tell you about it. We had a whole conversation about it after the pep rally.”

I looked over at Addison, whose eyebrows were raised. “Wow,” she said. “I’m surprised, too. He usually tells me just about everything about . . . well . . . everything. That is ironic, though. Is that why you invited Jaxon here?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Partly. I still remember what that first year after losing my dad felt like, and it really sucked. I’m so grateful that I have an amazing uncle who kind of stepped into that roll. But it didn’t make me miss my dad any less.” I shrugged. “I figured if I could give Jaxon something to do that he’d really enjoy, something that his dad would have loved . . . I don’t know . . . maybe I could help make him not so sad and feel close to his dad at the same time.”

We stopped walking, still about ten yards away from the goalposts, and just looked at each other. I was worried that talking about her dead husband would make her sad or even tear up or something. But she didn’t. So I wasn’t quite sure how she was going to respond to my confession.

After a few seconds she finally spoke. “What’s the other part?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You said knowing how Jaxon feels is partly why you invited him. What’s the other part?”

I looked back over at the goalposts again. This was either gonna sound crazy or really sweet. I was hoping for the latter.

“I like him,” I shrugged and looked back at Addison. “I’ve met a lot of kids at different events over the years. But Jaxon and I just connect. Like we’re meant to be friends or something.”