I furrowed my eyebrows, still confused.
“I accept your apology if you accept mine for being rude. And now we can move on. Will that work?” she asked.
I was still confused, but didn’t want to push the issue. “Sure. Let’s move on.”
“Great,” she said, perking up. “So there’s another reason I’m glad you called.”
“Ok,” I said, exiting the highway toward my neighborhood.
“Jaxon’s birthday was a couple weeks ago, like you know. But I haven’t had time to have a birthday party until now. And he really wants you to come,” she said.
“Really?” I said, a big grin breaking out on my face. I hadn’t been to a kid’s birthday party, well, since I was a kid. “Are there going to be pony rides and a piñata and cake and stuff?”
Addison laughed. “No to the pony rides and piñata. There isn’t enough room in our back yard or money in my pocket. But, yes . . . there will be cake and food.”
I wasn’t sure how to take the money comment, but I let it slide. We weren’t comfortable enough for that yet. “I think I’d love to, but it depends on when it is. The season officially started yesterday so my schedule is about to get a lot more packed.”
“How are weekends for you?” she asked. “I know Sundays are probably hard. But the party is going to be on Saturday at two.”
I thought through the practice schedule email I had gotten this morning. “I’ll probably be late by an hour or so, but if it’s ok with you, I’d like to at least stop by for the last part. Can I bring a friend?”
“You . . . you wanna bring a date?” she asked, sounding more flabbergasted than I think she realized. Or maybe it was just me.
“If you consider Lindsay’s five-year-old daughter a date, then yes. I’d like to bring a date.”
I swear I heard her breathe a sigh of relief into the phone. “Oh. Of course you can bring Mrs. Miller’s daughter! I think that’s a great idea. In fact, you can bring Mrs. Miller, too, if you want. We like to make birthday parties a big deal around here. The more the merrier.”
I smiled as I turned into the underground parking garage of my apartment complex. “Great. I think Jaxon and Emma will have a blast together.”
“Can I email you all the details?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said as I parked, sitting back in the seat to get comfortable while I talked to her as long as she’d let me. “My email address is actually on the team website. My manager, Adam, will get it first. But just write in there that I asked you to send me the details. He’ll get it all to me. I have a bad habit of forgetting what my plans are until they sneak up on me. He makes sure I don’t miss anything important.”
She laughed that laugh and it made me smile just hearing it. “Well aren’t you important, with your own manager and all,” she teased.
“Hey now! Do you know how many emails I get every day?” I joked. “I would never have time to play football if I spent my day trying to check them all!”
“I know,” she said softly. “I was just teasing you.”
I smiled again. “I like it when you tease me.” Silence filled the car again as both of us tried to figure out what to say next. I came up with something first. “So Addison, I never asked you the other day. I know you went back to work. Where are you working?”
“Oh, um, I do data entry for a social services agency.”
I stretched my legs out. “How did you get into that?”
“Um . . . my degree is actually in social work. I was a case manager before Jax was born but quit to stay home. When Austin died, I had to go back to work but I didn’t really want to be around people. My old bosses brought me back on board and let me move into data entry. With the exception of an occasional phone call, I really don’t have to interact with clients very much.”
“So you can save your energy for when Jaxon gets home,” I said with a smile.
“Exactly,” she chuckled. “He keeps me on my toes.”
Silence filled the car again. I wanted to keep talking to Addison, but I didn’t want to make her nervous either.
“How much longer of a drive do you have?” she finally asked.
“Oh, I’m home,” I admitted. “I’m just sitting in the parking lot.”
“Oh,” she said nervously. “I guess I should probably let you go then.”
“Yeah,” I said reluctantly. “That little boy will be up and at ‘em before you know it.”
“So true. Thanks for calling, Jason. I enjoyed talking to you.”