When I Need You (Need You #4)(11)

Silence.

Daisy stepped between us and addressed Dante. "I'd suggest in addition to scheduling physical therapy you make an appointment to get The Rocket's eyes examined." She took my elbow and led me away.

She didn't release me even when we reached the parking lot. "Daisy-"

"Not a word until we're inside my car."

Great.

Daisy's "car" was an enormous Lincoln Navigator. I fought the tight fit of my pencil skirt as I clambered into the passenger seat.

"Buckle up. We're getting out of here so Dante doesn't get the bright idea of running interference between you two."

"It's not like Lund plans to chase me down."

She peeled out and pulled into a Caribou Coffee drive-thru. We were quiet until we had our drinks-iced coffee with a splash of cream and a shot of sugar-free caramel syrup-and she'd parked. Immediately she faced me. "Please tell me meeting Jensen Lund was the weird thing that happened to you."

"Of course it was."

"Spill the deets."

I told her all of it.

"Wait. I thought Axl Hammerquist lived across the hall from Martin."

"He did." I sucked down a big sip of coffee. "But I guess Axl moved out last year when he married Jensen Lund's sister."

"I remember reading about that wedding. It was like the social event of last summer."

For me, reading the paper took a backseat to reading books to Calder. "If you say so. At first I thought Martin hadn't mentioned it because of my aversion to football players. But now, I suspect he didn't say anything because Lund doesn't really live there. It's probably his place for hookups instead of at his bajillion-dollar mansion."

"Maybe. But his ego's really so huge he doesn't notice the people who've been on the sidelines his college and pro career?"

"Apparently."

Daisy tapped her icy-pink fingernails on the side of her drink cup. "So what are you going to do?"

"About what? If I happen to run into him in the hallway I'll be polite. I don't want Martin to have to deal with ‘why is your sister such a bitch?' questions just because it stung my ego that Jensen Lund doesn't know me."



       
         
       
        

"It goes beyond ego, Rowan. At least yours anyway."

I shrugged.

"How tight is Dante with him?"

"No idea. Dante doesn't discuss any of the players he works with, which is smart. Some trainers are eager to make themselves look important by dropping names, then they're surprised when those clients fire them for being a blabbermouth. Although it is different with Dante-all the guys he works with on the team are somewhat famous."

"I can't imagine that Dante isn't ripping The Rocket a new one right now."

"Hopefully Dante won't chew out a franchise player and put his job in jeopardy. I really hope he doesn't stop by the training center today because I'm done talking about this."

Daisy raised her hand. "Say no more." She dropped me off at my car and I headed back to work.

Thankfully the rest of my afternoon was drama free-or as drama free as it can be when dealing with eighty members of the spirit squads.

• • •


My son was in a much better mood when I arrived home.

Alicia provided a detailed breakdown of how they'd spent their after-school hours. I appreciated her promise that yesterday's events were a onetime error that wouldn't happen again.

After finishing supper, Calder and I watched Dancing with the Stars because my boy loved to dance. Although I'd attended dance classes from age four until I switched to club cheerleading at age twelve, when it came to choosing an activity for my son, I'd enrolled him in kendo-the Japanese sword discipline similar to fencing-instead of dancing. Maybe I had picked it because it was macho, but I remembered how cruel other boys at school could be when they discovered a male classmate studied dance.

Six months into his kendo classes, Calder had begged to join jujitsu. Since jujitsu had no formal katas, students were allowed to create their own. Seeing Calder performing a kata like a ballet made me realize I shouldn't force him onto a path he didn't want to take. So he quit both martial arts programs but kept the gi and the hakama. I enrolled him at a dance studio with a separate track for boys, and the kid had been in heaven ever since.

After his bath, we read the books he'd chosen during library day. I knew our nightly reading time would change next year in first grade when he could read by himself, so I cherished this time with my sweet boy.

"Mommy, what made you happy today?"

I kissed the top of his head, breathing in the scent of the baby shampoo I still used. "This. Snuggled up and seeing your excellent choices in books." I smoothed his hair from his eyes when he tilted his head back to look at me. "What made you happy today?"