“Those are often the best kinds. One of my favorite coaches in high school was also my toughest, but I learned the most from him,” Gavin shared.
“Did you play soccer?” Reese asked, licking a blob of ketchup that had dripped out of her burger off her finger, something both Erin and Piper would do without a second thought. They, like most children, loved ketchup. He didn’t understand how anyone ate the stuff. Even as a kid he’d hated it. But Erin and Piper added it to almost everything. He even once caught Erin putting it on her pancakes.
“Yep. That and basketball. I started when I was around your age and played until college. My daughter plays too.” Since Leah knew about Erin, he didn’t need to keep silent about her any longer.
The mustard bottle Curt had picked up slipped from his hand and landed in the bowl of chips. He didn’t bother to retrieve it.
“You have a daughter?” Curt’s gaze swung in Leah’s direction. “Did you know Gavin has a daughter?”
Perhaps taking pity on her brother, Leah fished the mustard bottle from the chips and held it toward him. “Yes. She looks just like him.”
“What position did you play?” Reese asked, oblivious to the look Curt was sending his sister’s way. “I’m usually a striker, but sometimes my coach makes me play defense. Once he made me play goalie. I didn’t like it, and I hope he doesn’t make me do it again.”
In the beginning Erin had hated playing goalie too, until she realized how important a position it was. “I started playing goalie in sixth grade. It’s a critical position.”
Reese didn’t look convinced. “Coach Simon told me that too. Maybe we can all play after lunch.” She looked expectantly at each of the adults seated at the table.
“I’m up for a game.” He never turned down an opportunity to play soccer or basketball. “Leah?”
“I haven’t played since gym class in school, but I’ll try.”
“Auntie Taylor played soccer like me. Did you play sports when you were a kid?” Reese asked before sinking her teeth into her burger.
Good question. He pictured Leah as more of a dancer, but if she enjoyed watching sports, perhaps she’d played them as well.
“I played field hockey; it’s similar to soccer. And I danced,” Leah answered.
“My best friend Hazel dances. She wants me to do it with her, but I don’t want to. It’s boring.”
Reese would get along very well with his daughter. Unless she was dancing in her bedroom, she felt the same way about dance, much to Amber’s dismay. She’d danced competitively and wanted their daughter to love it as much as she did.
“Have you ever tried it?” Leah asked.
He’d worried she’d be uncomfortable around Erin when they finally met, but all day yesterday and again today she’d seemed comfortable interacting with Reese.
“Auntie Taylor signed me up once for ballet. It was awful, and I had to wear tights.”
“Ballet can be a little slow compared to other styles. Maybe you’d like jazz or hip-hop. Dance can be a lot of fun.”
Reese looked unconvinced as she added another spoonful of potato salad to her plate. Gavin didn’t blame her. Vivian had danced, and he still remembered sitting through the painfully boring recitals. If Erin decided to give dance another try, he’d go and watch, but honestly he was happy she’d given up after her first year. She hadn’t even made it to the end of her first year. About two months before her recital, with her costumes in the closet, she quit and she never asked to try it again.
***
Using the ruse that she intended to help her brother get the dessert ready, Leah left Gavin, Taylor, and Reese on the beach kicking around a soccer ball. Although it wasn’t any of her business, she wanted answers to questions she didn’t want to ask in front of Curt’s girlfriend or Reese.
“Need any help?” Leah called out, entering the large open kitchen.
At the counter, Curt transferred the most delicious-looking cupcakes she’d ever seen onto a serving plate. A large fruit torte was out of its box and waiting to be served next to it.
“Couldn’t keep up with Reese?” He set the last cupcake on the plate and then licked the frosting off his finger. Then after washing his hands, he went to the fridge and pulled out another pastry box.
“She does seem to have an endless supply of energy.” Leah pulled out a barstool at the counter and sat. “Is she always like that?”
“Yep. She’s either on full speed or sleeping. She doesn’t have a middle setting.”
“You two seem close. Does Taylor babysit her a lot?”
Curt shook his head as he took an éclair from the box. After tearing it in half, he handed her part of the tasty treat. “Taylor is Reese’s guardian. She has been since Reese was a baby.”