Page 13 of A Place to Call Home
“What time is your game?” she asked.
Craig cut off Jack’s response with a wave of his hand. “Ada, you don’t have to.”
“I like basketball,” she assured him. “It’d be fun.”
But he was shaking his head. “It’s okay, really.”
“But—”
“He doesn’t need you to come.”
Thatwas too pointed to be misunderstood. It wasn’t so much that Jack didn’t need her there, but rather that Craig didn’t want her there.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to—”
To like basketball. To be nice to your kid. To ask you on another non-date date.
“Sorry.”
Jack’s gaze darted from one of them to the other. She tried to smile, but it felt awkward. “They have good ice cream here. You want a cone?” she asked him. “If it’s okay with your dad.”
“Can I, Dad? Please?”
Craig sighed a little— not a good sign. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Vanilla or chocolate?” she asked Jack.
“Vanilla,” he answered firmly.
Ada jumped up from the table, grateful to leave them behind for a minute. She wasn’t sure where things had gone wrong, but they definitely had. She hadn’t been pushy or anything.
What did I do?
“Ada, wait up.”
She slowed, but didn’t look at him. A person could only be shot down so many times.
“Look, I—”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t mean to push myself where I’m not welcome. I like basketball, and youth league games are fun to watch. No big deal.” She got in line for ice cream, still not looking at him.
“You and I— we just don’t know each other very well.” He’d apparently followed her all the way to the line.
“I know,” she answered quickly. “No biggie.”
“Jack’s a friendly kid, and he welcomes people into his life without thinking. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
She held her hands up in a show of frustration. “How could my going to a basketball game hurt him?”
He turned stone-faced. “People have walked out on him. I have spent years holding him together. I have reasons to be careful.”
“There’s a difference between being careful and not giving someone a chance.”
“I’ve known you for two weeks,” he said. “Notinviting you into my son’s life is reasonably cautious.”
He had a point. But it still stung.
“Next,” the guy at the counter called.
