Page 103 of Center Sneak

“Because,” she adds an extra emphasis. “I have all my children together,” she says as she bites a piece of toast.

We are sitting across from each other in the hotel’s breakfast area at a wooden square table. It’s early—seven in the morning. I’m still on East Coast time, but I’m not sure about my mom’s excuse.

“We are?” I question, as I glance around the breakfast area and spy the lone older gentleman reading a newspaper and sipping his coffee in the corner. Sebastian is probably already up and prepping for tonight, and Olivia is most likely still in bed.

My mom swats my arm with her hand. “You know what I mean. All in the same place.” She pauses, then whispers like she’s sharing a massive secret, “All in California.”

Ah.

I take a slow sip of my drink as my mom beams at me. When I don’t respond, she claps her hands. “I can’t believe you are here!”

I grip my fork and twirl my eggs around on my plate, as I bounce my knee under the table.

“Mmm,” I murmur.

“Doing okay?” she asks, as the smile finally fades from her face and grows into parental concern.

“Oh yeah.” I stab the piece of sausage on my plate. “I’m fine.” I am, really. My flight arrived early, our hotel is gorgeous and close to the stadium, and the weather is at least forty degrees warmer than Boston right now.

“Have you had any problems so far?”

“No,” I say, my tone neutral. “Should I?”

“Look,” my mom says, tossing her napkin onto her plate. “I just want to ensure you are okay. You haven’t been back in years, and all of a sudden here you are. And don’t get me wrong, I love that you are here, but—”

“You are concerned,” I say, filling in the blanks and finishing her sentence.

“Yes.” Her eyes stay on me. “I know we usually avoid this, but…” Her words trail off.

The Goodicks are usually a passive bunch who tend to avoid confrontation. We rarely fight, but that’s because we never start anything. We smile and enjoy each other’s company when we are together because life is short.

But maybe we should start addressing the hard stuff.

I relax my shoulders and lean back in my chair.

“But…” I prod. If she wants a specific answer, she’ll have to ask a specific question.

“Are you really okay?” She leans forward, reaches across the table, and clasps her hands over mine.

“Mom, I am. I’m happy.” A smile appears on my face as I utter those words.

I’m not really sure when it happened, but I am. Maybe for the first time since my dad died all those years ago.

“Are you sure? If there’s anything I can do…”

“Mom.” I flip up my hand so I am holding hers. “You’ve done so much for me. Thank you for being patient with me. I am good, though. I was worried about making the trip, but now that I’m here, it’s a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

It hasn’t been nearly as difficult traveling to San Francisco as I imagined. I haven’t traveled much, mainly just to the airport and the hotel, but it hasn’t been as suffocating or terrible as I thought it might.

I squeeze my mom’s hand. “I have such a great support system, and I know if I have any problems, I have so many people to turn to.”

Annie stuck to my side yesterday, and I have my mom and sister and some extended family here as well. I also have Calvin and Sebastian. As Cal would say, I have a team, and an amazing one at that.

“Plus, my brother is getting old now,” I say with a teasing smile. “I figured it was time to cheer him on in person.”

My stomach churns as I omit the person who I’m also rooting for.

Chapter Fifty-One