Page 15 of Pucking Fate

“Oh, baby, you’re asking the wrong man that question!” Maya calls out with a grin since she can obviously overhear our conversation.

Chuckling while subtly scratching the side of my face with my middle finger in her direction, I explain to Finley, “Modest means you don’t go around bragging about how good you are at something, even when you’re really good at it. Like, I shouldn’t tell people that I’m the fastest player on my team or in the entire professional hockey league, even if it’s true. It’s better to let all the sports commentators say it instead.”

Tilting his head, Finley says, “Are you really the fastest player in the league?”

Plucking the collar of my tee with my fingers, I give him a grin. “That’s what everyone says about me, so it must be true, right?”

“Right,” Finley agrees with his own smile. “I want to be the fastest one day, too. But I’ll probably just be big and slow like Uncle Preston.”

I wish I could tell my son that I have no doubt he inherited my swiftness, but I can’t because for the time being I’m just his mom and uncle’s ‘friend.’

Instead, I tell him, “You know, if you work hard, I bet you could be even faster than me one day. You almost have me beat now!”

By the time we head back inside that afternoon, Finley’s worn out, but seems happy. After lunch and guzzling two cold glasses of water, he plops down on the couch, his eyes glued to the cartoon that’s playing on the television. I sit down next to him, but my attention is not on the screen. It’s on Maya, who’s busy tidying up the kitchen, though I’m pretty sure she’s just avoiding sitting in the same room with me.

When she doesn’t join us, and continues her scrubbing, I take the hint, standing up and stretching my arms over my head. “I guess I should probably head out.”

“When can we play again?” Finley asks.

“Let me talk to your mom about that, buddy. I hope it will be soon,” I tell him as I ruffle his hair. “I had fun with you today.”

“Me too,” he says before his attention returns to the cartoon about a crew of cute little animals who live under the ocean and go on rescue missions together.

Maya’s scrubbing the empty, sparkling clean sink when I find her in the kitchen. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

She jumps, apparently not hearing my comment about heading out or my approaching footsteps thanks to the running faucet.

Shutting the water off, she turns around, still wearing yellow rubber gloves that come up to her elbows. Shaking her head, she says, “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I tell her rather than ask her permission. “Unless you need some help cleaning up tonight?”

“Well,” she says, eyeing the cabinet where the trash bin is located. “The garbage is heavy…”

“Got it,” I tell her, happy to help, even in this small way.

Once I return from stuffing the trash into the can next to the side of the house, I come back through the backdoor. Maya’s waiting, holding her hand out to offer me…a small, black flash drive. “The photos and videos you wanted.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, excited to see them as I clutch the device tightly so I won’t lose it, as if it holds top secret, world ending documents. I may have to buy a new laptop tonight since I forgot to pack it. I left town in a rush, throwing only the barest of necessities into a bag. Which reminds me, I wonder if Finley has watched The Jungle Book or one of my favs as a kid, The Lion King. Maybe Maya will let me have a movie night with Finley while I’m in town. I want to do everything with him, starting with taking him to a park since he asked about me taking him sometime.

That’s why, on my way to the front door, I ask Maya, “Would you and Finley want to meet me at one of the local parks tomorrow?”

“Um, sure, I guess. Just let me know which one and what time.”

“How about noon? I’ll pack us a picnic lunch.”

“A picnic lunch?” she replies with a smile. “Okay, sure.”

I won’t ever have a picnic again without thinking about mine and Maya’s first date, a picnic on the back of my truck because I couldn’t afford anything more extravagant. It was one of the best nights of my life. We talked about all sorts of random shit thanks to a game in our date box. We kissed even more than we talked and ended up rolling around in the bed of my truck so hot and heavy that I had to take a cold shower when I got home. All our clothes stayed on the whole time. I only slipped a hand up Maya’s shirt for two minutes before stopping so I didn’t embarrass myself by making a mess in my pants.

And maybe I’m trying a little too hard to win Maya over now. I can’t help it, though. I like spending time with her and Finley. After just two days, it almost feels like we’re becoming a family, the one we should’ve been years ago.

6

Christian

My son was beautiful from the day he was born. Despite all she was facing on her own, Maya smiled at Finley with love from the second she laid eyes on him.

Those are just two of the many things I learned by looking through photos and staying up all night to watch all the videos of the moments I missed with Finley.

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