Page 45 of Offside and Off-Limits
And yup, that makes me laugh some more.
“See you later, munchkins,” Keira says to the kids, and then she throws us a wave and leaves.
“Hey, Benny. Let me show you something,” I say.
“What?” he asks.
I pad over to the wooden cabinet by the dining room and pull the doors open. Benny’s eyes grow to the size of hockey pucks as he takes in myThe Timekeeper Chroniclescollection of comic books, framed posters, collectible action figures—still in their boxes—and other merch.
“You’ve goteverything!” he exclaims.
“Not everything, but it’s true, I’ve got a lot of the merch.” I pick up one of the framed pictures I plan on hanging on the wall. “This is from the comic book illustrator. I met her in Vegas a few years back. She’s super talented.”
“Wow!” He swivels to look at Clara. “Mommy, have you seen this?”
“I’m seeing it now,” she replies.
Benny bounces on the spot. “You’ve even got an action figure of Max Griffin. He’s my favorite!”
I collect the box and pass it to him. “Take it. It’s yours now.”
His already huge eyes bulge. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Cade, you don’t need to do that,” Clara interjects.
“I know I don’t, but I want to,” I say with a shrug, because watching Benny’s ecstatic expression as he turns the toy over in his hands is better than any collectible.
“Let me at least pay you for it,” she offers.
“Not happening,” I say, making my way over to Clara’s daughter. “Hey, Hannah, right?” I ask and she nods. “I hear you play the piano.”
“You’re not going to give her your piano, are you?” Clara says and I waggle my brows at her as though I just might.
“I only started lessons this year, but I hope to be as good as Leo Garabaldi by the Show Quest,” she says.
“How good is Leo Garibaldi?”
“He’s going to play ‘Believer.’”
“The Imagine Dragons song?” I ask and she nods.
“I want to play a Taylor Swift song, but my teacher thinks I should play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’”
“When’s this Show Quest?” I ask.
“It’s the week before Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure I’ll enter.” Her features drop.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Hannah had a bit of a bad experience at her figure skating showcase last month. She’s got a touch of stage fright now that we’re working on. Right, sweetheart?” Clara says.
Hannah gives a grim nod, her little mouth pulled into a line.
I do some mental math. The week before Thanksgiving is just under two months from now. If she’s only just started lessons, she’s got a steep learning curve to learn a Taylor Swift song by then.
I lean my hands on my knees to reduce my 6’4” frame, getting closer to Hannah’s height. It’s fair to say there’s still a sizable gap between us. “You know, I’ve got a piano. Wanna check it out?”
