Janice Kay - In A Heartbeat

Nate opened his mouth to tell her she didn’t have to cook for him—and shut it again. Damn, it would be good to walk in the door to a home-cooked meal. To know Molly would be taken care of if he ran late here at the office, although that was unlikely to happen today. He already itched to get home. So he said only, “Thank you. Josh didn’t have practice today?”

“No, they’re Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Games Saturday.”

“That’s quite a schedule.”

“He loves it.” Her voice became quieter. “He was really mad at me when we thought we’d have to move before the end of the season.”

“When’s that?” Nate asked.

“November. Depending on the weather, those last games are miserable.”

They were conversing. Even though a beep told him he had a call coming in, he didn’t want to end this one.

“Rain and snow, huh?”

“Frozen feet and muddy kid,” she agreed. “Josh plays goalie a lot, and once the weather turns, there’s always a mud hole right in front of the goal.”

Nate grinned. “I played youth football when I wasn’t much older than Josh. Same season. I loved mud.”

She sighed. “So does he. I’ve learned to keep a ratty old towel in the car for him to sit on.”

Nate laughed, but after the conversation ended, he didn’t immediately check missed calls. Instead, he pondered why Molly hadn’t played any sports. Swim lessons in the summer, essential when she’d lived on the lake, and that was it. Did any of her friends play soccer? He wondered if she’d like to try it next year. To his recollection, she’d never participated in any after-school youth activities. And that got him to wondering whether Sonja had had her first glass of white wine a lot earlier in the day than he’d realized, and had developed a problem with booze a lot longer ago than he’d realized, too. With the hours he worked, she could have hidden too much from him.

He called the treatment center only to be politely rebuffed. The first days were always difficult. Patient information was kept confidential. The woman he spoke to wasn’t moved by his explanation that Sonja’s young daughter was scared for her.

Nate returned a few calls before thinking, To hell with it. This day was past resuscitation. He was ready to call it, start anew tomorrow.

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