Worth the Fall (The McKinney Brothers, #1)(55)

Jack lunged across the bed to yell in his sister’s face. “Don’t you say that!”

“Matty, Matty, Matty,” Charlie sang, lying on his back kicking the mattress.

“He is coming!” Jack screamed. “He is because he told me he is.”

Annie stood, red faced, tears in her eyes. “He’s never coming back, and I don’t want him to!” She ran to her room.

Abby sat there a minute with the three remaining children. Charlie spotted a lost car and crawled under the bed. Gracie brushed her doll’s hair intently. Jack sat looking like she’d crushed his dream. She hadn’t wanted to let him get his hopes up. Annie had taken care of that, effectively bursting Jack’s bubble of happiness before Abby had the chance.

“He is coming, Mommy.” Gracie looked up from her doll. “?’Cause I have to do his hair.”

Abby’s nose burned, and she bit her lip. Jack and Gracie were so sure, they had so much faith. Had she ever been like that? Believing people would come back? Or that maybe they wouldn’t leave at all? She couldn’t remember.

After tucking them in, she went to Annie last.

“Why don’t we just wait and see what happens, huh?”

Annie didn’t answer. Abby kissed her and pulled up the covers. So much like her, with her perpetually neat braids and buttoned-up feelings. Would they all grow up to be like that? Like herself? Too afraid to reach for more because they were afraid of falling?

Did she want them to shy away from people and chances? If Annie closed herself off now, where would she be in twenty years?

Jack’s first game is Saturday. Her stomach churned with the feeling of standing at the edge of a cliff.

She’d promised Angie she wouldn’t push. She hadn’t promised to reach.





Chapter 22


The peewee football field was alive with activity. Shrill whistles and helmets knocking together mixed with little-girl cheers. All of it—the noise, the excitement, even the smell of the fall morning—took Matt back to his days on the field. A band gripped his chest as he pictured his dad in the stands cheering him on. Jack should have that.

He’d barely made it, arriving at Abby’s house only an hour ago, and they’d headed straight to the football field. Matt unbuckled Charlie’s car seat, zipped up his jacket, and tied his left shoe before lifting him from his seat. Abby and Jack stood at the rear of the car, discussing her duty next week as snack mom, which would require a heavy cooler of drinks. Of course it was when he wouldn’t be here.

Matt came around and buckled Jack’s helmet. “Are you sure you should do that?”

“It’s okay,” she told him. “One of the dads on the team will help me.”

Yeah. That’s what he was worried about. He’d bet his left nut there were at least two single dads on this team, maybe more. Probably a few just out to volunteer their time, and there were always snakes in the grass looking for something fresh no matter what their family situation. All of them more than happy to take what was his. What he wanted to be his. What he ached to make his. How could he do that if he wasn’t here?

He hadn’t known it was possible to miss someone so much. Couldn’t believe she could look better than the last time he’d seen her, that he could possibly want her more, but he did. Abby was hot in maternity jeans, which hugged her legs and bottom, and a fitted blue top that only added to her appeal. Hair pulled back in a ponytail, looking fresh and gorgeous. He couldn’t stop himself from bringing her in for a quick kiss.

He took her hand as they walked, doing his best to let anyone and everyone know she was unavailable.

“Hey, Jack.” A kid in matching gear ran over.

A man standing near the field in a group of small boys turned and waved.

“That’s the coach,” Jack told him.

The other kid smiled, showing off a missing front tooth. “And he’s my dad.”

“Let’s go, boys,” the coach yelled.

Jack turned to bump knuckles with Matt, and they performed their special handshake flawlessly.

During the game, Matt resisted morphing into crazy parent mode when a bigger kid on the other team took Jack down by his face mask. Abby, however, needed a restraint to keep her from heading onto the field.

“Did you see that? That should have been a penalty!”

Matt chuckled at Abby’s enthusiasm for her son and felt a deep swell of pride when Jack popped up after the hard hit. He ran back to the line of scrimmage eager to try again.

At halftime, Abby went over to check on Jack. Matt thought about discouraging that but knew his mother would have done the same. Jack would just have to endure a little maternal worry.

“Matt, wook at the clouds wif me.” Gracie pointed to the sky.

With Charlie still in his arms, Matt knelt beside Annie and Gracie and pointed to a puffy cloud floating by. “That one looks like a squirrel with a nut.”

Annie watched the sky.

“What about that one?” Gracie asked.

“Hmm. A bear maybe? What do you think, Annie?”

They continued until Abby returned, and he stood, placing his hand at the small of her back. “How’s Jack?”

“He’s fine. He said to tell you he’ll keep his head down more.”

Matt smiled. “Let’s move toward the other end zone.” They hadn’t taken three steps toward the sideline when a man’s voice stopped them.