that. At my age…,” he said with a thick accent. He smiled and shook Jack’s hand. “I’m Pablo Robles. You’ve met my grandson?”
Jack smiled because he didn’t want to admit that he also hadn’t caught the man’s name. The man’s accent was simply strong, and Jack was distracted wondering about the exact lineage of this fair-haired boy and this dark, Latino man.
Bouncing with excitement, Luke interrupted the conversation. “Please, Abuelo. Can we go play on the field over there?”
The grandfather responded in Spanish and pointed toward the field, and Luke replied in Spanish as well. Jack’s knowledge of the language was limited, but when the man waved them goodbye with a smile, he saw they’d received his blessing.
Jack nodded. “Thank you, sir. We won’t be long.”
The grandfather nodded and returned his attention to the paper.
As they kicked the ball around the field, Jack asked Luke about his team and how long he’d been playing. He would’ve asked more questions, but Luke was focused solely on the ball. He’d comment on their play and occasionally ask Jack to stop and show him how to do a maneuver.
Twenty minutes after they’d been on the field, Jack was jockeying with Luke for control of the ball when he heard a familiar voice call out, “Luke!”
Luke didn’t stop and stole the ball from Jack, but Jack turned to look toward the voice. There was Lily, standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
Jack turned back to Luke. “Hey, is she your mother?”
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna stop playing,” he answered, not looking up from the ball.
“You have to.”
Jack looked again at Lily who glared like she might lunge and take him out. He once happened upon a mama grizzly with her cubs in Glacier National Park. For a split second, that same feeling of fear came over him. Only this time, it wasn’t a mortal fear, but rather one of disappointment. He feared Lily thought he was ingratiating himself to her by hanging out with her son.
Wanting to correct the notion immediately, he approached her. “Hi. Sorry about this. Luke is your son?”
She glared at him. “Yes, he is. What are you doing with him?”
Jack held up his hands in surrender and confessed everything. “Listen. Lily. I had no idea he was your son. He asked me to play soccer with him, and I asked where his parents were. He said he was waiting for his mother, but his grandfather was right over there.” He pointed to the bench and took a breath. “I introduced myself to the man and asked if it all right. He said yes, so we’ve just been kicking the ball around for the last few minutes.”
“Aw, Mom…” Luke whined from a few feet away.
They turned to Luke who slowly dribbled the ball over to them. He grumbled with a pout. “I was just having fun. Jack is really good. He taught me some things.”
She smiled, but was firm. “It’s okay, but we need to leave for your game. Go over and get your bag from Abuelo.”
Luke’s shoulders slumped as if he didn’t quite believe he was actually in the clear. He turned to Jack and mumbled, “It was nice meeting you, sir. Thanks for playing with me.”
“No problem, Luke. I had a good time. You’ll do great today.”
As Luke trotted off, Lily’s expression again turned sour and her voice was bitter. “I’m to believe that at no point you knew he was my son?”
“I didn’t. He doesn’t have your last name, and I couldn’t understand his grandfather’s accent.”
Lily looked away as if she were evaluating his evidence. When she turned back, her expression was emotionless. She began walking toward the bench and said, “It doesn’t matter, but don’t do it again.”
CHAPTER FIVE
For the first few weeks after that day, Jack had no problem doing just as Lily had asked—he left her alone. It was easy for him, because he didn’t want to be anywhere near her. She appeared to avoid him as well, except for the
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