Bending the Rules by Margaret Watson

Author:Margaret Watson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AS THEY ATE, Nathan bit his lip to avoid smiling at Harley’s eager eyes and hearty appetite.

“How did you know about give-and-goes?” she asked him around a mouthful of artichoke and spinach pizza at Lenzoni’s.

“Marco played soccer. I spent a lot of time on the sidelines, watching him. Watched World Cup games with him, too. Learned more about soccer than I ever thought I would.”

“Not as much as Emma, I bet.” Harley reached for another slice, bringing back memories of his siblings eating like that. Him, too, before their lives changed forever.

Harley swallowed a much-too-large bite. “She played soccer in college.”

“Wow.” He glanced at Emma, grinned to see her blushing.

“It wasn’t that big a deal,” she muttered. “It was a small college. They’d take pretty much any warm body.”

“I doubt that,” Nathan said. He propped his chin on his fist and studied her. “Even at small colleges, you have to be pretty good to make the team.” He knew that because Marco had wanted to play in college. Until he’d decided to go to culinary school instead. “And I bet you were a...” He studied her, delighted at her discomfort. “You were a defender. Because that’s what you do now. You try to protect everyone.”

Emma shook her head, a tiny smile playing on her mouth. “You think you know so much about me, Mr. Psychoanalyst? I was a midfielder.”

“Just like me,” Harley said. She leaned across the table, bumped fists with Emma. “She gives me lots of tips. And she still plays. In an adult league.”

“Really?” His gaze drifted to his cane, then settled on Harley. “Do you go watch her play?”

“She won’t let me.” Harley took another bite of pizza. “Says it’s too late on a school night. My guess?” She pointed her slice at Emma. “She thinks she looks like a dork.”

“That is so not true.” Emma dropped her own piece of pizza and narrowed her eyes. “I’ll have you know that I...” She cleared her throat. Picked up her slice again. “My games start at nine. I don’t get home until eleven at the earliest. That’s too late for you.”

“Tell you what, Harley.” Nathan leaned toward his daughter. “Next time you don’t have school the next day, we’ll both go and watch Emma play. So we can judge her dorkiness for ourselves.”

“Yes.” She held up her hand, and he gave her a high five. “Let’s do it.”

“We will.” He glanced at Emma. Instead of the irritation he’d expected, she was smiling at him, her eyes misty.

* * *

TWO DAYS LATER, Nathan sat in the lodge at the Wilmot ski hill and watched Harley take a snowboarding lesson. She’d fallen a few times at first, but after an hour, she was pretty steady. She gained confidence each time the instructor took them down the bunny hill.

He’d suspected this trip would be boring and that he’d be uncomfortable sitting all day. But at the end of the soccer evening, he’d asked Harley and Emma if he could join them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.