I step up my pace and get down there in time to hear Hanson ask Maya, “Does Serena know you stole her backhand?”
Maya grins at the compliment.
“Not everyone can pull that off. Going straight back without the loop. You hit early and on the rise, just like she does. It’s a beautiful thing.” He shakes his head. “Pretty sure she didn’t have that down at . . . how old are you?” Rich asks.
“Thirteen.”
“My Jazmine had that shot down early, too. Gotta coil the shoulders—get that extra torque,” my father says knowledgeably. He is, after all, the person who taught us that backhand.
Still grinning, Maya looks me in the eye with a warmth I haven’t seen in a while. “My mom’s been an even bigger inspiration than Serena Williams. She’s the real reason I love this game. Even if I don’t always show it, I want to be a champion one day.”
My eyes blur with tears, and I wrap my arms around my daughter. Not caring whether I embarrass her or not, I crush her to my chest.
“Do you know who this is?” Kyle asks, motioning toward Rich.
“Afraid so,” I reply. “Mom, Dad, Thea, Jamal—this is Rich Hanson. He recently joined our firm.”
“But he’s . . . he’s big-time,” Anderson says.
My jaw locks, which is the only thing that keeps me from saying things I know I shouldn’t.
“Not any bigger than Jazmine,” Rich says with a surprising flash of irritation at Maya’s coach. “Especially not since she announced her client’s new endorsement deal with Sony PlayStation. It set all kinds of records.” He bows to me and does a roll of the hand in that “your wish is my command” way, and somehow manages to pull it off without appearing silly or insincere.
“Gee, Mom. That’s cool.”
“Well done, Jazz.” Jamal ruffles my hair as if I’m still the child I was when he first started dating my sister.
“That is for sure,” Thea adds, eyeing Rich suspiciously.
“That’s our Jazmine for you,” my father says. “All do and no brag. Most people got it the other way around.”
“Too true,” Rich says to my father. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.” His respect seems genuine, no bullshit attached. The only question I have is what he’s up to.
“Well, we have to get going,” Thea says. “You coming with us or staying with your mom, Maya?”
“We’re going to the bookstore to learn how to do online dating,” Maya announces, choosing this moment to forgo her normal surly silence.
“It’s tied to a book that’s been suggested for book club,” I say way too defensively. “Some of us are just going there to . . . support others.”
“But you said there was going to be a photographer there to shoot profile photos and all,” Maya exclaims.
I close my eyes and huff out a breath of what I’d like to believe is something other than embarrassment.
“Listen, I’m sorry to intrude on your Saturday,” Rich says to everyone, “but I could really use Jazmine’s input on something.”
“Now?” I ask. “A little warning would have been helpful.”
“I’m sorry,” he says as my family looks on. “But I’ve been trying to reach Craig, who manages this complex for the current owners, all week. I only heard back from him about an hour ago, and he’s leaving town again tomorrow. I’m meeting him at one thirty. I figured I’d have to fill you in later, but when I saw you were already here . . . I thought you might want to take the meeting with me.”
“Of course I would. But I have plans.”
“Yes, I heard.” Rich bites back a grin. “But we’re only talking an hour or so. Maybe you could fit it in before you go pose for those photos?”
I roll my eyes. But I am hardly going to engage here and now, and I am definitely not going to argue the relative merits of online dating. Especially not when Thea is wearing that little frown she gets when something is off but she’s not sure what it is.
“Jazmine does not need to go online to find a man.” Thea spears Rich with a challenging look. “Not when the man she’s already dating is absolutely perfect for her.”
“Thanks, Thee. But I really don’t think Rich cares who I’m dating.” I glance down at my watch, mulling how to make it all work. “We don’t have to be at the bookstore until three. I assumed we’d all go to lunch first, but . . .” I sigh again, though I couldn’t say exactly why. “Would you mind taking Maya out to celebrate her win, then dropping her off at Between the Covers?”
“Cool! Can we go to Flower Child?” Maya asks, not at all bothered by the idea of my absence. “It’s not too far from the bookstore.”
Rich smiles his thanks and says his goodbyes to my family. “Congratulations again, Maya. That was a truly impressive victory. You, too, Kyle.”
“Thanks.” Kyle Anderson reaches out to shake Rich’s hand. “Great to meet you, sir,” he says with a level of enthusiasm he’s never showered on me.
We stand and watch my family disappear into the parking lot. I am annoyed at the late notice, the change in my plans, and all kinds of other things I can’t really articulate. I do what I learned to do long ago when I stepped onto a tennis court for a match. I shove all the noise out of my head and focus on what I have to do right now. In this moment. “All right, why don’t you tell me what the purpose of the meeting with Craig is?”
“You know Craig?”
I give him a look that says I know he knows I know Craig and that I also know his being here in time to see at least part of Maya’s match was no accident.
“Okay,” he concedes. “What do you think of this complex as a base for a StarSports Academy?”
I glance around, trying to hide my surprise that this has gone this far without my involvement. “I guess it could work, but don’t you think we should sit down with Larry before we start looking at facilities and talking to people?”
“We’ll sit down with him soon enough. He knows I’m here, and he’s made moving forward contingent on your involvement,” Rich says.
“And if I choose not to be involved or don’t think it’s a good idea? What then?”
“I don’t know,” he admits. “But I figured it was worth taking a look when the opportunity presented itself and talking it through afterward.”
Hanson is trying to treat this like it’s no big deal. That he just happened to come when I was already here. As if there’s no urgency. Only I can feel that there is.