Oh good, they saved me a seat.
Her sister, decked out in red, white and blue attire and wearing a giant firecracker-inspired bow on top of her head, spotted her in the crowd and waved. “I thought you’d never get here. They already started!”
Carly hugged Beverly and her dad, waved to Judge and Calvin and finally dropped her purse next to the chair and sat down, heart still racing from her scramble downtown.
“It’s good to see you, dear.” Beverly gave her shoulder a squeeze.
Carly squeezed the older woman’s hand, and it occurred to her that this unlikely foursome—Beverly, Judge, Calvin and her dad—had become a staple in both her and Quinn’s life. A momentary—and delusional—pang of jealousy erupted in her heart.
Her father had a group of friends—life friends—the kind Carly had only dreamed of. And yes, she and Quinn had benefited from their relationships—Calvin had tutored her through biology. Judge had waived a parking ticket or two. Beverly had stepped in and loved them after their mom walked out when Carly was thirteen. Even still, as much as she loved all four of them, they couldn’t swoop in and fill the empty places in her heart.
What a bizarre thought. Carly shoved it aside. She wasn’t empty. She had Jaden. She had her nursing career. She had an overgrown yard and a nosy neighbor.
As independent as Carly was, some days she had to admit it would be nice not to have to be in charge of everything.
“Did I miss them?” She pushed her brown hair back, wondering if she looked as disheveled as she felt. Humidity had never been a curly-haired girl’s friend.
Quinn shook her head. “No, they haven’t come past yet.”
Jaden had worked more hours than Carly would’ve expected from a sixteen-year-old helping Quinn’s boyfriend, Grady Benson, and his brother, Benji, with their float for the parade—it advertised their brand-new indoor ski training center. Jaden had practically become a spokesman for the new business, and while Carly thought it was a little silly for an Olympic gold medalist to open a ski center in mostly flat Michigan, who was she to say so?
Carly had a habit of playing out every possible scenario and finding flaws in every plan. She was trying to be better about that.
Her sister was happy. Grady was happy. Benji seemed happy. And Jaden was certainly happy. She should focus on how much joy that center had already brought into her son’s life. Grady had let Jaden in on the planning, the renovating, the dreaming—that ski center was a part of her son. It gave him purpose and kept him busy. She knew a lot of kids his age got into trouble when they got bored—Jaden was never bored these days.
Still, it would be nice to see him once in a while.
“I have to be honest,” Carly said. “I’ll be glad when this training center is up and running. It’s all Jaden has been talking about for months.”
Quinn smiled but kept her eyes on the high school band as they marched down the street in front of them, playing “Louie Louie.” “Grady too.”
“I still think a training center in Colorado or Utah makes way more sense,” Carly said.
So far, she was doing a terrible job being better about her flaw-finding.
Quinn seemed unfazed. “Those places already have training centers. What about kids like Jaden who love to ski but don’t have anywhere to go to learn?”
Carly couldn’t argue with that. If Jaden had his way, he’d be competing with both his ski club and his high school team that winter, with the sole purpose of moving on to bigger races.
Carly, of course, wanted him to focus on school. It had been a major point of contention in the house for months.
Grady Benson was both a godsend and a disaster at the same time. He’d taken such an interest in helping Jaden that Carly felt permanently indebted to him, but that interest had landed her with a kid who had one singular goal: to ski.
She supposed she should be happy he’d found something he loved so much, but what were the odds Jaden would end up being the next Grady Benson? Wasn’t talent like that rare? After all, not everyone who loved skiing could dream of competing at Grady’s level.
“Grady said Jaden is crazy good, Car,” Quinn said, as if she was reading her sister’s mind. “And he’s not one to blow smoke.”
“Really?”
Quinn nodded. “He thinks he will do really well if you let him compete this year. And I don’t think he just means locally.”
Carly groaned. “Let’s talk about something else.”
Quinn pushed her hair back and turned away, craning her neck down the block. “I think I see the float!”
“Did you help decorate it?” Carly asked.
Quinn shot her a look. “Apparently flowers weren’t part of their design aesthetic.”
“Why aren’t you riding on it? Or at least in the truck pulling it?”
Quinn shrugged. “I like to watch. Besides, who would you have sat with if I was on the float?”
Carly tossed a glance over her shoulder to where her dad and his group of friends laughed and chatted, and she realized in that moment how pitiful she was. Her dad had a more active social life than she did.
“I would’ve been fine,” Carly said quietly.
As the float approached, Carly realized why it had taken so many hours to put the thing together. They had built a giant snow-covered slope onto a flatbed truck, and Jaden stood at the top in his ski gear, posed like he was about to shoot down the hill. It had been decorated with flags and a series of road signs that showed the address of the indoor facility Grady and Benji were opening.
On the side, a professionally created sign read, We bring the slopes to you, and on the top of the slope, behind Jaden, another sign read, Harbor Pointe’s Indoor Ski Training Center.
“Shouldn’t Grady be on the float?” Carly asked as the parade crawled forward. “He is kind of the big draw.”
Quinn squinted. “I don’t even see Grady.”
The music quieted and the float came to a stop in front of them.
“What’s going on?” Carly glanced at Jaden, who stood stock-still, the perfect model for Grady’s new business venture. Despite the oddity of the parade coming to a halt, she still found herself thanking God for giving her such a good son. Growing up the way he did, without a father readily available until recently, she’d always worried that somehow the parts of him that a dad was supposed to nurture would fall short.
She knew it was still early and her son was only sixteen, but so far, he seemed to be well-adjusted, thoughtful and kind. She thanked God for answering her prayers that her son would possess those qualities.
“Quinn Collins.” The name came over a loudspeaker attached to the float, and Carly’s sister straightened.
“What in the world?”
Seconds later, Grady appeared on the back of the float. People had said many things about her sister’s boyfriend, but one thing no one could deny was how handsome the man was. With his athletic build and just the right amount of facial hair, eyes that crinkled at the corners when he flashed that killer smile, the man had a whole lot going for him in the looks department.
And in other departments too. Quinn was different now that she and Grady were together. She took chances. She smiled more. She’d come out of her shell.