Practice Makes Perfect

by Charlene Groome

  “I’m going to collect empty plates,” Meghan says, wandering into the crowd, keeping her eyes peeled for Jared. Did he ask her out? Maybe he wants company since his family isn’t living here. It doesn’t take long before her hands are full and she unloads at a nearby garbage can.

  “Thanks, Meghan, for putting this on,” Jane says. “We’re leaving now. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You as well. Thanks for coming. Where’s Beckham?”

  “With Jared. We’re off to grab an early dinner.”

  “Good luck with everything,” Meghan says, giving her a reassuring smile.

  “I have a good feeling about this one,” Jane says, referring to the pregnancy. “I’m going to tell Jared later. Are you free tomorrow? If you’re not busy, would you be around? I’m free . . . and, well, I don’t have anything going on.”

  “That would be great,” Meghan says.

  “Jared has practice tomorrow and Beckham and I don’t have any plans in the afternoon, just wondering if you want to grab tea or something? I’m not comfortable venturing out by myself.”

  “That would be great. Here’s my business card,” Meghan says, pulling one out from her pocket. “It has my cell number on it. I always keep a few on me when we have these functions. Never know who needs to contact you.”

  “For sure!”

  “Talk to you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 7

  Meghan and Jane carry their hot beverages in paper cups as they stroll Lonsdale Quay. They pass the water fountain where a busker is strumming a guitar and a photographer is selling scenic photos on a display table. It’s a late afternoon, but the tourist attraction is very much alive.

  “Mom? Can I have money?” Beckham asks.

  “Money for what?” Jane asks.

  Beckham points to the fountain.

  “Maybe when we come back you can make a wish,” Jane says, watching her son run ahead. Beckham tries to catch his rubber ball.

  “Watch out for people, Becks!” Jane yells.

  “He keeps you busy,” Meghan says.

  “Yeah. He reminds me of Jared when he was Becks’ age. Full of energy.”

  “Jared is full of energy?” Meghan asks. “He seems mellow, but maybe he gets it out playing hockey.”

  “He was more talkative at the family skate than usual.”

  “It was the event. He had family there.”

  “No, I think he’s finally coming around,” Jane says, keeping an eye on Beckham a few steps ahead. “He came out to see us two months ago and he wasn’t very talkative. I thought something had happened, like a breakup or something job-related. But being here, Jared seems like a different person.” Jane sips her tea. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I guess ’cause his friends are distant and family is far away. We don’t see him as much, so it’s hard to figure out what’s happening in his life.”

  “I don’t really know your brother,” Meghan says. “I’ve met him a couple of times.”

  “Oh,” Jane says with an arched eyebrow. “I thought . . . um, you and Jared were kinda seeing each other.”

  Meghan laughs. “No.” Only in her dreams. “What made you think that?”

  “I got a sense that the two of you . . . never mind, sorry,” Jane says, playing coy, stopping in her tracks and reaching out a hand to touch Meghan’s arm. “I hope I didn’t offend you. It’s just that the two of you were friendly at the event. Jared held you on the ice. He was smiling and the only things that make him smile like that are Becks, sushi, and a girl he likes.”

  Meghan’s stomach flits thinking about Jared holding her body up and making sure she didn’t fall. She had liked the way his arms had been around her, concerned that she was going to fall. His hand had been strong and made her body weak.

  “He’s happy because his family is here,” Meghan says.

  “No, no, I don’t think that’s it. Something’s changed in him and I thought that the two of you—” She pauses. “Sorry. It’s probably hormones,” she says giddily. “I’m feeling a lot more emotional this time than I did when I was pregnant with Beckham.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I shouldn’t be talking about my brother with you. I figured since you worked with him you might see things that he doesn’t tell me.”

  “Like what?” Meghan is interested. She can finally learn a little more about the left-winger. The lives of hockey pros are always a secret to the public.

  “Anything. A woman hounding him at events.”

  Meghan laughs. “No, I haven’t seen anything like that. Of course there are fans. All the guys get swarmed if there’s not enough security.”

  “How about friends? Have you noticed who he’s hanging around with?”

  “Jane, I don’t know Jared,” Meghan says softly. “I don’t have anything to tell you.”

  Jane blinks. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just concerned. I don’t know anyone on the team. His friends play with different teams and they wouldn’t know if something was wrong.”

  “Why do you think something is wrong?” Meghan’s eyebrows furrow.

  “He has a past.”

  “Everyone does.”

  She throws her head back. “No, he’s had some crazy ex-girlfriends.”

  “I’m sure. A guy like him, professional athlete.”

  “I’m worried that his ex-girlfriend will try to contact him again. She was obsessive and I don’t know if she’s psycho enough to try stalking him.”

  “Would Jared take her back?”

  “He says no, but the girl had some power over him. He couldn’t say no, except when she told him to marry her.”

  Meghan gasps.

  “Oh, yeah,” Jane says, and laughs. “I shouldn’t be saying. Sometimes Jared, he gets distant with people, but I didn’t see that with you.”

  Meghan grins. “He probably flirts with all the girls.”

  “Jared is sometimes hard to please. He doesn’t open up too often.”

  “He seems friendly with everyone,” Meghan says.

  “Becks! That’s too far!” Jane yells after her son.

  “My ball!” he yells at his mom, pointing to the twenty-five-cent ball rolling under a bench.

  Jane walks faster to get to her son and when she does, she squats and reaches under the bench to retrieve the toy. Beckham takes it out of her hands and bounces it again.

  “Did you tell Jared the good news?” Meghan asks as they proceed to walk again.

  “I did.”

  “Have you two always been close?”

  “I think so. He left home at fifteen though to play junior, so we lost that family bond because he was only home occasionally and I had my life. I’m two years older.”

  “Must have been hard for him to be gone.” Meghan looks at Jane, recognizing the same rounded chin as Jared’s, the fair skin and height.

  “It was harder when we lost our cousin. He was like a brother to Jared.” Jane takes a sip of her tea and looks out onto the ocean.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Meghan says. “Devastating.”

  “It was. I think it’s still hard for Jared at times. They were the same age and working toward the same career.”

  “What happened?”

  “He died when he was eighteen. It was an accident.” Jane stops, strains her eyes, looking for her son. She sucks in a breath. “Becks! Becks!” she yells, straightening her neck to see past the people in front of them. “Where is he? Do you see him?” Jane runs ahead surveying the site for Beckham. Meghan looks around and doesn’t see him either.

  “Beckham! Beckham!” Jane yells. She stops running and looks around her. “He was just right here!” she cries. “Where did he go?”

  Meghan is looking furiously around them, focusing on any small area where the boy might be. There are a dozen small takeout restaurants and gift stores. Did he wander off with someone? Did he find another kid to play with? The thoughts race through Meghan’s brain and she fears the worst. She should h
ave been watching Beckham too. How could she not see him disappear? He was walking in front of them, a few feet away.

  Jane runs to the pavilion, racing through the building, checking every corner, behind every counter. Meghan meets Jane outside. “He doesn’t take off,” she yells to Meghan. Her face is dewy and her eyeliner is smudged. “Beckham! Beckham!” she shouts. Strangers are looking and following her gaze to see who she is yelling for.

  “Did you lose your child?” a man asks. “What does he look like?”

  Jane breathes out before speaking and talking with her hands. “He has short, blond hair.” She stops to take a breath. “A little long at his neck.” Jane uses her hand to comb down her hair as she explains. “He’s four years old, wearing a blue hoodie, jeans . . .” Jane brings her hand to her forehead. “I feel sick. Where is he?” She turns, looking all around her.

  Meghan starts asking people if they’ve seen Beckham. She sees Jane dash past a building yelling her son’s name. Meghan stops to ask the hot dog vendor and the lady at the ice-cream stand. No sight of Beckham. As the minutes pass, Meghan becomes more concerned. She doesn’t see Jane. Meghan decides to walk to the green space past the pavilion. She has her head down and watching for small bodies. How many minutes have passed? Should they call the police? How long should they wait to notify help?

  The water fountain! Meghan thinks, and beelines it to where they started. How does a child, no more than five feet away, get lost? Would someone take him? Did he follow someone? Another child and then forgot where he was? He wouldn’t know to trace his steps, would he?

  Meghan looks impatiently around the area, scoping it out, hoping she’ll see a glimpse of the little boy with messy long hair. The guilt of Beckham’s disappearance gnaws at the pit of her stomach. She feels sick. Pressure to her head and a tightness in her throat. It’s been fifteen minutes and it feels like an hour she’s been searching. She doesn’t even know where Jane is. She may never see the two of them again after they find Beckham. Will she get blamed for not seeing him disappear? Maybe she’s to blame for the distraction of talking about Jared. Meghan is looking every which way as she walks through the crowd and back around toward the water fountain. There are a lot of people and it wouldn’t take much for him to walk behind adults and then get confused and not know where he is. He must be scared, not knowing the area and losing his mom. He’s probably crying. She doesn’t hear an emotional child, which makes her think that he’s not there.

  Meghan decides to go back to where they first noticed Beckham was gone and hopefully he’ll be there waiting. It only takes a few minutes to get back to where they were, but no Jane in sight. She stands in the middle of the waterfront path with her hands on her hips, pivoting around. Nobody is watching her though. People pass by as she calls out as loud as she can, “Beckham!”

  Meghan and Jane make eye contact. Jane shouts as she runs in boots toward her. Tears are in her eyes, mascara imprinted on her eyelids and dark circles have appeared around the tops of her cheekbones.

  “I’m sorry,” Meghan says. “We should call the police.”

  Jane nods, her eyes glossy and full of worry. Meghan can’t imagine how sick she must feel.

  “We’ll find him,” Meghan says, grabbing for her hand. “He’s here. He’s probably in one of the stores.”

  “I checked! I didn’t see him.”

  “Or at one of the vendors?”

  “I checked that, too.” Jane takes a step to leave, rubbing her eyes. She no longer has the tea she was drinking. Her hands are waving around.

  “Mom! No, Mom!”

  The women turn their heads in the direction of the child’s voice.

  Jane’s mouth opens to respond, but it’s another boy calling for his mom to tell her he doesn’t want his coat on. Jane cries. “Maybe he ran ahead, I’m going to look some more.”

  “I’ll go this way!” Meghan shouts. Jane keeps running and Meghan’s not sure if she heard her but continues to look in a new direction. Meghan walks to the water fountain. Where else is there to look? It’s not a very big place unless he’s wandered into the market, but Jane’s been there. She wanders around until she spots the little boy trying to bounce his ball as high as he can. Beckham. He’s oblivious that he’s lost. Meghan sucks in a breath, she can’t believe she found him, yet he’s totally fine playing with his ball. “Beckham!” she shouts in a not so alarming voice. She doesn’t want to scare him, but shouldn’t he be scared that he’s all by himself?

  “Beckham!” she yells, and scurries over to him, reaching out her hand. He doesn’t flinch. He stands there with a bright smile, staring at her like he’s looking up and admiring the autumn sun.

  “My ball can bounce really high,” he tells her. “Wanna see?” And he throws the ball down so hard, but stops on the grass.

  “The ground is too soft,” Meghan says. “You have to do it on pavement for it to bounce.”

  “I’ve done this before.” He’s looking at his ball with a hard stare.

  “Let’s go get your mom,” Meghan says, and leaves her hand out for him to take.

  He doesn’t take her hand, so she keeps hers at her side, available and ready for when or if he wants to take it. She doesn’t let him out of her sight and slows down her pace to be walking with him as she scours the area for Jane. Meghan lets out a breath, stumped at where Jane has run off to. “Let’s stay here until we find your mom,” Meghan tells Beckham, stopping by a bench.

  “You can sit down if you want.”

  Beckham continues to bounce his ball and catch it with two hands.

  Meghan sees Jane running toward them screaming, “You found him! You found him!” She gets closer and yells for her son. “Beckham!” When she reaches them, Jane bends down to grab her son and cradles him in her arms and cries. “I thought I lost you. You made Mommy very scared. You can’t run ahead of me. Never! Ever! You understand?” She pulls him away to look at him in the eyes. “I was really scared, Beckham. Don’t ever scare me like that again.” She hugs him. “I love you! I thought someone had taken you.” She cries on her son’s shoulder. She then lets go of him and stands up to face Meghan. “Thank you.” Her face is textured with running makeup. “Where did you find him?”

  “Just over there,” she says, pointing. “I saw him with his ball.”

  Jane exhales again and holds on tight to Beckham’s shoulder. “Thank you,” Jane says, and without warning, wraps an arm around Meghan’s shoulders and squeezes. “I really thought he was gone. I don’t know what I would have done. I don’t know,” she says in a daze. “Thank you.”

  Chapter 8

  Jared wanders up to Meghan’s office and stands at the doorway, watching her shuffle papers from one side of her desk to the other, clicking her keyboard and mumbling something to herself. Her hair is parted to the side and left down in its wavy state. He enjoys watching her busily working on something that appears to be important. She glances at the doorway, back at her computer, and then makes eye contact with Jared. She raises her eyes, stunned to see him standing there.

  “Hi!”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he says, taking a step inside. “Your door was open.”

  “It’s always open,” she says, her hands resting on a stack of files. She smiles pleasantly. “What can I do for you?”

  A lot of things. I could stand here and watch you for a while.

  He notices her green eyes have flecks of gold in them, her glossy lips are tasteful, and he inhales, stepping inside the small room. He can smell her floral perfume. He takes another step closer, inhaling her scent that is driving his mind wild. He wants her in his bed. Tonight. What would she say to that?

  “What?” she asks.

  “Nothing,” he says, unable to tell her what is playing on his mind. She would probably throw something at him or worse, tell him he’s a dog and send him walking, never wanting to speak to him again. He wouldn’t want to blow his chance. What will it take for her to spend the night? Could
they even go out for an evening? Could she put her work to rest?

  “What brings you by? I’ve never had a player come to this part of the building before, let alone two times. It’s unheard of.”

  She doesn’t have the time to small-talk?

  She is wearing that necklace again, the one that hangs low to her chest. He can’t tell what it is, a stamped rectangle? A name written in calligraphy? Her short-sleeve blouse shows off her shapely arms. If he stares any longer she’s going to catch where his eyes are going. “I can’t thank you enough,” he says.

  “For what?”

  “For finding Beckham.”

  “It’s fine. I’m glad he’s okay.”

  “Beckham is Jane’s world. He’s everything to her. And to me, too.”

  “She’s his mom.”

  “I know . . .” He nods. “I can’t imagine him gone. . . .”

  “I’m glad he’s safe. I happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

  “Jane says he got carried away with his bouncy ball, he didn’t even notice where he was.”

  “It happened so fast,” Meghan says, recalling the moment.

  “You’re busy,” Jared says. “I just wanted to come by and say thank you.”

  “No problem. Will I see you tomorrow at the library for the Warriors Reading Campaign?”

  “Right. Yes. I will be there. Ten o’clock?”

  “That would be awesome.” She smiles wide.

  Jared takes in her warm appreciation. He could stand here and watch her work. Her smile is infectious. He can’t stop smiling back. He leans against the door frame. “Do you have plans tonight?”

  She freezes, looks up. “Why?”

  “I dunno. Thought you’d want to join me for dinner.”

  She stares at him for what feels like a long time before she answers.

  “Do you have plans?” he asks, giving her reason to decline. He doesn’t understand why she would.

  “Probably not a good idea,” she answers, giving him a lasting stare.

  “Why?”

  “It wouldn’t be a good idea. I mean, you’re the hockey player and I’m the . . . the . . . I . . . we work here together and I don’t think—” She stops herself.