Free Offside by Kelly Jamieson

so pretty, you should be famous too, Honey.”
    Honey smiled at the girl, who had no
idea about Honey’s past, grateful that Mia accepted her for who she
was right then.
    When Matt joined them, he wore a faint
crease between his brows. “Where’d you go?” he asked. “I thought
I’d lost you for a minute.”
    “Just didn’t want to be in the way of
your moment there.”
    He gave her a searching look then
nodded.
    “Can we play on the beach?” Mia
asked.
    “I’m sorry, sweetie, your mom gets
home from work about six thirty. I said we’d be home by then. And
it’s starting to get dark.”
    Mia gave a pout but accepted that.
When they reached the sidewalk, they all paused. “Thanks for
letting me barge in on your girls’ afternoon,” Matt said to them
both.
    “You’re welcome,” Mia said seriously.
“It was fun! You’re cool.”
    “Thank you,” he replied equally
gravely. “Honey’s cool too.”
    “Yes!”
    “Thank you,” she said to him. “I had a
really nice time.”
    “We could do it again,” he said
quietly. “Maybe just you and me.”
    “The aquarium? I don’t think I need to
go back there for a while.”
    “That’s not what I meant, and you know
it. We’ll talk. There’s a game tomorrow afternoon―maybe a late
dinner tomorrow night?”
    “Can’t,” she said. “Sunday dinner at
my parents’ place.” She wrinkled her nose.
    “Ah. Okay. I’ll see you next week and
we can talk.”
    She nodded.
    Nothing bad had happened. She’d
enjoyed herself. Matt was a great guy. Maybe she could do this.
Maybe she could go out with a guy and just have simple, normal fun
without all hell breaking loose. But the guy she should be trying
that with probably wasn’t Matt Heller.
     
    *****
     
    Honey pulled up to the white gates of
her parents’ home and entered the code to open them. They swung
open and she drove her BMW through them and up the driveway to the
house. Luckily, her dad had let her keep her car. It was nearly
eight years old but still ran great.
    Traditional Sunday dinners at the
Holbrook home continued, with her two older brothers both likely to
be there with their families and often business colleagues of her
dad’s. The assortment of cars and SUVs parked out front indicated a
sizeable crowd for this week’s dinner.
    She entered the house through the big,
double front doors. A curving staircase wound up to the second
floor, the ceiling above the foyer open to it with an enormous
chandelier hanging above. She followed the faint sound of voices to
the back of the house where French doors had been opened onto the
patio.
    Kids splashed in the pool and she
grinned. She wasn’t all that crazy about her family, but she had to
admit she did like being an aunt. Oldest brother Jonathan and his
wife Demi now had two kids, Kavita, four, and Sebastian, two. Her
other brother James and his wife Kortney also had a two-year-old
son, Burton, and, as she’d told Matt, Kortney was eight months
pregnant.
    James sat on the side of the pool
wearing board shorts and watching the kids. The other adults sat on
patio furniture sipping drinks. Jonathan spotted her and lifted a
hand. “Hey, Honey.”
    Everyone else turned to watch her
approach across the stone patio and she kept her smile in place.
“Hi, everyone.”
    Her mom rose and moved toward her for
a hug and some air kisses. “Honey! I’m so glad you could make
it.”
    As usual, her mom was gorgeous,
dressed in a floral print sleeveless dress that fit her tall,
slender body perfectly. Her still-blonde hair and unlined face made
her look much younger than her fifty years.
    “Where on earth did you get that
dress?” Mom asked, looking her up and down.
    “You gave it to me,” Honey reminded
her.
    Mom frowned. “I did?”
    “About five years ago.”
    “Oh my god, and you’re still wearing
it?” She shook her head. “Come meet our guests. Your father’s not
home from the game yet, but he should be here soon.”
    Honey greeted some of her