Page 113 of Playing for Keeps

“I saw a red sticker on one of your paintings,” I said encouragingly.

Char smiled but it quickly morphed into a grimace. “It was Luke,” she said.

My forehead furrowed. “What?”

“Luke apparently called the art gallery earlier in the week and asked to buy one of my paintings tonight.”

“That was nice of him.”

Char suddenly looked extremely tired. “Yeah. Although I would have done one for free if he’d bothered to ask.”

Her phone started to buzz and her expression brightened. “It’s Mum and Dad.”

I hovered in the background while she accepted the call. I could see Anthony’s face was painted black and white, the New Zealand team colors.

“Did you see Luke’s try?” he asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I saw it,” Char said.

“He’ll be in the starting lineup before he knows it,” Anthony said.

“How did the opening go?” Alison asked.

“Good. I haven’t sold any paintings, but Larissa says that’s normal for a new artist. They had a reporter from the paper here who I talked to, so that will hopefully generate some interest.”

“I’m sure it will,” Alison said.

“Did you watch the video of my speech?” Char asked eagerly.

“I saw that it came through, but we haven’t had a chance to look at it yet,” Anthony said.

“Oh.” Her face fell.

“Anyway, we better get going, we’re meeting Luke now. We’ll hear all the details when we get home,” Anthony said.

“Okay,” Char said, but her parents had already ended the call.

Char lowered her phone, her lips pinched tight. She glanced at me, her face crumbling.

Shit. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Char dissolve like this. Tears welled in her eyes and escaped down her face.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Why are you apologizing? You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“No. I mean, I’m sorry about…you know.”

Char wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara. “It’s fine. I should be used to it, right? It’s been happening my entire life.”

“Char…” I began.

She took a shaky breath. “Mum was going to come tonight, but I told her to go watch Luke instead. Because the last thing I wanted was her here and wishing she was somewhere else.”

Exactly how I’d been feeling the whole evening. Another pulse of guilt thrummed through me.

“At least Theo’s an only child, so he’ll never have to feel like this,” Char said.

I gave her a hug. It was the least I could do in the circumstances. Because there didn’t seem to be any words I could say to make things better.