Completely normal.
Mason doesn’t warm up to many adults quickly.
Then it became every practice. Then weekend sessions. Then Daniel started texting me things like, « Mason showed real leadership today, you should’ve seen him, Camy! 😉 »
I’d find myself smiling at my phone in the break room at work like a teenager and then feeling immediately ridiculous about it.
I told myself I was reading too much into it. That he was just a dedicated coach. That not every man who shows kindness to a single mom and her son has an agenda.
But I grew up learning that people who offer things without being asked usually want something back. And I’d built enough walls around Mason and me that even kindness felt like something to investigate first.
People who offer things without being asked usually want something back.
So when I woke up Monday morning and Mason was in the shower, I picked up the glove from his nightstand, just to look at it, just to feel the leather, and that’s when my fingers found it.
A small ridge beneath the palm lining. Something stiff. A tiny flap of leather that had been cut and carefully, deliberately tucked back into place like it was never meant to be noticed.
My stomach dropped before I even got it open.
