Lost in thought, she hadn't seen Ben approaching. His freckled face was shiny with sweat. Water dripped from his clothes, and there were grass stains on his shirt she was certain would never come out.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Can I spend the night at Zach's tonight?"

"I thought he had soccer practice."

"After practice. There's going to be a bunch of people staying over, and his mom got him Guitar Hero for his birthday."

She knew the real reason he was asking.

"Not tonight. You can't. Your dad's coming to pick you up at five."

"Can you call him and ask?"

can try. But you know…" Ben nodded, and as it usually did when this happened, her heart broke just a little. "Yeah, I know."

The sun glared through the windshield at baking temperature, and she found herself wishing she'd had the car's air conditioner fixed. With the window rolled down, her hair whipped in her face, making it sting. She reminded herself again to get a real haircut. She imagined saying to her hairdresser, Chop it on off,

Terri. Make me look tike a num.' But she knew she'd end up asking for her regular trim when the time came. In some things, she was a coward.

"You guys looked like you were having fun."

"I was."

"That's all you can say?"

"I'm just tired, Mom."

She pointed toward the Dairy Queen in the distance. "You want to swing by and get some ice cream?"

"It's not good for me."

"Hey, I'm the mother here. That's what I'm supposed to say. I. was just thinking that if you're hot, you might want some."

"I'm not hungry. I just had cake."

"All right. Suit yourself. But don't blame me if you get home and realize you should have jumped at the opportunity."

"I won't." He turned toward the window. "Hey, champ. You okay?"