Later that evening, as the three of them sat to watch TV, Melissa pulled Shawn into the kitchen and explained what Courtney had said. “I feel like I blew it. I had the chance to say something and didn’t.”

Shawn cocked his head and smiled. “What is this thing with you about only getting one chance at everything?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like you’re putting so much pressure on yourself. You’d never tell Courtney that. Why do you put the bar so high for yourself?”

She didn’t answer because she didn’t know. But later, as she turned away from Shawn in bed and turned out the light, she wondered if perhaps it was because she didn’t want to make another mistake that would haunt her.

CHAPTER 20

Susan had been all for David trying different sports and activities. In her mind, the more the better. Try everything that interested you and you would be a more rounded person. She did give a sigh of relief when David decided against going out for the football team. He’d played in a flag football league in elementary school and looked cute in the uniform, but she’d heard about so many injuries through the years to students who played tackle football, some that were serious.

When David said he wanted to go out for the wrestling team, she didn’t think much about it. To her, wrestling didn’t have the dangers associated with other contact sports. It only took her one match to change her opinion. It was much more violent than she’d expected and even though they wrestled on a large mat, she was secretly unnerved and spent most of David’s matches praying he would just survive.

But a funny thing had happened in David’s sophomore year. He began to win his matches and actually dominate his weight class. His success made her learn more about the sport and become familiar with the terms and rules. Like in a chess match, she began to see when a competitor had the upper hand.

“You know more about this than I do,” Jimmy said one day.

He was right. And the more she learned, the louder she cheered. She was there for every match through David’s senior year. But of course, she also continued to pray for his safety.

In the match before district finals, David was up against a competitor he had never beaten. Their last match had been won by only one point and Jimmy had spent time with David going over the video replay. David was just getting over a bout with the flu in that previous match, and he had high hopes that he might make the finals, but Susan could tell he was nervous as he shook out his arms and legs and warmed up.