Chapter 28There is something about waiting for one of her children to perform that completely unnerves Emma. Other parents jiggle in their seats and whisper excitedly as their child mounts the stage or the pitcher’s mound, whereas Emma holds tight to her armrest or her water bottle and closes her eyes, mouthing the universal mother’s prayer, “Please be okay, please be okay.” Sarah has a tendency to lose her focus on stage, wandering off her mark or absentmindedly chewing her cuticles, while Ben freezes up if too many eyes are upon him (his outings as a pitcher have not been overwhelmingly successful, though he does fine at shortstop).
This afternoon, at the centennial pageant, attended by not only the entire student body of John D. Coe Elementary, but by parents and town luminaries as wel
