My insides drop like a stone. “What?”
“The dress rehearsal. You weren’t there.”
“Jude went?”
“He was late, and not at all in the appropriate attire. But yes. He came, which is more than I can say about you. Miss Applewhite was in quite the tizzy.”
“He’s going to the ball?”
“He’s a Vandenberg. Of course he’s going.”
“Who’s he going with?”
But Rafe has no time to answer.
Anything he has to say is drown out by a shout that cracks across the parking lot.
Another follows, higher-pitched and panicked. Mrs. Calloway is screaming. Joined by the booming voice of Mr. Calloway. “He’s stuck under the wheel!”
My heart lurches.
Twig!
I race toward the commotion, where the trailer has shifted forward, trapping Twig beneath the rear wheel. Mrs. Calloway and Kate are on their hands and knees, frantic, like they might crawl under the trailer to join him.
“One, two, three, push!” Carl commands.
I throw my weight into the trailer with several others. It lurches forward just enough for Twig toslide free. Mr. Calloway hauls Twig upright. Mrs. Calloway and Kate surround him.
“What happened?” Mayor Ridley demands, pushing his way forward.
“Someone pulled the brake lever,” Harrison Locke replies.
Murmurs ripple through the crowd.
“Should we call for an ambulance?” the mayor asks.
“It’ll be quicker if I take him,” Carl says, his face as bloodless as Twig’s, who’s wincing and clutching his arm. “Let’s go, son. We need to get this x-rayed.”
Twig goes with his dad, offering reassurances to his mother, his sister. He gives me a reassuring look, too.
I just stand there, frozen in place, my imagination shifting into overdrive as Carl ushers Twig through the crowd and calls over his shoulder, “Someone will have to drive Professor Doorn in the parade.”
They rush past Lainey.
Her eyes are wide.
Wild.
Guilty.
My stomach turns to lead.
According to Harrison, someone pulled the brake lever. And Lainey’s eyes are welling with tears as she spins on her heel and runs away.
“It’s amazing,” Rafe says, suddenly beside me, “how much excitement the simple pull of a levercan drum up. Be careful, Selah. The next one might not walk away.”
My heart gallops.
