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“No, I’ll do it,” I say.
I move three steps toward the door, and then take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. It doesn’t help. I can feel the tension in every muscle in my body as I raise my hand and knock twice on the door. It’s jarring in the quiet hallway. My heart leaps when I hear someone turn the door handle.
Then everything’s okay.
“Betsey!” I say, rushing her and wrapping my arms so tightly around her torso that she makes a little oomph sound. She hugs back, and over her shoulder I see Ella stand up from the bed. She joins the embrace. When we part, I notice that they’re both wearing warm jackets, like they were just about to leave.
Ella moves past me and peeks her head into the hallway. She looks left, then right, then steps back inside. “Get in here already,” she says to Sean, waving impatiently. She closes the door, but not all the way.
“Did you see Mom on your way up?” she whispers.
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“Another woman? Blond?” she asks.
“No,” I say. “No adults. The only person we saw was that guy at the front desk. Let’s get out of here before we do see one of them.” I want to ask so many questions—mostly about Mom’s role in all of this—but I know that now’s not the time.
“Okay, let’s go,” she says, grabbing her backpack from home and slinging it over her shoulder. Betsey does the same.
The four of us creep down the hallway toward the elevator, but take the stairs instead. At the bottom, we see that the front desk guy is talking on the phone animatedly.
“He can’t see us leave,” Betsey says. “I have a weird feeling about that guy.”
“I have an idea,” Sean says. He looks at me excitedly. “Wait here—I’ll be back.” He turns and runs up the stairs; I hear a metal door open and close. Only because I’m staring into the lobby do I notice the doors on one of the elevators closing: It’s been called to the third floor. Suddenly, the alarm goes off: The elevator is stuck. Just as I hear Sean coming back through the door and starting his descent, Jarrod the desk guy stands and wanders over to the elevator. He looks up at the numbers on the top and sees that it’s stuck on the third floor. He glances at the stairwell, probably considering walking up, and we duck down below the little window. We wait a few seconds, then Betsey peeks.
“What’s he doing?” Sean asks.
“Waiting for the other elevator,” Bet reports. “You’re a genius, Sean.”
“I have my moments.”
When Jarrod’s safely inside the working elevator, the four of us tumble out of the stairwell, fly across the lobby, and rush into the blustery Colorado day. In minutes I’m leaving Bramsford University with Ella and Betsey next to me, and for the first time in twenty-four hours, I feel whole again.
twenty-eight
“Tell me what happened,” I say the moment we’re off campus. Betsey opens her mouth to respond, but then Sean turns in the opposite direction from the highway. “Where are you going?” I ask him.
“I’m going to try to rent a hotel room,” he says. “I’m exhausted, and we need to figure out where we’re going next. It seems like the smart thing to do.”
“You can’t rent a hotel room; you’re not eighteen,” Ella says.
“I’ve done it before on trips with my friends,” Sean replies. “The eighteen thing isn’t the law; it’s policy. Sometimes they’ll rent to you just as long as you have a credit card.”
“And you do?” Ella asks.
“Yup.”
We hold our conversation until we get to the hotel. Thankfully, Sean was right: He scores the room. We park near the back entrance, and the second I see the two double beds, I’m exhausted, too. But there’s no way I can sleep.
“I think I’m going to take a shower,” Sean says, pointing toward the bathroom. “That okay?” I’m sure he’s curious about what’s going on, but I love that he’s respecting our need to talk about our family business in private. Not that I won’t update him on everything later anyway.
>“Let’s go up,” he says. He shoots me a look like Come on! I take a step toward the elevators.
“Wait,” Jarrod says from behind the desk. I freeze; my heart sinks. When I turn around, I try not to look busted.
“Yeah?”
“There’s hot chocolate stocked in the lounge area on four,” he says. “Just down the hall from your room.”
