Page 20 of Keeping Score

“Don’t ask her any weird questions!” Liam called to us as we left. “I mean it, Maggie!”

Cassie opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but I shot her a look and muttered,

“Don’t ask.”

I liked taking walks with Cassie when I had a lot on my mind. For one, she was so naturally good-natured that it seemed to keep some of my darker thoughts at bay.

How could I spend time thinking about everything I was upset about when Cassie was next to me smiling over a pair of squirrels?

Another factor was the speed at which she walked, leaving me no room for anything other than focusing on keeping up with her.

“Slow—” I huffed, “down!”

She turned, pausing in surprise to notice I’d fallen several feet behind her.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. With considerable effort, she slowed her pace. “But look!”

I stared at her. Then at the background behind her. In all my effort to control my breath and match her speed, I hadn’t noticed the route she’d taken us.

“You brought us to our old college,” I blinked up at the campus of Boston College.

“Ta-da!” She gestured wildly with an all-encompassing smile.

“But why are we here?”

“Because you seemed contemplative lately,” she noted, once again freaking me out with her scarily accurate assessment. “And we used to have the best talks here, remember? By the tree?”

“I don’t think sitting in the same spot will make me open up anymore.” I laughed. “It only worked in college because I was all young and vulnerable, and you were always bugging me about how I was feeling.”

“I still bug you about how you’re feeling,” she pointed out with a tilt of her head.

“Yes, but I’m not twenty anymore. I’ve built up better Cassie defenses.”

“Why do you need defenses against talking about a problem?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a problem. It’s just that sometimes talking about something doesn’t make a difference.”

“Well, let’s just go sit and see what happens.” She didn’t even give me a chance to refuse before she was bounding off toward the quad.

“Look, no one’s sitting there!” she grinned, looking back at me.

“That’s because it’s January,” I told her, watching her sit at the base of the tree.

“Meaning, it’s too cold for people to sit outside and chat,” I emphasized pointedly.

“Then we better get started before we freeze,” she patted the spot beside her. “Come on.”

I sat, recoiling at the thought of the cold, damp earth rubbing against my designer wool coat, but I knew Cassie wouldn’t let that slide as an excuse.

I stared at her.

She stared at me.

And I really didn’t think it was going to work, but damn it if those freakily earnest eyes of hers didn’t get the best of me.

“Ugh,” I groaned in frustration, surprised by how fast the feelings came to the surface. “I guess I’ve just been thinking a lot about my Dad lately.”

Cassie didn’t say anything—just let me take my time to get the words together. I knew that if I really didn’t want to talk, she would understand and she wouldn’t push me.