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“Much better,” she said. “I think he finally broke through the block. We just finished recording a new song, and it’s probably the best thing he’s ever done.” The absolute gush in her voice brightened her right up. “I’ve been so worried, and he’s been so frustrated. But the song is just… honestly, Ramsey, wait until you hear it. This is so much more like his classic stuff, only stronger, you know?”
“Sounds great,” I said. “I know he was distracted over the holidays.” Yeah, that was a word for it. Mom guarded every single interaction to keep us from making it worse. Considering how annoyed she’d been about…
“Well, something has to be good. There’s another series about you boys in the Tattler.” The scolding note was back. “A detailed expose about all three of you, and it looks like they tried to interview your fathers.”
That was news to me.
“Mom, you gotta stop reading the gossip sites. You know nothing good comes from them.” I needed to take my own advice. We all did. The more I got to know KC, the more I recognized just how much bullshit was out there.
“How else do I get updates? You boys aren’t calling me back. Lachlan’s been a ghost since he left, and now even Jonas doesn’t answer my text messages.” The mournful note grated on me. “His birthday is coming and…you boys are all so grown now.”
“Mom…it’s been crazy here. Jonas is in his senior year, and you know how tough that is. Lachlan’s in college classes, and he’s been working with the Lacrosse Coach and the team. They’re picking up drills this semester ‘cause the season is coming…”
“That makes sense, I suppose,” she said, the ice clinking as she took a drink. “I just—I miss my babies, and I don’t like fighting with all of you. With that girl there…”
“There are lots of girls here, Mom. Speaking of which, I need to go…”
“Speaking of which?” Her voice climbed to a hint of a shrill note. “Isshethere?”
“What?”
“You know who,” Mom said, her tone going quite unfriendly.
“No, Mom, she’s not here. No one is here. I’m by myself, and I have some grading to do and classes of my own to prep for tomorrow.” I had one more year and I’d be graduating college, too. If I stacked my classes right, I might be able to graduate early.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, anyway, I gotta go. I’ll let them know you were asking after them. Talk soon, and good luck with the rest of the album. I’m sure it will be great.” I hung up before she could say anything else and groaned. The earlier headache had redoubled in force.
On the list of problems we had right now, this one went lower on the list. I turned over the rest of the issues on my list. Jonas not applying to college was at the top, along with the situation in Knots and Chains.
While I was still stumped on the latter, I had to wonder if KC could help with the former.
It would give me another reason to talk to her…
Thirty-Two
KC
"How do you break up with a girl nicely?” Bronson asked when he answered the phone. It was a cold, damp day on the campus, with rain having washed away most of the snow and turning the area muddy. Course, it would be frozen by the next day.
“That’s how you say hi?” I’d just left the library. Aubrey and I had both set up there to work on research papers. Mostly because I needed out, and neither of us wanted to deal with her roomie. When Forrest swung by to talk to Aubrey, I’d left them the study room for some privacy.
“Hi, K,” he said. “How you doing? Good. Great. Busy with school? Yeah, I get that. More press drama? I know, I know, we just have to ignore it. Fantastic, now that we’re caught up on you, can we switch back to me?”
A snort of laughter escaped me. A blonde ahead of me pivoted like she’d suddenly decided to change directions, and I braced—nope, not Payton. Good.
“Sure,” I said to Bronson. “Let’s talk about you.” The girl hurrying back to the library shot me a shy smile, and I nodded to her. Then I had to pretend I didn’t notice her stumble and half-squeal.
“You’re my favorite sister,” Bronson informed me, a chuckle underscoring the words.
Weirdly, I hadn’t seen Payton since the day Lachlan dumped her naked ass in the hall. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful or worried about that fact.
“For the moment,” I countered, and he laughed for real.
I hurried through one of the open areas to avoid getting too wet, then slowed when I got under cover. At the moment, I was loving being outside. I was also a little worried about Aubrey. She hadn’t talked about Forrest much over the last few weeks. That didn’t have to mean anything. We’d all been busy.
Still…
