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“Pinky promise.”
“Goodbye, Mason brother.”
“Goodbye, Scottie brother.”
Mom came back on the line, a slight quiver in her voice. “You’re so good with him, Mase. When I try to soothe him, it just makes him worse. I hate to say it, but I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Guilt snaked through me. Because she was without me. Every day I was here was another day I wasn’t with them.
“Crap, baby, I didn’t mean… Listen to me, Mason, and listen good. I’ve got this, sweetheart. I swear.”
“Yeah, Mom, I know.”
If I argued, she’d only cry. And if there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was girl tears.
“I can handle things here. You go do whatever a college junior does these days. But not too much of it. I don’t want to be made a grandma anytime soon.”
“Mom!” I choked out.
Her soft laughter filled in some of the cracks inside me. “I love you, Mason. You and your brother are my whole world. I hope you know that.”
“I know, Mom. I know.”
Because they were mine, too.
CHAPTER6
HARPER
“Hey.”I slid into my seat beside Rory and grabbed my notebook and pen out of my bag. “What did I miss?”
“Not much; she’s just getting started.”
“Good. Sorry I missed your calls last night,” I whispered.
Despite falling asleep early, I’d overslept. Then in all my haste to get ready for class, I had a toothpaste disaster and had to change my sweater. There hadn’t been time to call or text Rory to see what was up. Besides, I knew I’d see her in my first class of the morning.
“That’s okay. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
“Okay?” I frowned.
“Yeah, you know. The whole thing with your dad. You seemed kind of confused to see him yesterday, so I figured it couldn’t be easy finding out the news.”
“News?” What the hell was she talking about? “What news?”
“Wait a minute,” she whispered as a couple of girls sitting in the row in front glanced our way, disapproval shining in their eyes. “You haven’t heard?”
“Rory, I swear to God, you’re starting to freak me out.”
Her expression dropped, and my heart right along with it. Whatever she was about to tell me was bad.
“Your dad… he, uh… he’s the new assistant coach for the hockey team.”
“What?” I shrieked, earning me a few more looks from the other students. “Sorry,” I mouthed, clutching the edge of my seat. “He’s the new assistant coach? That can’t be right.”
“Noah told me last night. He was introduced to the team yesterday at practice.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Why didn’t he tell you?”
“My relationship with my father is complicated.”
