Page 81 of The Backup Plan
She should have told Isaac to run when he had the chance. Leave the guy who calls you brother and fills your head with ideas about loving his sister. Leave the sister, too, for abusing your friendship. Bail on what’s left of a family: these broken siblings who fully expect you to leave, because underneath his pain and her perseverance, they still don’t believe anyone will stay.
Her toes twitched, and she groped blindly under the desk for her boots. She didn’t want to talk to either of them, or anybody. Justin had enough on his plate if he wanted to clear the air with Mindy and Isaac. Avery would come back when he called. She never leave him because the weight of her bones wouldn’t let her, but Isaac should have a choice before they dragged him down, too.
When they were younger, her brothers buried Avery in a pile of their pads and gear to show her how heavy it was, as an excuse for their dramatic complaints after practice. The burden of that protective brotherhood suddenly lay on her chest again, shortening her breaths into gasps instead of giggles, and she couldn’t stay in the cramped room another minute. She snagged her purse from the floor and left the door open a crack so she didn’t wake them.
TWENTY-THREE
Dialed In
CAMERON
After a message confirming Avery was home safe thanks to a ride from Benny, Cam fell back asleep with his phone clutched in his hand, hoping for a response to his text that he’d be around the studios after practice if she wanted to talk.
It buzzed again at eight o’clock.
“I don’t get a victory song today,” he grumbled when he answered. “Remember, I’m supposed to go for it at fourth-and-two.”
“I said we’d talk today,” Cory said. “We’re talking. Got to get that burn going before I get to the gym.”
Cam rubbed his head. “I re-read that chat a hundred times. I couldn’t get everything in order, and there’s a piece missing in my logic, so I know it didn’t make sense. No wonder Ethan was pissed. I don’t even have to be drunk to be an idiot like Justin. I’ll do it buzzed.”
“I see what you did there. Bzzzz.”
Cory’s cheesy grin shone through the phone with the unbearable perkiness in his voice. He should feel like a train hit him after the beating Penn gave him the day before and the disaster he tried to mitigate when Cam got home. But he squeaked out a win like he always did, and would pose for a cute brunch photo for his girlfriend Mallory’s social media before noon.
“Have you come up with any ideas about what that missing piece in your logic is?” he asked. The lilt at the end of Cory’s question reminded Cam of every teacher who prompted a student for an answer. Yes, and? Cory knew something that he didn’t want to type or even say, something he wanted Cameron to figure out on his own for some reason, instead of just telling him.
“You said Jordan got me here.”
“I did.”
“You know what happened to him. You can’t actually tell me outright, but you know.”
“If I spill my guts and blow this whole thing up, is that what you need?”
Cameron spun his hat forward and took it off, running his fingers over the frayed edge of the brim. “No. You don’t have to do that. I only wondered because of something he said. I want to know that somebody knows he’s okay.”
“He’s okay, Cam.”
“Thank you.”
“You took every step of this thing personally because it feels very personal to be left behind, but be objective for a minute. Can you imagine a reason Jordan designed his exit specifically to leave you out of it? I’ll bet that the first thing that comes to your mind is the right answer.”
Tracing the embroidered white ’T’ on the hat, Cam considered the question. His first theory about Jordan’s disappearance was a hangover from the days he devoured John Grisham and Tom Clancy, when there was such a thing as free time. From the day he went missing, the scene played in Cameron’s head almost daily. He was always the first one the men with clipboards approached with lowered brows and suspicious stares.
When was the last time you communicated with Jordan Ackerman?
What did you talk about?
Was he unhappy at UND?
Why did you start at the Star Bowl instead of Jordan?
Did he ever talk to you about?——
“I have an overactive imagination,” he said finally.
“You’re an artist. You need one.”