Page 60 of Recipe for Rivals
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“That’s a start.” Henry seemed as lost as I was. We’d found Brody in the locker room, but he hadn’t really done anything we could directly punish. The whole situation felt oddly out of our hands. There was no proof of forced entry and nothingbroken. Just a kid using the facilities to recuperate after a fight.
An idea came to me, and I forged ahead. Henry had been quiet so long I didn’t think he was about to dole out punishments, anyway. “Do you have an after-school job?”
“No, sir,” Brody muttered.
“Do you want to go to camp this summer with the team?”
Brody’s eyes snapped up at that. I took it as a yes.
“Then you can help with the fundraiser.”
“The auction?” he asked. We’d had the boys put fliers up around the school and post it to the parent groups on social media.
“If we don’t get the money we need, no one is going to camp. If you help us with the auction, we’ll forget that you ever broke in here.”
He looked interested. “What do I have to do?”
“Be my assistant,” I said. I wasn’t looking away, because I wanted to make him agree with my eyes. I was afraid of pushing too hard, but I sat firm.
Henry’s gaze snapped to me. If he saw what I was doing here, he kept his mouth closed. We’d never directly talked about the influence he’d had over my life, and now that we worked together, we’d become friends on a different level. He was more than a mentor to me. But we didn’t have to speak about these things to understand each other.
“I don’t have a car,” Brody said.
“You don’t need one. I’ll give you assignments when I have them, and you can help me get them done. It won’t take much time.”
“Do I have to?” Brody asked.
“No.”
We were all quiet for a minute before he nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Great.” I tried not to sound too relieved. Now to come upwith tasks. “Stop by the office Monday after school and I’ll have your first job ready.”
“Yes, coach.” Brody returned to sulking.
I pushed the plate and plastic fork closer. “Eat something before your grandma gets here.”
He picked up the fork. I’d microwaved it, but it probably wasn’t hot anymore. He dug in, making my body heave a quiet sigh of relief.
Henry gave me a subtle nod of approval when Brody wasn’t looking at us. If he thought it was a good idea, then it probably wouldn’t be a total disaster. Now I just had to see it through.
Lacey broughtour food on a round black tray and set the plates in front of us. We were sitting in Gigi’s like we were on a double date again—me and Gracie Mae opposite Tucker and June. I was beginning to think the girls were having these meetings more to get me and Gracie Mae together than out of any wedding-planning need. It wasn’t like I had anything valuable to add to the conversations about flowers and music and cake.
This wasn’t normal, right? I didn’t think it was. Not that I had any experience with weddings. Jack and Lauren’s was the last one I’d gone to, and all I’d had to do was show up.
“How’s the fundraiser coming along?” June asked before taking a bite from her burger. I’d never gotten around to stopping by the store to ask her for a donation, and I hoped she hadn’t taken it personally.
“We’re getting there. I could use more donations, but I have a man on the job.”
“Man?” Tucker asked around his fried chicken. He was all caught up on the Brody debacle and my intention of using the kid to get donations from the shops along Main Street.
“Brody McAllister is going to use his charm and his footballjersey to get us more donations. These boys need a lot of money if they’re going to make it to camp.”
“I can donate some books,” June said hesitantly. “Or a gift card to the store.”
We used to be such good friends. I knew I was the one standing in the way of that by making things awkward, but I couldn’t help feeling the residual dregs of her abandonment. It was stupid and unfair. She was back, she’d apologized, she was sticking around. But I’d been abandoned by too many people not to take it hard and, for some reason, my mind was having a hard time forgiving her entirely.