30. Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty
I collapse into my chair.
“What’s wrong?” Cassidy asks.
I hand her the phone with the text. She sucks in a quick breath and reads it aloud to Gabe and Mia.
“Damn,” Gabe says. “That’s bad.”
I sink into my chair and shove my hands through my hair. “I don’t have any moves left.”
Gabe comes to sit by me. “I’d pay if I had my cards.”
Mia takes the other side. “You can have every last cent in my account, but it’s less than a hundred dollars. I just paid for all my softball stuff.”
“I got this,” Cassidy says, pulling out her phone and tapping. “I’ll send you the money. I don’t have a huge savings or anything, but it should be enough to cover the end of the trip.”
“I can’t let you do that,” I tell her.
“Too late,” she says as my phone dings.
It’s an alert from PayUp that Cassidy has sent me five hundred dollars.
“Cassidy, no. You’ve already done enough.” I start to reverse the transaction, but she says, “Don’t even try it. I’ll keep sending it back to you. I’m the whole reason this trip got stopped. Putting you back on the road is the first time I’ve felt human in twenty-four hours. But you better pull out the cash before she realizes there’s more in the account.”
Mia’s eyes widen. “She’s right.”
“I saw an ATM outside of the hardware store up the block,” Gabe says. I guess I know his vote.
I half rise out of the chair, not sure what to do.
“Hurry,” Mia urges me. “Do I have to race you to get you moving?”
I listen this time, hurrying to the door. “Okay, but this you have to let me pay back, Cassidy.”
“Not going to lie, that would help,” she says. “I’m saving for a condo.”
I nod and jog up the sidewalk to the ATM to make the withdrawal. It will only let me withdraw $300, but I transfer the rest to Mia so she can pull it out of her account and Mom can’t touch it.
When I get back to the garage, Cassidy is outside by her rental. “I have to get back to the airport. If you need anything else, call me. I swear I’ll keep our parents out of it.”
“I will.”
She takes a step toward me. “I mean it, Kendall. Before I can leave I need to know you’ll let me help if something goes wrong again. Will you promise?” She holds my gaze, her stare intense.
“I promise. I mean it too.” And I do.
Her shoulders relax. “Good.”
It feels like there’s more to say, but I’m not sure what. Cassidy straightens and opens the car door, ready to climb in.
“Wait,” I say. She pauses. “I’m sorry too.”
She shakes her head. “It’s okay. You had every right to be mad.”
“Not about that. I mean I’m sorry for the last three years of Friday dinners and being such a brat.”
A smile plays around her mouth. “You weren’t a brat, exactly.”
“I wasn’t not a brat.”
“That’s hard to argue with,” she says with her first real grin.
“For what it’s worth, I like Robert.”
“And I like Maggie. She’s perfect for my dad. She makes him happy, and he deserves that. I kind of wish they’d make it official. Would that bother you?”
“I’ve never really thought about it,” I admit. “Typical teenage narcissism, I guess.”
“You’re the furthest thing from a narcissist. But it had to be weird for you, coming to Dad’s house every week and constantly having all these adults breathing down your neck. I’ll try to be more chill. I remember being a teenager pretty well.”
“You’re all right, Cassidy.”
“High praise from a teenage narcissist,” she says, still grinning, and I laugh.
She waves and drives off, and I watch her disappear down the main road, that funny feeling of missing something still niggling at me before I go in to wait it out with Gabe and Mia.
“She seems cool,” Gabe says.
“Totally. Reminds me of Daniel, actually,” Mia adds.
“Definitely Daniel,” Gabe says.
Randy walks in from the service bay. “Your brother is asking for you. Head on back.”
I find Austin crouched over the fender, but he straightens when I walk in.
“Hey. It’ll drive fine for you now,” he says, giving the hood a light knock. It’s so weird to see him here. But also . . . not? In his work shirt, his fingernails full of grease, he looks way more comfortable than he ever has at Friday dinner. Like himself. I didn’t know he didn’t look like himself before. He looks like someone I’d like to sit next to on a sofa to scroll through Instagram while he watches the Nuggets lose.
“I can’t believe you did this. Thank you.”
He shrugs. “Sure, no big deal.”
I step forward and throw my arms around him. “It feels like a huge deal to me.”
He startles but his arms come around me and he hugs me back. “Thank Cassidy. She made it all happen. Glad we could help.”
I let go and step back, fighting a sudden urge to sniffle.
“Does this mean you’ll talk to us more at dinners now?” His tone is teasing, but his eyes are asking for a real answer.
“I always talk,” I object.
“I know, but it feels like . . .” he hesitates, searching for words. “It feels like you’re holding back somehow. Being polite. I know you’re too cool for us, but I promise we’re okay. Even Cassidy isn’t that bad if you get to know her,” he adds, grinning.
I laugh. “I am definitely not too cool for you guys. I’m not too cool for anyone. Maybe I kept to myself so you guys wouldn’t figure that out.” I pause to consider this. It feels true. “I guess I never gave you guys a chance. I’m sorry. That’ll change.”
“Good. Then this is worth it.” He pats the Jeep and gives me an awkward chuck on the shoulder. It’s kind of adorable. “I’ll pull it around so you can load up and get going.”
In the waiting room, I tell Mia and Gabe the good news. “It’s fixed. Excited to get your Jeep back?”
“Yeah.” Gabe gets up and heads toward the luggage. “I wish you could go topless.”
I choke on my own spit in the most uncool way possible.
“Knock it off, Gabe,” Mia says. “He means the Jeep.”
He grins at her. “Duh. You okay over there, Barrows? What did you think I meant? It’s a totally different experience when you take off the hard top and let the wind run through your hair, know what I’m saying?” He strolls out with his duffel over his shoulder.
Mia rolls her eyes, and we grab our stuff and follow him, slinging our bags in after his. “There’s no way I can drive all night,” I inform Mia. “You’re going to have to give me breaks.” I take twenty minutes in the parking lot to make her learn how to drive.
After lots of brake-slamming and Gabe muttering, she gets it. She pulls back into the parking space in front of Austin.
I climb out to trade with her. “She’s got it,” I tell him. “I promise to switch off.”
“All right. Be safe,” he says.
I take over the driver’s seat and Gabe calls shotgun. Mia settles into the back, and after a fist bump with Austin through the open window, I send a quick text to Mom telling her I’ll check in again two hours from now. Then I put the Jeep in gear and set us on the road to find David Lombard.